The release of iOS 15 was set to be a big event for mobile operating systems. Yet there isn’t a groundbreaking feature or overarching theme this year that sets this release apart. Apple has focused on quality of life updates as well as new features for its own apps.
The result is a solid update that won’t be controversial. Some people will use the new Focus feature. You will spend a lot of time customizing your phone to make it as personal as possible. Other people will simply miss or reject the new features.
This year’s update is also a little different in that you don’t have to update to iOS 15. If you’re fine with iOS 14, Apple won’t be forcing you to switch to iOS 15. You will continue to receive security patches. Some people will simply reject iOS 15 entirely.
It seems like a minor change, but it actually says a lot about the current state of iOS. Apple regards iOS as a mature platform. Just as you don’t have to update your Mac to the latest version of macOS if you don’t want to, you can now update at your own pace.
iOS should also be viewed as a mature platform for app developers. IOS 15 adoption will be slower than usual as users don’t necessarily upgrade to iOS 15 right away. Apps should work longer on older versions of iOS.
Of course, when users purchase a new iPhone, they will “upgrade” to a new version of iOS and replace their old iPhone. But Apple did, and people who pre-ordered the iPhone 13 will get iOS 15.
Credit: Apple
Focus on you instead of your phone
One of the biggest changes in iOS 15 is the ability to change your focus from the control center. It’s a surprisingly powerful feature with lots of options and tweaks. I would say it doesn’t feel like an Apple feature.
But it’s definitely one of the most interesting features of iOS 15. You probably spend a lot of time on your phone and your device requires a lot of attention from you. With this new feature, it reverses the balance and gives you control back.
Do not disturb users are already familiar with the idea that you can mute notifications when you don’t want them to. If you want to keep using moon mode with iOS 15, you don’t need to change anything.
But you can now create additional foci. By default, Apple suggests a few areas of focus – work, sleep, driving, fitness, gaming, mindfulness, personal, and reading. Each focus is adaptable to your needs and you can create new focusses from scratch.
When you activate a certain focus, notifications are always blocked by default. You can then add people and apps so that notifications from those people and apps will continue to be sent. App developers can also mark a notification as time sensitive so that it always goes through. I hope you won’t abuse this feature.
There are three other settings you can enable. First, you can optionally share that your notifications are currently muted in Messages and compatible third-party apps. Second, you can completely hide the home screen pages. Third, you can hide notifications on the lock screen and badges on the home screen.
Focus becomes particularly interesting when you find that you can couple certain Focusses with automation functions. For example, you can automatically turn on “Sleep” at night, or you can automatically turn on “Work” when you come to work.
Power users will also have a lot of fun setting up a focus and pairing it with a shortcut. For example, you can use shortcuts to open the clock app when you turn on sleep mode. You understand, this new feature has a lot of depth and beta users are only just beginning to scratch the surface.
Credit: Apple
Update all apps
With iOS 15, Apple has improved almost all standard apps. Some additions are definitely nice improvements. Others were a little more controversial.
Let’s start with the controversial safari‘s design has been updated. But what you saw at WWDC in June doesn’t look at all like what is being shipped today. Essentially, Apple listened to the feedback and changed the user interface of its web browser over the summer.
By default, the address bar is now at the bottom of the screen, just above the row of buttons you can use to open bookmarks, share the current page, or go to the previous page. I think it works better. But if you really don’t want the address bar at the bottom, you can move it back to the top of the screen.
Other than that, Safari changes are all good improvements. For example, the browser now supports traditional web extensions. It will be interesting to see if popular Google Chrome extensions will come to Safari at some point. Another nice new feature is the ability to create tab groups and find your tab groups from your other devices.
FaceTime has become a versatile video conferencing service. You can now create links, share them with friends, and add them to calendar invitations. For the first time, people who don’t own an Apple device can take part in FaceTime calls from a web browser. There’s also a new zoom view … I mean, the grid view.
Unfortunately, the big new FaceTime feature isn’t ready for prime time just yet. SharePlay, the feature that lets you sync audio and video playback with your friends, will be released later this fall.
the weather App has also been redesigned. It’s now packed with a lot more information, like precipitation maps, precipitation notifications for the next hour, and a new UV index. It has become a solid alternative to third-party weather apps. I still use Snowflake, but the differences are getting smaller and smaller.
announcements is now better integrated with other Apple apps. Whenever someone sends you an article, photo album, podcast or song, you’ll see these recommendations in Apple’s other apps – Apple News, Photos, Apple Podcasts, Apple Music, etc. Again, this is a nice addition to my tests, but it won’t change the way you use your phone.
Apple cards just keeps getting better especially if you live in san francisco. If you haven’t used it in a few years, I recommend trying again. It’s now a solid alternative to Google Maps.
Some cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and London are getting new detailed maps with 3D buildings, bus lanes, sidewalks and more. It feels like navigating a video game considering how detailed it is. The app has also been redesigned with new place cards, a new driving user interface and settings in the app.
photos also receives a number of improvements. The company refines Memories every year. I’m not sure a lot of people are using this feature, but it’s better than before. There’s also more information now when you swipe on a photo, such as: B. the shutter speed and the lens used.
The biggest change to your photo library, however, is that you can now search for text in your photo. iOS scans your photos to find text and save it for Spotlight searches.
You can also now point your camera at text and select text there. It’s incredibly handy when you’re looking up the restaurant address on the menu and want to share it with a friend, or when you’re traveling and want to translate some text.
Credit: Apple
Tips and Tricks
There are a ton of small changes that make iOS 15 better than iOS 14. Let me list a few of them:
- If you have a compatible home key, hotel key, office key or ID card, you can now add it to the Wallet app.
- You can share some health data with someone else. It can be useful when you live far away from loved ones or you want to keep your health team up to date.
- If you pay for iCloud, you are now an iCloud + user. In addition to the memory, you get additional functions. Surf the web with increased privacy with iCloud Private Relay, available as a beta feature. Hide My Email allows you to create randomly generated email addresses to create new accounts on the Internet.
- If your family uses iCloud for their email addresses, now is the time to set up a personal domain name and set it up in iCloud.
- iOS uses speech recognition on the device, which means you can dictate text much faster.
- But that’s not all, iOS processes some Siri requests right on your device, which means you can start a timer, set an alarm, or change the music right away. It changed the way I use Siri.
- You can add an account recovery contact in case you get locked out of your iCloud account. This is important in convincing more people to use two-factor authentication.
- Speaking of two-factor authentication: Apple’s built-in password manager called “Passwords” can now store 2FA details and automatically fill in 2FA fields. It works pretty much like 2FA in 1Password.
- You can set up a legacy person for your Apple ID. I encourage you to take a close look at this feature. I’ve spoken to several people who couldn’t get their loved ones’ photos after they died because Apple couldn’t easily distribute the photos.
- Apple has tagged reminders and notes. You can also @ -mention people in Notes.
As you can see, the list of changes in iOS 15 is pretty long. But it’s up to you to decide if you want to upgrade to iOS 15. When Apple added cut, copy, and paste with iPhone OS 3, it was an obvious choice. Personally, I like the new features and it was worth updating. And I hope this review can help you decide whether to update or not.