Updates

iOS 14 rollout begins, check the new features and supported devices

By Christina Cheng

Posted on September 17, 2020

Apple launched iOS 14 for its compatible iPhones adding new features and upgrades. Here’s everything about this new iOS 14.

Widgets:

Apple adds widgets in iOS 14 for the first time. Widgets give you more information at a glance and now you can add them to your Home Screen. You can choose from different sizes and arrange them however you like.

widgets are also available in different sizes such as small, medium, and large so you can choose the most suitable size for you. The Apple gallery shows on the top, the widget you use the most. You’ll be able to create stacks of up to 10 widgets to make the most of the space on your Home Screen. Drag one widget on top of another and swipe through them.

Message:

With the new pinned conversations option, you’ll be able to Pin your favorite conversations to the top of your conversation list so you can easily get to them. And if you pinned a group conversation, you’ll see three recent participants circle around the pin when they send a message. You will be able to pin up to 9 conversations to be able to reply to them easily.

You can now add a photo, memoji, or emoji to the group conversations to give it an identity. With inline replies now reply directly to a specific message in a group conversation. Now with mention, you can type a direct message to anyone in a group. When you mention someone your name will be highlighted. You can even customize an active group so you only receive notifications when you are mentioned.

iOS 14 adds new Memoji styles and stickers to choose from. Along with new-age options and face coverings, you can choose from over 20 new hair and headwear styles to reflect your hobby, profession, and personality.

Compact design for Incoming Calls and Siri:

iOS 14 adds a new design to Incoming Calls and Siri interface. Now the incoming call will be shown in a small popup window on the top. You can now simply swipe up to dismiss or swipe down to expand and answer the call.

As before, now Siri does not take up your entire screen. Instead, it will pop up at the bottom of your screen. You now will be easily able to interact with Siri without losing your focus.

Maps:

With iOS 14, Maps makes it easier to navigate and explore with new cycling directions, electric vehicle routing, and curated Guides. Now it will check how busy the street is and will find the easiest possible way out for you. The new Guides feature will help you discover great places to eat, shop, meet friends, and explore the cities around the world. You can also save guides so you can easily get back to them later.

Now you’ll only have to connect your maps to your electric vehicle and it will keep a track of things like current charge, charging time, and the best possible route for your vehicle.

Now maps will also let you know when you’re approaching speed cameras and red-light cameras along your route. You can also see where individual cameras are located on the map.

Privacy:

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iOS 14 brings a lot of new improvement in its privacy settings, making it more secure than before. There a new page in each product on the app store which shows you a summary of the privacy practices of the app before you download it. A new setting is added in privacy which lets you choose approximate locations rather than a precise location with an app.

Additional Features of iOS 14:

The Translate app is designed for translating conversations, offering a quick and natural translation of voice and text in 11 different languages. Users can also translate offline using offline mode.

With iOS 14, Siri comes with increased knowledge and can answer many complex questions. It can also dictate messages, notes, emails, and more with keyboard dictation on the device.

The upgraded Home app makes smart home control easier to control accessories and scenes. The adaptive lighting feature automatically adjusts the color and temperature throughout the day. It also helps you identify visitors using camera and video doorbells using on-device intelligence on your Apple TV or Homepod.

With the new version of Car Keys, Users can securely unlock or start their car directly from the iPhone. These car keys can be shared using messages or iCloud. This feature is available for compatible cars using NFC technology.

Safari will now offer a privacy report to the users. It will now show cross-site trackers that have been blocked, secure password monitoring, and built-in translation for entire webpages.

Accessibility now adds many new features through Back Tap which allows easy access to gestures, tasks, accessibility shortcuts, sign in language detection in Group FaceTime, and sound recognition.