Switching digital platforms is still a thing in the modern world. Switching platforms today though is harder than ever before, especially when you buy a smartphone. You get to choose between an Android or iOS smartphone if you go out to the market today to buy yourself a new one. Most of the time as well, you are going to stick to what you had before.
There is a reason why it is difficult for you to change platforms when it comes to smartphones. A lot of times, your operating system (OS) and its apps require you to have a functioning account with its particular provider to take full advantage of the system and its ecosystem of apps and services. For example, if you are on an Android smartphone you are required to have a functioning Google account to access Google’s Play Store and their own apps like Gmail and Calendar. Likewise, if you are on an Apple iOS device, you are required to have a functioning Apple account.
There is an added complexity on Android devices too, because Android devices come from different manufacturers. Different manufacturers have their own unique ecosystem too that requires you to have a functional account that could be tied to their ecosystem. One of the most famous ecosystems outside of Apple and Google right now is Samsung’s ecosystem which requires you to have a functioning Samsung account.
Of course, there are ways manufacturers have made porting from one platform to another easier over the years. The most notable effort of all is Samsung’s Smart Switch which makes porting and transferring data over any Android or even Apple device a breeze. It is not perfect though.
For the longest time, one of the most popular messenger apps that is available on both iOS and Android has been the biggest obstacle to switching platforms. That app is WhatsApp. There is a clear problem why too.
WhatsApp stores its data on your device. It regularly backs your messaging data into a cloud storage. On an Android device, the cloud storage of choice is Google Drive, which requires you to run a Google account anyway. On an Apple iOS device, you are relying on Apple’s iCloud storage services, which incidentally requires you to have an Apple account. You can see the problem here in itself.
While transferring your WhatsApp data over from platforms has been impossible if you are doing it over wifi, Samsung has rectified that with the latest Smart Switch version in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 announcement. But what if you are not on a Samsung Galaxy device? Or, what if you want to switch from an Android to an Apple instead?
That function is now hitting other Android and iOS devices. The service now allows you to transfer your entire chat history and conversations from one smartphone to another, no matter the platform. The transfer also includes your entire WhatsApp media library for good measure.
Of course, there are some caveats. Your WhatsApp can only be transferred over from one platform to another via a wired connection. At the time of writing, your Samsung Smart Switch will require a USB Type-C connection with the donor Apple device to extra all its data, including WhatsApp data. While WhatsApp have not specified the transfer method, we are assuming that a cabled connection is the most viable way to data to be shared between an Android and iOS device without having to merge and mash Google Drive and Apple iCloud services together.
This opens up a whole other world of possibility for smartphone users though. Since transferring data between platforms are becoming easier, changing your smartphones is a simpler affair than ever before. That also means that the power to decide is now in the hands of the users more than ever. You get to choose which platforms works best for you every single time you want to upgrade your device, and that should mean more competitive pricing on even more powerful devices, especially in between platforms.
Apple’s Spatial Audio is sure making its rounds. In the previous weeks, the excellent virtual surround sound audio technology makes its way into Netflix apps for the iPhone and iPad. You can now use your Apple AirPods Pro and AirPods Max with Spatial Audio when watching Netflix on your iPhone or iPad. It does make sense too, in a sense. You get more immersive experience from your pocket devices.
Spatial Audio is nothing new though. Apple has implemented their own 360 virtual audio technology in they own apps. Apple’s Music app has embraced the surround sound technology since the beginning. Even Apple’s Apple TV+ has integrated the technology for a while now. The feature will be coming to other apps like Spotify eventually, of course you do have to wait for the clever developers to tinker with the technology and its algorithms a bit more.
There is one other app that just got Spatial Audio for their app though. That app in question is Clubhouse. They announced this milestone on their Twitter page, very much like any respected app organisation on Social Media platforms. Now is the time you start asking; “why?”
Hear ye, hear ye 🔊 spAAaAaAatial audio on Clubhouse!
It’s like surround sound, but w/ your own headphones. A more vibrant, human experience! Plus makes it much easier to tell who’s talking.
Again, surround sound technology is not exactly new. The technology does add a bit more in terms of realism in films. In Music, it adds a sort of depth perception of a recording studio, or stage. The technology puts your right in the middle of the action. In the case of Clubhouse, while you might argue that the reason the developers added Spatial Audio feature to the app on Apple devices is “because they can”, it is a bit more than that.
Yes, over the internet, you are getting high-quality voice calls from Clubhouse itself. It is the next best thing to hanging out with a bunch of people physically. At the same time, you are connecting with so many people from all over the world. You can just sit in a ‘club’ with hundreds of people all from different regions of the world practically.
While that is already impressive enough, there is a way to make it better. Yes, the answer to that is surround sound. Again, surround sound is more than just an entertainment technology. It can add a perception of space and depth around you with the right headphones. That is exactly what Clubhouse is trying to achieve here. They wat to add that sense of perception, that sense of realism.
The addition will also mean that Clubhouse is realty now the next best thing in terms of hanging out with your friends in this trying times. It may not make you choose clubhouse over other similar platforms at this time. It does add some sense of intimacy with other clubhouse users and friends on the platform though. You would really feel like you are talking to the person next to you.
The update is now rolling out for the Clubhouse app on iOS. There are still limitations to its implementation which also means you might not hear that much in difference when you get on the app, especially on Bluetooth audio. Clubhouse, on their Twitter post is also saying that Android will get its fair share of Spatial Audio soon. Clubhouse is now available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Spatial audio for Apple devices was announced back in 2020. It is Apple’s idea of a sort of 3D audio on Dolby Atmos. 3D audio was not really a new concept either at this point. Major electronic vendors like Sony have started experimenting with their own version of 3D audio with their 360 Reality Audio technology and their very own 3D Audio on the PlayStation 5. In a sense, if you want to describe Spatial Audio, it is like a virtual surround sound.
There is a sort of hardware limitation to the technology though. Not every audio hardware can support the technology at this time. That said, Apple’s latest TWS headphones line up like the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max supports the technology. Then you have a problem with the software side of things, not every software supports the technology yet. Why would you launch a technology that is not supported by any contents then?
There are no straight answers here. One of the answers is simply because they can. At the same time though, the announcement is a sort of signal to all the developers that are developing on the iOS platform. A sort of notice to tell people that Apple has the technology and developers can take advantage of the technology on their apps, with the right support of course.
Spatial Audio is not just beneficial for music or the illusion of live music though. It has the potential to really elevate your audio experience without spending thousands upon thousands of top dollars on top of what you already have. It is, in a sense, a cheap way to get immersive audio. Of course, the audio quality really depends on your audio hardware itself, and its tuning; you cannot defy the law of physics still.
This opens up the avenue for immersive entertainment experience on the go too. You can bring the cinema experience in your pockets. You can watch a movie on your Apple iPhone, for example, and feel like you are in the theatres while you are flying from Johannesburg to London.
Now, you can watch Netflix on iPhone and iPad with Spatial Audio. The first app that supported Apple’s Spatial Audio was Apple’s very own Music app in 2021. The support for Spatial Audio then extends to the Apple TV 4K as well at the same time.
Weirdly, Netflix is not the first third party app that received Spatial Audio treatment. Instead, apps like Disney Plus, and HBO Max are the first third party apps to receive the support. Of course, Apple would have equipped their Apple TV Plus app with Spatial Audio capabilities early on. In that sense, the support for Spatial Audio for Netflix is a long time coming. That is not to say that the update is not a welcome update though.
Users should expect to see the update rolling into their Apple iPad and Apple iPhone devices in the coming days. If you do not have Netflix, you can always try Apple’s Spatial Audio technology via Apple TV Plus app. Just make sure you have an Apple AirPods Pro or AirPods Max to go with your Apple iPhone and iPad. For Netflix users, you can turn on Spatial Audio from Netflix’s settings menu. If you do not see the option yet, you might want to check if your app is updated or wait for the latest app update from the Apple App Store.
Apple’s AirPlay function is one of the best things to have in the IoT focused world today. The system allows your Apple devices to connect to anything wireless in your home with AirPlay support and allow you to stream anything from any of your Apple devices in your home to the AirPlay supported devices.
Apple’s AirPlay 2 comes with added functionalities too. One of them really makes Apple’s ecosystem one of the most seamless in the world, if not the most seamless. It added streaming over WiFi function, which also means you get to play a single audio, from anywhere in your house, to your entire house, as long as you have speakers with AirPlay 2 enabled. It also allows you to choose between left and right speakers on enabled speakers, especially if you choose to use those speakers as your TV speakers.
We are not going to elaborate on the kinds of things you can do with AirPlay 2 though, because it has been launched for a while and you would have known its benefits by now, especially if you are coming from the iOS ecosystem. If you still do not know how to work with AirPlay 2 and the benefits of the system, get learning.
While AirPlay 2 has been Apple’s standard for three years now, it does not automatically become an industry standard. Not all smart TVs in the market gets AirPlay 2 support. Some of them could be hardware limited too though, so there is nearly nothing you can do about that. The big surprise is from app developers instead. For example, Spotify has not been supporting AirPlay 2.
A few days ago, there was an apparent posting in Spotify’s community forum that mentions that Apple’s AirPlay 2 support will not be coming to Spotify “for now”. This is in response to the numerous requests from Spotify’s iOS users in adding its support to the app. Of course, that might not have gone too well with users.
Spotify has since then clarified to the statement. Spotify says that they are still working on AirPlay 2 support on the app. In the clarification also Spotify did shed some light on why their app has not supported the function and why users may not see its support coming too soon.
The developer that clarified the issue reveals that including AirPlay 2 support on the app is more complex than just adding a provided API to the current app and just let it work its own magic. There are a bunch of new commands that has to be written into the app. While adding a bunch of new command lines may not be the most complex thing for engineers to work with, Spotify says that the API, or at least Apple’s documentation on the API is a big stumbling block for its developers. In that case, developers might have to do a lot of guess work, and experiments to get the API to function without entirely messing itself up.
Spotify, with the new clarification, has not set a timeline for AirPlay 2 support though. While they did say that they are working on it and is assuring users that it is coming, there are no confirmations as to when. Still, at least you know it is coming, unless Apple comes back with AirPlay 3 this year.
Clubhouse became the rage late last year when Elon Musk decided to host a conversation and discussion on the platform. It became the biggest social media fad since Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat joined the party too in 2020. To be fair, Facebook is getting a little old, and people are getting a bit bored by it. It is still one of the foremost social media platforms, do not get us wrong. It is a place for absolutely everything you can imagine, from making friends, getting trades, source of daily news, to even getting dates.
Clubhouse is a unique platform though. Unlike the usual social media platforms which are heavy on visuals and are mainly visual based platforms, Clubhouse is purely audio based. Unlike most platforms as well, which stores or records your media for at least the next 24 hours, Clubhouse does not have audio recording built-into the platform. That also means that once you miss a session on Clubhouse, you missed it.
It also comes in a time where the need for human interaction is at an all-time high. The whole pandemic situation around the world has isolated us in an unprecedented rate. Working from home and not being able to interact with people as normally as we can has taken a toll on everyone. On Clubhouse, some normalisation can be achieved by naturally talking to your friends or meeting new people on the platform on subjects that you can relate to.
It started out as an iOS exclusive as well with the Android version released a bout a month ago. While Android users have to content with plenty of missing contents and features from the beta app compared to the iOS version, they were pretty much warned about the beta status. What a lot of other people do not realise though, is that while the app has existed for a year or so, the app was still in Beta mode.
That also explains the fact that you can only be invited to the app instead of simply signing up on the platform and get access to all the contents that the platform has to offer. With the Beta status taken off and finally launching in full, Clubhouse’s invite only exclusivity will be removed. Anyone in the waiting list with no invite will immediately get full access to Clubhouse’s various contents and curation.
Aside from the no waiting list update, there are a few things that is released with the updated Clubhouse. To celebrate the Japan Olympics, users can now add a national flag to their bio. There is a new icon to the app as well as part of the update.
Clubhouse, so far, is still the most popular platform of its kind. That has not stopped companies like Spotify, Facebook, and even Discord to try to get in on the Slack action with their own version of an audio chat platform though. While newer platforms like Spotify’s Greenroom may do a few things better than Clubhouse, the platform is fairly new and might take some time to stick compared to clubhouse.
Clubhouse is now available for free on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. As mentioned, there are no more waiting list to get on the platform, so signing up and getting to the contents is just as simple as signing up on the platform itself with your mobile number. As far as we are concerned, the only downside to the platform is that the account is tied to your mobile number.
We hate sharing photos and videos over WhatsApp. We seldom do it too, when we need high-resolution images to be plonked in a presentation deck or overlayed over something. That is because WhatsApp will compress photos down to make the packet easier and quicker to send via the app. The practice saves time and storage space for users. The trade off is image quality, detail and resolution in the photos.
WABETAINFO has some good news to share on that though. If you have not known yet, WABETAINFO is one of the most reliable, if not the most reliable WhatsApp information outlet out there. They shared that WhatsApp has just submitted a new update through the Google Play Beta Program.
Labelled WhatsApp Beta version 2.21.14.16 submitted on the 8th of July 2021; the new WhatsApp beta is supposed to come with one very significant update. You guessed that right, sending better photo quality over WhatsApp. That also means that you do not have to deal with less than par photos sent over WhatsApp anymore in the future. You still can though if you want.
Source: WABETAINFO
The update is supposed to add a windowed option to select the quality of photo uploads on WhatsApp. Based on WABETAINFO, you can select from Auto, Best Quality, and Data Saver. We presume that Data Saver is technically the same thing you get on WhatsApp today. Setting it on Auto allows WhatsApp to determine the best compression balance for specific images. Of course, if you want your photos to look as good as it did when it was taken, Best Quality is the way to go.
According to WABETAINFO though, this selection feature will not stop for photos. The feature is also supposed to be for videos shared over WhatsApp. That also means that you can finally also get good videos sent over WhatsApp.
The new WhatsApp feature is not yet available for the public yet though. It is not even available for Beta testers yet at this time. Seeing that the developers have submitted the Beta version to Google Play Beta Program, Beta testers should be getting the update soon. The public will get a taste of it soon after.
WWDC 2021 happened last week and it was huge. Taking the stage was not just one thing. The hour-plus long keynote turned out to highlight the many improvements Apple is bringing to all their devices. They started with the Apple iPhone’s iOS 15, iPad’s iPadOS 15, and the WatchOS 8. They also announced macOS Monterey in the keynote.
These are not small updates to your Apple devices though, mind you. They come with a whole bunch of feature updates and security updates to make their platforms the most user friendly ever in terms of privacy control. There was plenty to be excited about too with the new updates.
What are our highlights? Listen through to the podcast!
Apple’s iPadOS has always been very closely related to the iOS. After all, when iPad first launched it was running the regular iOS that was enlarged and optimised for larger displays at 9.7-inch. Over the years though, the iPad had its own development team, and the platform grew very quickly into something rather special on its own. In 2021 then we have the iPadOS 15 for the modern Apple iPad.
The iPadOS 15 really shows the maturity of the iPad tablet platform. It still shares some features with the iOS, especially iOS 15 that was also launched in the same WWDC 2021 conference. It shares the privacy and security features, for example. It shares the same Siri and on-device intelligence as well with iOS 15. But iPadOS 15 is a lot more than that too.
The Widget Life
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
For one, widgets has been improved on iPadOS 15. While widgets has been a thing on Apple’s mobile devices, it really comes to its own on iPadOS 15. You can now move and place your widgets anywhere on your home screens to really place the things that matter to you most on your front page.
App Library
When you place widgets though, there might be less room for app icons to be on your home screen. That means you end up with more home screens than you need. That has always been an issue with Apple’s interface. With iPadOS 15 though there is now an App Library. You can now delete apps from your home pages and store these apps for later use in the App Library, kind of like the App Drawer from Android. Actually, it works exactly like that.
Better Multitasking, More Productivty
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Multitasking on the iPadOS is also improved in iPadOS 15. It is plenty more intuitive with a dedicated multitasking button that allows you to launch apps or put apps in split screen mode or in Picture-in-Picture mode. Plus, the multitasking bar allows you to monitor and access all the apps you currently have open. You can close apps from the same page too.
Taking notes on the iPad has always been the natural ground of iPad, especially when Apple introduced their Apple Pencil. Notes on iPadOS 15 is a lot more intuitive than before though with the addition of Mentions. While Mentions is not something you use when you do not share Notes with others, it helps a lot when the Notes is meant to be shared with other people or your working team. You can create the notes while tagging another person to either assign the work to the person, or to point out the person in-charge of the notes. To make things easier to find, you can add tags too. Just a simple hashtagging of keywords basically to make the notes easier to navigate and to surface important notes.
With Apple Pencil too, iPadOS 15 becomes an essential work tool especially when you are on the move. With the Pencil, you simply swipe up from a corner to bring up quick notes to jot down things like phone numbers, or any other important information quickly and seamlessly. When you browse through the web on Safari, and you find something that would catch your interest, you simply swipe up to bring up quick notes and the option to copy down the website URL will appear. You can even copy sentences or segments of the website with links on notes.
Language Barrier? Not Anymore
Source: Apple
The Translate app also comes to its own in iPadOS 15. You can now have a natural flowing conversation with other people even if you are speaking different languages now with iPadOS 15. Your iPad automatically translates conversations for you in real-time. Translate also now works with every other thing within the iPadOS ecosystem. It does not stop there though; your iPad is now also your language coach to practice handwritings.
Swift Playgrounds
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
To really fulfil the potential that the iPad platform has to offer now though is something Apple calls the Swift Playgrounds. The Swift Playgrounds is Apple’s coding platform the Apple’s own coding language. With the iPad’s Swift Playgrounds, you can either learn to code, or develop a new app from the ground up with the built-in SDK. You can even simulate apps for different platforms with Swift Playgrounds, which also adds a layer of productivity and function for the iPad. If you have Apple’s iPad Pro with M1 chip, this is one of the most sensible additions to the iPadOS.
Availability
Apple’s iPadOS 15 is now available as preview on iPads equipped with Apple A12 Bionic chips or later. The full OS update will be available later in Fall 2021. For more information on Apple’s iPadOS 15, you can visit Apple’s Website.
Healthcare is getting more personal and as a result, medical professionals require more data than ever to effectively treat diseases. That said, individuals are also becoming more health conscious and have been tracking and collecting data such as sleep times, heart rate, blood oxygenation and more through wearables like the Apple watch. Apple is taking the next step in enhancing their Health app to allow even better insights and secure data sharing.
With the latest update to the Apple Health app on iOS, the company is making proactive strides to putting more actionable data into the hands of its users. The new update to health allows users to gain more insights with trend analysis. The new feature allows users to track and visualise data trends for 20 types of data. This includes cardio fitness, sleep and even resting heart rate. These trends allow Health app users to track and visualise health and lifestyle metrics that are important to them. The Trends feature will also proactively highlight changes in the data that may be significant to users. The changes will be highlighted and surfaced in a way that is easily understood.
Apple is also bringing a new feature called Walking Steadiness. The feature comes in the wake of an increasing number of cases where serious conditions and loss of independence resulting from a fall. A staggering 37 million cases were reported in April 2021 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The new feature collects mobility data as users use their iPhones. The algorithms assess balance, stability and coordination using the motion sensors of the iPhone. Based on this data, it will return a classification OK, Low or Very Low. The app will then notify users if their steadiness drops below their preset levels and recommend curated, clinically validated visual exercises to increase strength and balance. Joining the steadiness feature is the respiratory rate measurement on the Apple Watch which will allow users to monitor their breathing even when asleep.
Apple’s greatest contribution to personalised health comes with its implementation of Health Sharing. The new feature allows users to share their data with others. While screen capping has always been an option on other platforms, Apple is allowing users to curate and allow visual access to the data to others. This means that users are able to keep an eye on their ageing parents or even share relevant data with their healthcare provider for better care and management of their conditions. It will also allow users to have better, more meaningful conversations with their doctors and allow more effective management. Apple is also including the ability to store vaccination records and tests in the app.
That said, Apple Health isn’t leaving privacy in the lurches. Apple is allowing granular control of the data collected in the Health app to the user. In fact, the company guarantees that the data collected remains private and secure. The data stored is encrypted securely even during sharing and is locked behind a passcode, Face ID or Touch ID on the phone itself. The company guarantees that it doesn’t have any access to the data even when the data is shared.
iOS 14.6 just arrived barely a two weeks ago and WWDC 2021 has already happened to excite iOS fans even more. On the big stage that is YouTube last night, Apple’s WWDC 2021 keynote introduces iOS 15, the next generation operating system to power your iPhone. If Apple said the 14.5 and 14.6 were big updates, you can consider 15 a complete change.
It is not much of a facelift though. You still get the same visuals, art styles, and even the same sort of interface to interact with. It is still very much an iOS that you are used to. At the same time, there are so much new features, this might as well be a new operating system.
FaceTime – Apple’s Best, Even Better
Source: Apple
FaceTime has been one of Apple’s best invention to the video conferencing and calling world. There are plenty of competitors to the platform out there, but if you and your friends have iPhones, FaceTime will be the best video calling experience you can get out there. Video calling is also important at this unprecedented time in the world.
How could Apple make FaceTime better? 4k Resolution? Maybe in 5 years’ time. Audio it is. You can now have a clear, uninterrupted conversation with your friends with FaceTime with Voice Isolation, a tool that cancels noise around you and transmit only your crisp voice. At the same time, you can also ensure that everyone can hear everything from your end with Wide Spectrum mode. In group calls, you even get a sort of spread-out voice just to give your group calls a little bit of spatial dynamic.
There is a new Grid View in FaceTime group calls now too. That means you get to see everyone in the call in equally sized windows. To take a group photo in FaceTime too, you get to have portrait mode that gives you Bokeh in your own tiny grid. But FaceTime is now more than just a video call.
SharePlay
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
You can now share contents across FaceTime calls. You can share music via Apple Music, watch a TV show or Movie together via Disney+, or even share an app screen with your friends. SharePlay works across iOS, iPadOS and MacOS too, so it is not like you are limited to iPhones only.
Everyone in the session gets control of SharePlay’s contents, including music and movies. If you are accessing other apps while watching the show with your friends, SharePlay can play on top of the app in Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode. If you want to watch the shows on a bigger display, you can extend the experience on Apple TV Too. So even if you are separated from your friends, you can watch shows together too.
FaceTime Links with Other People Too
Source: Apple
No, that is not what I meant. FaceTime needs to be used with another person at least, we understand that. Now though, that other person does not need to own an iPhone, or iPad, or even a Mac. They could be on Android and Windows and they can jump into calls with you on FaceTime if you create a link for them.
You can use the links created to be shared through emails, calendars, or even messages to schedule a call with your friends, or even colleagues if you need to. The best part is that the end-to-end encryption remains a feature even if you are on a FaceTime calls with an Android user or a Windows user.
Focusing on the Right Things at the Right Time
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
They put a big emphasis on mindfulness and focus on iOS 15. Mental health and work life balance is becoming an increasingly big issue in the modern world we know today. It is especially true in the current pandemic situation.
Users on iOS 15 can create focus situations to limit notifications and allow notifications from certain apps and contacts surface in different times, your colleagues’ texts and emails at works hours, for example. You can get iOS 15 also to summarise your notification feed to see what surfaced when you were not looking at your smartphone in your chosen time of day. This setting will also sync across your Apple platforms just to ensure that all your devices know how they should behave in different times and situations.
Of course, you can just turn all your notification off with “Do Not Disturb” mode. Do Not Disturb mode will also trigger a notification your contacts who are trying to contact you though. They can see that you want complete silence from them and will create silent notifications for you for when you have the time to respond. You can also silent certain messaging apps for the next hour or the entire day if you want to.
On-Device Intelligence
Source: Apple
There are downsides to having intelligence built right into your device. For one, it is a little more taxing on your smartphone’s hardware. To ensure that it has enough data to run on your device natively too, it would take up more storage space in your device.
Thankfully the benefits outweigh the downsides though. Your on-device command is faster than ever now. It is also a lot more secure on your device.
Live text for example uses Apple’s clever neural processor to recognise texts in a photo or to something that you point to using your iPhone’s camera. You can easily take a photo of your lecture notes on the board for example and convert the photo into texts for you to copy in your own digital note for safe keeping and future reference.
They have also included something called Visual Look Up. From the camera app, users can point to certain objects or landmarks to get more information regarding the landmark, or an object, or even an animal. This feature kind of reminds us of Google Lens, to be honest.
Photos and Spotlights
Source: Apple
Apple introduced Memories in Photos in the last major iOS update. In iOS 15, Memories is made even better with on-board intelligence. Instead of just a photo collage slideshow and video playback, Photos can now include music to go along with your photo collage. You can even choose the song you want to go with your collage and Memories will cleverly alter your photos and tailor the slideshow according to the songs.
But the intelligence does not just stop there. You can now find photos and contents with the intelligence. They call this Spotlight and deservingly so. With Spotlight, your device can recognise texts or handwriting in your photos and pull them up for you. Spotlight also works as a web image search.
Everything You Need in the Wallet
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Apple’s Wallet is one of the world’s best cashless payment platforms. It has also evolved to be something of a one-stop-shop for all your credit cards and your loyalty membership cards. Later this year though your iPhone can be your keys to everything from your home to your cars with Ultra-Wide-Band signal enabled. You can even use your iPhone to store your ID.
On top of that you can share all these information with your family members via Wallets. On the subject of sharing information on your ID across different spaces, you can now choose to disclose only the required information from your ID instead of showing a whole ID card to whoever that is requesting your ID.
New Weather App Design
They have also redesigned their Weather app to look even better than before. They have included more animations too to properly and accurately reflect the current weather situation outside of your window. The backgrounds also accurately shows you the sun’s position through the day.
Apple Maps with Even More Details
Source: Apple
Apple Maps gets a slight overhaul too, this is on top of being available in more regions now. 3D view on Apple Maps is also more detailed than ever on iOS 15. On top of that, you get elevation data with landmark highlights on Apple Maps.
Visually, Apple Maps looks better than ever with Night Mode and its photorealistic lighting effects on 3D objects. Getting lost with Apple Maps can also be a thing of the past with a more detailed view of the road, especially when you are navigating an expressway. When you are driving in town, newly added details like crosswalks, traffic lights, bike and bus lanes help you understand the road better and drive safer. The new Apple Maps will also be coming to Apple CarPlay.
If you prefer commuting on foot, Apple Maps now shows public transportation schedules. In that case, you can use Apple Maps to navigate your commute to anywhere with public transportations. Once you come out of the train station, you can use Apple Maps’ Augmented Reality (AR) function to find your way around and get a bearing of where you are. This function is now only available in select cities in the United States though.
AirPods – Better with iOS 15
Noise cancelling algorithms gets better with iOS 15 too. Apple’s AirPods now can enhance your conversations with the person in front directly in front of you by focusing on the person’s voice. You can be completely handsfree too with notifications read out to you via AirPods. If you misplaced your AirPods, you iPhone now can locate your earbuds.
Siri and Security
Source: Apple
Siri also benefit from on-device intelligence. You can now control your smartphone or smart home functions via Siri even without internet connection or data. At the same time, your voice data never leaves your device in this case.
On top of that, iOS 15 now gives you more control than ever on the sort of information and hardware access is being accessed by the apps you use and work with. You can also ensure that your emails do not track you with IP Address hiding on iOS 15. Security and privacy does not stop there too.
Your iCloud account can also now be recovered even if you forgot your recovery answers and password. All you need to do is add your trusted contact and retrieve a recovery pin from them to recover your iCloud account. They’ve also added Digital Legacy function, in case you need to pass your iCloud data forward.
iCloud+
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
For the same price you paid for iCloud, there is iCloud+ that adds a layer of security here. iCloud+ adds a layer of protection to Safari now. Safari is now encrypted with iOS 15. Browsing on Safari with iCloud+ also means that your IP address do not get tracked. Whatever data that you share on the websites are also encrypted on-device. At the same time, when you need to share email information on any websites too, your iPhone will spoof randomise a spoof email. Any emails sent to the spoof email will be forwarded to your actual email.
