iOS 15 Vs iOS 14 – Is The Update Worth It?

iOS 15 is all set to spice up your iPhone with a bouquet of new features. But are they enticing enough for you to head for this update? Let’s find out.

iOS 15 Vs iOS 14 – Is The Update Worth It?

At the WWDC 2021, amongst several other advancements, iOS 15 was officially announced. From a dedicated Focus mode, FaceTime, a revamped Apple Map, a more feature-packed Wallet, there are an array of features waiting for you. And, in this blog, we will have a glimpse of some of these features that iOS 15 will bring along. In the end, we will even tell you if this update is worth the download, so stay tuned. First and foremost, when can we expect this update?

Release Date:

iOS 15 is all set to hit your iOS devices somewhere in Fall 2021 or September 2021. You can also expect the release of the iPhone 13 around the same time.

Which iPhones or iOS Devices Will Be Able To Run iOS 15?

Major versions of iPhones will be compatible with iOS 15. More specifically, all devices running iPhone 6s or above will be able to run iOS 15. Here is the list of devices that iOS15 will be compatible with-

  • iPhone SE (1st generation)
  • iPhone SE (2nd generation)
  • iPod touch (7th generation)
  • iPhone 6s
  • iPhone 6s Plus
  • iPhone 7
  • iPhone 7 Plus
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 8 Plus
  • iPhone X
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 mini
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max

iOS 14 Vs iOS 15 – What’s New and What’s Not

iOS 15 – New Features
Focus Mode

Notifications

FaceTime and SharePlay

Maps

Wallet

Messages

Live Text and Visual Look Up

Safari

Photos

1. Focus Mode:

Focus Mode ios15
Source: apple.com

iOS 15 intends to remove all kinds of distractions from your life, thanks to the all-new focus mode. The best part is that whatever settings, you create get synced on other devices as well. Let’s have a look at some spectacular aspects of this feature-

Key Aspects Of The Feature

  • Filter out notifications based on your current activity
  • Select who to get notifications from. Get intelligent suggestions for selecting focus based on time or location
  • You can now notify others whether or not you are receiving their notification. For instance, you can set up an auto-reply feature
  • You can set allowed interruptions so that important notification from people can reach you
  • Integration with third-party messaging apps

2. Notifications:

With this upgrade, notifications have been revamped with a fresh new look. They are more lucid and clearer. Here’s exactly what we are talking about.

Key Aspects Of The Feature

  • Catch up on your notifications in the morning, evening, or at your scheduled time
  • Larger icons for apps and contacts photos for your contacts
  • You will get suggestions for muting active threads in case you are not engaging with them
  • Time-sensitive notifications are delivered to you immediately
  • New notification API for developers

3. FaceTime and SharePlay:

Facetime and Shareplay
Source: apple.com

Looking for an alternative to Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams? Needn’t go any further, FaceTime will arm you with spectacular video-calling features. Let’s have a look at some of these features.

Key Aspects Of The Feature

FaceTime:

  • You will now be able to create and share FaceTime links that could further be added to your calendar. The best part, the recipient can join these calls via Chrome or Edge immaterial of whether they have an Android device or Windows computer
  • Spatial audio to make sounds coming from the person you are chatting with more realistic
  • Mute alerts will prompt you when you try to speak while muted and you can tap alert to ask someone to unmute you
  • Grid view lets you see the attendees on a call in same-size titles and even highlights the current speaker
  • Back camera optical zoom so that you can zero in on what needs to be focused

Shareplay:

  • Share content on a FaceTime call. You can share music, movies, TV shows, and even apps
  • Shared playback controls for participants
  • Third-party apps such as ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Twitch, and many others are also supported
  • SharePlay extends to other devices such as iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Mac too
  • In-app message controls

4. Maps:

With iOS 15, the Apple maps are getting a major upgrade. They are going to be more detailed is as if they are coming to life and here’s what you are going to get with new Apple maps –

Key Aspects Of The Feature

  • Better night mode and 3D landmarks
  • A more interactive and richer 3D globe that accentuates details like desert, oceans, forests, and mountain ranges
  • Better driving features. You will now be able to see details like side lanes; bus, cycle and taxi lanes, etc
  • More immersive walking directions shown in AR
  • Easily find editorially curated guides for places you love

5. Wallet:

How about we say that the key to your garage, house, hotel room and workplace, is your iPhone. It won’t be wrong to say that your iOS wallet may just have taken over your physical wallet and how?

Key Aspects Of The Feature

  • Unlock compatible home, hotel, or workplace’s door locks
  • Lock, unlock or start cars. Spatial awareness ensures that you don’t lock your car while your iPhone is inside
  • Open trunk, honk your horn or even preheat your car while you’re slightly away from your car
  • Add multiple passes to your wallet using Safari
  • You can put ID cards in the Wallet app

6. Messages:

Messages on ios15
Source: apple.com

When talking of improvements, how can we possibly forget iMessages? And, let us tell you, there are improvements that you’ll applaud.

Key Aspects Of The Feature

  • New sharing features for news, photos, and playlists
  • Multiple photos appear in a collage form so that you can swipe them or watch the whole bunch
  • You can now pin notable content so that it appears in elevated form in “Shared with you”
  • Regional improvements such as SMS filtering in Brazil and notifications option in India and China
  • Shared with you will also appear in Safari, Photos, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV App

7. Live Text and Visual Look Up:

The Live Text feature intelligently recognizes the text in the photo that you can highlight, search for, and copy. Quite like Google Lens, Visual Look Up allows you to point your camera at objects such as books, landmarks, pets, and many others and instantly get information about them.

8. Safari:

Apple’s browser Safari will also receive a new look and controls will now appear at the bottom so that you can navigate with a single hand. There are some other fantastic enhancements as well –

Key Aspects Of The Feature

  • Smart search field in the tab bar
  • You can customize the start page and select a background image and sections as per your desires
  • Easy and smooth swiping between tabs
  • Better security as Safari automatically upgrades a website HTTPS
  • Easily refresh a page by just pulling it down
  • Install web extensions through App Store

9. Photos:

Apart from a revamped interface, with iOS 15 you get a memories feature where you can group videos and photos from events and change them into a short movie. Not just that, you can accompany these movies with tracks from Apple Music. There’s more to rev your excitement levels, let’s delve deeper –

Key Aspects Of The Feature

  • You can also audition different songs with different atmosphere and pace
  • Unleash your creativity and more so the editor in you and add and remove items, change colors as per your taste
  • To felicitate exceptional output, iOS empowers your device with on-device intelligence that suggests songs for making memories more personalized
  • Richer and more comprehensive info pane to view info about the photo such as shutter speed, camera, lens and who sent shared with you photos in message
  • Feature Less option allows you to see less of a specific place, date, holiday, or even person across featured photos in memories, Photos widget, or Library

Should I Get My Hands On iOS 15? If Yes, How?

Why not? You certainly should get your hands on this update, after all, this update hosts a raft of spectacular new features. But, an even more important thing is, will you have to wait till fall 2021? How about getting hands-on with the upgrade earlier? Even before the actual release in fall 2021, Apple has released a beta version for developers. As for the general users, they won’t have to wait much, the public beta will be available in July.

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