IOS 15
iOS 15 is the fifteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPhone and iPod Touch lines of products. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7, 2021, as the successor to iOS 14 and released to the public on September 20, 2021.
On June 6, 2022, at WWDC 2022, its successor, iOS 16, was announced. iOS 15 was officially succeeded by iOS 16 on September 12, 2022.
iOS 15 is the final version of iOS that supports the iPhone 6s & 6s Plus, first-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 7 & 7 Plus, and seventh-generation iPod Touch, as its successor, iOS 16, drops support for those models. This means that iOS 15 is the last version to support the iPod Touch. iOS 15 is also the final iOS version to support live wallpapers.
System features
Focus
Replacing the dedicated Do Not Disturb feature introduced in iOS 6, Focus is a new feature that allows a user to change their "state", such as Work, Sleep, Do Not Disturb or a custom focus. Based on the selected state, users can set the type of notification they want to receive and from which application. It is also possible to choose which pages and then apps to show on the Home based on the state. The state can change automatically based on where the user is or the time of day.Focus also controls the interactions with Contacts, so it is possible to decide which specific contacts can "disturb" the user.
Some Lock Screen settings can be controlled based on the state: for example, the Dim Lock Screen feature, which darkens the lock screen from not showing notifications on that screen, can be automatically turned on or off based on the state.
Focus is synchronized automatically across different iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices on the same iCloud account, as well as any paired watchOS devices.
Notifications
Notifications receive a new look with contact photos for all communication apps and larger app icons. When the notification arrives, the user can mute the corresponding app for one hour or all day.The Summary allows the user to group and postpone the notifications coming from the chosen apps, delivering them at a scheduled time in a single big notification called summary notification.
Live Text
Devices with an A12 chip or later support Live Text, which uses optical character recognition to recognize text in images, allowing copy-and-paste, look-up, and translation in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and Live Preview with Camera. This feature uses artificial intelligence text recognition using the Neural Engine.Smart stacks with suggested widgets
The Widgets in iOS 15 are now more dynamic: depending on the context, the system can add or remove widgets to existing stacks. For example, near the start of a certain event in the Calendar, the system can decide to add the Calendar Widget to an existing smart stack, if it is not already present, and then remove it at the end of the event.Cross-app drag and drop
Pictures and text can be dragged from one app and dropped in another. This feature was previously only available in iPadOS.Home
The various Home screens can be reordered, deleted, hidden, or limited using Focus mode.Per-app text size
From the Control Center, the text size can be set per app.Spotlight
The global search function has been enhanced and it is also available on the lock screen by pulling the page down.Dictation
Formerly limited to 60 seconds, the Voice-To-Text dictation time available in the keyboard is unlimited.System-wide translation
System-wide translation allows the user to translate text in all apps by selecting it and tapping on the Translate option.Adjust video playback speed
The system default player, used for videos and by many apps, supports changing playback speed.Video Effects and Mic Mode
The Control Center supports Video Effects, adding Portrait effect to the camera, and Mic Mode to implement microphone Voice Isolation.Accessibility improvements
- Per-App Accessibility: each app can have a different accessibility setting to customize the text, increase contrast, reduce motion, autoplay video-preview, etc.
- Image Exploration with VoiceOver: it describes photos to give users with low vision more context about what's displayed on the photo.
- Audible charts: the Audio Graphs accessibility framework allows to represent chart data with audio for blind and low-vision people.
iCloud
RealityKit 2
This version for augmented reality uses new APIs to capture objects faster, and supports custom shaders, dynamic assets, custom systems and character control.Accounts for school and work
User accounts managed by an organization, such as work or school accounts, can be added without requiring external apps or profiles.StoreKit 2
StoreKit 2 allows apps to implement the "Request a Refund" option in-app. The users can tap this option, select a specific in-app purchase and identify the problem that led to the refund request.It also allows developers to monitor the purchases made by their users without using third-party solutions.
App features
FaceTime
iOS 15 adds several new features to FaceTime, including:- Grid view for group conversations
- Portrait mode
- Spatial Audio
- Voice isolation mode: remove background noise during calls
- Wide spectrum mode
- FaceTime links and web integration: Allow Android and Microsoft Windows users to join calls
- Calendar integration
- Mute alerts, which let users know when they are talking while muted
- FaceTime can now take advantage of all rear cameras
- SharePlay allows the user to share their content from compatible video and music apps to a FaceTime call. The user can also share their screen to a FaceTime call.
Memoji
Messages
- Multiple images in stack: Messages now displays multiple images in a stack, making them easier to navigate.
- Pinned content: the user can pin any content, text or link they receive from a contact.
- Shared with You: Messages also introduces a new feature called "Shared with You", which organizes links and other content shared via Messages in a dedicated section in their native apps for later viewing.
Maps
- Greater depth has been added to the driving maps with the use of 3D modeling, which will make it easier to interpret directions when faced with roads that go over or under the one being driven on, including buildings, bridges and trees.
- 3D globe with a new color palette and increased mountain, desert, and forest detail
- Increased traffic information, turn lanes, bike, bus and taxi lanes, medians, crosswalks
- Walking directions in augmented reality
- Redesigned place cards
- Improved filtering for search
- The night mode set in Maps now follows the night mode set in the OS and the colors are improved.
- Public Transport Info: public transport routes and times with ability to pin favorite routes to the top. In-app notifications will alert users when they need to get off a bus or train. Transit information can be visible on a connected Apple Watch.
- Reports and Reviews: the user can report incidents, write reviews and add photos to points of interest, etc.
- New features for driving, including a new map where details such as traffic and incidents are highlighted, as well as an itinerary planner that lets the user view a future journey by selecting departure or arrival time.
Photos
Camera
Improved panoramic shooting mode on iPhone 12 and above: less geometric distortion in panoramic shots with elongated fields of view, noise and banding reduction that are formed in the image due to changes in brightness and contrast when moving the camera from side to side, a less blurry and clearer image even when capturing moving subjects within the panorama.Safari
was completely redesigned, moving the tab bar and address bar to the bottom of the screen, but there is an option to keep the legacy layout. It now has tab groups, allowing users to organize tabs and share entire groups of tabs. The user can now use a pull to refresh gesture to refresh a webpage. Browser extensions are available for the first time in Safari for iOS; they are the same extensions available in Safari for the Mac. Safari will automatically upgrade HTTP URLs to HTTPS if compatible. The WebM video container is supported.Safari opens with a new start page; it is possible to have a custom page on startup that contains sections including favorites, most frequently visited sites, Siri suggestions, etc.
App Clips more discoverable: it is possible to show a full-screen preview of the app clip in Safari.