[fb-exchange] Should you update to iOS 15 when it's released on Monday?

From: "Dominique Farrell" <dominiqueafarrell@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <idevices@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2021 13:24:21 +0100

The Release Candidate version of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 is here and the
updates will be released to the general public on Monday. After three months
of previewing Apples upcoming operating systems for the iPhone and iPad,
heres whether you should update or not.

Whats new with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15?

After the viral release of iOS 14/iPadOS 14 release thanks to the addition
of widgets, there was a lot of anticipation for iOS 15 this year but
development challenges were compounded by the continued COVID-19 pandemic.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 focus on a pandemic world while preparing people all
over the world to go back to their routines. With this update, users will
get a new Focus mode, redesigned Safari, Weather, and FaceTime apps, and
much more. iPhone 11 users or newer will even have the ability to track
their phones even when turned off.

For iPadOS 15 owners, there are new tweaks for multi-tasking that make it
easier to access the Split View and Slide Over features, as well as the new
App Library and the ability to add widgets to the Home screen.

Home screen tweaks and Focus mode

iPadOS 15 finally received the update Apple brought to the iPhone with iOS
14: a new and more customizable Home screen. Its now possible to add
widgets anywhere on your Home screen, delete apps and only show them on the
App Library, and also customize whats shown depending on the Focus mode you
create.

For iPadOS 15, Apple also made it easier to use Split Screen and Slide over
functions. Now, every time you open an app, youll see three dots on the top
of the screen where youll be able to choose whether you want more apps
running at the same time or not.

The new multi-tasking features in iPadOS 15 have become quite useful for me.
Remember how Apple killed 3D Touch because no one knew how to use it? Split
View and Slide Over werent always that intuitive either. With this three
dots indicator, users will now know that they can easily open and split the
screen with other apps.

Focus mode in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/06/17/opinion-focus-most-important-feature-ios-15/

is one of the greatest improvements Apple is bringing, as you can select

what do you want to focus on depending on what youre doing at the moment,
such as working, sleeping, having personal time, playing games, or working
out.

Currently, I use six different focus modes, including Do Not Disturb,
Personal, Work, Sleep, Fitness, and Street, when I dont want to be
interrupted while away from home. With beta over beta, the Focus function in
iOS 15 is learning with my habits and already turning on one focus mode
after another. Its just great.

FaceTime, Safari, Weather, and Apple Maps have a new look

Familiar apps have also a new look. FaceTime looks more square but adds a
new Portrait mode to blur your background in a call. Theres also a new
Voice Isolation function, a better grid view with FaceTime Group, and people
can join your conversation from the web or Android with a FaceTime link,
which is pretty neat.

Its important to notice how good these new mic modes are: if youre using
an AirPods, choosing the voice isolation mode is groundbreaking because you
can wash dishes or be close to someone talking loudly, but the person on the
other side of the call wont hear anything aside from your voice. Apples
implementation of this feature is quite impressive.

The Weather app has a new icon and everything looks more realistic with new
animated backgrounds. There are also next-hour precipitation notifications
so you can get a notification when rain, snow, hail, or sleet is about to
start or stop. Apples team has put a lot of effort into the app and it does
look good.

Safari, after all the controversy during the beta, has also a new design.
While the design has proven to be controversial, I think its only a matter
of time before people get used to it. With iPadOS 15, you can have a
Compact Tab Bar, which looks pretty great. Even still, if you dont like
what you see, theres also the classic design, which
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/18/change-ios-15-safari-address-search-bar-ipho
ne/>  you can learn how to go back here.

Last but not least, Apple Maps has incredible new maps for selected cities.
San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and London have unprecedented detail
for elevation, roads, trees, buildings, landmarks, and more. Users also can
take advantage of new driving features, interactive globe, new place cards,
and more.

Sharing is caring with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15

Youll notice with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 that some apps have a dedicated
Shared With You section, including Music, Podcast, Safari, TV, iMessage,
and Photos. With that, when something is shared with you in Messages, youll
get a reminder in these apps to read, watch, and listen to what was sent to
you.

If you click on the persons name, iOS 15 will redirect you to the
conversation on iMessage so you can reply with your thoughts. Nice, right?
And it doesnt matter how long you take to watch/read/listen to something
someone sent to you, you will be redirected exactly to the moment the person
sent you the link.

Also new for iMessage, there is new Memoji customization with clothes, more
colors, and accessibility customizations include cochlear implants, oxygen
tubes, and soft helmets. Even though its pretty minimum, I do like updating
my Memoji every now and then and always look forward to new customization.

Also, when you send a bunch of photos on iMessage with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15,
they look more compact with a collage you can swipe through and tap to view
them all as a grid or add a quick Tapback. Finally, Apple fixed it.

Live Text and Siri

Live Text is another pretty big update for iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. When
opening an image or your camera, you can find text and make a call, send an
email, or look up directions with just a tap on the highlighted text in a
photo.

Its very intuitive to use and also very helpful as everything is now
clickable. For example, if you see a sign on the street, just open your
Camera app and click on the text to copy it.

With Live Text translation, users can also copy the images text and
translate it into English, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and
Spanish.

Siri also got a bit smarter and more useful as it adds on-device speech
recognition so everything is processed on your iPhone and iPad. With that,
Siri can finally perform many tasks without an internet connection. No more
asking Siri to open an app and the personal assistant replying it cant open
the Music app as you dont have an internet connection right now.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15: a sea of postponed features

As you read above, there are a lot of things to get excited about iOS 15 and
iPadOS 15 but there are many other features that were coming to these
operating systems and
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/17/these-ios-15-features-wont-be-available-with
-the-official-release-next-month/> will launch sometime later this year or
even next.

Apple made a big deal about SharePlay in the WWDC 2021 keynote. This feature
will let users share a song, video, or even the devices screen with other
people via FaceTime. It was available in early betas of iOS 15, but Apple
ended up removing it and saying it would be added back later.
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/06/24/shareplay-now-working-on-ios-15-beta-2-heres
-a-first-look/> 9to5Macs Filipe Espósito and I were able to try it for a
brief moment and when it worked, it was really fun.

Support for ID cards in Wallet, which will let US users scan their ID to the
Wallet application, is also not launching with iOS 15. Apple has, however,
revealed which
<https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/01/apple-reveals-first-us-states-working-to-ado
pt-digital-apple-wallet-ids/> US states will be the first to adopt the new
feature when it does launch.

App Privacy Reports, detailed 3D navigation in CarPlay, and Legacy Contacts
are features that will take a bit longer to land on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 as
well.

Wheres Universal Control?

Apple made a pretty big deal about Universal Control, which will let users
seamlessly use the keyboard and mouse of a Mac with a nearby iPad and
vice-versa, was never seen in the beta on iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey.

Heres how Apple describe this feature:

A single keyboard and mouse or trackpad now work seamlessly between your Mac
and iPad theyll even connect to more than one of the same device. Move
your cursor from your Mac, right to your iPad, type on your Mac, and it
shows up on your iPad.

Unfortunately, Universal Control will take longer even so because macOS
Monterey also wont launch with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. If Apple follows last
years pattern, expect Monterey in the next couple of months.

iOS 15: worth upgrading it or not?

iOS 15 isnt a complete revamp of the iPhone operating system, but it does
bring some handy features and quality of life improvements. For me, the
ability to set different Focus modes and track my iPhone even when turned
off is a pretty big deal.

But if you dont want to jump all the way to iOS 15, Apple also announced
that it will continue support for iOS 14 so users wont miss security and
bug fixes, even if they decide not to install Apples newest operating
system.

Its also worth noting that Apple is launching iCloud+ with iOS 15: without
paying more, you can get iCloud Private Relay, hide your email, and
unlimited HomeKit Secure Video cameras.

iPadOS 15: worth upgrading it or not?

iPadOS 15 finally brings a redesigned Home screen with widgets, but after
Apple announced the M1 iPad Pro, many people had higher hopes for this
years software updates.

While you can easily use Split Screen and Slide Over, and there are new
keyboard shortcuts, Apple didnt give iPadOS the complete revamp that some
users were hoping for.

Pro apps like Final Cut Pro and Xcode are nowhere to be found, and the only
thing Apple will give to developers, is another version of Swift Playgrounds
where they can create an app and send it to Apple to publish on the App
Store.

With all the power and fancy features the M1 iPad Pro has, Apple seems to be
holding back for the next big step. Maybe next year.

Release date and devices compatibility

Apple will release iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 on September 20. Heres the full
list with every iPhone and iPod touch model supported by iOS 15:

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

Heres the full list of every iPad supported by iPadOS 15:

*       iPad Pro 12.9 (5th gen);
*       iPad Pro 11 (3rd gen);
*       iPad Pro 12.9 (4th gen);
*       iPad Pro 11 (2nd gen);
*       iPad Pro 12.9 (3rd gen);
*       iPad Pro 11 (1st gen);
*       iPad Pro 12.9 (2nd gen);
*       iPad Pro 10.5 (2nd gen);
*       iPad Pro 12.9 (1st gen)
*       iPad Pro 9.7 (1st gen)
*       iPad Air (4th gen);
*       iPad Air (3rd gen);
*       iPad Air (2nd gen);
*       iPad Mini (5th gen);
*       iPad Mini (4th gen)
*       iPad (8th gen);
*       iPad (7th gen);
*       iPad (6th gen);
*       iPad (5th gen).

Wrap-up

Even though iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 are considered small upgrades, there is a
lot of features to be excited about, even if some of them will take a while
to land on your iPhone and iPad.

One of the most impressive things along with the choice of not updating
your device is that Apple still supports the  <https://amzn.to/3gBAm2O>
iPhone 6s and iPad Air 2. Some features, of course, wont be available, but
you still can update your 5 years old phone and tablet with Apples latest
features.

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[fb-exchange] Should you update to iOS 15 when it's released on Monday?

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