Judy Dixon
As surely as the leaves fall from the trees, Apple releases the latest updates to its operating systems every autumn. They did that this year on September 20.
This time, it was iOS 15, and iPadOS 15, and they have each come with many new and exciting features.
iOS 15 is compatible with all iPhone models back to the iPhone 6s and the original iPhone SE as well as the iPod touch seventh generation. iPadOS 15 is compatible with models back to iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4, and iPad Pro 1st generation. But not all features will work on the earlier models because of hardware differences.
iOS and iPadOS Mainstream Features
Here is a list of major new features that have been added to iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.
Focus
Focus is a new feature that incorporates Do Not Disturb. It silences selected notifications and alerts, and controls which of your contacts can reach you. You can set your focus to be triggered by a schedule, location, or app.
The default list of focus modes includes Do Not Disturb, Personal, Sleep, and Work, and you can add others. When you select Add, you can create a custom focus, or choose from four additional focus templates: Driving, Fitness, Mindfulness, and Reading.
Each one includes the following:
Allowed people for notifications (here you can choose from your contacts)
Allow incoming calls from your favorites
Allowed apps you want notifications from
After your focus has been created or set up, you can change which people or notifications are allowed to interrupt you, choose specific home screen pages to show when that focus is turned on, set a schedule or automation for the focus, or delete it. Automations include your location and app usage. Focus modes can optionally inform people trying to communicate with you that you have notifications silenced. If you have selected it, when you turn on a focus, it is turned on across all of your devices. You can turn a focus on or off in Settings, from the Control Center, with Siri, or from an Apple Watch.
Notifications
Notifications now includes Notification Summaries. You can have the notifications you receive that are not time-sensitive combined into a summary, and you can schedule how many times a day and when you would like to receive the summary.
To activate Notification Summaries, go to Settings > Notifications and turn Scheduled Summary on. Once turned on, you can choose the apps whose notifications you would like included in your summary. You will be shown the apps that send you the most notifications. Then you can choose when you would like your notification summary to arrive. By default, two are scheduled, one for 8:00 A.M and one for 6:00 P.M. You can change those times or add more if that's not enough.
FaceTime
There are major changes in FaceTime. Now, at the very top of the FaceTime app, you will find a button, Create Link. This allows you to invite people who are using Windows computers or Android devices to a FaceTime call using a browser. After naming your link, you can share it with anyone through the sharing options, AirDrop, Message, Mail, etc. You can also invite people to a FaceTime call from the Calendar app. When you schedule an appointment, Location has ben expanded to Location or Video Call.
As people accept, they will be prompted to enter their name and press a Join button. You don't have to be in the FaceTime call when people begin to join, you will be notified when someone accepts the invitation and you can start the call then.
Spatial audio has been added to FaceTime. If you are talking with several people, you will be able to hear each person coming from a slightly different location in space that matches their physical location on the screen.
During a FaceTime call, you can adjust parameters of your microphone depending on what is supported by the microphone you are using. If you open the Control Center, there will be a Mic Mode button. When you select it, you will be presented with up to three options: Standard, Voice Isolation, and Wide Spectrum.
Spotlight Search
Spotlight Search has been enhanced and is now able to search the content of photos including location, people in them, live text, and any caption you may have added. If you prefer not to have your photos show up in Spotlight Search, you can control what shows up in search by going to Settings > Siri & Search > Photos.
Home Screen
If you have more than one home screen of apps, you can now hide, drag, and even delete an entire home screen and those apps will appear in the App Library. Do this by going into edit mode, then bring the focus to the adjustable screen number control at the bottom of the page. Select this control and you will hear "Home screen page hiding." Flick left or right to select the home screen you want to hide and select it. You can also drag an entire home screen, so you can rearrange your screens if you like.
Bluetooth Device Type
This feature was quietly added with iOS 14.5. Most devices do not have a Device Type specified. Apple says that if you specify the type of device you can ensure that your headphone audio level measurements are accurate.
But this feature can be especially useful for VoiceOver users who would like to control whether VoiceOver's voice stays on the phone or goes to a Bluetooth speaker.
All of your paired devices are listed in Settings > Bluetooth. If you swipe up with one finger on a device, you will find a More Info button. Selecting that brings up a screen with several options including Device Type. Selecting Device Type lets you choose among car stereo, headphone, hearing aid, speaker, and other. If you set a device type as speaker, then VoiceOver's voice will remain on the phone. If you set it as headphone, then VoiceOver's voice will be heard on the device. You may have to turn the device off and back on again before this setting will take effect.
Account Recovery
If you forget your password or device passcode, there are now new options to recover your account. You can add a recovery contact, this is someone who can verify your identity, and/or create a recovery key. Recovery contacts who are currently part of your family sharing are added immediately; other contacts are sent a request that must be approved. A recovery key lets you restore your data. If you create a recovery key, the only way you can reset your password is to use another device already signed into your Apple account or by using your recovery key. To do either of these things, you must be using two-factor authentication and all of your devices must be running the most up-to-date software.
To activate these features, go to Settings > [your name] > Password and Security > Account Recovery. Select Add Recovery Contact, and a list of those you are sharing with will be presented. If you prefer to add someone else, choosing Add Another Contact will bring up a list of all of your contacts.
By default, Recovery Key is set to off, if you turn it on, you will be asked if you are sure you want to do this and warned that if you lose your recovery key, Apple won't be able to help you recover your device. If you choose to use a Recovery Key, a 28-character code will be shown on the next screen. You will then be required to enter the key to confirm.
Voice Memos
Voice Memos has two new playback options. The app now lets you control playback speed from .5 to 2.0 of normal. You can also Skip gaps during playback.
To activate these options, open a recording and select Playback Settings. When you select these options, they only persist for the current recording. They do not affect the playback of other recordings.
Weather
In March 2020, Apple purchased the popular weather app Dark Sky, and now we are seeing new features in the default Weather app that are very reminiscent of Dark Sky. Now, you can turn on precipitation alerts by tapping the Location List in the bottom right corner. If you have cities in the location list, you can turn on alerts for each city. Select the More button in the upper right corner, then select Notifications. All of your locations will be listed here with an on/off setting for each one. When set to On, Weather will send you a notification when rain or snow is starting or stopping. These precipitation alerts are currently only available in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland. To enable notifications about your current location, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and give Weather permission to access your location.
The weather app also now has audio graphs for its next hour precipitation data. If rain is expected in the next hour, this will be indicated just below the location's name, and a graph will be displayed. To hear the audio graph, double tap and hold on the graph and move your finger around the screen. The data will be indicated with a tone that gets higher and lower following the height of the y axis. The x axis is time, the y axis is precipitation intensity.
Wallet
Wallet has several new features. People in participating states in the US can add their driver's license or state IDs to Wallet. The Transportation Security Administration is working to enable airport security checkpoints as the first place people can use their digital Identity Card in Wallet. Identity Cards in Wallet are encrypted and safely stored, using the same technology that makes Apple Pay private and secure. The states where this will be available first are Arizona, Georgia, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah.
HomeKit-compatible door locks can now add support for digital house keys that can be used from the Wallet app. Corporate badge entry systems and hotel keys will also be supported in Wallet. Car key support has previously been added to Wallet but now this includes Spatial Awareness. Car key spatial awareness prevents an iPhone from being locked inside a car or a car from starting when the iPhone isn't inside. Wallet not only supports locking or unlocking the car, but also honking the horn, preheating the car, or opening the trunk.
Camera
A feature called Live Text has been added to the Camera app. When you open the Camera app, if there is any text in the camera's view, VoiceOver will say, "text detected." Select the Detect Text button which is along the right edge just above the Camera Mode control, and the text will be displayed.
From here, you can simply read the text or select what you want and copy it. Data detectors for Live Text recognize phone numbers, email addresses, dates, street addresses, and more in photos so you can take action on them. This also works on photos that are in your Photos app.
Siri
Siri now does much of its work to process your spoken requests directly on the device. This results in much faster responses.
You can share many types of things with people in your contacts. If you open an email, article, photo, or similar item, you can simply say to Siri "Share with [name of person] and it's done. You will be prompted to choose which of your contact's phone numbers or email addresses you would like to use. Items like images, webpages, Apple Music or Podcasts, Apple News stories, and Maps locations will share the actual content. Other items will share screenshots.
Find My
Find My has added a Left Behind feature. A new setting, Notify when Left Behind Separation Alerts, notifies a user if they leave an AirTag, Apple device, or Find My network accessory behind in an unfamiliar location, and the Find My network now supports AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.
Safari
There have been a number of changes made to Safari. Address bar has moved to the bottom. If you prefer it on top, just go to Settings > Safari. In the Tabs section, select Single Tab and this will put the address bar back at the top.
You can now add browser extensions like you can with a desktop computer. This can extend Safari's functionality to include things like ad blockers.
There is now a Voice Search button. Double tap the Address Bar and flick to the right and there will be a Voice Search button.
Hide my Email
If you are an iCloud+ subscriber, you now have the option to create a Hide My Email address, which 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. If anyone responds to the disposable email address, it will be forwarded to your real email address.
To do this, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Hide My Email and select the Create New Address button. The addresses are composed of random words with a few numbers so they are not too difficult to remember. You can also make a label to remember where you used it or what it is. You can delete the disposable email address at any time.
iCloud Private Relay
Also for iCloud+ subscribers, Private Relay is a new feature that hides your real IP address and browsing activity to add a level of security in Safari. To enable this, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay. Here, when Private Relay is set to On, you can choose how your IP address location is revealed. The options are: use general location or use your country and time zone.
Coming Soon
Other planned iOS 15 features have been delayed until later in 2021. There are a few worth watching for. Augmented reality walking directions will be coming to Maps. Will this have any benefit to VoiceOver users? SharePlay lets you share video content with others during FaceTime. Legacy Contacts lets you set a contact who can manage your Apple devices after your death.
This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.
