TechRadar
#Apple began their #WWDC conference with a huge keynote that brought improvements across the board to their software.
It’s a year of refinements this time, with hundreds of small improvements to iOS, iPadOS, macOS and more, all bundled into a software update for each that’s coming this fall.
With this in mind, here’s ten features that will benefit you as soon as these updates are released in the fall.
00:00 WWDC 2021
00:30 Widgets
00:45 Notifications
01:10 Siri
01:33 Live Text
01:54 Safari
02:27 SharePlay
03:04 AirPlay to Mac
03:22 Universal Control
03:48 Apple Privacy
04:53 Small Refinements Everywhere
Widgets
They’re finally on the home screen of the iPad! Breaking free of the column, they can now be placed anywhere you wish, and alongside this, App Library from iOS 14 now comes over, making it easier to manage your home screens.
Notifications
Got a big boost this year, with being able to set them with the new Focus area. So if you’re playing a game or working, notifications will hide away, and then show in the new Notification Summary on your lock screen. There’s also new modes to mute notifications for either an hour or a day for all your apps, and even certain Message groups you’re in.
Siri now works offline, so you don’t need to be connected to the internet anymore if you want to dictate a message or open a certain app.
Live Text looks like it’s inspired by Google Lens. As you hold up your iPhone or iPad to a picture or even something displaying on your PC, it will lift the text off, and you can paste it into the Notes app for example.
Safari gets a big redesign in iOS 15, with the address bar now at the bottom so it’s easier to reach with your thumb, while on iPadOS and macOS Monterey, the tabs and address bar have had a new look, freeing up space and managing tabs a more easier affair. There’s also a new welcome screen where you can choose a photo to be your background.
SharePlay is Apple’s new feature of helping you throughout the pandemic. If you’re watching a film or listening to music, you can now invite your friends or family to also take part in this. There’s also improvements to FaceTime, where anyone with an Android device or a PC can now take part in a call in their web browser with just a simple web link.
AirPlay to Mac has finally arrived, so if you want to switch what you’re listening to from your iPhone to the Mac, now you can.
Universal Control is a huge feature for iPads and Macs, where you can use your trackpad and keyboard on your M1 Mac, and use it on your iPad to drag over any content that you need to edit your video project or a photo album.
Privacy is again being pushed hard by Apple this year, and rightly so. They announced iCloud+ as a way of introducing a VPN to your daily browsing, alongside making Mail even more secure, so recipients won’t even be able to see your email address. There’s also an App Privacy report that can be found in the Settings, where you’re given an overview of the apps that have used certain parts of your iPhone or iPad, and how long it used them for.
Finally, it’s the small refinements everywhere. From the magnifying glass returning when you’re highlighting text, to a progress bar finally in the Files app for when you’re transferring files, there’s an incredible amount of small features in iOS, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey that add up to big improvements for these platforms.
This is only the start of the features that are coming to iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey. While there were updates for watchOS 8 and Apple’s other products, they look to be more of a refined release for 2021.
Expect to see these updates arrive on your iPhone, iPad and Mac towards the end of this year.
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