The new iPhone operating system is here — and it’s worth the update. Here are five things to check out in iOS 15.
- Focus
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Before iOS 15, there were already settings for Do Not Disturb and even Sleep. But now, a new page in Settings called “Focus” allows you to set up multiple ways to customize and control notifications. Focuses can be turned on manually, but they can be set up to turn on or off automatically based on time, location or app open. The starter options available are Do Not Disturb, Sleep, Driving, Fitness, Gaming, Mindfulness and Reading. You can set up a custom focus if none of these categories best describe when you would use it.
- Weather
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The Weather app has been an essential part of the iPhone experience — telling you basic information about what to wear before going outside. But now, it has brand new graphics and a newly added map that depicts the temperature, precipitation and air quality across the globe. You can now have a weather radar on your phone without having to install a third-party app.
- Safari
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Safari is starting to become competitive when it comes to reputable browsers. The tab bar on the app has moved to the bottom to make searching easier to reach. Also, you can now have different “tab groups,” which are similar to different windows on desktop. In my opinion, the best part about the new mobile Safari is that you can customize the background of the start page and sync it to your desktop Safari.
- Live Text
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If your Camera app detects text in its view, it can now read it instantly and translate it to virtual text that you can copy and paste. This is perfect if you can’t easily read or spell something that you want to take note of or write down. If you have pretty neat handwriting, it can read your handwritten notes and make them searchable if you’re trying to find a keyword.
- FaceTime
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Lastly, FaceTime is now an unstoppable video chat app. You can FaceTime with those that don’t have Apple devices and SharePlay allows you to watch movies and TV shows and listen to music with others virtually. Forget Zoom — FaceTime is the way to go.
These are just some highlights of the many features in iOS 15. I encourage you to play around with each app and see what else you may discover, or you can go to the Apple website for more information about the update.