Right after releasing iPadOS 16.1 to the public, Apple immediately seeded iPadOS 16.2 to developers. The latest 16.2 beta adds the Freeform collaboration app, Stage Manager support for external display, and more.
Freeform Collaboration App Available on iPadOS 16.2 Beta
Apple introduced the Freeform collaboration app during this year’s WWDC event. According to Apple, the Freeform app for iPad is a powerful productivity app that uses a flexible canvas. The app will allow iPad users to see, share, and collaborate in one place. The app eliminates worrying about layouts and page sizes, and even fully supports the Apple Pencil. Users can view others’ contributions as they add content or make revisions to a file in real time. Collaborators are also be able to add any kind of files, such as videos, audio, PDFs, documents and web links to a Freeform canvas. They can also preview it I real time with no need to leave the Freeform board.
Although the Freeform app is available now in iPadOS 16.2, Apple cautioned that the first version may suffer from minor bugs. These include the inability to delete boards offline or if iCloud data is disabled. In addition, adding or removing collaborators might fail when trying to change settings.
Stage Manager Supports External Display Again
Aside from the Freeform app, iPadOS 16.2 beta also re-enables Stage Manager support for external displays. Apple originally enabled this feature in iPadOS 16 but decided to remove it before releasing iPadOS 16.1. However, this feature is exclusive to M1 and M2 iPad and iPad Pro models.
Apple also issued the warning below while using Stage Manager with an external display. It said that dragging a second window to the workspace incorrectly hides the Recent Apps list. It will then shift all windows in the workspace to the right.
The first beta of iPadOS 16.2 is available now for developers to test. The public beta version should be released soon.