During the WWDC virtual keynote, Apple shared the first details on iOS 15, the next major version of iOS to be released later this year. This year’s release consists of four pillars: stay connected, focus without distraction, use intelligence and explore the world.
“For many of us, our iPhones have become essential,” said Craig Federighi, SVP of Software Engineering. “Our new version is iOS 15. It’s packed with features that tailor and complement the iOS experience to your iPhone usage, whether it’s keeping in touch with those who matter most to you, the room to concentrate without distraction, or to use intelligence. Discover the information you need or explore the world around you. “
FaceTime gets a number of new features
Apple adds spatial audio to FaceTime. Now the votes will be distributed based on your friends’ position on the screen. For example, when someone shows up on the left, it sounds to your ears like they’re on the left. In other FaceTime messages, iOS now detects background noise and tries to suppress it so you can more easily hear your friends and family members. This is an optional feature, which means you can turn it off in case you’re showing a concert while on a FaceTime call, for example.
Another FaceTime function is the “portrait mode”. Behind this term, Apple means that it can automatically blur the background, like with photos in ‘portrait mode’. If you’d like to use FaceTime for work meetings, you can now generate a FaceTime link and add it to a calendar invitation. FaceTime also works in a web browser, which means people without an Apple device can join a FaceTime call. All of these features make FaceTime more competitive with other video calling services like Zoom and Google Meet.
FaceTime is a big focus as Apple is also introducing SharePlay. With this function you can listen to a music album together. In Apple Music, press play and the music will start for everyone on the call. The queue is shared with everyone else, meaning anyone can add songs, skip to the next track, etc.
You can also use SharePlay to watch movies and TV shows together. Someone on the call starts a video and it starts on your friend’s phone or tablet. It’s also compatible with AirPlay, picture-in-picture, and anything else you’d expect from videos on iOS.
This is not only compatible with videos in the Apple TV app. Apple said there will be an API to make videos compatible with SharePlay. Partners include Disney +, Hulu, HBO Max, Twitch, TikTok, and more. Here is a screenshot of the first partners:
Now let’s switch to news. The app is getting better and better integrated with other Apple apps like Messages, Photos, and Music. Items shared through messages will appear in these apps. In other words, Messages (and iMessage) acts as a social layer on top of Apple’s apps.
A new notification summary
Apple will use on-device intelligence to create summaries of your notifications. Instead of being sorted by apps and date, they are sorted by priority. For example, notifications from friends are shown closer to the top.
When you mute notifications, your iMessage contacts will see that you have “Do Not Disturb” turned on. It works a bit like Do Not Disturb in Slack. But there are new attitudes. Apple calls this Focus Mode. You can choose apps and people you want to receive notifications from, and change your focus based on what you’re doing.
For example, when you’re at work, you can mute personal apps and personal calls and messages. If it’s the weekend, you can mute your work email. Your settings will be synced through your iCloud account if you have multiple Apple devices. And it even affects your home screen by showing and hiding apps and widgets.
New intelligent functions
Apple will search your photos for text. This feature called Live Text allows you to highlight, copy, and paste text in photos. It could also be a nice accessibility feature. iOS will use this information for Spotlight. You can search for text in your photos right in Spotlight. These functions are processed directly on the device.
With iOS 15, reminders are upgraded. “These new memories are built up in no time. They’re interactive and alive, ”Chelsea Burnette, Senior Manager, Photos Engineering. Memories are interactive movies that you can watch in the Photos app. You can now tap your finger to pause the movie. While music is still playing in the background, your photo montage will resume when you lift your finger.
You can now search for a specific song in order to pair it with a memory. It will be interesting to see in detail what’s new for the Photos app.
Wallet, weather and maps
After rounding up all the features of Apple Wallet, the company announced that you can scan IDs and store them in Wallet. It will be available in participating states, so it will be a slow adoption. If a government service wants to request information from your ID, they can share some data with that service right on your iPhone.
When it comes to the weather app, it has been updated to include many of the features that were available in Dark Sky, a popular weather app acquired by Apple. Expect a new design and more data.phone.
As for Apple Maps, the new map data has been rolled out in several countries and Apple is still rolling it out in Europe. Apple added a lot of details in some areas, such as San Francisco. You can see bus and taxi lanes, zebra crossings, bike lanes, etc. On motorways, you can see complex intersections in 3D. All of this comes to Car Play later this year as well.
With Transit, users can pin their favorite lines and view information on their Apple Watch. When you are on a subway or a bus, you can see your location in real time. You can also get directions in augmented reality by holding your phone in front of you.
AirPods software update
Apple is also announcing a number of new features for users who also have AirPods. There is a new conversation mode that turns it into a smart hearing aid to increase conversation volume. You’ll also get more notifications if you’ve turned on the “Announce notifications” setting. You can tweak these settings to limit them to specific apps and change them depending on the focus mode.
You can also use the Find My app to find your AirPods with audio notifications, even if they’re in the case. Spatial audio comes with an M1 chip on Apple TV and Macs. As announced a few weeks ago, Spatial Audio for Apple Music is just starting.
As you can see, iOS 15 is packed with new features. Apple is likely to announce a developer beta today with an initial release. A public beta should follow suite. You can expect beta updates all summer and a final release in September.