8 Top iOS 15 Features: IOS Users Expectations Before its Release
Last month, Apple announced iOS 15, a major jump in their update with exciting features that improve the iPhone experience. After last year’s pathbreaking iOS 14 update with an introduction of widgets and app gallery, iOS 15 looks like a laidback update that concentrates on the essentials and looks to improve the core iOS experience without including any irrelevant blunders. Apart from that, iOS 15 is happy to work on basic features like Do Not Disturb.
iOS 15 is excellent in a way that it makes FaceTime calls look natural and has launched SharePlay for shared experiences, helps users focus and be in the moment with new options to manage notifications and bring more intelligence to pictures and search to get access to information instantly. Apple Maps reveals exciting new ways to explore the world, Weather is redesigned with full-screen maps and an integrated graphical display of data. Moreover, Wallet adds support for home keys and ID cards and browsing the internet is made easier with Safari in a simpler tab bar design and Tab Groups. However, iOS 15 also takes care of privacy controls in Siri, Mail and places across the system to safeguard user information.
Top IOS-15 Features Expected Before its Release
iOS 15 is presently available as a preview beta version for the developer community along with public beta testers. Registered developers can download the profile for the iOS 15 beta from the Apple Developer Center. A public beta version of iOS 15 is available for testing at beta.apple.com. Let us look at some of the most promising features of the iOS 15 update.
Notification Redesign
iOS 15 has introduced totally new features in notifications. Going forward, notifications will show contact pictures for people and larger icons for applications to make them easier to identify. There is a new personalised notification summary that collects notifications together to be delivered at a proper time like in the morning or at night. Notifications are arranged by priority by on-device intelligence that analyzes the user’s interactions with applications and relevant notifications rising to the top. However, urgent messages will still be delivered immediately.
Now there is an option to mute an app or messaging thread’s notifications temporarily and iOS 15 will advise you to mute a thread if it is not active but you are not engaging with it.
Focus
iOS 15 has a new tool to assist users to reduce distractions called Focus. A Focus can help you filter notifications and Home Screen pages depending on a user’s request to focus on something at a given time and still enabling urgent notifications to come through. When a user wants to focus on blocking incoming calls, their status is simply displayed to others in Messages that the user is currently not available to take calls.
iOS 15 will instinctively advise Focuses to users through on-device intelligence to understand which users and applications should notify them at a given time. The suggestions also depend on users’ contexts like work hours, personal time or going to sleep. Moreover, it is possible for users to create a custom Focus to display only a few notifications and Home Screen pages and send auto-replies in Messenger during a Focus.
Spotlight
Spotlight can use on-device intelligence to look for pictures by location, people, scenes, objects, Live and Spotlight can also look for text and handwriting in pictures. Spotlight also endorses web image searches and richer results for actors, TV shows and movies. Improved results for contact cards show current conversations, shared pictures and location using Find My.
It is also feasible to navigate Spotlight from the Lock Screen and instantly install applications from the App Store without ever leaving Spotlight. For businesses that support App Clips, there is an action button on the Maps that show up in Spotlight.
SharePlay
SharePlay is the latest feature that enables users to share experiences with others during FaceTime like songs, TV shows or movies. Media is played in sync for all involved parties with shared playback controls so anyone in the session can play, pause or skip content. SharePlay also provides users the ability to share their screens to view apps together in a FaceTime call.
Some of the notable apps like Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Pluto TV, Twitch etc have allowed integration with SharePlay. It can further be extended to the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV so users can watch shows or movies. Moreover, SharePlay is also included in in-app Messages controls.
Maps
Maps now include a new globe view and greatly improved details in a 3D view for cities. Commercial districts, buildings etc can now be viewed in detail along with road colour and labels, landmarks and a “moonlit” night-time mode. The app also provides a 3D driving experience with deep road details like turns, medians, bike lanes, pedestrian walks which works well in the iPhone and in Apple CarPlay.
Transit navigation has been designed and travellers can now look for nearby stations more easily and pin their favourite lines. Maps will look simply follow a transit route notifying users when it is almost time to disembark. When looking for an unknown location, there are options to filter results by criteria like cuisine or opening/closing times. Maps will also update search results when moving around the most-used settings in a simpler location.
Wallet
The Wallet app endorses different types of keys in iOS 15 like home, office, hotel room key cards. The Wallet app supports car keys with the use of Ultra-Wideband to lock, unlock and start your car. You can do it without taking your iPhone out of your pocket. Ultra-Wideband also provides precise spatial awareness which means that iOS will not let you lock your car when your iPhone is inside or let you start the car when it is outside.
By the end of the year, users in certain states in the U.S. will be able to include their driver’s license or state IDs in the Wallet app. As per Apple, The Transportation Security Administration checkpoints are the first place users can use their digital ID in Wallet.
Messages
Content shared with you in Messages comes in the new “Shared with You” section in the new app. Shared with You is included in the Pictures, Safari, Apple News, Apple Music, Podcasts and the Apple TV app. Users can pin the content that is shared with them. So, it is added in Shared with You, Messages search and the Details view of the conversation.
Pictures sent in Messages come up as a collage or a swipeable stack based on how it was sent. It is now feasible to find images shared through Messages using a contact name. There is also some regional enhancement in iOS 15 like unwanted SMS filtering etc.
Weather
The weather app has been revamped completely in iOS 15. The Weather application now has more graphical displays for weather data along with a full-screen map. It also comes with a dynamic layout that changes based on weather conditions.
Apple has revamped the Weather app’s background to accurately display the sun’s current position along with precipitation. Moreover, there will be notifications for the users to inform when the rain or snow starts or stops.
Health
There is an innovative sharing tab in the Health app in iOS 15 that enables users to share their selected health data with their family and friends. Lab results have now been improved with descriptions, highlights and the option to pin results for quick access. The Health app can now discover trends and draw users’ attention to important changes in their health.
The Health app has also included Walking Steadiness, a new metric to manage fall risk. Moreover, COVID-19 immunizations and test results can be stored in the Health app. It can be done through a QR code from your healthcare provider. There is a new Blood glucose highlight which indicates levels during exercise, sleeps and resting state through interactive charts.
Conclusion
Apple is planning to release iOS 15 later this year during the fall around September-October. It is important to see the implications of iOS 15 on the iPhone app development company as there will be major changes compared to the previous update iOS 14. Interestingly, Apple will allow the iPhone 6s to receive updates for iOS 15. Like a breath of fresh air, Apple will allow the same devices supporting iOS 14 to support iOS 15. Apple won’t force the users to update to iOS 15 and let them stay on iOS 14 if they want. Let us know in the comments section about your favourite iOS 15 features.
Keval Padia is the founder & CEO of Nimblechapps, a fast-growing mobile app development company. The current innovation and updates of the field lures him to express his views and thoughts on certain topics.