Tag Archives: ios 15 beta

Live Mode in iOS 15.1 Find My app is Whack! See Video Now

With live view in Find My and ETA in Maps, iOS 15 is on a whole new level with keeping track of traveling significant others

Find My App (left) in iOS 15

In an update that is “just there” there has been an upgrade to the performance of the oft overlooked Find My app for iOS 15. In case you don’t use it, it’s the app that will help you find your iPhone or other iCloud connected device, as well as AirTags (or third-party geolocation products) and the devices they are attached to.

When you are following a person, generally with an iPhone or iPad (though, again the above additions and exceptions apply) you can click on that person’s name or icon (once they’ve allowed you to see their location (by turning on share my location in the FindMy app on their iPhone), in Find My and the their current location will show on the screen.

This is especially helpful, of course, if they are driving home from work, or on a road trip and you would like to follow along to see when they arrive, as examples. This level of intimate knowledge may not be necessary or appropriate for every contact in your address book (!) but between significant others (one obvious example) it can be incredibly useful.

One caveat, however, is that since this is a “stealth” update that “just works” your actual results may not be the same. Our video example was accomplished with two connected iPhone 13 Pro Max phones, both having 5G connectivity. Your results may vary.

With live view and in conjunction with the Maps app location tracking is now in a whole new universe

The update, which has been in a gradual roll-out since the public release of iOS 15 and upgraded in iOS 15.1 is a live feature where you can literally see the person (the icon or photo they have set) as they are driving, or even walking, and follow along with a moving map that updates in real time.

If used, for example while driving and using maps for the route, the map will update incrementally, showing the progress with a highlighted route all the way to the destination, while in FindMy there will be a second by millisecond live map showing the actual location as it changes. See the video above for the full effect!

The Maps app will also send notices and updates with an Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) and will re-notify if the arrival time is significantly sooner or later (the exact amount that is deemed enough of a change to trigger a notification is unclear.

Just plain fun to watch, but also useful if the movements of a loved on are critical

There is also a secret, exclusive tip that we can divulge, which we stumbled on through trial and error. If you are watching someone driving, say on a freeway with little traffic, and they are moving smoothly along, but you want to see them at full speed, you can do the following:

  1. Use a two-finger pinch-and-zoom gesture 3-4 times – the 3 or 4th gesture will zoom in to-the-max
  2. Repeat #1 to maintain zoomed in status
  3. Allow Find My live view to re-set to the standard zoom (medium)
  4. Repeat as desired

Using this technique the person / car will be seen in an extreme close-up of the road (highway, freeway, etc.) and will appear to be traveling at the actual speed they currently are in relation to the zoom.

Think of it like a virtual drone that is following the car / person and then dives in close and has to keep pace to keep the subject in frame. Crazy.

In zoomed in mode it is also possible to do a one-finger-swipe in the direction of movement in order to keep the car / person in view (rather than letting them drive starlight off the edge of the iPhone screen).

The future is out there, and already here on your phone (with enough bandwidth and other possible requirements).

Increasing this feature to this degree of intensely detailed functionality may not be much more than a basic useful feature on overdrive, but applications for the future, for example the same feature but with satellite imagery, or maybe a simulated live view, could be a metaverse standard communication activity. We might all need to get used to having the ability to stay literally connected (in a virtual way) even as we hurtle through space. In a self-driving Apple Car, perhaps?



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In iOS 15.1 you’ll be able to put Proof of Vaccination ID into your Wallet

Above: Photo Credit / Apple

When the iOS 15.1 update drops for the general public (likely soon as it’s already been seeded to beta testers since Monday) it will feature the ability to add your proof of vaccination status to the Health app and then create a vaccination ID card in Apple Wallet.

Many businesses, venues, restaurants, and more are requiring proof of vaccination for entry. For example California is the first state where proof of COVID vaccination or negative test for indoor events over 1,000 people.

The new feature in iOS 15.1 is made possible by the support Smart Health Cards which are valid for California, Louisiana, New York, Virginia, Hawaii, and some Maryland counties, as do Walmart, Sam’s Club, and CVS Health.

Above: ID in iPhone Wallet

Therefore, using this system you would be able to to look up their information in state databases, if you are in any of the states listed above, but if you were vaccinated through at Walmart or CVS it will also be feasible to add your information to the Health and Wallet.

Once you have gone to the web site for your state, for example in California it would be found at https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov where you can type in personal information such as name and date of birth to get access to your records and status.

Though iOS 15 already has the ability to download the information to your Health app, and you can do this today, the last step, adding an ID to your wallet from the health app will not be possible until you have upgraded to iOS 15.1.

The record is locked to your name and can only be used by you. There will be a QR code that you will first download to your health app on the iPhone, then, once it is in the health app there will be a prompt to allow you to “add to wallet”. By clicking that link a vaccination ID car, with the QR code will be generated and added to your wallet.

iOS 15.1 is likely to be available under > General > software update in your phone’s Settings app within days. (Our guess is by Monday, September 27, 2021)

  1. Tap the download link on your iPhone or iPod touch.
  2. Tap Add to Health to add the record to the Health app.
  3. Tap Done.

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iPhone 13, iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey Unveiling now Hours Away

The new Os’s are free and will be adopted fast if recent past is a guide

Apple has had a fairly predictable cycle for new iPhone releases and the yearly, free, software upgrades. If you use your apple devices for business or WFH like many, this ritual can be excruciating since you already know you will have to get your hands on the best new gadgets.

Nevertheless, with sky high prices for the best devices not going away, choosing when exactly to upgrade which devices can be a tricky process requiring skill, cunning and some serious bucks.

A lot of us see the iphone top-of-the-line product as a must upgrade either every cycle or every-other year if budgets are tight (and some years do seem like “off” years).

For iPads, various mac machines, Apple Watch, Apple TV and so on, there is more leeway and potential confusion. And for mac, there are times (like now!) when we all know the next iteration of various models (macbook Pro, mac mini, mac pro, iMac 27” +) are on the way but there is the unknown factor of what to pick and when-the-heck it can be ordered and shipped.

We all know there is a chip shortage, and with the Apple Silicon M1 potentially being upgraded for a slew of machines to the M1X, M2 or M2X as various rumors have discussed, the timeline is very uncertain.

The best things in life are free, software edition

All this leads us to the good, even very good, if obvious, news. iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey have been in public beta for some time now and, if history is a guide in this case, should be released publicly soon after the Apple Fall Event announcements on September 14th, regardless of what hardware is coming down the pike, or in what particular order.

Generally the hard date for the new OS systems to be public available is the date that any new hardware, always optimized for the new OS, hits the street and becomes deliverable.

Sometimes certain iPhone models, such as the very high end Pro Max, etc., are delayed, but whichever model ships first that device should also be shipped with the Golden Master of the new operating system, iOS 15 in this case.

This is not 100% guaranteed, as nothing in like and Apple releases is 100%, but this looks extremely likely. Therefore we could and should see the new iOS and macOS going live publicly soon, possibly this week.

What to watch our for and expect, besides great new features and work-flows

Often in the past, a “Golden Master” release has been followed within a day or two with an update patching issues that arise once a mass “test” has revealed flaws and weaknesses in the initial public version.

This is nothing to worry about, as per past experiences, but if you are someone that gets easily annoyed by constantly updating, you could wait a week or so to bypass these intermediate “patch fix” versions.

Also, since with Apple, as opposed to Android, the adoption rate for people to upgrade quickly to the newest versions of the OS is extremely high there will be a sea change in the air. That means that within a few weeks up to a billion devices, or more, could be running the newest OS systems across all the various devices in the wild.

This is great news, because some of the best features in all the new software upgrades function best with various devices within an iCloud account or family group and, in some cases, between two devices anywhere interacting, as long as they both have the newest systems.

The best new features are only going to get better after the launch, more so even than usual; here’s why

During our tests of the various systems, first in the developer-only phase and then in the more recent public beta, one thing was a small annoyance that, after the full launch, will instead become a huge plus.

When operating within a company, for example, and in some cases with multiple devices on the same iCloud account, there have been a lot of glitches related to how the Big Sur devices interact with the macOS Monterey devices, or an iPhone with iOS 14 and one with iOS 15 function in tandem.

This is because, more so than in any previous upgrade cycle, this system focuses on virtually every built in app that is bundled with the OS, like photos, mail, messages, notes, FaceTime, reminders, calendar, contacts, voice memos, etc, etc, etc.

There are so many, with so many upgrades it is hard to make a list, as above, of what they are all called and what they do. In the best Apple fashion, they “just work” and we tend to take them for granted.

In case you ever wanted to know the complete list (for iOS 15) we have added it at the bottom of this post.

These apps are pretty much all getting big upgrades in iOS 15, along with a similar situation happening for iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey, TVOS, WatchOS etc. The difference this time is that they are being actively designed to become more and more interoperable and interactive between devices and system software types.

The big picture is extreme big, much wild, and will be quite a ride…

This is a huge push that will go on for years. We call it the Apple System Singularity. And it is a big deal!

It will, ultimately, create a kind of seamless clarity of function between your devices, particularly the mobile or semi-mobil variety, such as iPhones and iPads, and the slightly less mobile (laptops, desktops) of the macOS variety.

Meaning that the ultimate transition that is being made possible through the switch to Apple Silicon and that a whole new concept philosophy and structure of the device hardware and software. And it’s all being created via the interaction and potential synergies coming available and these are being maximized during the process.

All of this is not to mention machine learning, neural networks, A.I. and all the interactive hardware and software upgrades that are now nearly continuous and happening without a user to intervene.

An example of this is in the photos app where various library functions, a.i. object and facial recognition, search cataloguing, etc. are continuous while you sleep. Another example is how iCloud manages data and storage across your devices regardless of geography or proximity 24/7/365.

Welcome to the first phase of this with the first devices incorporating Apple Silicon across all product lines being harmonized more and more via, guess what, the free system upgrades.

These upgrades will yield maximum fruit in the short term after the world wide population of devices adopts the new systems, and longer term, as more and more devices out of the total are already using and maximizing performance and features by having Apple Silicon and other associated hardware & software upgrades under the hood.

Rest assured, while this sounds complicated, and there will be glitches, the transition starting this fall, and over the life of iOS15, iPadOS15 and macOS Monterey (around a year as usual!) will be one of continuous change, improvement and discovery, unlike any you have seen in the history of Apple.

App Name | Bundle ID

Activity | com.apple.Fitness
App Store | com.apple.AppStore
Apple Store | com.apple.store.Jolly
Books | com.apple.iBooks
Calculator | com.apple.calculator
Calendar | com.apple.mobilecal
Camera | com.apple.camera
Clips | com.apple.clips
Clock | com.apple.mobiletimer
Compass | com.apple.compass
Contacts | com.apple.MobileAddressBook
FaceTime | com.apple.facetime
Files | com.apple.DocumentsApp
Find My | com.apple.findmy
GarageBand | com.apple.mobilegarageband
Health | com.apple.Health
Home | com.apple.Home
iCloud Drive| com.apple.iCloudDriveApp
iMovie | com.apple.iMovie
iTunes Store| com.apple.MobileStore
iTunes U | com.apple.itunesu
Magnifier | com.apple.Magnifier
Mail | com.apple.mobilemail
Maps | com.apple.Maps
Messages | com.apple.MobileSMS
Measure | com.apple.measure
Music | com.apple.Music
News | com.apple.news
Notes | com.apple.mobilenotes
Phone | com.apple.mobilephone
Photos | com.apple.mobileslideshow
Photo Booth | com.apple.Photo-Booth
Podcasts | com.apple.podcasts
Reminders | com.apple.reminders
Safari | com.apple.mobilesafari
Settings | com.apple.Preferences
Shortcuts | com.apple.shortcuts
Stocks | com.apple.stocks
Tips | com.apple.tips
Translate | com.apple.Translate
TV | com.apple.tv
Videos | com.apple.videos
Voice Memos | com.apple.VoiceMemos
Wallet | com.apple.Passbook
Watch | com.apple.Bridge
Weather | com.apple.weather


Latest Lynxotic Apple stories


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Breaking: Apple iOS 15 Beta 8 released ahead of Launch

Above: Photo / Apple

Version rapidly approaches Golden Master ahead of possible September iPhone 13 release event

Today those participating in the iOS 15 public beta program are able to update (again), this time to beta 8. This beta process is a “live” test of all the new features, indeed when participating in the program many features change and evolve and, of course, bugs are not infrequent.

As we get nearer and nearer to the launch of this year’s iPhone model, apparently to be dubbed “iPhone 13” the iOS 15 beta versions become more stable and eventually, usually coinciding with the event where the new iPhone model is announced, the Golden Master is reached – which becomes the first public release version.

The first iteration of the public release is often short lived, as the beta test phase almost never gets rid of all the bugs and various features and security patches and other urgent updates are often needed.

For this reason the 2nd or third public release is often the one many experts recommend for those upgrading.

Naturally, though the new phone models will be shipped with iOS 15 already installed, once the phones actually ship of course, which can vary in delay from the launch / announcement at the upcoming September event.

Nevertheless, most older iPhones will benefit from this upgrade, more than a little, and once the release is public a free upgrade will be available to the more than 1 billion users already in possession of an iPhone from previous releases.

Stats from backlinko.com:

  • More than 1 billion consumers currently use iPhones.
  • Since its initial launch, more than 1.9 billion iPhones have been sold.
  • Apple shipped 206.1 million iPhones in 2020.
  • iPhones have a 65% share of smartphone sales in the US.
  • 6 of the top 10 most sold smartphone models in January 2021 were designed by Apple.

Related Video:

Related posts:


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Breaking: Apple iOS 15 Beta 7 released ahead of Launch

Above: Photo / Apple

Version rapidly approaches Golden Master ahead of possible September iPhone 13 release event

Today those participating in the iOS 15 public beta program are able to update (again), this time to beta 7. This beta process is a “live” test of all the new features, indeed when participating in the program many features change and evolve and, of course, bugs are not infrequent.

As we get nearer and nearer to the launch of this year’s iPhone model, apparently to be dubbed “iPhone 13” the iOS 15 beta versions become more stable and eventually, usually coinciding with the event where the new iPhone model is announced, the Golden Master is reached – which becomes the first public release version.

The first iteration of the public release is often short lived, as the beta test phase almost never gets rid of all the bugs and various features and security patches and other urgent updates are often needed.

For this reason the 2nd or third public release is often the one many experts recommend for those upgrading.

Naturally, though the new phone models will be shipped with iOS 15 already installed, once the phones actually ship of course, which can vary in delay from the launch / announcement at the upcoming September event.

Nevertheless, most older iPhones will benefit from this upgrade, more than a little, and once the release is public a free upgrade will be available to the more than 1 billion users already in possession of an iPhone from previous releases.

Stats from backlinko.com:

  • More than 1 billion consumers currently use iPhones.
  • Since its initial launch, more than 1.9 billion iPhones have been sold.
  • Apple shipped 206.1 million iPhones in 2020.
  • iPhones have a 65% share of smartphone sales in the US.
  • 6 of the top 10 most sold smartphone models in January 2021 were designed by Apple.

Related posts:


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iOS 15: It’s not just about the new Weather Animations, there’s a lot more

For what seems like a long time many of us have been living inside our iPhone, immersed in a metaverse of our digital lives.

And the deeper into Apple’s walled garden we are submerged, the more monumental the yearly OS upgrades become. That’s because, when you are in a digital life, we’ll, lots of things are worse than the “real” world. The sensual experience is built of fractions of the full sensory bandwidth of life.

But there’s one thing about the metaverse, the fact that, since it’s artificial and human engineered, it can, and does, improve.

In the case of Apple’s universe, the yearly upgrades and constant, sometimes nearly imperceptible changes in a thousand different parameters add together, over time, and suddenly, the world comes alive with vibrant, super sensual satisfaction …

Sure, the weather animations just got sent to a 3rd convolution level of better-ness, that’s true. But add this to all the thousands of better feelings and deeper interactions with yourself and the spirit of ourselves, and you will find: the future

Photo credit: Apple

WWDC 2021 was a pure upgrade fest with a lot of detail to sift through

We are in the middle of our ongoing coverage of the Apple event and all that was revealed. There are so many features and so many important details and interdependent uses for this features that it can be more easily digested in bites.

What we are witnessing is the growing interdependence and interoperability of iOS 15, iPad OS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey, particularly with the built in apple apps they all have built in.

Safari, though still with slight variations between the three OSs, is becoming more powerful everywhere, FaceTime got a huge upgrade in the new systems, and utilities connected to iCloud such as the Find My network are also extensively revamped.

While some find the sheer width and breath of Apple’s hardware, software and services conceptually off-putting, it is, at this early stage of the monumental changes that are being wrought by Apple Silicon, a wonder to behold how all the various products and underlying software for those products is evolving in a way that is constant and deep.

As put forth in articles published by Lynxotic years ago the changes that are underway are vast and were conceived and put into motion based on Steve Jobs’ core concepts for the future of Apple many years ago. And Tim Cook and the rest of Apple have not deviated from that vision, in fact are reaping benefits on behalf of users that could barely be imagined a decade ago.

One bite we’ve started to delve into is the dual and interdependent features from macOS Monterey; Airplay to Mac and Universal control. It turns out that compete interoperability for Airplay to Mac is still in the future, the list of the various models and vintages that it functions on is as follows:

  • 2018 or later MacBook Pro or MacBook Air
  • a 2019 or later iMac or Mac Pro
  • an iMac Pro
  • the 2020 Mac mini

As you can see this is a fairly exclusive list. What is most conspicuously missing is the possibility to use and older mac, such as a 2018 27” 5k iMac to take advantage of the beautiful screen.

Universal Control, meanwhile appears to work with most devices that run on iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey. It allows you to a single mouse and keyboard and flow from ‌iPad‌ to Mac and back, pretty much as you would imagine using the cursor and keyboard for either, and, thankfully there is no setup required.

FaceTime just got a Facelift

FaceTime’s big jump ahead is somewhat more complex since the iPhone, iPad (various models of both) and the mac each have a UX and screen size that varies, as well as different computing advantages. One interesting note on the various technical enhancements, pretty much across the board from what was announced at WWDC 2021, M1 chips and Apple Silicon based devices get the biggest boost from all the new capabilities.

Rather than being a marketing ploy, at least so far there’s no evidence of that kind of approach, this is an organic by product of the underlying “big picture” goal – to unify the experience and potential of the three device categories even as they cross pollinate one-another.

All the various, and gradually hard to list, OS flavors, macOS 12 Monterey, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, watchOS 8 and all the various accessories that benefit from the upgrades such as AirPods pro spatial audio, HomePod mini liaison with Apple TV 4k and tvOS 15, as well as SharePlay where FaceTime can allow multiple users to share streaming audio or video content for a synchronized experience.

Please stay tuned for the many articles to come that will further dive into the changes and improvements that are on the way, free of charge, for Apple users with this massive roll-out that will culminate in fall 2021.

As per Apple:

Redesigned Weather and Notes Apps

Weather includes more graphical displays of weather data, full-screen maps, and dynamic layouts that change based on conditions. Beautifully redesigned animated backgrounds more accurately reflect the sun’s position and precipitation, and notifications highlight when rain or snow starts and stops. Video animation below:

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/videos/apple-iphone12pro-ios15-weather-app/large_2x.mp4

Notes adds user-created tags that make it easy to quickly categorize notes, and mentions allow members of shared notes to notify one another of important updates. An all-new Activity view shows the recent history of a shared note.

Notes adds user-created tags that make it easy to quickly categorize notes in line with relevant content:

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Apple Announces WWDC21: iPhone, iPad and OS Updates Coming

Above: Photo / Apple

As big a splash as last year? Predictions are affirmative

Apple revealed its schedule for this year’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). To take place in an all online format on June 7th through 11th there will be a large audience due to the unlimited size of the venue (virtual) and, as was the case last year, the software and app developers event will also be an opportunity for Apple to highlight plans for new hardware designs. 

As is customary, of course, the keynote address will thoroughly update the progress on the upcoming OS versions; iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8 and tvOS 15. Rumored expectations of hardware such as the highly anticipated iPad Pro, possibly a new MacBook Pro, new iMacs and the new Apple TV that is overdue and oft talked about. 

Any or all of these, as yet unconfirmed, predictions could be upended by a prior release date, the iPad Pro for one, is rumored to be likely to get an announcement before June.

Above: Photo / Apple

The bulk of the conference is devoted to the software and if the upgrades are anywhere near as substantive as they were in 2020 that will be a lot to dive into. 


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