WWDC 2021 event
Apple unveils the new iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey updates
AT THIS YEAR’S Worldwide Developers Conference — like last year’s, a virtual event — Apple announced major updates to all its software platforms.
In iOS 15, arriving this fall, Spatial Audio is added to FaceTime calls, so each person’s voice sounds as if it’s coming from where that person is located on screen. New mic modes optionally isolate your voice from ambient sounds for clarity, while Portrait mode for video calls blurs the background. A new Grid View in Group FaceTime calls lets you see more faces at a time.
While connected with friends over FaceTime, you can use the new SharePlay feature to listen to songs together in Apple Music, watch TV shows or movies in sync from Apple TV+ and other streaming services, or share your screen to view apps together. It works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with shared playback controls so anyone in a SharePlay session can play or pause.
For the first time, Android and Windows users can join FaceTime calls, using Chrome or Edge and a link you create and share from iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Like a refinement of Do Not Disturb, the new Focus feature filters notifications and apps according to what you want to focus on. It uses on–device intelligence to suggest which people and apps are allowed to notify you, across all your Apple devices — only work colleagues
during working hours, for example — while other people receive an auto–reply in Messages. You can create custom Home Screen pages with just the relevant apps and widgets for moments of focus.
Notifications has been redesigned and, to help reduce distraction, a new notification summary collects non–time–critical notifications for delivery when you schedule it, arranged in order of priority by on– device intelligence.
On–device AI also powers Live Text, which recognizes text in photos, in seven languages — so you can, for example, copy a recipe by taking a photo of it, or capture a phone number from a storefront or menu. Visual Look Up promises comparable recognition for objects, identifying art and landmarks round the world, species of flowers, breeds of dogs, actors, and more. Spotlight now uses intelligence to search photos by location, people, scenes, or objects, and uses Live Text to read text and handwriting in photos.
Maps is revamped with enhanced details including elevations, new road colors and labels, and 3D landmarks. When driving, you can follow your route in a 3D view with new details like turn lanes and crosswalks; on foot, you can scan the area around you with the camera and Maps will generate detailed directions in AR to guide you.
Other apps are also redesigned, including Weather (with graphical displays of data and full–screen maps), Notes (with custom tags and shared notes), and Safari (with a new compact tab bar and Tab Groups for easy access to whole sets of tabs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac).
Wallet gains support for additional types of keys such as offices and hotel rooms, and (later this year) your driver’s license or state ID in participating states in the US.