Official announcement: June 7, 2021 (at WWDC 2021) General availability: September 20, 2021 This release was all about enabling you to stay connected, focused and efficient with kernel improvements in communications, privacy security, multitasking and system insights.
As it has for its last several versions, Apple continued to support devices as far back as the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus and the original iPhone SE that launched in 2015.
FaceTime feels like a natural upgrade for an already hyper-iFaceTimenclusive experience
iOS 15 gave FaceTime its most significant overhaul yet, focusing on spatial connection and cross-platform access [VIDEO] by
With Spatial Audio, the voices seemed to be located wherever you saw a person on the screen.
Through the Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes, you can filter out specific audio during calls or allow a wider range of sounds to penetrate, creating a more full environmental experience.
While on group calls, Grid View and Portrait Mode made it easier to see who was actually talking since you could quickly get a sense of each participant.
Users could schedule and share FaceTime Links, and for the first time FaceTime expanded to Android and Windows devices via web browsers.
These enhancements made FaceTime a more comprehensive video conferencing platform, at a level for personal as well as professional use.
Focus mode — Personalized On-device Do Not Disturb
Among the main features Focus (which was a new way to filter notifications and apps by activity or context..)
Work, Personal, Sleep settings are all predefined profiles and you can also make your custom profile using Do Not Disturb.
That way, Focus could kick in on a schedule or when you get to the office or open to-do lists.
Custom Home Screens per Focus (showing only relevant apps & widgets)
If you were contacted, Messages would be marked with a status indicator so that the other person could know that notifications had been blocked.
Focus Mode was Apple’s way of suggesting it wants to help us out in a world when using the internet is becoming more and more distracting.
Notifications: Refined and Prioritized
Notifications have been overhauled not only visually but also in terms of functionality.
Notification Summary, which bundled low-priority notifications together and delivered them at certain times so people could catch up without being pestered constantly
Improved visual clarity with contact photos and larger app icons.
If allowed, time-sensitive notifications that a user requested—such as alerts for deliveries or reminders—could break through Focus filters.
Connected Conversations in Messages & Shared with You
When Apple introduced shared content in more than just chat with Messages
A new Shared with You section highlighted links, photos, and music shared in Messages in apps like Safari, Photos, Apple Music, News and other share-supported apps.
So you could see, watch or read the same thing as your friend without having to sift through all of your old conversations.
Better photo collages, improved ways to save content, and a slicker UI made Messages more visual and interactive.
Safari: A Controversial Redesign
Apple gave Safari a complete makeover with iOS 15, adding a bottom tab bar that makes it easier to drive the all-important navigation experience by one-handed folks.
Smaller, swipeable Tabs that could be combined with new Tab Groups that synchronised between devices.
The tab absorbed the address bar and browser controls.
iOS Web Kit Extensions — this is the first time web extensions came to iOS and now let you make more desktop-class customizations.
Some users and even choices were also feeling that way, so the top address bar was returned as an option.
This redesign gave us more functionality, but not everyone was happy about it as they changed the layout completely causing an uproar amongst long-time users.
Live Text and Visual Lookup: Using Images Smarter
Live Text was a feature that Apple announced users could:
Copy, translate, and search for text in photos, screenshots, and the camera view
Visual Lookup can be used to find landmarks, animals, plants and more in an image.
With on-device intelligence driving these capabilities, iOS 15 was far more perceptive and interactive with visual elements.
Refer: Local URL Updates in Maps, Weather…Map feedbackiOS 7.1 also brings a few changes to the stock apps on your device.
Apple Maps got a new 3D overhaul in specific cities, with buildings, monuments and night mode.
Refreshed weather app adds new animated backgrounds, full-screen maps and more granular forecasts
The Notes app received tags and mentions to improve collaboration.
Tracking your Walking Steadiness in the Health app and Preference to link sharing of health data to iCloud account.
Wallet app added support for digital keys (hotels, cars, homes) and announced intention to support selected state IDs (U.S.)
Privacy Enhancements
In iOS 15 Apple continues to beat the drum for privacy.
Emails getting opened with the impending loss of this ability to know when an email had been opened and tracking IP addresses was becoming a thing of the past thanks to Mail Privacy Protection.
App Privacy Report (introduced later in 15.2) on which apps used sensitive data(location/camera/microphone).
Masked User IP Addresses and Web Traffic in Safari with iCloud Private Relay (Beta)
iOS 15. x Updates: Continued Refinement
iOS 15.1, which has brought SharePlay for synced music, movies and workouts over FaceTime
iOS 15.2 Features: App Privacy Report, Legacy Contacts, Hide My Email for iCloud++’\h’
Firmware 15.4: Face ID in a mask, Universal Control with iPad + Mac and API for Tap to Pay in third-party apps.
iOS 15.5 & 15.6: Mostly Bug Fixes, Media Playback Improvements and System Tweaks
In Summary
With iOS 15, Apple said it wastrying to balance that approach and presented a vision of the operating system that prioritized user attention over notifications.iOS 15 balanced apple approach prompted new focus smarter interactions deeper personalization Apple’s message was that while trying to make the iPhone more powerful, it was also trying to give the device a fuller sense of real-world awareness via tools such as Focus Mode, Live Text and FaceTime for all. Designed for generation after generation of intelligence-led updates that inform a digital first world in which control, privacy and empathy are hard to conjure.
