Everything you need to know about iOS 15
A global consumer desire, iPhones stand out due to their high level of quality compared to the competition. With increasingly complete versions and updates of the iOS system, each new release drives the public crazy with new features.
After all, what can still be improved in such a complete system?
In June 2021, Apple introduced the latest version of its operating system, iOS 15, which features:
- New FaceTime call features;
- Tools to reduce distractions;
- A new notifications experience;
- Additional privacy features;
- Complete redesigns for Safari;
- Weather and Maps;
- And much more.
New Features in iOS 15
Among the main new features of iOS 15 are:
Staying Focused on Your Activities
To reduce distraction, a notification summary gathers notifications for delivery at an appropriate time and organizes notifications by priority.
Focus is a new feature that can filter notifications and apps based on what the user wants to focus on at a given time. When a user's focus is blocking incoming notifications, their status will be displayed in messages.
iOS suggests a focus for different occasions, such as work hours or sleep, using on-device intelligence, but users can also create a custom focus. When focus is set on one device, it automatically applies to other Apple devices.
Safari Navigation
Safari features a completely new design. The controls are now easier to reach with one hand and give more focus to the content of a web page.
There is a new compact tab bar that floats at the bottom of the screen so users can swipe between tabs and easily access them at any time across all devices. There is also a customizable homepage and web extensions for the first time.
The Maps app now offers a new 3D view in cities with significantly enhanced details, showing buildings, crosswalks, bike lanes, and more.
There is also a new city driving experience with enhanced public transit features such as pinned favorite lines, departure notifications, and walking routes.
Video Calls
iOS 15 brings voice isolation and spatial audio to FaceTime calls so voices sound as if they are coming from where the person is located on the screen.
FaceTime also supports Portrait mode and offers a new grid view to see more faces at once.
SharePlay is a new feature that allows users to share media together in sync during a FaceTime call. Users can also generate shareable links for a scheduled FaceTime call, which can also be opened on Android and Windows devices.
Searches and Location
Live Text is a new feature that uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in a photo that users can search, highlight, and copy.
Spotlight can now search photos by location, people, scenes, objects, and text, and also offers web image searches and richer results for actors, musicians, TV shows, and movies.
Privacy
iOS 15 also introduces new privacy measures, such as processing Siri requests directly on the iPhone, which has the added benefit of better response time, and Mail Privacy Protection to prevent senders from knowing if an email has been opened.
There is also a new privacy report feature that shows how often apps use the permissions granted to them.
Others
There are also dozens of tweaks and changes for other apps, such as user-created tags, mentions, and an activity view in the Notes app, Trends, Walking Steadiness, and a new sharing tab in the Health app.
How to Download and Install iOS 15
iOS 15 is compatible with the iPhone 6S and later, meaning it works on all devices that can run iOS 14. Currently, iOS 15 is available only as a developer preview beta version.
Registered developers can download the iOS 15 beta profile from the Apple Developer Center, and once the profile is installed, beta updates will be available over the air.
Throughout the iOS 15 testing period, which will last several months, Apple will refine the new features of the operating system and fix bugs before its release. Developers will also be able to use this beta testing period to support the new operating system and build new iOS 15 features into their apps.