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Finally, Apple unveiled the iOS 15 at WWDC 2021 online event where it introduces some new major updates to FaceTime, Maps, Wallet, Weather, and much more features to its products.
iOS 15 is available this fall, see the below-supported devices:
- iPhone 13 (Pre-loaded)
- iPhone 13 mini (Pre-loaded)
- iPhone 13 Pro (Pre-loaded)
- iPhone 13 Pro Max (Pre-loaded)
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone Xs
- iPhone Xs Max
- iPhone Xr
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone SE (1st generation)
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPod touch (7th generation)
iOS 15 introduced Spatial Audio for FaceTime which makes the conversation more natural. With Spatial Audio, the voice in a FaceTime call sounds as if they are coming from where the person is positioned on the screen, and view new microphone modes separate the user’s voice from background noise.
In addition, iOS 15 included a new portrait mode for FaceTime video calls, allowing users to hide their backgrounds and focus on themselves. In addition, when utilizing Group FaceTime, a new grid view allows participants to see more faces at the same time.
The new SharePlay features allow to share experiences while connecting with friends on FaceTime, including listening to songs together with Apple Music, watching a TV show or movie in sync, or sharing their screen to view apps together.
SharePlay works across iPhones, iPad, and Macs, and with shared playback controls, anyone in a SharePlay session can play, pause, or jump ahead.
SharePlay also expands to Apple TV, so users can watch shows or movies on a big screen while connecting over FaceTime, and SharePlay will keep everyone’s playback in sync. Disney+, ESPN+, HBO Max, Hulu, MasterClass, Paramount+, Pluto TV, TikTok, Twitch, and many others are integrating SharePlay into their apps — creating entirely new ways to connect.
Users on FaceTime calls may now be able to create a link from their iPhone, iPad, or Mac and share it using Messages, Calendar, Mail, or third-party apps, allowing anyone to join FaceTime calls with end-to-end encryption from their web browser on Android and Windows devices.
Focus is a new feature in iOS 15 that filters notifications and apps based on what the user wishes to concentrate on. Customers can customize their smartphone to help them be more present at the moment by setting a custom Focus or choosing a suggested Focus, which leverages on-device intelligence to advise which people and apps should be notified.
Focus suggestions are dependent on the user’s context, such as while they’re at work or getting ready for bed, and once Focus is set on one Apple device, it applies to all of their other Apple devices.
Users can customize Home Screen pages with apps and widgets that only display relevant apps and prevent temptation by applying them to moments of focus. When a user’s Focus is set to block incoming alerts, their status in Messages is automatically updated to indicate that they are presently unavailable.
The notification experience in iOS 15 has also been revamped, with contact photos for people and larger icons for apps to make it simpler to find you. The new notification experience helps to limit distractions by collecting non-essential notifications and delivering them at a more convenient time, such as in the morning or evening.
Once can be organized by priority, with the most relevant notifications coming to the top, and based on a user’s interactions with apps, thanks to smart on-device intelligence.
Urgent messages will be delivered immediately, so important communications will not end up in the summary, and it’s easy to temporarily mute any app or messaging thread for the next hour or the day.
A new Live Text feature uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in a photo and follow users to take action. For example, users can search for and locate the picture of a handwritten family recipe, or capture a phone number from a storefront with the option to place a call.
The Camera app can now instantly recognize and copy the text at moment, like the Wi-Fi password shown at a neighborhood coffee shop, thanks to Apple Neural Engine technology. Users can discover more about popular art and places across the world, as well as plants and flowers found in nature, pet breeds, and even books, using Visual Look Up.
Spotlight now uses intelligence to search photos by location, people, scenes, or objects, and using Live Text, Spotlight can find text and handwriting in photos. Spotlight now offers web image search and all-new rich results for actors, musicians, TV shows, and movies. Enhanced results for contacts show recent conversations, shared photos, and even their location if shared through Find My.
Memories in the Photos app has also received major upgrades, including a new appearance, an interactive interface, and integration with Apple Music, which uses on-device intelligence to tailor music selections that bring memories to life.
Safari is also getting major upgrades, including a new design that makes it easier to use with one hand and puts content front and center. The redesigned tab bar is now tiny and lightweight floats at the bottom of the screen and allows users to simply swipe between apps.
Tab Groups enable users to save tabs and access them from their iPhone, iPad, or Mac at any time. Safari has become even more personal and powerful because of new features like the personalized start page and web extensions now available on iOS.
Apple Maps has received major changes, including dramatically improved information in cities for neighborhoods, commercial districts, elevations, and buildings, as well as new road colors and labels, custom-designed landmarks, and a new night-time mode with a moonlit glow.
Apple Maps now provide a three-dimensional city-driving experience with additional road elements that enable users to better view and understand critical aspects like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks while navigating using iPhone or CarPlay.
Riders can more quickly locate nearby stations and pin their preferred lines. Maps will automatically follow a chosen transit route, alerting users when it’s almost time to disembark, and riders can even watch their progress on Apple Watch.
Users may just hold up their iPhone to have Maps create a very precise position and offer precise walking directions in augmented reality with iOS 15.
Apple Wallet now adds support for additional types of keys, making it easier to access everyday places with just a tap. Also, this year, digital car keys will support Ultra-Wideband technology, where users can securely unlock and start their supported vehicle without removing their iPhone from a pocket or bag.
Also, iPhone can be used to unlock a user’s home, office, or hotel room with the help of digital keys which are stored in the Apple Wallet.
Later this year, customers in participating states in the US will be able to add their driver’s licenses or state IDs to Wallet. The Transportation Security Administration is working to enable airport security checkpoints as the first place customers can use their digital Identity Card in Wallet. Identity Cards in Wallet are encrypted and safely stored in the Secure Element, the same hardware technology that makes Apple Pay private and secure.
Apple also introduced new additional privacy features, including Mail Privacy Protection, which prevents senders from knowing whether an email has been opened and masks IP addresses, preventing senders from learning a user’s location or using it to develop a profile on them.
App Privacy Report also provides an overview of how apps use location, images, camera, microphone, and contacts access provided in the last seven days, as well as which other domains are contacted.
Apple’s Whether app also gets a makeover, with better graphical representations of weather data, full-screen maps, and dynamic layouts that alter based on conditions.
Beautifully revamped animated backgrounds more precisely depict the location of the sun and precipitation, and notifications indicate when rain or snow begins and ends.
Users can now add tags in the Notes app to help categorize notes more efficiently, and mentions allow members of shared notes to inform one another of important updates. A new Activity view also displays a shared note’s recent history.
Siri has brought Announced Notifications to AirPods, allowing users to share what’s on their screen just by asking.
Also, the shared with you feature works across the system to find the articles, music, TV shows, photos, and more shared in Messages conversations, and conveniently surface them in apps like Photos, Safari, Apple News, Music, Podcasts, and the Apple TV app that makes quickly access the information in context.
Apple also adds new premium capabilities to iCloud, including Hide My Email, Secure Video support for HomeKit, a new privacy service, and iCloud Private Relay, all of which are free.
Apple will upgrade iCloud users to the new iCloud+ for free this fall, and all iCloud+ plans can be shared with others in the same way that the Family Sharing Group can.
The Apple Health app now has a new sharing tab that allows users to share their health data with family, caregivers, or a care team; Trends allows users to focus on meaningful changes in personal health metrics, and Walking Steadiness is a new metric that allows people to manage their fall risk proactively.
Customers may now talk to and receive responses from Siri on third-party devices thanks to Apple HomeKit, which now allows third-party accessory manufacturers to incorporate “Hey Siri” in their goods.
Personal Requests, Intercom, timers, and alarms will be supported by “Hey Siri”-enabled gadgets that will relay requests through HomePod or HomePod mini. Manufacturers of smart home devices can begin collaborating with Apple to integrate Siri into their products as early as today.
Apple Find My also adds additional features to help find a device that has been turned off or erased, as well as live-streaming locations for family and friends who want to share their location.
Separation Alerts are triggered when a user leaves an AirTag, an Apple device, or a Find My network accessory behind in an unknown environment, and the Find My network now supports AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. A new Find My widget on the Home Screen provides an at-a-glance view.
Apple Translate now has a new “Live Translate” feature that allows users to translate text anywhere on their iPhone, allowing conversations to flow organically across languages.
The Apple TV app now has a new row called “For All of You,” which shows a collection of shows and movies depending on the preferences of a group of individuals or an entire household, making it ideal for family movie nights.
