Apple Announces iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 With New Notifications, Widgets on iPad’s Home Screen, More

Ali Salman

Apple's WWDC 2021 is underway and the company is on a roll. Apple's iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 have finally been announced after resting in the rumor mill for a while. Apple is looking to bring new features and visual changes to the platform. The company started the event, detailing how the next update will be packed with features and will complement the iPhone.

Apple Announces iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 With Major Additions to FaceTime, iMessage, Redesigned Notifications, More

Starting off with iOS 15, Apple is bringing major features to FaceTime. During the ongoing health crises, Apple is making it easier for users to stay connected. The company is bringing spatial audio and voice isolation support to the video chatting app for an immersive user experience. We are pretty aware of how spatial audio works but noise isolation will work through your mic. It will block the external noise and just focus on what is being said.

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Other than this, Apple is also introducing Portrait Mode in iOS 15. It is pretty self-explanatory with the background being blurred and the subject remains in focus. In addition, Apple is making it easier for users to join video calls. The company is introducing a new "FaceTime Link" feature which will make it easier for users to join a call. The best part is that the feature is also available for Android and Windows users through the web.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Announced

Other than this, Apple is also introducing SharePlay - a new way to share media on FaceTime calls. This includes sharing music, movies and you can also share your screen. Basically, you will now have the option available to play Apple Music within a FaceTime call and all individuals of the video call can enjoy it. You can do the same when it comes to watching movies and videos. In addition, iOS 15 will also bolster FaceTime video by watching movies alongside the active calls. The SharePlay API will be available to other services like Disney Plus, HBO Max, TikTok, NBA, Hulu, and many more.

Other than FaceTime, iOS 15 will be equipped with a boatload of new features to the Messages app. iMessage is bringing a new collage and stack for sharing photos. In addition, there are new additions that allow users to better share playlists and Apple News articles. Apple News now features a new "Shared with You" section which you can use to share Apple News links in Messages. The new "Shared with You" section is also available for Apple Music, Photos, News, Safari, Podcasts, and Apple TV.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Announced

Other than this, iOS 15 is also bringing forth a new "Focus" feature which is the highly hyped profile we were expecting from the platform. The profile will allow you to create different modes. The feature will basically allow you to work without any notification distractions. Speaking of notifications, Apple is also redesigning the Notifications. Visual changes include bigger icons on the Lock screen so it is easier to see the notifications. Other than this, the new "Notifications Summary" feature allows you to receive a summary of the notifications from the day of your choosing. The feature will bundle low-priority notifications together to create a summary.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Announced

iOS 15 also brings a new "Live Text" feature which brings optical character recognition to the main camera app. All you have to do is just point the camera at a text and you can select the information and paste it somewhere else. The feature supports seven languages and can also be used on the web as it uses a "deep neural network" to scan photos.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Announced

Lastly, Apple is also revamping its Wallet, Weather, and Maps apps. The company is bringing UWB keys, Digital IDs, more to the Wallet app which will be available later this year. As for the Weather app, iOS 15 will offer a new design and more current conditions features. The Weather app will give you a full-screen view with air quality information, precipitation, and much more. Apple Maps will offer an all-new design with an interactive globe and detailed information on commercial districts, buildings, and much more. There is also a new nighttime mode for navigation in the dark.

The driving mode will share more road details, turn lanes, bus lanes, more. Apple Maps can also render "overlapping, complex interchanges" and there is also a new navigation view that looks pretty great.

iPadOS 15

Other than iOS 15, Apple has also announced the iPadOS 15 with a bunch of notable features. One of the major visual changes in iPadOS 15 includes widgets on the Home screen - Finally! Since the launch of widgets with iOS 14, users have been demanding the same level of customization on the iPad. While the iPad already supported widgets, they had their own dedicated page for it. Now, you can just add widgets on the Home screen and you can place them anywhere. iPadOS 15 will introduce the new widget gallery which has loads of widgets that you can choose from, including the new Find My, and Files widget. There is also a new widget size for the bigger display of the iPad which makes perfect sense.

iPadOS 15

Other than this, Apple is also bringing the iPhone's App Library to the iPad with iPadOS 15. It will allow you to keep minimum icons on the Home screen while keeping everything accessible on one side. In addition, iPadOS 15 introduces improved multitasking capabilities. The new icons will make it easier for users to go into split-view mode. The new "Shelf" feature will make it easier for users to manage different tasks. Multitasking in iPadOS 15 offers a variety of changes compared to what we use today.

iPadOS 15

Other additions coming to iPadOS 15 include QuickNote - a new and easier way to attach notes to webpages and other areas. There is also a new native Translate app that is coming to the iPad. In addition to this, there is a boatload of new keyboard shortcuts like #tag and @mention. Other than this, iPadOS 15 will share a plethora of features coming to iOS 15 which includes Spatial Audio support on FaceTime, voice isolation feature, Portrait mode in video calls, and additional SharePlay features for sharing music, movies, and more.

iPadOS 15 Announced

Apple introduced the M1 iPad Pro in April and it looks like the company is gearing its platform to take better advantage of the chip. For instance, the new Swift Playground will allow developers to make iOS and iPadOS apps right on the iPad itself which is a pretty big deal. Additionally, the privacy and security under the hood are enhanced as well.

There you have it, folks. Apple's new iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 are exciting updates pertaining to the number of forward-facing features they have to offer. There is a boatload of other tidbits related to the platform which we will be sharing later on. As for now, share your views with us in the comments.

Want to download the iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 beta? Check out the following:

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