What’s new in iOS 18 Beta 2: All the additions

Apple just released iOS 18 beta 2 for developers, which brings with it some intriguing new features. Here’s what’s new in iOS 18 beta 2.

It will soon be possible to get a taster of iOS 18 ahead of its likely September release, with the first public beta set to be released in July. For now, Apple is releasing iOS 18 betas to those enrolled as an App Store developer.

Just a fortnight after the initial iOS 18 beta for developers, iOS 18 beta 2 has now rolled out. Here are the key new features that it brings.

iPhone Mirroring

The big new addition to iOS 18 beta 2 is iPhone Mirroring, which lets you use a Mac (running macOS Sequoia beta 2), to offer a live and interactive view of your iPhone’s screen on your Mac monitor.

Just click on the new iPhone Mirroring icon on your Mac, and you’ll be able to interact with your iPhone, run apps, and receive iPhone notifications all on your Mac while your iPhone remains locked by your side.

SharePlay screen sharing

SharePlay lets you control another person’s iPhone screen or annotate it over a FaceTime call, making it a great tool for those who frequently find themselves on remote tech support duty with their family members.

Unfortunately, neither SharePlay nor iPhone Mirroring are available in the EU right now, thanks to EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations. Hopefully these will be cleared up before the full rollout in September, but we fear there’s more trouble ahead, especially with Apple’s new suite of AI tools.

Minor additions

Those are the major new features added to iOS 18 beta 2, but there have been a couple of minor tweaks that point to future implementation. There’s now an RCS toggle, at least on US iPhones, that paves the way to support for the more modern and secure basic messaging provision. RCS isn’t functional on iOS yet.

There’s now a + button in the new Passwords app, letting you quickly add a new item, while the loose template for a (currently non-functional) new Connected Card widget has also appeared. Meanwhile, it’s been spotted that the App Store icon on the Home Screen now has a dark mode variant that switches to a black background.

iOS 18 release date

This is the second of two developer betas for iOS 18, which means we’re still some way off a full release. You can only access these developer betas if you’re a fully paid up App Store developer.

Expect Apple to start offering frequent public betas, which are available for anyone to download, some time in July.

These will lead right up to the release of iOS 18 proper, which will probably arrive some time in September around the release of the iPhone 16 range.