Rumor: Apple could launch iOS 8.2 next week, will expand capabilities of Health app

The release of iOS 8.2 remains imminent, and could debut as soon as Apple's "Spring Forward" event next Monday, bringing a number of improvements to the iPhone's health app, along with the usual stability improvements and bug fixes.

Release notes allegedly for the upcoming iOS 8.2 were published on Thursday by BGR. The details reportedly come from a golden master build that Apple has provided to employees and testers.

It's expected that Apple could release the software next week, potentially at Monday's "Spring Forward" event where it is expected to give the final details on the upcoming Apple Watch. Beta builds of iOS 8.2 provided to developers gave the first opportunity to build connected Apple Watch apps with the WatchKit tools.

The GM released internally this week is said to be identified as build 12D508. The accompanying release notes mention the following improvements to the iOS 8 Health application:

• Adds the ability to select the unit of measurement for body temperature, weight, height, distance, and blood glucose
• Improves stability when dealing with large amounts of data
• Includes the ability to add and visualise workout sessions from 3rd-party apps
• Addresses an issue that may have prevented users from adding a photo in Medical ID
• Fixes units for vitamins and minerals
• Fixes an issue where Health data wouldn't refresh after changes data source order
• Fixes an issue where some graphics showed no data values
• Adds a privacy setting that enables turning off tracking of steps, distance, and flights climbed

iOS 8.2 is also said to improve stability of Mail, Maps Flyover, Music, VoiceOver, and connectivity with Made for iPhone Hearing Aids. A number of bug fixes are also mentioned in the changelog, such as fixes for an issue navigating to favorites in Maps, a problem with autocorrecting the last word in a quick reply message, and a problem with duplicate iTunes content that prevented iCloud restores.

The same publication incorrectly predicted that iOS 8.2 would be released to the public this week. It has also claimed that iOS 8.3, which is also currently on its second beta build for developers, will have as many as four beta versions before it is released to the public.

Apple is expected to open up iOS betas for public testing starting in mid-March, likely with iOS 8.3. That would mark the first time Apple has made advance versions of iOS available to non-developers.