What is Part of the iOS 4.2 Update?

Here’s a short list of what you can expect in the new iOS update for iPads, iPod Touches, and iPods if you are planning on downloading and installing it this weekend.

Multitasking and Folders on iPad

This shouldn’t be too surprising, as we knew it would come.

Airprint

Airprint enables you to print documents from your iPad or other iOS device without using any cables or drivers. The options for printing aren’t extremely detailed, just the range of what pages you want to print and the number of copies. Even though there were previously apps for this, this is still pretty cool.

Airplay

Seems like Apple is trying to get some started with “air” before products instead of “i”. With Airplay, you can stream media from your iOS device to your Apple TV. Seems kinda obvious that this was made so that more people would purchase Apple TV instead of Google TV, but if you have an iOS device and Apple TV, this is a pretty nice addition.

Finding Your Lost iOS Device

This was originally part of a paid MobileMe subscription, but now you can find your lost device for free, if that device is an iPhone or iTouch 4, or iPad, with iOS 4. After setting it up, you can view the device on a map, send a message or play a sound to help you find where it is, set a passcode lock from your computer, or wipe all the data. Of course, after retrieving it, you can restore everything from your last backup.

Improved Mail

Now you can view all your Mail from one account in one big inbox, instead of switching to different inboxes. You can also open attachments in third-party apps.

Improved Safari

Finally, you can search for text using Safari, instead of having to look for it manually. More on the latest update over at Apple.

Disclosure:

Some of the links in this article are affiliate links and we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, which helps us to keep delivering quality content to you.

John Siano

John Siano is a writer on all things technology.

2 thoughts on “What is Part of the iOS 4.2 Update?”

Glenn says:

November 30, 2010 at 5:56 AM

The 4.2 update applies to iPads, iPod Touches, and IPHONES, not iPods. The new features in the update for the iPhone (Airplay/Airprint) only apply to iPhone4, not 3Gs or 3G models. The 3Gs has now joined the 3G and original iPhone as “non-supported” on any future updates and new features, evidently. The 4.2 update was mainly to finally bring the iPad into an equality of function where the iPhone has been for almost a year now.

Reply
1. John Siano says:
  
  December 5, 2010 at 9:42 PM
  
  Thanks for pointing that out. When I wrote iPod’s, I thought people assumed IPod Touch.
  
  Reply

Meta Faces Legal Battle Over AI Training with Copyrighted Content

Munazza

Feb 22, 2025

Meta is under intense scrutiny after newly unsealed court documents revealed internal discussions about using copyrighted content, including pirated books,...