Tag Archives: ios 15 focus

Ten Insanely Useful New Features in iOS 15: videos of top tips

The list is long and the potential is deep: learning the most useful tricks that can help clarify the options

Above: Photo by Apple

At the bottom of this post is a list of just some of the new features, as compiled by Apple. These are the ones that they deem important enough to be considered “Key Features and Enhancements” for iOS 15.

Just to scroll through hundreds of entries and even just casually browsing the features and enhancements would be a lengthy endeavor, but to exhaustively learn to use even the top 10 or 15 most interesting features would require a real investment of time and energy.

Fortunately we have begun the process of converting the best tips and new software capabilities into how-to videos has yielded a batch of simple, quick and easy explanations to make it easier to get an iPhone iOS 15 diploma cum laude. See videos and features list below:

Here are just a few of them:

Apples Key Feature List Below:

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New features
available with iOS 15.

iOS 15 brings amazing new features that help you connect, focus, explore, and do even more with iPhone.

Key Features and Enhancements

FaceTime

SharePlay: Watch together

Bring movies and TV shows into your FaceTime calls and enjoy a rich, real-time connection with your friends while watching the same content.

SharePlay: Listen together

Share music with your friends right in your FaceTime calls.

SharePlay: Share your screen

Share your screen to bring web pages, apps, and more into your conversation on FaceTime.

SharePlay: Synced playback

Pause, rewind, fast-forward, or jump to a different scene — everyone’s playback remains in perfect sync.

SharePlay: Shared music queue

When listening together, anyone in the call can add songs to the shared queue.

SharePlay: Smart volume

Dynamically responsive volume controls automatically adjust audio so you can hear your friends even during a loud scene or climactic chorus.

SharePlay: Multiple device support

Connect over FaceTime on your iPhone while watching video on your Apple TV or listening to music on your HomePod.

SharePlay: Connect through audio, video, and text

Access your group’s Messages thread right from the FaceTime controls and choose the mode of communication that matches the moment.

Portrait mode

Inspired by the portraits you take in the Camera app, Portrait mode in FaceTime blurs your background and puts the focus on you.1

Grid view

Lets you see people in your Group FaceTime calls in the same-size tiles, and highlights the current speaker so it’s easy to know who’s talking. You’ll see up to six faces in the grid at a time.

Spatial audio

Creates a sound field that helps conversations flow as easily as they do face to face. Your friends’ voices are spread out to sound like they’re coming from the direction in which they’re positioned on the call.1

Voice Isolation mode

This microphone mode spotlights your voice by using machine learning to identify ambient noises and block them out. So a leaf blower outside or a dog barking in the next room won’t interrupt your call.1

Wide Spectrum mode

This microphone mode brings every single sound into your call. It’s ideal for when you’re taking music lessons or want your friend to hear everything that’s happening in the space you’re in.1

FaceTime links

Invite your friends into a FaceTime call using a web link you can share anywhere.

Join FaceTime on the web

Invite anyone to join you in a FaceTime call, even friends who don’t have an Apple device.2 They can join you for one-on-one and Group FaceTime calls right from their browser instantly — no login necessary.

Calendar integration

Generate a web link for a FaceTime call while creating an event in Calendar, so everyone knows exactly where to meet and when.

Mute alerts

Lets you know when you’re talking while muted. Tap the alert to quickly unmute and make sure your voice is heard.

Zoom

An optical zoom control for your back camera helps you zero in on what matters when you’re on a FaceTime call.

Messages

Shared with You

Content sent to you over Messages automatically appears in a new Shared with You section in the corresponding app, so you can enjoy it when it’s convenient for you. Shared with You will be featured in Photos, Safari, Apple News, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and the Apple TV app.

Shared with You: Pins

For content that’s especially interesting to you, you can quickly pin it in Messages, and it will be elevated in Shared with You, Messages search, and the Details view of the conversation.

Shared with You: Continue the conversation

Alongside shared content in the corresponding apps, you can see who sent it and tap the sender to view the associated messages and continue the conversation — right from the app — without going to Messages.

Shared with You: Photos

Photos sent to you over Messages automatically appear in your Photos app. Your library includes the photos you care about most — like the ones you were there for. And in For You, the broader set of shared photos will be featured in a new Shared with You section, your Memories, and your Featured Photos.

Shared with You: Safari

Interesting articles, recipes, and other links sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section on the Safari start page. Articles that can be found in Safari and Apple News conveniently appear in Shared with You in both apps — so you can enjoy them in either place.

Shared with You: Apple News

Interesting stories sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section in the Today and Following tabs in Apple News. Stories found in News and Safari appear in Shared with You in both apps — so you can enjoy them in either place.

Shared with You: Apple Music

Music sent over Messages automatically appears in the new Shared with You section of Listen Now in Apple Music.

Shared with You: Apple Podcasts

Podcast shows and episodes sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section of Listen Now in Apple Podcasts.

Shared with You: Apple TV app

Movies and shows sent over Messages automatically appear in the new Shared with You section of Watch Now in the Apple TV app.

Photo collections

Enjoy multiple photos as beautiful collections in your Messages conversations. A handful of images appears as a glanceable collage and a larger set as an elegant stack that you can swipe through. Tap to view them as a grid and easily add a Tapback or inline reply.

Easily save photos

You can quickly save photos sent to you by tapping a new save button right in the Messages conversation.

SMS filtering for Brazil

Messages features on-device intelligence that filters unwanted SMS messages, organizing them into Promotional, Transactional, and Junk folders so your inbox can stay clutter‑free.

Notification options in Messages for India and China

Turn notifications on or off for unknown senders, transactions, and promotions to determine which types of messages you want to receive notifications for.

Switch phone numbers in Messages

Switch between phone numbers in the middle of a conversation on an iPhone with Dual SIM.

Memoji

Clothing

Customize your Memoji with over 40 outfit choices to reflect your style, mood, or the season — and choose up to three different colors. Show it off using Memoji stickers with expressive body language that include the upper body.

Two different eye colors

Now you can select a different color for your left eye and your right eye.

New glasses

Customize your Memoji with three new glasses options, including heart, star, and retro shapes. Select the color of your frame and lenses.

New Memoji stickers

Nine new Memoji stickers let you send a shaka, a hand wave, a lightbulb moment, and more.

Multicolored headwear

Represent your favorite sports team or university by choosing up to three colors for headwear.

New accessibility options

Three new accessibility options let you represent yourself with cochlear implants, oxygen tubes, or a soft helmet.

Focus

Focus

Match your devices to your mindset with Focus. Automatically filter notifications based on what you’re currently doing. Turn on Do Not Disturb to switch everything off, or choose from a provided Focus for work, personal time, sleep, fitness, mindfulness, gaming, reading, or driving.

Focus setup suggestions

When you’re setting up a Focus, on‑device intelligence about your past activity suggests apps and people you want to allow notifications from.

Focus contextual suggestions

Get intelligent suggestions about selecting a Focus based on your context, using different signals like location or time of day.

Focus customization

Create a custom Focus to filter notifications based on what you’re currently doing. Choose an icon for your custom Focus and name it whatever you like.

Focus across your devices

When you use a Focus on one device, it’s automatically set on your other devices.

Matching Home Screen pages with Focus

Dedicate a page on your Home Screen to a specific Focus and organize your apps and widgets in a way that reduces temptation by making only related apps visible. The page appears when you’re in a Focus and hides everything else.

Allowed notifications

Select the notifications you want from people and apps so that they get through to you while you’re focusing.

Status

Contacts outside the notifications you allow for a Focus will be told that your notifications are silenced. Your status appears the moment someone tries to contact you in Messages, so they know not to interrupt.

Driving auto-reply

Turn on an auto-reply for your contacts when they message you while you’re using the Focus for driving. You can customize your auto-reply to say whatever you like.

Urgent messages

If someone’s status is turned on, signaling that they have notifications silenced with Focus, you can break through with an urgent message. If you’re on the receiving end, you can prevent an app or person from breaking through.

Status API

For conversations in third-party messaging apps, developers can use your status to reflect that you’ve stepped away.

Notifications

New look for notifications

Notifications have a fresh new look, with contact photos for people and larger icons for apps.

Notification summary

Receive a helpful collection of your notifications delivered daily, in the morning and evening, or scheduled at a time you choose. The summary is intelligently ordered by priority, with the most relevant notifications at the top, so you can quickly catch up.

Mute notifications

Mute any app or messaging thread temporarily, for the next hour, or for the day.

Muting suggestions

If a thread is really active and you aren’t engaging with it, you’ll get a suggestion to mute it.

Communication notifications

Notifications from people across your communication apps now feature contact photos to make them easier to identify.

Time Sensitive notifications

Time Sensitive notifications from apps are always delivered immediately, so you won’t miss out on timely alerts like a fraud alert, car waiting outside, or reminder to go pick up your kids.

Notification APIs

New notification APIs for developers allow them to automatically send Time Sensitive notifications and adopt the new look for notifications coming from people.

Maps

Interactive globe

Discover the natural beauty of Earth with a rich and interactive 3D globe, including significantly enhanced details for mountain ranges, deserts, forests, oceans, and more.1

Detailed new city experience

Explore cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London with unprecedented detail for elevation, roads, trees, buildings, landmarks, and more. Road details like turn lanes and crosswalks and 3D views for complex interchanges help you navigate.3

New driving features

A new dedicated driving map highlights details like traffic and incidents, and a route planner lets you view your upcoming journey by choosing a future departure or arrival time.

Immersive walking directions

Get where you’re going with step-by-step directions shown in augmented reality.1

Redesigned transit

The transit map has been redesigned for the new city experience and now shows key bus routes. While you’re riding transit, a new user interface makes it easy to see and interact with your route with one hand. And when you’re approaching your stop, Maps notifies you that it’s almost time to disembark.

Nearby transit

Frequent transit riders can now get one-tap access to all departures that are near them. They can even pin their favorite lines so that they always show up at the top if they are nearby.

All-new place cards

Completely redesigned place cards make it easy to find and interact with important information for businesses, explore details about cities, and learn about physical features like mountain ranges.

Editorially curated Guides Home

It’s now easier to discover great places with the all-new Guides Home, an editorially curated destination where you can find Guides for places you’ll love.

Improved search

When looking for places like restaurants, you can filter your search results by cuisine or whether they offer takeout. Or you can choose to see only places that are open right now. When you move the map while searching, Maps automatically updates your search results.

User account

Maps users can now find their most used settings all in one place, including their preferred mode of transit, reported issues, favorites, and more.

Redesigned Maps contributions

With an all-new design, it’s faster and easier to report an issue in Maps.

Safari

Bottom tab bar

The bottom tab bar puts controls right at your fingertips. Swipe left or right on the address bar to move between tabs. Or swipe up to see all your open tabs.

Tab Groups

Save and organize your tabs in the way that works best for you. Switch between Tab Groups in the tab overview.

Tab Group syncing

Tab Groups sync across devices so you have access to your tabs from anywhere.

Customizable start page

Customize the start page to make it your own. You can set a background image and select new sections to display, like Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions, and Shared with You. Customizations sync across devices, so you can have the same Safari everywhere.

New privacy protections

Intelligent Tracking Prevention now also prevents trackers from profiling you using your IP address.

HTTPS upgrade

HTTPS upgrade automatically uses HTTPS whenever available.

Pull to refresh

Refresh a web page by pulling down from the top of the page.

Web extensions on iOS

Personalize Safari on iOS with web extensions. Web extensions can add functionality and features to Safari. You can install extensions through the App Store.

Voice search

Search the web using your voice. Tap the microphone in the search field and speak your search to see suggestions or be taken directly to the page you’re looking for.

Tab overview grid view

The tab overview now displays your open tabs in a grid, making it easier to see the tabs you have open and switch between them. Tap the Tab Overview button or swipe up on the tab bar to see all your tabs.

Wallet

Home keys

Add home keys to Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch, then simply tap to unlock a compatible HomeKit door lock for seamless access to your home. Home keys live in the Wallet app with other important items like your car keys and credit cards.4

Hotel key

Hotel keys can be added to Wallet from the participating hotel provider’s app. Add your hotel key in Wallet after making a reservation, use it to check in so you can skip the lobby, and use your iPhone and Apple Watch to tap to unlock and access your room. Wallet automatically archives your pass after you check out to keep passes organized as you travel.4

Office key

For supported corporate offices, add your corporate access badge to Wallet and then use your iPhone and Apple Watch to access locations where your corporate badge is accepted. Tap to unlock your office doors and use your corporate badge in Wallet.4

Car keys

Unlock, lock, and start your car without having to take your iPhone out of your bag or pocket. Ultra Wideband provides precise spatial awareness, ensuring that you won’t be able to lock your iPhone in your car or start your vehicle when iPhone isn’t inside. Even honk your horn, preheat your car, or open your trunk using controls in Wallet when you’re a short distance from your vehicle.4

ID in Wallet

You can add your driver’s license and state ID to Wallet on your iPhone and a paired Apple Watch and present them securely at TSA checkpoints.5

Archived passes

Your expired boarding passes and event tickets will be automatically moved to a separate list so you can easily access your relevant cards and passes without having to deal with the clutter of old passes.

Multiple-pass downloads

Using Safari, you can now add multiple passes to Wallet in one action instead of manually adding one pass at a time.

Live Text6

Live Text in photos

Text is now completely interactive in all your photos, so you can use functions like copy and paste, lookup, and translate. Live Text works in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, and Safari and in live previews with Camera.

Visual Look Up

Swipe up or tap the information button on any photo to highlight recognized objects and scenes. Learn more about popular art and landmarks around the world, plants and flowers out in nature, books, and breeds of pets.

Spotlight

Rich results

Brings together all the information you’re looking for in one rich result. Available for contacts, actors, musicians, movies, and TV shows.

Photos search

Spotlight uses information from Photos to enable searching your full photo library by locations, people, scenes, or even things in the photos, like a dog or a car. Find images shared through Messages by including a contact name in your search.

Web images search

Spotlight allows you to search for images of people, animals, monuments, and more from the web.

Lock Screen access

Pull down from the Lock Screen or Notification Center to open Spotlight.

App Clips in Maps results

For businesses that support App Clips, you’ll see an action button on the Maps result in Spotlight. Action buttons include Menu, Tickets, Reservations, Appointments, Takeout, Order, Delivery, Waitlist, Showtimes, Parking, Availability, and Pricing.

Improved App Store search

Quickly install apps from the App Store without leaving Spotlight.

Photos

Memories: Apple Music

In addition to the hundreds of newly included songs, Apple Music subscribers can add any of the tens of millions of songs from the Apple Music library to enjoy on their devices.

Memories: Song suggestions

Apple Music song suggestions are personalized just for you, combining expert recommendations with your music tastes and what’s in your photos and videos. Song suggestions can even recommend songs that were popular at the time and location of the memory, songs you listened to while traveling, or a song from the artist you saw for a concert memory.

Memories: Memory mixes

Customize your memory by swiping through Memory mixes, which let you audition different songs with pacing and a Memory look to match.

Memories: Fresh new look

Memories has a fresh new look including animated cards with smart, adaptive titles, new animation and transition styles, and multiple image collages for a cinematic feel.

Memories: Memory looks

Inspired by the art of cinematography, 12 Memory looks add mood by analyzing each photo and video and applying the right contrast and color adjustment to give them a consistent look — just as the colorists at film studios do.

Memories: Interactive interface

Tap to pause, replay the last photo, skip to the next, or jump ahead, and the music keeps playing and the timing adjusts to keep the transitions on the beat. Change the song or Memory look or add or remove photos, and the adjustment happens in real time, without the need for the movie to recompile.

Memories: Browse view

View all the content from your memory in a bird’s-eye view where you can add, remove, or change the memory duration or jump ahead to another part of the memory.

Memories: New memory types

New memory types include additional international holidays, child-focused memories, trends over time, and improved pet memories, including recognizing individual dogs and cats.

Memories: Watch next

Memories suggests related memories to watch next after your memory finishes playing.

Memories: On-device song suggestions

Song suggestions are determined on device to protect your privacy.

Shared with You

The Shared with You section in the For You tab allows you to view photos and videos that have been shared with you in Messages. Photos taken when you were present also appear in All Photos and in Days, Months, and Years views and can appear in your Featured Photos and Memories, including the Photos widget. Save a photo to your library or respond to the sender in Messages.

Richer Info pane

Swipe up on a photo or tap the new info button to view information about the photo, such as the camera, lens, and shutter speed, the file size, or who sent a Shared with You photo in Messages. You can also edit the date taken or location, add a caption, and learn about items detected by Visual Look Up.

Faster iCloud Photos library initial sync

When you upgrade to a new device, iCloud Photos syncs more quickly, so you can get to your photo library faster.

Limited Photos Library improvements in third-party apps

Third-party apps can offer simpler selection workflows when you grant access to specific content in the Photos library.

People identification improvements

The People album has improved recognition for individuals.

People naming workflow

Correct naming mistakes more easily in the People album.

Selection order in the Photos image picker

The Photos image picker, including in the Messages app, now allows you to select photos in a specific order for sharing.

Suggest less often

Tap Feature Less to let Photos know you prefer to see less of a specific date, place, holiday, or person across Featured Photos, in the Photos widget, in Memories, or highlighted in the Library tab.

Health

Share health data with others

Share your health data with people important to you or those who are caring for you. Choose which data and trends to share, including heart health, activity, labs, vitals, Medical ID, cycle tracking, and more.

Share notifications with others

People you share health data with can view health alerts you receive, including high heart rate and irregular rhythm notifications. You can also share notifications for significant changes that are identified in the shared data categories, such as a steep decline in activity.

Share health trends with Messages

View trend analysis of someone’s health data that’s been shared with you and easily start a conversation with them about changes in their health by sharing a view of trend data through Messages.

Share health data with your doctor

Securely share the health data you store in the Health app with your healthcare provider. Your doctor will be able to view the data you share in a dashboard in the provider’s health records system.7

Trends

Trend analysis in the Health app lets you see at a glance how a given health metric is progressing, whether it’s increasing or decreasing over time. You can choose to receive a notification when a new trend has been detected in your health data.

Walking Steadiness

Walking Steadiness on iPhone is a first-of-its-kind health metric that can give you insight into your risk of falling. It uses custom algorithms that assess your balance, strength, and gait. Choose to receive a notification when your walking steadiness is low or very low. You can also learn how to improve your walking steadiness with curated exercises.8

Lab results enhancements

When you view your lab results through Health Records on iPhone, you can now see a description of the lab to help you understand what it means. You’ll also receive lab highlights in your health summary, including whether they are in range. You can pin labs that are most important to you for quick access.7

COVID-19 immunizations and test results

Scan a QR code from your healthcare provider and store your COVID-19 immunizations and test results securely in the Health app.

Blood glucose highlights

Receive highlights that show your blood glucose levels from a connected blood glucose monitor during sleep as well as during exercise. Interactive charts make it even easier for you to review your blood glucose data.7

Mail

Mail Privacy Protection

Mail Privacy Protection helps protect your privacy by preventing email senders from learning information about your Mail activity. If you choose to turn it on, it hides your IP address so senders can’t link it to your other online activity or determine your location. And it prevents senders from seeing if you’ve opened their email.

Privacy

App Privacy Report

A section in Settings lets you see how often apps have accessed your location, photos, camera, microphone, and contacts during the last seven days. It also shows you which apps have contacted other domains and how recently they have contacted them. This is a good complement to an app’s privacy label, so you can be sure you’re comfortable with how it’s treating your privacy.9

Secure paste

Developers can allow you to paste content from another app without having access to what you’ve copied until you want them to have access.

Share current location

Developers can let you share your current location with a customizable button in their apps. It’s an easy way for them to help you share your location just once, without further access after that session.

Limited Photos Library improvements in third‑party apps

If you’ve granted limited access to your Photos library, third‑party apps can offer simpler selection workflows when you allow access to specific content in the library.

Siri

On-device speech processing

The audio of your requests is now processed entirely on your iPhone unless you choose to share it. The power of the Apple Neural Engine enables speech recognition models with the same high quality as server-based speech recognition.10

On-device personalization

Siri speech recognition and understanding improve as you use your device. Siri learns the contacts you interact with most, new words you type, and topics you read about — all privately on your device.11

Offline support

Siri can now process many types of requests offline without an internet connection, including Timers & Alarms, Phone, Messaging, Sharing, App Launch, Control Audio Playback, and Settings.10

Fast on-device processing

Processing on device means that Siri is incredibly fast.10

Sharing

Share items onscreen like photos, web pages, content from Apple Music or Apple Podcasts, Apple News stories, Maps locations, and more. For example, just say “Send this to Vivek” and Siri will send it. If the item cannot be shared, Siri will offer to send a screenshot instead.

Refer to contacts onscreen

Siri can now use onscreen context to send a message or place a call. For example, if you’re looking at a contact in the Contacts app, a conversation with someone in Messages, or a notification of a message or missed call from someone, you can say “Message them I’m on my way” and Siri will send it to the appropriate contact.

Maintaining context

Siri is even better at maintaining context between requests, so you can conversationally refer to what you just asked. For example, after asking “Is Glacier National Park still open?” you could ask “How long does it take to get there?” and Siri will make the connection.

Announce Notifications

Siri automatically announces Time Sensitive incoming notifications on AirPods. You can also have notifications that are not Time Sensitive enabled for any app through Settings.12

Announce Messages in CarPlay

Siri can announce incoming messages in CarPlay. You can turn announcements on or off when a message is read and Siri will remember your preference. Or you can set announcements off or always on through Settings.

Control smart home accessories at a specific time

You can ask Siri to control a HomeKit accessory at a specific time. For example, say “Hey Siri, turn off my bedroom lights at 7 p.m.” or “Hey Siri, turn off all the lights when I leave.”

Neural text-to-speech voice in more languages

The latest neural text-to-speech voices are now available in more languages: Swedish (Sweden), Danish (Denmark), Norwegian (Norway), and Finnish (Finland).

Mixed English and Indic language support in Siri

Ask Siri to play your favorite song, call a friend, and more using a mix of Indian English and your native language. Nine languages are supported: Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, and Punjabi.

Apple ID

Account Recovery Contacts

Choose one or more people you trust to become an Account Recovery Contact to help you reset your password and regain access to your account.

Digital Legacy program

The Digital Legacy program allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your account and personal information in the event of your death.9

iCloud+

Beta

iCloud Private Relay

iCloud Private Relay is a service that lets you connect to virtually any network and browse with Safari in an even more secure and private way. It ensures that the traffic leaving your device is encrypted so no one can intercept and read it. Then all your requests are sent through two separate internet relays. It’s designed so that no one — including Apple — can use your IP address, location, and browsing activity to create a detailed profile about you.13

Hide My Email

Hide My Email allows you to create unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox so you can send and receive email without having to share your real email address.

HomeKit Secure Video

Connect more security cameras than ever to record, analyze, and view your footage in the Home app. iCloud will store your recordings in an end-to-end encrypted format automatically, so that only you and people you choose can view it. None of the video footage counts against your iCloud storage — it’s part of your subscription.14

Custom email domain

Personalize your iCloud Mail address with a custom domain name, and invite family members to use the same domain with their iCloud Mail accounts.

Even More

Accessibility

Explore images with VoiceOver

Explore people, objects, text, and tables within images in more detail with VoiceOver. Navigate receipts and nutrition label values intelligently in logical order. And move your finger over a photo to discover a person’s position relative to other objects within images.

VoiceOver image descriptions in Markup

Markup lets you add image descriptions that can be read by VoiceOver. Image descriptions persist even when shared and can be read in a range of supported apps on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Sound actions for Switch Control

Sound actions for Switch Control let you control iPhone with simple mouth sounds — such as a click, pop, or “ee” sound — without the need for physical buttons, switches, or complex verbal commands.

Background sounds

Background sounds play balanced, bright, or dark noise, ocean, rain, and stream sounds continuously in the background to mask unwanted environmental or external noise and help you focus, stay calm, or rest. The sounds mix into or duck under other audio and system sounds as you use your device.

Per-app settings

Customize display and text size settings on an app-by-app basis. Bold or enlarge text, increase contrast, invert colors, add color filters, and more for only the apps you want.

Import audiograms

Import paper or PDF audiograms in Settings and quickly customize Headphone Accommodations to amplify soft sounds and adjust certain frequencies based on your hearing test results.

Magnifier app

Magnifier becomes a default app on iOS, so you can use your iPhone as a magnifying glass to zoom in on objects near you.

Accessibility Memoji

Memoji represent more of your look and style with new customizations, including oxygen tubes, cochlear implants, and a soft helmet for headwear.

New Voice Control languages

Voice Control adds new language options including Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Cantonese (Hong Kong), Japanese (Japan), French (France), and German (Germany). These languages use Siri speech recognition technology for incredible accuracy as you dictate your commands.

App Library

Reorder Home Screen pages

Personalize your Home Screen by reordering pages.

App Store

In-app events

Discover timely events within apps and games — such as a game competition, a new movie premiere, or a livestreamed experience — right on the App Store. Events are discoverable in editorial curation and personalized recommendations on the Today, Games, and Apps tabs, in search results, and on the app product page.

App Store widget

See the stories, collections, and in-app events from your Today tab right on your Home Screen.

Apple Card

Advanced Fraud Protection

With Advanced Fraud Protection, Apple Card users can have a security code that changes regularly to make online Card Number transactions even more secure.

Improved card number discoverability

Now quickly view your card number by opening Apple Card in Wallet and tapping the card icon.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay new payment sheet design

A redesigned Apple Pay payment sheet lets you add new cards inline, without ever leaving the Apple Pay experience. You can now enter coupon codes into the payment sheet, helping you save more whenever you use Apple Pay. And the enhanced summary view lets you see more detailed information, such as payment items, discounts, and subtotals, giving you the confidence to shop with Apple Pay.

Augmented Reality

RealityKit 2

Apply custom shaders, add post rendering effects, and build more immersive AR experiences with RealityKit 2 — Apple’s 3D rendering, physics, and spatial audio engine built from the ground up for AR.15

Books

Search redesign

Search results come up as soon as you start typing and will correct spelling mistakes. Enjoy personalized showcases of top books, audiobooks, and genre collections within your results. Buy directly from the Search tab to get started on your book faster.

Camera

Improved Panorama captures

Panorama mode in iPhone 12 models and later has improved geometric distortion and better captures moving subjects while also reducing image noise and banding.

Zoom in QuickTake video

Swipe up or down while taking a QuickTake video to zoom in or out.16

Select from UPI payment apps in India

Choose from up to 10 of your most recently used UPI payment apps when you scan UPI QR codes using the Camera app for merchant payments.

Car Keys

Ultra Wideband support for car keys

Unlock, lock, and start your car without having to take your iPhone out of your bag or pocket. Ultra Wideband provides precise spatial awareness, ensuring that you won’t be able to lock your iPhone in your car or start your vehicle when iPhone isn’t inside.4

Remote keyless entry controls

Lock or unlock your car, honk your horn, preheat your car, or open your trunk using controls in Wallet when you’re a short distance away from your vehicle.4

CarPlay

Announce Messages in CarPlay

Siri can announce incoming messages in CarPlay. You can turn announcements on or off when a message is read and Siri will remember your preference. Or you can set announcements off or always on through Settings.

Control Center

Shazam

Shazam music recognition in Control Center now automatically saves songs you’ve recently discovered. Touch and hold the control to open your history view.

Dictionary

New dictionaries for India

Bilingual dictionaries for India include Urdu–English, Tamil–English, Telugu–English, and Gujarati–English.

New thesaurus and idiom dictionary for China mainland

There’s a new Simplified Chinese thesaurus with synonyms and antonyms as well as a dictionary of idioms.

New dictionaries for Hong Kong

Dictionaries now include a Traditional Chinese–English dictionary of Cantonese colloquialisms and a Traditional Chinese dictionary of Standard Mandarin with Cantonese pronunciations.

Find My

Live locations for family and friends

See your family and friends’ locations with continuous streaming updates. This provides an immediate sense of direction, speed, and progress when viewing people’s locations.

Locate when powered off

Locate your devices using the Find My network for up to 24 hours even after they have been turned off. This can help you locate a missing device that may have been turned off by a thief.

Locate after erase

The Find My network and Activation Lock can locate your device even after it has been erased. To help ensure that nobody is tricked into purchasing your device, the Hello screen will clearly show that your device is locked, locatable, and still yours.

Separation alerts

Enable separation alerts, and if you leave a device, AirTag, or compatible third-party item behind, your iPhone will alert you with notifications and Find My will give you directions to your item.

Find My network support for AirPods

Use the Find My network to get an approximate location of your missing AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. This will help you get within Bluetooth range so you can play a sound and locate them.*

Find My widget

Keep track of your friends and personal items right from the Home Screen with the Find My widget.

5G

Enhanced connectivity on 5G

More app and system experiences are enhanced by faster 5G connectivity, including support to back up to iCloud and restore from an iCloud backup, stream audio and video on Apple and third‑party apps, download higher‑quality Apple TV+ content, sync photos to iCloud Photos, download Apple News+ magazine issues for offline reading, and download machine learning models.17

5G preferred over Wi-Fi

iPhone 12 models and later now automatically prioritize 5G when Wi‑Fi connectivity on networks you visit occasionally is slow, or when you are connected to captive or insecure networks, so you can enjoy faster, safer connections.

Gaming

Game Center recents and groups invitations

Bring your most recent Messages friends and groups into Game Center–enabled games with the new multiplayer friend selector.

Game Center friend requests

See incoming requests in the Game Center friend request inbox. Navigate to the App Store or within your Game Center profile in a game.

Game highlights

With a press of the share button, save a video clip of up to the last 15 seconds of gameplay using game controllers like the Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller or Sony PS5 DualSense™ Wireless Controller.

Game Center widgets

The Continue Playing widget displays your recently played Game Center–enabled games across devices. The Friends Are Playing widget helps you discover the games your friends play.

Focus for gaming

Choosing the Focus for gaming lets you stay fully immersed in your game by filtering out unwanted notifications.

Home

Home keys

Using iPhone, simply tap to unlock a compatible HomeKit door lock for seamless access to your home. Home keys live in the Wallet app with other important items like your car keys and credit cards.4

Siri-enabled accessories

HomeKit developers will be able to enable Siri in their products through HomePod. You can easily and securely ask Siri to send a message, set a reminder, or broadcast an Intercom message to the family from more devices in your home.18

Package detection

Using HomeKit Secure Video, your security cameras and video doorbells can now detect and notify you when a package has arrived.14

Inclusive Language

Choose your term of address

Choose your term of address for Spanish to make your device feel more personal. In Language & Region settings you can choose how you would like to be addressed throughout the system: feminine, masculine, or neuter.

Keyboard

Magnification loupe for text cursor and selection

Select exactly the text you want with an improved cursor that magnifies the text you’re looking at.

QuickPath language expansion

New keyboard layouts

Enhanced 10-key layout includes improvements that let you quickly switch to QWERTY, access symbols more easily, and type words that share the same keys with greater accuracy by allowing you to select the exact Pinyin for more than just the first syllable in the phrase.

Keyboard Dictation

Continuous dictation

With on-device dictation, you can dictate text of any length without a timeout (previously limited to 60 seconds).20

Lock Screen

Media playback controls

Media playback controls automatically appear on the Lock Screen of your iPhone when a HomePod mini playing music is nearby.

Music21

Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking

Listeners with AirPods Pro and AirPods Max can now get an even more immersive experience of Dolby Atmos music with Apple’s dynamic head tracking.22

Shared with You

See all the music your friends have shared with you in one place, right in the Music app. And when browsing music, quickly jump back to Messages to keep the conversation going.

Photo Memories

Bring memories to life with Apple Music. Select tracks from your library or from the catalog to create the perfect soundtrack to accompany your memory and share it with your friends.

SharePlay

Use SharePlay in FaceTime to listen to music together in real time. You can pick out songs with your friends, and everyone can pause, rearrange, or skip tracks in the SharePlay queue.

News

Redesigned News feed

A new design makes it easier to browse and interact with your News feed. Information like publication dates and bylines are more prominent, and you can save and share stories right from the feed.

Shared with You

Interesting stories sent over Messages automatically appear in the Shared with You section in the Today and Following tabs in Apple News. Stories found in News and Safari appear in Shared with You in both apps.

Notes

Tags

Tags are a fast and flexible way to categorize and organize your notes. Add one or more tags by typing them directly in the note — like #activities or #cooking.

Tag Browser

The Tag Browser lets you tap any tag or combination of tags to quickly view tagged notes.

Custom Smart Folders

Custom Smart Folders automatically collect notes in one place based on tags.

Activity view

See what others have added to your shared note while you were away. The new Activity view gives a summary of updates since the last time you viewed the note and a day-to-day list of activity from each collaborator.

Highlights

Swipe right anywhere in your note to reveal details of who made changes in a shared note. View edit times and dates with highlighted text color-coded to match collaborators in the note.

Mentions

Mentions make collaboration in shared notes or folders more social, direct, and contextual. Type or handwrite an @ sign and the name of a collaborator anywhere in your note to notify them of important updates and link them back to the note.

Quick Note: Easy to access

Find and edit the Quick Notes you created on Mac and iPad in Notes.

Other

Drag and drop

With support for drag and drop across apps, you can pick up images, documents, and files from one app and drag them into another.

Passwords

Built-in authenticator

Generate verification codes needed for additional sign-in security. If a site offers two-factor authentication, you can set up verification codes under Passwords in Settings — no need to download an additional app. Once set up, verification codes autofill when you sign in to the site.

Podcasts

Personalized recommendations

Discover new podcasts about topics you’re passionate about. The best podcasts, personalized for you, grouped by topics you care about.

Shared with You

Share your favorite podcast episodes in the Messages app and find all the episodes shared with you in Listen Now.

Reminders

Tags

Tags are a fast and flexible way to organize your reminders. Add one or more tags, like #errands, to your reminders to make them easy to search and filter for across your Reminders lists.

Tag Browser

The Tag Browser lets you tap any tag or combination of tags to quickly view tagged reminders.

Custom Smart Lists

Create your own Smart Lists to automatically include reminders that matter most to you by selecting for tags, dates, times, locations, flags, and priority. Choose more than one tag (such as #gardening and #errands) and combine them with other setting filters for more specific lists.

Delete completed reminders

Access quick options to easily delete your completed reminders.

Improved natural language support

Type more advanced phrases to create reminder settings. Try something like “Jog every other morning” for a specific, recurring reminder.

Expanded suggested attributes

Choose tags, flags, priority, and people you message with a quick tap when creating a reminder.

Announce Reminders with Siri on AirPods

Siri can announce your reminders when you’re wearing AirPods or compatible Beats headphones.

Screen Time

Screen Time API

Developers can use the Screen Time API in parental controls apps to support an even wider range of tools for parents. The API provides developers with key features like core restrictions and device activity monitoring, all in a way that puts privacy first.

Downtime on demand

Turn on downtime on demand. During downtime, only phone calls and apps you choose to allow will be available. A five‑minute downtime reminder will be sent and downtime will be turned on until the end of the day.

Settings

Software Updates

iOS may now offer a choice between two software update versions in the Settings app. You can update to the latest version of iOS 15 as soon as it’s released for the latest features and most complete set of security updates. Or continue on iOS 14 and still get important security updates.

Setup Experience

Temporary iCloud storage to transfer your data

Now when you buy a new device you can use iCloud Backup to move your data to your new device, even if you’re low on storage. iCloud will grant you as much storage as you need to complete a temporary backup, free of charge, for up to three weeks. This allows you to get all your apps, data, and settings onto your device automatically.

More content transferred from Android

Move to iOS can now also move your photo albums, files and folders, and Accessibility settings so your new iPhone feels even more like your own.

App discoverability

It’s easier than ever to get the Move to iOS app. Simply scan the QR code, and you’ll be taken to the Google Play Store where you can download the app.

Shortcuts

Cross-device management

Build and manage shortcuts on iPhone, iPad, or Mac for any of your devices — shortcuts automatically sync across all of them.

Improved sharing

Share shortcuts as easily as sharing a link and download them for your own use without managing complicated security settings. If you’re the recipient, smart prompts allow you to share only the data you want.

Smarter Shortcuts editor

Next Action Suggestions help you complete the shortcut you’re building.

System Font

SF Arabic system font

The new SF Arabic system font features a refined, contemporary design that is integrated with the SF font, providing a clear, cohesive reading experience.

Translate

System‑wide translation

Translate text by selecting it and tapping Translate. Then copy, save, replace selected text, or open the translation in the Translate app. You can also translate selected text in photos.

Auto Translate

Translate speech without tapping the microphone button in a conversation. Auto Translate automatically detects when you start speaking and when you stop, so the other person can just respond.

Face to face view

Change the conversation view when chatting face to face so that each person can see the conversation from their own side.

Redesigned conversations

Start a conversation using the Conversation tab in landscape or portrait view. The redesigned conversation view has chat bubbles so you can follow along more easily.

Easier language selection

Selecting languages is now easier with convenient drop‑down menus.

TV

Shared with You

The Apple TV app now helps you see all the shows and movies your friends and family have shared with you in Messages. See them in a new dedicated section called Shared with You on Watch Now and easily keep the conversation going directly from the Apple TV app.

SharePlay

The Apple TV app works seamlessly with Messages and FaceTime so you can watch your favorite shows and movies together with friends and communicate using text, voice, or video while you watch. SharePlay lets your friends join in from their iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV — so everyone can watch together wherever and however they want.

Now works with streaming apps in Japan

The Apple TV app now works with popular streaming apps in Japan. Connect your favorite apps and use Up Next to continue where you left off from all your favorite shows and movies all in one place. Browse each service through the Apple TV app to easily discover and watch the best of what’s on TV.

Voice Memos

Playback speed

Speed up or slow down playback of Voice Memos recordings.

Skip silence

Voice Memos analyzes your recordings and automatically skips over gaps in your audio with a single tap.

Improved sharing

Share multiple Voice Memos recordings at once.

Weather

Weather maps

View full-screen weather maps showing precipitation, air quality, and temperature. Animated precipitation maps show the path of a storm and intensity of upcoming rain and snow. And air quality and temperature maps make it easy to see different conditions near you.23

Next-hour precipitation notifications

Get a notification when rain, snow, hail, or sleet is about to start or stop.24

New design

The layout adjusts to show the most important weather information for that location and includes new maps modules, an updated 10‑day forecast, and new graphical weather data.

New animated backgrounds

There are now thousands of variations of animated backgrounds that more accurately represent the sun position, clouds, and precipitation.1

Widgets

Find My widget

Keep track of your friends and personal items right from the Home Screen with the Find My widget.

Contacts widget

Stay connected to family and friends from your Home Screen with the Contacts widget. Reach them via Phone, Messages, FaceTime, Mail, or Find My. With Family Sharing, you can take additional actions, like approving purchases or Screen Time requests from your kids.

Game Center widgets

The Continue Playing widget displays your recently played Game Center–enabled games across devices. The Friends Are Playing widget helps you discover the games your friends play.

App Store widget

See the stories, collections, and in‑app events from your Today tab right on your Home Screen.

Sleep widget

See data about how you slept and review your sleep schedule with the Sleep widget.

Mail widget

Glance at your latest email and get quick access to one of your mailboxes with the Mail widget.

Default widgets

When you upgrade, you’ll see a new default layout, with widgets from the apps you use most arranged in Smart Stacks.

Intelligent widget suggestions

Suggested widgets for apps you already use can automatically appear in your Smart Stack at the right time based on your past activity. An option lets you add the widget to your stack so it’s always there when you need it.

Reorder Smart Stacks

Easily reorder the widgets in your Smart Stacks right from the Home Screen with new controls.

Live Text in iOS 15.1 is Deep – with Layers of Options and Powers

The huge iOS and iPad OS 15 update keeps yielding more tips and tricks to learn

We’ve all gotten so used to a slew of system software updates from Apple each year that we kind of just sleepwalk into them, it seems. With so many new features and new ways to use them, it would take an encyclopedia to catalog them all.

Live text is one of the best liked and most useful of this year’s mountain of changes. The ability to extract test from a photo or from the live camera feed – that can be accessed from an assortment of built-in apps, is something that may seem like a nifty trick, perhaps, at first, but when mastered in a deeper way, is something that will, one day, be hard to imagine having lived without. Like having a camera in your pocket at all times.

The interdependence and interaction between built in apps is key

In this how-to video, the second from Madison on Live Text so far, a business card is used as an example. This is a great choice as it contains a web address, a phone number, a street address and an email address, as most business cards do.

This allows the Live Text feature to get busy – and the video shows how you can, just from the camera app, extract the text from the card (or text on any visible object) and then “route” the information in the text to the best app to do what you want with it.

The, at times dramatic, examples include taking the address and sending it with a click to the maps app where a route can be generated to drive or walk there, immediately. Naturally, once the address is ingested into the maps app there are additional things that can be accessed, like the satellite view, or the 360 degrees look around feature. If it’s a business in a shopping center there is also a new “look inside” feature where hours of operation, photos and more can also be accessed.

The phone number on the card can be extracted and made “click-able” to call, copy, use to initiate a FaceTime session, add to contacts, and so forth.

Email addresses and web addresses can be instantly used to compose and send an email message or open a web page in Safari. These example only give one short peek into a single layer of what you might use LiveText for, in this case with a single business card.

Check out Lynxotic on YouTube:

A Steamroller where a flyswatter would suffice?

While, like any high tech magic, there are times when LiveText seems like a million dollar way to avoid using a pen and paper, at other times it is, well, magical, when large amounts of inaccessible text can be instantly accessed, for example.

I have taken to using to extract text from a screen shot, one that I take when a week site has text that is not clickable and can’t be copied directly (so annoying!) and that alone is a life saver when dealing with data for life’s everyday chores and information gathering.

All in all the new iOS 15 update is one that we will all have to grow with and adapt to – and while that won’t always be smooth and bug-free, the ways that life’s little tasks are made just a tiny bit easier is what will make the extra effort ultimately worthwhile.

Check out Live TEXT #1 on YouTube:


Find books on Music, Movies & Entertainment and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page

Resetting the Safari Address Bar in iOS 15.1 and other stress reducing tips

Above: Photo / Apple / Lynxotic

The biggest iOS update in years comes with a learning curve to match

According to analytics company mixpanel, the adoption of iOS 15 is much slower than iOS 14 a year ago. Speculation in the media for the cause of the reluctance is a few “bugs” that they also widely reported.

The fear of bugs is a good reason to take a major iOS upgrade at a slower pace, and this is probably a large part of the reason, for most people. On the other hand, after our review of both iOS 15 and iOS 15.1 (beta version) it is also true that this year’s free upgrades have a steeper learning curve than in the past.

Paradoxically, this is due to the fact that both the sheer number of new features, along with the ground breaking and innovative nature they have, are responsible for the cost and the benefit of taking the plunge.

The big 2 year transition to Apple Silicon is driving the pace of software progress

While iOS, iPad OS and macOS gradually converge as they grow (along with the Peripherals like Apple TV, Apple Watch, etc) the new features and upgrades to existing apps and actions are in the midst of an explosion.

Although this is great news, and the productivity improvements are, in some cases remarkable, especially if you use your apple devices for work and business, with so many new features there’s bound to be some reluctance to fight through the brain fog that can come with having to learn new unfamiliar habits.

Perhaps the best known example of this so far is the famous “address bar relocation” backlash that happened as a result of the new feature allowing the address bar to be at the top of the safari page on iPhone, or at the bottom, closer to our thumbs.

Initially there was no opt-out and it was bottom only (while it was still in the beta testing stage) and due to a rumored backlash from users this was upgraded to the current system where this “radical” new design is an option, with the more familiar previous layout also available. (see video below for details on how to switch back to the “old” style).

In the grand scheme of things going backwards is rarely better

This example of resistance to UX change, even by the “elite” beta users is a telling example of just how all pervasive the new software features are in iOS 15, and how much we will all need to learn new “tricks” to get the most out of the changes and added functionality.

It is also a long standing Apple tradition to try to make things, in both hardware and software design, that “just work” and do not require an “owners manual” or how-to guide to figure out.

While this, in the best case, is miraculous and we “get” the new features in an intuitive metaphorical heartbeat, more often recently, there is a frustrated moment of near panic when we find ourselves in a software dead-end, with no obvious back button or option menu to select from.

For this reason, it appears that the usefulness and necessity of how-to videos and guides, the very ones that Apple is in the business of making unnecessary, are more important than ever.

How-To guides get a new lease on life, thanks to Apple

Thankfully, Lynxotic, and others are on the case and we are working overtime to provide the next generation of DIY documentation, both in video and article form for iOS 15.1, macOS 12 Monterey, iPad OS 15.1 and beyond.

It’s great to be able to absorb new features and design upgrades intuitively and without the need for a separate learning project to educate ourselves enough to use the devices we are already using.

However, with the massive and increasingly more powerful potential of the new Apple Silicon fueled software upgrades, proactive learning may be something that is not just a necessary evil.

It is looking, rather, like it will be semi-permanent and highly fruitful activity we will want to add, willingly, to our overburdened existences.

At least for a couple of years during the transition to a much better future in the life of the Apple device & software ecosystem.


Find books on Music, Movies & Entertainment and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page

Live Text in iOS 15 shocks people with its utility and power

Master the ways you can use it and information gathering on iPhone will never be the same

We are all cyborgs now, to paraphrase Elon Musk when speaking about his neural network project, neuralink. The implication is that we rely so heavily on the iphone in our pocket that it has been come a literal extension on our minds and bodies, like a bionic arm.

With live text features and functions using iPhone (or iPad) in iOS 15 and 15.1 there is a new and very powerful addition to our already amazing arsenal of sensory extension. But the use of these new powers is not always obvious, and since the iPhone comes without a user manual, or rather an infinite number of them via YouTube and the web, learning just how far this feature can take you is a journey in itself.

In typical Apple fashion, if there are 10 ways to use live text then there are 100

The first thing that is not immediately apparent but becomes clearer on repeated use is that you can extract text, including most handwriting, from any existing photo. It can be a photo you took to store some text (like a menu posted behind the deli counter or a for sale sign in front of the house you might want to bid on).

Less obvious is that you do not need to take a photo at all to activate the live text recognition options. You can just point the camera at the “thing” that has text on it that you want to extract. But taking this to it’s most extreme logical conclusion Apple has made it possible to access the camera from within various apps specifically to make it less of a hassle to get the text directly from that app you plan to store it in or send it from.

Examples in the video below include the Notes app, the Messages app (formerly iMessage) and the mail app.

It will also allow you to go directly to the phone app or Apple Maps to “act” on information that you gather, from any camera access node or from the camera app – such as extracting a phone number from a business card or a billboard and then just clicking call, or sending an address from either of those examples into Apple Maps and immediate get directions.

These are just a few of the “live” uses of the feature that come up amazingly often in real life. More detailed use cases will be in both the video below and in subsequent videos on this feature, already in the works.

iOS 15.1 is filled with features that have a myriad of use cases, almost too many to list or describe

Every year when a major upgrade is sent down from on high, there is adapting to do and bugs to avoid. Sometimes it seems like the effort to learn how to use the new features is nearly on par with the gains in productivity from the better performing software. Three steps forward and two steps back, as it were.

This is not the case with iOS 15 – it’s more like 10 steps forward and only four steps back! Seriously, there are so many new features that it is completely reasonable to want to slowly adapt to the improvements, no matter how exciting they may be.

But in the case of live text, as well as the extensive upgrades to nearly all the built in apps for iPhone, iPad and Macs, the future will reward those of us that proactively evolve with the software’s upgraded abilities.

For those that use iPhones and iPads with a mac laptop or desktop, the changes coming with iOS 15.1 and macOS 12 Monterey (scheduled to go public next week) are just the beginning of an intense evolution toward what we have been calling the “Apple OS ecosystem singularity”.

The added power from improved hardware in all Apple devices, along with the ever converging and evolving ability to interact with one another via software upgrades, is going to make the world feel like a very different (better?) place a year or two from now.

It’s only a question of if we, with our non-bionic brains and bodies, can adapt to the new powers that come our way fast enough to gain from them before the next wave of changes hits us with new challenges of adaptation.

Apple Articles:


Find books on Music, Movies & Entertainment and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page

How to Reset Safari in iOS 15 and other stress reducing tips

Above: Photo / Apple / Lynxotic

The biggest iOS update in years comes with a learning curve to match

According to analytics company mixpanel, the adoption of iOS 15 is much slower than iOS 14 a year ago. Speculation in the media for the cause of the reluctance is a few “bugs” that they also widely reported.

The fear of bugs is a good reason to take a major iOS upgrade at a slower pace, and this is probably a large part of the reason, for most people. On the other hand, after our review of both iOS 15 and iOS 15.1 (beta version) it is also true that this year’s free upgrades have a steeper learning curve than in the past.

Paradoxically, this is due to the fact that both the sheer number of new features, along with the ground breaking and innovative nature they have, are responsible for the cost and the benefit of taking the plunge.

The big 2 year transition to Apple Silicon is driving the pace of software progress

While iOS, iPad OS and macOS gradually converge as they grow (along with the Peripherals like Apple TV, Apple Watch, etc) the new features and upgrades to existing apps and actions are in the midst of an explosion.

Although this is great news, and the productivity improvements are, in some cases remarkable, especially if you use your apple devices for work and business, with so many new features there’s bound to be some reluctance to fight through the brain fog that can come with having to learn new unfamiliar habits.

Perhaps the best known example of this so far is the famous “address bar relocation” backlash that happened as a result of the new feature allowing the address bar to be at the top of the safari page on iPhone, or at the bottom, closer to our thumbs.

Initially there was no opt-out and it was bottom only (while it was still in the beta testing stage) and due to a rumored backlash from users this was upgraded to the current system where this “radical” new design is an option, with the more familiar previous layout also available. (see video below for details on how to switch back to the “old” style).

In the grand scheme of things going backwards is rarely better

This example of resistance to UX change, even by the “elite” beta users is a telling example of just how all pervasive the new software features are in iOS 15, and how much we will all need to learn new “tricks” to get the most out of the changes and added functionality.

It is also a long standing Apple tradition to try to make things, in both hardware and software design, that “just work” and do not require an “owners manual” or how-to guide to figure out.

While this, in the best case, is miraculous and we “get” the new features in an intuitive metaphorical heartbeat, more often recently, there is a frustrated moment of near panic when we find ourselves in a software dead-end, with no obvious back button or option menu to select from.

For this reason, it appears that the usefulness and necessity of how-to videos and guides, the very ones that Apple is in the business of making unnecessary, are more important than ever.

How-To guides get a new lease on life, thanks to Apple

Thankfully, Lynxotic, and others are on the case and we are working overtime to provide the next generation of DIY documentation, both in video and article form for iOS 15.1, macOS 12 Monterey, iPad OS 15.1 and beyond.

It’s great to be able to absorb new features and design upgrades intuitively and without the need for a separate learning project to educate ourselves enough to use the devices we are already using.

However, with the massive and increasingly more powerful potential of the new Apple Silicon fueled software upgrades, proactive learning may be something that is not just a necessary evil.

It is looking, rather, like it will be semi-permanent and highly fruitful activity we will want to add, willingly, to our overburdened existences.

At least for a couple of years during the transition to a much better future in the life of the Apple device & software ecosystem.


Find books on Music, Movies & Entertainment and many other topics at our sister site: Cherrybooks on Bookshop.org

Enjoy Lynxotic at Apple News on your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page

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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