Apple Releases iOS 4.2 Gold Master To Developers [Update: See What's New!]

Good news folks, Apple just released the pre-final version of iOS 4.2 to members of the Apple developer program. iOS 4.2 Gold Master, or GM as it's called, should be the exact version that Apple will be shipping very soon (hopefully) to the public. That is, unless any major bugs are found in this version. What this means is that the official public version should hit in just about a week (normally), according to Apple's traditional schedule. Here is what's new:

New Multitasking Bar With Volume, Backlight and AirPlay Control

In this GM version Apple has added some new controls for the multitasking bar. You can now control the volume as well as the brightness directly from there, as well as the AirPlay output (which features a new icon, see below).

Create Free Apple IDs Inside The MobileMe Panel

You can now create an Apple ID directly inside the iOS settings app when trying to add a MobileMe account. This is an interesting placement, hopefully one day this will allow users to create free MobileMe accounts as well. It's not lame.

AirPlay Comes Back To YouTube

Once again you can stream sound from inside the YouTube app to AirPlay-connected devices as noted by Macstories. AirPlay for video and Apple TV has not yet been activated.

Restrictions

Apple clearly wants to give parents as much control as they possibly can with iOS 4.2. You can now easily restrict almost any feature of iOS, whether it's deactivating location (perfect to track your kids) or messing with the account settings.

Alright, that's it for today folks. Did we miss anything? Tell us in the comments.

Also, make sure to go check out the great AppAdvice app (link) if you haven't already.

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