iOS 15: Everything you need to know about Apple’s latest update for the iPhone

WWDC is Apple’s annual event with a major emphasis on showcasing its software advancements. What this means is every year at WWDC, we get our first glimpse of the new versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and all of Apple’s apps and services. In 2021, Apple announced iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 along with macOS Monterey and watchOS 8. This article should give you a comprehensive overview of iOS 15 right from how you can install it on your iPhone to what the new features and improvements are on Apple’s latest smartphone OS.

Navigate this article:

• Will my iPhone get iOS 15?
• When will iOS 15 be available to download?
• How to Install iOS 15 on my iPhone
• What’s new with iOS 15?
  • iOS 15: All the New Features
    • Slightly revamped Settings app
    • All-new FaceTime that even works with Android!
    • Different Mic Modes: Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum
    • Sharing gets easier through iMessage on iOS 15
    • Revamped Notifications (sorta)
    • Focus Modes for better Work-life Balance
    • Live Text is Google Lens but a few years late
    • Drag and Drop across apps on iOS 15
    • Rich Results in Spotlight Search
    • Big changes in Safari
    • Apple Wallet can now actually let you leave your wallet at home
    • New Weather animations: Dark Sky acquisition finally pays off
    • Miscellaneous Changes in iOS 15: Photos, Siri, and Privacy Reports
  • Full Changelog
  • iOS 15.1
  • iOS 15.2
  • iOS 15.3
  • iOS 15.4
  • iOS 15.5
  • iOS 15.6

Will my iPhone get iOS 15?

This is the most common question you may have as a consumer. If you have an iPhone and are wondering if your device will get the iOS 15 update or not, here’s a list of all iPhone devices that are slated to get the iOS 15 update:

• iPhone SE 3
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 Mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 Mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone SE 2
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone SE 1
• iPhone 6S
• iPhone 6S Plus

Apart from the iPhone, even the iPod Touch 7th Generation will get the iOS 15 update. As far as the iPad is concerned, here’s the list of supported devices for iPadOS 15, which is an extension of the iOS update but for iPads:

• iPad Mini (4 and later)
• iPad (5 and later)
• iPad Air (2 and later)
• iPad Pro (All)

It’s commendable Apple is providing software support to iPhones that are over 6 years old, something Android OEMs, including Google itself, should learn and implement.

When will iOS 15 be available to Download?

After three months of beta testing, Apple has finally made iOS 15 available to the public as a stable release. Starting September 20, 2021, if you have a supported iPhone, you should be able to receive and install the update.

How to Install iOS 15 on my iPhone

We’ve prepared an extensive XDA Basics Guide that will explain the installation process for iOS 15. They’re easy-to-follow, bite-sized steps that will get you updating your iPhone in no time!

What’s new with iOS 15?

Apple announced a few new features with iOS 15 but largely, iOS 15 is more of an iterative update with not a lot of changes or differences. The UI remains identical to iOS 14 in terms of visuals but there are a few nifty additions across the board that improve the overall user experience. As with almost every iOS update, iOS 15 has gotten closer to Android in terms of some features it has to offer and we’ll go over all of it in detail.

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iOS 15: All the New Features

Slightly revamped Settings app

While there aren’t a lot of visual changes in iOS 15, we noticed a slight change in the way the Settings app looks on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The entire Settings UI seems to have shrunk slightly and now looks more compact. Apart from that, everything else looks the same as iOS 14. The notifications also look slightly different but we’ll take more in detail about that in a separate section.

All-new FaceTime that even works with Android!

One of the biggest changes in iOS 15 is the all-new FaceTime app that brings a lot of new features including the ability to ask Android users to join your FaceTime call. Apple is calling this FaceTime Link. It lets you create a new FaceTime call from your iPhone and share the link with your friends on Android and they can use that link to hop onto the call.
There are some visual changes to FaceTime too like a new grid view during calls along with support for Spatial Audio with a supported pair of headphones like the AirPods Pro or the AirPods Max.

The biggest new feature though (yes, even bigger than Android support in our opinion) is SharePlay — not included in iOS 15.0, but arrived in later updates. This essentially turns your FaceTime call into a watch party with your friends and family. You can share your screen and watch TV shows and movies together, or just chill with synced music playback. This is extremely convenient and eliminates the need for other third-party apps and extensions to perform this task. You can also add a portrait mode effect now to your video on FaceTime.

Different Mic Modes: Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum

While this was initially thought to be restricted to FaceTime, going by Apple’s keynote, the feature is present throughout iOS 15 in every app that uses your microphone. You can now choose between three options for the type of audio captured by the mic — Standard, Voice Isolation, and Wide Spectrum.

Standard is, well, standard quality while Voice Isolation cuts out any sort of background noise in your environment and improves the quality of your audio. Wide Spectrum does the exact reverse and allows sounds from your background to be heard better. This is currently not completely functional and glitches out from time to time which is understandable given it’s a beta release. It’s a really interesting feature to look forward to though.

Sharing gets easier through iMessage on iOS 15

When someone sends you multiple pictures via iMessage, you’ll be able to swipe through the different images in a stack or as a collage which makes it more convenient and the message thread also looks cleaner this way. Also, there’s a new Shared with You feature across different first-party apps on iOS that shows you quick access links that someone shared with you via iMessage.
If someone sent you a link, it would show up when you open Safari. If someone sent you a Music track, it would show up when you open Apple Music. This makes accessing those shared constants easier and you can even continue the conversation from there.

Revamped Notifications (sort of)

The way iOS displays notifications has always been inferior compared to Android. While it’s still the same, there are some notable improvements like larger app icons for app notifications and larger faces for notifications from people that allow those notifications to stand out.
Notification Summary is also a new feature that can display notifications in a grouped cluster from specific apps that you can set or the iPhone learns during your usage. The notifications will be delivered at a specific time and frequency that the user can choose.

Focus Modes for better Work-life Balance

Focus Modes are an extended version of the DND feature that has been on iOS for a long time. It gives you different options to choose from depending on what you’re doing and changes a few settings on your phone, notification settings specifically, to match that mode.

You can have a personal mode where all your personal notifications will be delivered, while switching to work mode will ensure only notifications from work-related apps will be delivered to you. There’s also a Focus Mode for sleep and Apple also says iOS 15 will learn the usage patterns of users and suggest Focus Modes based on location or activities, such as when you’re working out.

Live Text is Google Lens but a few years late

There’s not much to describe here other than the fact you can now point your iPhone at text and directly copy it to your clipboard, search for it online, or if it’s a phone number, place a call directly from the dialer. All of this was already offered by Google Lens but the difference here is Live Text processes information on-device which means it’s more secure and works even without an internet connection. Not just text, but you can also scan animals or objects and look them up.

Drag and Drop across apps on iOS 15

This is one of the best features in our opinion on iOS 15. Just as the title suggests, you can now drag and drop text or images from one app to the other on iOS 15 seamlessly. This is a handy way to attach images to your messages or emails or if you want to quickly transfer large chunks of text from one app to the other.
This also works with the Live Text feature we mentioned in the previous point.

Rich Results in Spotlight Search

Spotlight Search is one of the core features of both iOS and macOS. It lets you search for just about anything locally as well as online. Spotlight Search on iOS 15 will give you improved results with richer information.

If you search for a contact, it will give you details from all apps on your phone. If you search for a celebrity, it will give you details about them with deeper insights about their work. If you search for a term, it will even find photos related to it apart from searching your phone and online.

Big changes in Safari

After FaceTime, Safari is the app that has received the maximum number of changes. For starters, the UI looks entirely different and the address bar has been moved from the top to the bottom of the screen. The tab switching interface has also changed quite a bit and has a translucent background now. There’s support for voice search on Safari which is handy.

The biggest change however is the ability to install extensions on Safari which isn’t possible on some other popular mobile browsers like Google Chrome.

Apple Wallet can now actually let you leave your wallet at home

While the Wallet app on the iPhone could already store a digital key for your car, it can now do much more including unlocking your house door or even storing access cards to unlock your office doors and even your hotel room when you’re on vacation. Apple’s aim is to completely eliminate the need for a separate wallet and allow you to have everything you need on your iPhone.

If you’re a frequent traveler, there’s good news for you too. Apple is working with the TSA to allow storing IDs in the Apple Wallet which can be then scanned at the airport to make the process a lot more seamless and convenient.

New Weather animations: Dark Sky acquisition finally pays off

The default Weather app on iOS 15 has undergone a host of new changes. Apple acquired the popular weather information app Dark Sky last year and it looks like they’ve been implementing UI changes from it onto the Weather app.
The way the weather data is displayed has changed and is now accompanied by beautiful, realistic animations in the background. The graphics are more intuitive and accurately display the weather conditions in your location. Weather maps have also been added to represent the temperature, air quality, etc.

Miscellaneous Changes in iOS 15: Photos, Siri, and Privacy Reports

The Photos app has gotten a new feature where, if you have similar pictures or pictures shot on a trip or a special occasion, it will automatically create a slideshow for you consisting of those pictures with a music track added to the background. Apple is calling this Memories. As with Siri, most of the processing now happens on-device so there’s better offline functionality and better contextual conversations.

Privacy Reports just emphasize Apple’s inclination towards privacy. It gives you a detailed report about which apps have asked for permission to access the camera, microphone, contacts, etc. on your iPhone.

Full Changelog

iOS 15 Official Release Notes. Click to expand.

iOS 15 brings audio and video enhancements to FaceTime, including spatial audio and Portrait mode. Shared with You resurfaces the articles, photos, and other shared content from your Messages conversations in the corresponding app. Focus helps you reduce distractions by filtering out notifications based on what you are currently doing. Notifications have been redesigned and a new notification summary delivers a collection of notifications so you can catch up on your own time. Maps delivers a beautiful redesign with a new three-dimensional city experience and augmented reality walking directions. Live Text uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in photos across the entire system and on the web. New privacy controls in Siri, Mail, and more provide transparency and give you more control over your data.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website.

Feature Changelog:

• FaceTime
  • Spatial audio makes people’s voices sound like they’re coming from the direction in which they’re positioned on the screen on Group FaceTime calls (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Voice Isolation blocks background noises so your voice is crystal clear (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Wide Spectrum brings all background noises into your call (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Portrait mode blurs your background and puts the focus on you (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Grid view displays up to six people at a time in Group FaceTime calls in the same-size tiles and highlights the current speaker
  • FaceTime links allow you to invite your friends into a FaceTime call, even friends on Android or Windows devices can join from their browser
• Messages and Memoji
  • Shared with You shows content sent to you by friends in Messages conversations in a new section in Photos, Safari, Apple News, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, or the Apple TV app
  • Pinned content elevates the shared content you choose and makes it more prominent in Shared with You, Messages search, and the Details view of the conversation
  • Multiple photos sent in Messages are displayed as a glanceable collage or a swipeable stack
  • Over 40 Memoji outfit choices and up to three different colors to customize your Memoji stickers’s clothing and headwear
• Focus
  • Focus lets you automatically filter notifications based on what you’re currently doing, such as fitness, sleep, gaming, reading, driving, work, or personal time
  • Focus uses on-device intelligence during set up to suggest apps and people you want to allow notifications from in a Focus
  • Home Screen pages can be customized to match your apps and widgets to a specific Focus
  • Contextual suggestions intelligently suggest a Focus based on your context, using signals like location or time of day
  • Status appears to your contacts in Messages conversations, indicating your notifications are silenced with Focus
• Notifications
  • A new look displays contact photos for people and larger icons for apps
  • Notification summary delivers a helpful collection of your notifications daily, based on a schedule you set
  • Notifications can be muted from any app or messaging thread for the next hour or for the day
• Maps
  • Detailed city maps display elevation, trees, buildings, landmarks, crosswalks and turn lanes, and 3D views to navigate complex interchanges, and more in San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and London, with more cities coming in the future (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • New driving features include a new map that highlights details like traffic and incidents, and a route planner that lets you view your upcoming journey by choosing a future departure or arrival time
  • Immersive walking directions show step-by-step directions in augmented reality (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Updated transit experience provides one-tap access to departures near you, makes it easy to see and interact with your route using one hand, and notifies you when approaching your stop
  • Interactive 3D globe shows enhanced details for mountain ranges, deserts, forests, oceans, and more (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Redesigned place cards make it easy to learn about and interact with places, and a new home for Guides editorially curates the best recommendations for places you’ll love
• Safari
  • Bottom tab bar is easier to reach and helps you move between tabs by swiping left or right
  • Tab Groups help you save and organize your tabs and easily access them across devices
  • Tab overview grid view displays your open tabs
  • Start page can be customized with a background image and new sections like Privacy Report, Siri Suggestions, and Shared With You
  • Web extensions on iOS help you personalize your browsing and can be downloaded through the App Store
  • Voice search lets you search the web using your voice
• Wallet
  • Home keys let you tap to unlock a supported home or apartment door lock (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Hotel keys allow you to tap to unlock your room at participating hotels
  • Office keys allow you to tap to unlock your office doors for participating corporate offices
  • Car keys with Ultra Wideband help you unlock, lock, and start your supported car without having to take your iPhone out of your bag or pocket (iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models)
  • Remote keyless entry functions on your car keys allow you to lock, unlock, honk your horn, preheat your car, or open your trunk on your supported vehicle
• Live Text
  • Live Text makes text interactive in your photos so you can copy and paste, look up, and translate in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and live previews with Camera (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Data detectors for Live Text recognize phone numbers, emails, dates, street addresses, and more in photos so you can take action on them
  • Live Text is available from the keyboard letting you insert text directly from the camera viewfinder into any text field
• Spotlight
  • Rich results brings together all the information you’re looking for on contacts, actors, musicians, movies, and TV shows
  • Photos can be searched from your photo library by locations, people, scenes, text in the photos or other things in the photos, like a dog or a car
  • Web image search allows you to search for images of people, animals, monuments, and more
• Photos
  • New look for Memories with a new interactive interface, animated cards with smart, adaptive titles, new animation and transition styles, and multiple image collages
  • Apple Music can be added to your Memories for Apple Music subscribers, and personalized song suggestions combine expert recommendations with your music tastes and what’s in your photos and videos
  • Memory mixes let you set the mood by selecting from different songs and a Memory look to match
  • New memory types include additional international holidays, child-focused memories, trends over time, and improved pet memories
  • Info pane now displays rich information about the photo like which camera and lens, shutter speed, file size, and more
  • Visual Look Up recognizes art, landmarks around the world, plants and flowers, books, and dog and cat breeds in your photos so you can learn more about them
• Health
  • Sharing lets you choose health data, alerts, and trends to share with people important to you or those who are caring for you, including your healthcare provider
  • Trends lets you see how a given health metric is progressing over time and can notify you when a new trend has been detected
  • Walking Steadiness is a new metric that can assess your risk of falling and notify you if your walking steadiness is low (iPhone 8 and later)
  • Verifiable health records enable you to download and store verifiable versions of COVID-19 vaccines and lab results
  • Lab results can now be pinned for quick access and include highlights that show how your labs have changed over time
• Weather
  • A new design shows the most important weather information for that location and includes new maps modules
  • Weather maps can be viewed in full-screen and show precipitation, temperature and air quality in supported countries
  • Next-hour precipitation notifications alert you when rain or snow is about to start or stop in Ireland, U.K., and US
  • New animated backgrounds more accurately represent the sun position, clouds, and precipitation (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
• Siri
  • On-device processing means audio of your requests does not leave your device by default, and means Siri is able to process many requests while offline (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
  • Share items with Siri lets you send on screen items like photos, web pages and Maps locations to any of your contacts
  • Onscreen context can be used by Siri to refer to contacts on screen to send them a message or place a call
  • On-device personalization allows Siri speech recognition and understanding to improve privately (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and later)
• Privacy
  • Mail Privacy Protection protects your privacy by preventing email senders from learning about your Mail activity, your IP address or whether you’ve opened their email
  • Safari Intelligent Tracking Prevention now also prevents known trackers from profiling you using your IP address
• iCloud+
  • iCloud+ is a cloud subscription service that gives you premium features and additional iCloud storage
  • iCloud Private Relay (beta) sends your requests through two separate internet relays and encrypts the internet traffic leaving your device so you can browse Safari in a more secure and private way
  • Hide My Email lets you create unique, random email addresses that forward to your personal inbox so you can send and receive email without having to share your real email address
  • HomeKit Secure Video supports connecting more security cameras without using your iCloud storage quota
  • Custom email domain personalizes your iCloud Mail address and allows you to invite family members to use the same domain
• Accessibility
  • Image exploration with VoiceOver allows you to get even more details about people and objects, and learn about text and table data in photos
  • VoiceOver image descriptions in Markup let you add your own image descriptions that can be read by VoiceOver
  • Per-app settings allow you to customize display and text size settings only for the apps you want
  • Background sounds play balanced, bright, or dark noise, ocean, rain, and stream sounds continuously in the background to mask unwanted environmental or external noise
  • Sound actions for Switch Control enable you to control your iPhone with simple mouth sounds
  • Audiograms can be imported in Settings so you can customize Headphone Accommodations based on your hearing test results
  • New Voice Control languages include Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Cantonese (Hong Kong), French (France), and German (Germany)
  • Memoji options including a cochlear implant, oxygen tubes, or a soft helmet
• This release also includes other features and improvements:
  • Tags in Notes and Reminders help you quickly categorize your items to make them easy to find, and you can use custom Smart Folders and Smart Lists to automatically collect your notes and reminders based on rules you can define
  • Mentions in Notes enable you to notify others of important updates in shared notes, and an all-new Activity view displays all the recent changes in a note in a single list
  • Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking in Apple Music brings an even more immersive experience to Dolby Atmos music with AirPods Pro and AirPods Max
  • System-wide translation lets you select text throughout the system and translate it with a tap, even in photos
  • New widgets include Find My, Contacts, App Store, Sleep, Game Center, and Mail
  • Cross-app drag and drop function lets you pick up images, documents, and files from one app to another
  • Keyboard magnification loupe magnifies the text when moving the cursor
  • Apple ID Account Recovery Contacts lets you to choose one or more people you trust to help you reset your password and regain access to your account
  • Temporary iCloud storage grants you as much iCloud storage as you need to create a temporary backup of your data, free of charge, for up to three weeks when you buy a new device
  • Find My separation alerts notify you if you leave a supported device or item behind and Find My will give you directions to your item
  • Game highlights of up to the last 15 seconds of gameplay can be saved using game controllers like the Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller or Sony PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller
  • App Store in-app events help you discover timely events within apps and games such as a game competition, a new movie premiere, or a livestreamed experience

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Incremental Updates

iOS has received several incremental updates over the months and into 2022, building upon the main iOS 15 release from 2021. Here’s what these updates have brought along.

iOS 15.1

The highlight of this update is the addition of SharePlay. The feature was meant to be released later on, and it finally arrived when iOS 15.1 was released to the public. Along with this we also got ProRes video capture on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, as well as a setting to switch off the auto-macro for photos and videos on those phones.

iOS 15.1 Changelog

SharePlay

• SharePlay is a new way to share synchronized experiences in FaceTime with content from the Apple TV app, Apple Music, Fitness+, and other supported App Store apps
• Shared controls give everyone the ability to pause, play, rewind or fast forward
• Smart volume automatically lowers the audio of a movie, TV show or song when your friends speak
• Apple TV supports the option to watch the shared video on your big screen while you continue the FaceTime call on iPhone
• Screen sharing lets everyone on a FaceTime call look at photos, browse the web, or help each other out

Camera

• ProRes video capture using iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
• Setting to turn off automatic camera switching when taking macro photos and videos on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple Wallet

• COVID-19 vaccination card support allows you to add and present verifiable vaccination information from Apple Wallet

Translate

• Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) support in the Translate app and for system-wide translation

Home

• New automation triggers based on the current reading of a HomeKit-enabled humidity, air quality, or light level sensor

Shortcuts

• New pre-built actions let you overlay text on images or gifs, plus a new collection of games lets you pass the time with Siri

This release also fixes the following issues:

• Photos app may incorrectly report storage is full when importing photos and videos
• Weather app may not show current temperature for My Location, and may display colors of animated backgrounds incorrectly
• Audio playing from an app may pause when locking the screen
• Wallet may unexpectedly quit when using VoiceOver with multiple passes
• Available Wi-Fi networks may not be detected
• Battery algorithms updated on iPhone 12 models to better estimate battery capacity over time

iOS 15.2

This update brought a lot of new changes to Apple’s mobile operating system. These include Apple Music Voice Plan support, a search field in Apple Music playlists, Communication Safety feature to protect minors from online predators, App Privacy Report, and more.

iOS 15.2 Changelog

iOS 15.2 adds Apple Music Voice Plan, a new subscription tier that provides access to music using Siri. This update also includes the App Privacy Report, new safety features for children and parents in Messages, and other features and bug fixes for your iPhone.

Apple Music Voice Plan

• Apple Music Voice Plan is a new subscription tier that gives you access to all songs, playlists, and stations in Apple Music using Siri
• Just Ask Siri suggests music based on your listening history and likes or dislikes
• Play it Again lets you access a list of your recently played music

Privacy

• App Privacy Report in Settings lets you see how often apps have accessed your location, photos, camera, microphone, contacts and more during the last seven days, as well as their network activity

Messages

• Communication safety setting gives parents the ability to enable warnings for children when they receive or send photos that contain nudity
• Safety warnings contain helpful resources for children when they receive photos that contain nudity

Siri and Search

• Expanded guidance in Siri, Spotlight and Safari Search to help children and parents stay safe online and get help with unsafe situations

Apple ID

• Digital Legacy allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your iCloud account and personal information in the event of your death

Camera

• Macro photo control for switching to the Ultra Wide lens to capture macro photos and videos can be enabled in Settings on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

TV app

• Store tab lets you browse, buy, and rent movies and TV Shows all in one place

CarPlay

• Enhanced city map in Apple Maps with road details like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks for supported cities

This release also includes the following enhancements for your iPhone:

• Hide My Email is available in the Mail app for iCloud+ subscribers to create unique, random email addresses
• Find My can locate iPhone for up to five hours when in Power Reserve
• Stocks allows you to view the currency for a ticker and see year-to-date performance when viewing charts
• Reminders and Notes now allow you to delete or rename tags

This release also includes bug fixes for your iPhone:

• Siri may not respond while VoiceOver is running and iPhone is locked
• ProRAW photos may appear overexposed when viewing in third-party photo editing apps
• HomeKit scenes that include a garage door may not run from CarPlay when your iPhone is locked
• CarPlay may not update Now Playing information for certain apps
• Video streaming apps may not load content on iPhone 13 models
• Calendar events may appear on the wrong day for Microsoft Exchange users

iOS 15.3

This update to iOS revolves around fixing bugs and patching security exploits. Most notably, it patches the Safari bug that allowed websites to view the database names of other domains. The bug could allow malicious websites to extract Google account data and build a digital profile of the victim.

iOS 15.3 Changelog

iOS 15.3 includes bug fixes and security updates for your iPhone and is recommended for all users.

iOS 15.4

iOS 15.4 introduces plenty of new emoji, adds Face ID support when masked for users with an iPhone 12 or a newer model, and brings EU COVID19 vaccination certificate support to the Health and Wallet apps. It also includes smaller changes and additions, such as filtering options to the Podcasts app, a new Apple Card widget, and tweaks to the TV app.

iOS 15.4 Changelog

Face ID

• Face ID while wearing a mask option on iPhone 12 and newer
• Apple Pay and password autofill in apps and Safari can be used with Face ID while wearing a mask

Emoji

• New emoji including faces, hand gestures, and household objects are now available in emoji keyboard
• Handshake emoji allows you to choose separate skin tones for each hand

FaceTime

• SharePlay sessions can be initiated directly from supported apps

Siri

• Siri can provide time and date information while offline on iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone 11 or newer
• Siri now includes an additional voice, expanding the diversity of options

Vaccine cards

• EU Digital COVID Certificate support in Health enables you to download and store verifiable versions of COVID-19 vaccination, lab results, and recovery records
• COVID-19 vaccination cards in Apple Wallet now support the EU Digital COVID Certificate format

This release also includes the following enhancements for your iPhone:

• Safari webpage translation adds support for Italian and Chinese (Traditional)
• Podcasts app adds episode filters for seasons, played, unplayed, saved, or downloaded episodes
• iCloud custom email domains can be managed from Settings
• News offers enhanced discovery of audio content in the Today feed and Audio tab
• Camera in keyboard can be used to add text to Notes and Reminders
• Shortcuts now supports adding, removing, or querying tags with Reminders
• Emergency SOS settings have changed to use Call with Hold for all users. Call with 5 Presses is still available as an option in Emergency SOS settings
• Close-up in Magnifier uses the ultra-wide camera on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max to help you see small objects
• Saved passwords can now include your own notes in Settings

This release also includes bug fixes for your iPhone:

• Keyboard may insert period between typed numbers
• News widgets in Today View may not open articles when tapped
• Photos and videos may not sync to iCloud Photo Library
• Speak Screen Accessibility feature may quit unexpectedly within the Books app
• Live Listen may not turn off when switched off in Control Center

iOS 15.5

iOS 15.5 includes very minor tweaks, including new send/request money buttons for Apple Cash card users. Additionally, Apple Podcasts now has an auto-deletion option to limit the number of episodes remain stored on your device.

iOS 15.5 Changelog

iOS 15.5 includes the following improvements and bug fixes:

• Wallet now enables Apple Cash customers to send and request money from their Apple Cash card
• Apple Podcasts includes a new setting to limit episodes stored on your iPhone and automatically delete older ones
• Fixes an issue where home automations, triggered by people arriving or leaving, may fail

iOS 15.6

iOS 15.6 is a minor update that fixes bugs and adds new options for those watching sports games in the Apple TV app.

iOS 15.6 Changelog

iOS 15.6 includes enhancements, bug fixes and security updates.

• TV app adds the option to restart a live sports game already in-progress and pause, rewind, or fast-forward
• Fixes an issue where Settings may continue to display that device storage is full even if it is available
• Fixes an issue that may cause braille devices to slow down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail
• Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab may revert back to a previous page

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These are all the new features and changes from iOS 14 that we observed on iOS 15. What do you think of iOS 15? Are there more features that iOS needs to borrow from Android? Or would you like to see any of these features making their way to Android? Let us know in the comments below!

The post iOS 15: Everything you need to know about Apple’s latest update for the iPhone appeared first on XDA.

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Nothing Phone 1 Review: Good phone, better marketing

I am not sure if this is the case all around the world, but in American sports culture, fans love to argue not just which athlete is better, but also which has been properly rated. The gist is that being good isn’t enough, the athlete has to be at least as good or better as the hype bestowed on them (usually by media or apparel companies like Nike). Not living up to the hype results in the dreaded “overrated” moniker, and the athlete usually receives criticism or mockery.

That’s sort of what’s happened with the Nothing Phone 1. It’s been hyped so much that I’ve been seeing snark from tech media peers on the phone, even though it’s an absolutely fine phone that’s not overpriced. And to be honest, at its £399 ($470) starting price, there are not many complaints to be had in my opinion. Are there better value offerings? Sure, Xiaomi’s 12 Lite is arguably a better phone at an even lower price, but Nothing’s phone is available in more markets right now, and it has a cleaner Android software and a different, original design. The Indian market is more hotly contested, which is where Nothing Phone 1 sees a whole lot more competition, so depending on your needs, you can swing this way or that.

Nothing Phone 1: Price and Availability

The Nothing Phone 1 is available for purchase starting July 21 in select markets including UK, France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Finland, Portugal, among a half dozen more countries. Prices, in British pounds, Indian rupees, and Hong Kong dollars, are as follows.

• 8+128GB: £399/₹32,999/HK$3,699
• 8+256GB: £449/₹35,999/ HK$3,999
• 12+256GB: £499/₹38,999/HK$4,399

Nothing Phone 1

Nothing's first phone brings a flashy hardware design with minimal software and a good main camera.

Pros:

Cons:

View at Flipkart

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Nothing Phone 1: Specifications

Specification	Nothing Phone 1
Build	IP53 dust and water resistance Colors: white black
Dimensions & Weight	159.2 x 75.8 x 8.3mm 193.5g
Display	6.55-inch OLED Gorilla Glass (did not specify which version) 2400 x 1080 120Hz 1,200nits peak brightness HDR10+
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus
RAM & Storage	8GB + 128GB 8GB + 256GB 12GB + 256GB
Battery & Charging	4,500mAh 33W wired fast charging support 15W wireless fast charging support Charger not included
Security	In-display optical fingerprint scanner
Rear Camera(s)	Primary: 50MP IMX766, f/1.9, 1/1.56-inch Ultra-wide: 50MP JN1, f/2.2, 114-degree field-of-view
Front Camera(s)	16MP selfie camera
Port(s)	USB Type-C
Audio	Stereo speakers
Connectivity	5G 4G LTE Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 BLE Audio support Snapdragon sound support AAC/LDAC/LHDC/aptX Adaptive
Software	Nothing OS over Android 12
Other Features	Glyph lighting interface

About this hands-on: Nothing sent me a Phone 1 to test. This review was written after about seven days with the device. Nothing had no input in this article.

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Nothing Phone 1: Design Overview

• The overall shape and in-hand feel is very similar to iPhone 12/13 Pro Max, but slightly smaller
• Symmetrical bezels on all four sides — a rarity in Android phones
• Transparent back with light strips that seem cool or gimmick depending on opinion

The overall shape and in-hand feel of the Nothing Phone 1 is very similar to the iPhone 12 and 13 series, particularly the Pro Max phones, with very flat sides and rounded corners. When you hold this phone, your palm feels mostly the aluminum frame, as the hard angles stop the phone’s back from sitting on your palm. The Nothing Phone 1 is less wide horizontally and quite a bit lighter, which makes it slightly more comfortable to hold.

I have been vocal in saying I don’t find the iPhone 12/13 design language comfortable to hold and it’s the same story here. The flat sides give the phone a mature, powerful machine vibe, but it just doesn’t nestle in the palm as softly as curved sides do. I am not necessarily talking about curved screen phones, even the older iPhone X/11 type design had sides that were rounded. It’s worth mentioning that Xiaomi and Oppo also recently released phones with flat sides, but those brands added subtle chamfered corners to soften the sharp edges. The Nothing Phone 1 doesn’t do this, going the entire iPhone route in which the sides of the phone end at an abrupt 90-degree angle.

This design looks cool but is not as comfortable to hold as phones with curvier sides

I suppose a big reason for my gripe is because I tend to use my phones naked, while a case will significantly soften the sharp corners of these flat-sides designs.

The most attention-grabbing feature of the Phone 1 is obviously the back design: a semi-transparent look that seemingly offers a glimpse at the phone’s internals. Most of what we see is actually a design piece covering the actual guts of the phone, but we can see the wireless charging coil and some carefully placed screws.

The bottom left part of the phone’s back design is meant to resemble Manhattan in the New York City subway map.

The bottom part of the back plate design looks like an elephant to some people, but Nothing tells me it was actually patterned after the New York City subway map, particularly Manhattan (the lower left corner part definitely resembles Manhattan). I personally really like this look, with the center-placed wireless charging coil’s spiral design adding a nice bullseye-like aesthetic that draws eyeballs.

The Glyph Interface

There are four strips of lights on the backside of the phone, including two that wrap around the camera module and the wireless charging coil respectively. This is what Nothing calls the “glyph interface” and the lights aren’t entirely for decoration. Nothing has designed the lights to flash specific patterns for various smartphone tasks, like when the phone is ringing, receiving a notification, or when Google Assistant is being summoned. The sound effects that play along with the flashing lights are, according to Nothing, inspired by the classic Nintendo Entertainment System and Casio electronic watches, meaning they have this retro electronics vibe. If you are wondering why they chose this specific “C, Forward Slash, G, Exclamation Point” design, we don’t actually know why.

I can see the so-called glyph interface being useful for some people. Being able to set a specific light pattern for a specific contact can be useful for people who get a lot of calls. There’s also the option to turn off notification sounds when you flip the phone face down yet still have the light strips flare up (Nothing calls this “flip to glyph”). The idea is you can decide if the notification is worth checking before picking up the phone.

None of these situations apply to me, however. I almost never call anyone anymore, and the only voice calls I take are from my work supervisors. All my family and friends contact me via WhatsApp text or voice messages. I also never feel the need to put my phone face down, because I rarely attend events where it’d be “rude” to check my phone.

The lights’ brightness can be adjusted in settings, and can also be used as a fill light for taking photos in low light situations, because the lights are more spread out than a typical smartphone flashlight, it does illuminate a human face slightly less harshly than a typical smartphone flashlight. Still, you should avoid using any smartphone flashlight when snapping pics of human faces in my opinion — it is never flattering unless the subject has flawless skin texture.

Processor

The Nothing Phone 1 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Plus, which is a tried-and-trusted mid-range SoC that’s more than capable enough for 99% of smartphone users. Nothing says they chose this chip because it offers enough performance without running too hot, which I agree with. This “plus” version of the chip is a relatively new iterative update to allow it to support wireless charging.

Display

The 6.55-inch OLED screen is vibrant, with a typical max brightness of 500 nits and a peak max brightness of 1,200 nits. The screen looks great most of the time, with a 120Hz refresh rate providing smooth animations, colors looking punchy, and aesthetically pleasing symmetrical bezels on all four sides. Maximum brightness is a bit lower than most 2022 flagship phones, but unless I’m using it on a very harsh sunny day, this screen brightness is fine.

It’s worth noting the display is not an LTPO panel, meaning the refresh rate can be either 60Hz or 120Hz. This means the screen isn’t as battery efficient, but it’s also to be expected at this price range. There is an optical in-display fingerprint scanner located very low on the screen (similar to the location of the scanner in the OnePlus 9 or 2020-era BBK phones). The location isn’t ideal but not a big deal, instead, I am annoyed by its slow speed. The phone just takes a beat longer to unlock. Do note I’m comparing to Chinese mid-rangers like the Xiaomi 12 Lite or Oppo Reno phones, which all have excellent scanners. Some non-Chinese phones, like the Samsung Galaxy A53, or even the Google Pixel 6 series, have terrible in-display fingerprint scanners that are even slower.

Haptics, Speakers, Battery, and Memory

Good haptics aren’t always guaranteed in phones cheaper than $500 or $600, and thankfully the Nothing Phone 1 has a good haptic engine that offers strong and precise haptics. I enjoy typing on this phone with vibrations turned on.

Also good are the dual speakers and UFS 3.1 memory, again, not always guaranteed in phones at this price point. The 4,500 mAh battery, IP53 water and dust resistance rating, and just 15W wireless charging are a bit less than what you could get from other brands at a similar price point, but it’s fine.

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Nothing Phone 1: Cameras

• 50MP Sony IMX766 main camera and 50MP Samsung JN1 ultra-wide
• The main camera is capable, but ultra-wide is just okay
• Videos have a weird orange tint to them right now

The Phone 1 packs very familiar cameras to phones from Carl Pei’s former company, OnePlus. The rear camera system comprises of a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor with an f/1.9 aperture and a 50MP Samsung JN1 ultra-wide. The former was used in the OnePlus Nord 2T, and the latter was used most recently in the OnePlus 10 Pro, and a bunch of other BBK phones like the Iqoo 9 Pro too.

These are capable, proven sensors, but also firmly mid-tier components. The image sensor size of the IMX766, for example, is just a pedestrian 1/1.56-inch, far smaller than what’s in, say, the Galaxy S22 Ultra or Xiaomi 12S Ultra. But again, we must remember, this is a sub-$500 phone. And Nothing’s software image processing is quite good.

Check out these shots: not bad at all for a $470-ish phone from a first-time company.

The last two shots in the above set, in particular, are not easy shots — they’re high contrast shots with bright lights blasting through the window, for a mid-ranger, this is really good dynamic range and exposure.

As is usual with mid-range phones, it’s when we move to ultra-wide where the camera shows that it is, indeed, not a flagship. Ultra-wide shots during the day are fine in a vacuum but noticeably softer than what the main camera produces. And at night, the quality gap widens significantly. There is also a major shift in colors.

Speaking of colors, some of the videos I’ve shot with the Nothing Phone 1 has also exhibited very wonky colors, such as an extremely warm tone that makes my skin tone look orange. Stabilization is good (for its price range) with the main camera, but ultra-wide has very poor electronic image stabilization. There’s also a bit of jelly effect as I pan. You can see all the issues in the video sample below. I must mention I am reviewing a pre-release model of the phone and Nothing has already sent two software updates in the week I’ve had the device, so perhaps these issues can be fixed with more updates. But as of right now, the video performance is below par even for a mid-ranger, as something like a Xiaomi 12 Lite can shoot better videos. Video resolution also maxes out at 4K/30fps, not 60fps or 8K options, but that’s absolutely fine.

If you want to see full sized versions of all photo samples I shared here, I’ve uploaded them to the Flickr album.

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Nothing Phone 1: Performance and Software

• Super clean Android skin with no third-party bloatware
• Fluid animations (except in the Twitter app)
• Good performance overall

Software

The Nothing Phone 1 runs a very light, but stylish, Android skin named Nothing OS over Android 12. The first thing I noticed that stood out about Nothing OS is the initial phone setup interface was entirely black, including the Google sign-up screen. I have gone through this Android setup process probably like 100 times in the last few years and the Google sign-in screen is always white. I think this all-black aesthetic is specific to my black model, I think the white model will likely have a more conventional white setup screen.

Once finished with setup and you’re in Nothing OS, the next thing you’ll likely notice is the phone only ships with Google’s core apps, with no bloatware — or at least, the conventional definition of bloatware (third-party apps that are pre-installed). I actually find Google’s increasingly large suite of apps overbearing and annoying. Sure, it makes sense to have Google Play, YouTube, Chrome, Google Contacts, and Maps pre-installed on all Android phones. But I do not give a damn about Google TV, Google Play Music, YouTube Music, Google One, Google Home, Google Pay, and Google Duo, and the fact these apps are now all crammed into recent Android phones, most of them can’t be uninstalled, means these are still bloatware. This is a GMS issue and not a Nothing issue, so no complaints on Phone 1 on this end. After all, the Nothing Phone 1 ships with the fewest pre-installed apps than any phone I’ve ever tested. The only non-Google apps pre-installed are the camera, calculator, and recorder apps.

The main interface feels very similar to typical stock Android, with only two changes. The first is the ability to make an app icon look giant on the homescreen (see the second image in the below set), which could be useful for those who want one or two apps to stand out from the pack on the homescreen for easier access or accessibility reasons.

The other is that the shortcut toggle buttons in the notification shade have been simplified. In almost all Android phones, there are separate buttons for WiFi, cellular data, and mobile hotspot. Nothing combines all three of these into one larger-than-usual button (see the third pic in the above set) through which the user can cycle via horizontal swipes. This makes sense to me, as these are all related to getting an internet connection on the phone. I reckon some others may disagree here.

The Nothing Phone 1 ships with the fewest apps on the phone of any phone I've ever tested

Dive into the settings page and it, too, looks just like a stock Android settings, with the exception of Nothing’s dot-based font being used for each settings page header. As far as I can see, there are two Nothing-exclusive settings pages that aren’t on most Android phones: “Glyph Interface” and “Experimental Features.” The first is where you customize the interface (assign contacts, change light brightness, etc); the latter will let the phone connect to Tesla cars. I don’t think this feature is ready yet, and even if it were, I don’t have a Tesla to test.

General Performance

The Nothing OS has very fluid animations that zip around the phone with noticeable faster speed and more animation flare than something like Samsung’s OneUI. It reminds me a lot of OxygenOS or Oppo’s ColorOS, in that even a simple pull of the notification panel brings buttery smooth animations.

Just like Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra, however, the animations stutter occasionally when scrolling through Twitter. I’m not sure what the problem is with Twitter specifically, but it happens enough to be visually jarring. But as I said, Samsung’s $1,200 phone has the same issue. Another bug is the phone’s auto-brightness setting often leaves the phone screen too dark, particularly when I’m in the camera mode. And as I said, the fingerprint scanner is slower than most other optical scanners.

The auto-brightness issue, along with the very orange tint in videos, are major bugs that need to be addressed. Otherwise, I didn’t encounter any issues using the phone for several days out, navigating on Google Maps, streaming Spotify, and sending messages in Slack and WhatsApp.

As for benchmarks, the XDA team had concerns initially because our senior technical editor Adam Conway found a line of code in the software that hinted the software considered manipulating benchmarks — essentially, a phone deciding to throttle performance for real-world apps but not benchmark apps to achieve a higher score — but after running tests including running two versions of GeekBench (one official, one modded) and the scores were close enough that means no such benchmark cheating shenanigans are in place. Great!

Standard daily performance has been fine, I’ve been using the phone at home and out around town, and apps have been launching fine, I haven’t encountered crashes or anything out of the ordinary.

Battery life has been okay, with the 4,500 mAh cell able to finish a typical work day easily, but tapping out at around the 12-hour mark on weekends when I’m using the phone much more heavily. It’s an acceptable battery that’s not great, not bad.

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Should you buy the Nothing Phone 1?

You should buy the Nothing Phone 1 if:

• You like the design and find the Glyph Interface cool or useful.
• You don’t want to pay more than the equivalent of $500 for a phone and you don’t like using (or don’t have access to) Xiaomi’s various mid-tier phones.
• You want a phone with clean software that has more character than the typical vanilla stock Android phones.

You should not buy the Nothing Phone 1 if:

• You shoot a lot of videos with your phone and don’t have time to wait for a potential software patch to fix the current orange tint issue.
• You want the absolute best value and the Xiaomi 12 Lite is available in your region. If you are in India, you have other options for value-for-money.

Nothing Phone 1 in the hand.

As I said, the Nothing Phone 1 is a perfectly fine mid-range phone with some interesting ideas. I like the transparent back design and the minimal software. And even if I get no practical benefits from the light strips on the back, I do think they look good.

But is it the revolutionary, different and unique device that Pei and Nothing’s marketing have been hinting at for months? No. Xiaomi’s 12 Lite is cheaper, with the same SoC, better fingerprint scanner, and video performance.

If you ignore the glyph interface, the Phone 1 is almost just like any other Xiaomi/Poco/Iqoo/Realme mid-ranger. There is nothing wrong with that — those brands make good phones — but it’s completely fair for the more jaded/cynical/snarky part of techies to scoff and call the phone overrated.

Nothing Phone 1

The Nothing Phone 1 is a stylish looking phone with a cool semi-transparent back and fast, zippy UI.

View at Flipkart

The post Nothing Phone 1 Review: Good phone, better marketing appeared first on XDA.

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You’ll soon be able to install major Windows 11 updates during setup

Microsoft is rolling out a new cumulative update for the original release of Windows 11 to Windows Insiders enrolled in the Release Preview channel. This update brings the OS to build number 22000.829, and the highlight here is that you’ll soon be able to install new major updates for Windows 11 during the initial setup process.

When you first set up your Windows 11 PC, there are a few steps, and at one point, the PC checks for updates. However, that currently only installs smaller updates to keep your PC secure. Starting with this build, you’ll also be given the option to update to the next version of Windows 11, so you can be fully up to speed right out of the box. With Windows 11 version 22H2 inching ever closer, it looks as though Microsoft is preparing for that and making it easier for everyone to install it out of the box. This makes some sense since many laptops will probably still be sold with the original release of Windows 11 when version 22H2 is out, so this makes it possible to get all those new features without having to wonder if you have the latest updates.

Of course, that’s not all that’s new in Windows 11 build 22000.829, and the changelog is actually fairly extensive. There are a lot of fixes, plus the ability to consent to receive urgent notifications when your turn on focus assist. Here’s the full list of changes:

• New! We provided the ability for you to consent to receive urgent notifications when focus assist is on.
• New! We provided the option for eligible devices to update to a newer Windows 11 version during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) when you first sign in. If you choose to update to a newer version, the update process will begin shortly after the update is installed on the device.
• New! We restored functionality for Windows Autopilot deployment scenarios that are affected by the security mitigation for hardware reuse. This update removed the one-time use restriction for self-deploying mode (SDM) and pre-provisioning (PP). This update also re-enabled any User Principal Name (UPN) display in user-driven mode (UDM) deployments for approved manufacturers.
• We fixed an issue in UIAutomation() that causes an application to stop working.
• We fixed an issue that prevents the Startup Task API from working as expected for certain apps.
• We improved the reliability of a push-button reset after an OS upgrade.
• We fixed an issue that makes the tenant restrictions event logging channel inaccessible if you remove the EN-US language pack.
• We fixed an issue that causes certificate-based machine account authentication to fail in some circumstances after you install the May 10, 2022 security updates on domain controllers.
• We fixed an issue that affects the Arm64EC code you build using the Windows 11 software development kit (SDK).
• We updated the Remove-Item cmdlet to properly interact with Microsoft OneDrive folders.
• We fixed an issue that prevents troubleshooters from opening.
• We fixed an issue that causes port mapping conflicts for containers.
• We fixed an issue that causes Code Integrity to continue trusting a file after the file has been modified.
• We fixed an issue that might cause Windows to stop working when you enable Windows Defender Application Control with the Intelligent Security Graph feature turned on.
• We deployed search highlights to devices. To access the policy for search highlights (on a device that has installed the June 2022 Cumulative Update Preview or July 2022 monthly quality update), go to C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions and locate admx. For your convenience, we will be publishing an updated version of the Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11, version 21H2 to the Microsoft Download Center soon.
• We fixed an issue that causes exe to stop working when you use the play and pause keyboard buttons on certain devices.
• We fixed an issue that causes exe to stop working when you use the Start menu’s context menu (Win + X) and an external monitor is connected to your device.
• We fixed an issue that displays a blank window that you cannot close when you hover over the search icon on the taskbar.
• We reduced the overhead of resource contention in high input/output operations per second (IOPS) scenarios that have many threads contending on a single file.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Windows profile service to fail sporadically. The failure might occur when signing in. The error message is, “gpsvc service failed to sign in. Access denied”.

Microsoft actually does highlight one known issue, which is that the Widgets panel may crash in the background, and the taskbar icon may revert to the default icon instead of showing current weather information.

Windows 11 build 22000.829 or newer will likely be available to the general public in a couple of weeks as an optional update. Then, these changes and more will become mandatory with next month’s Patch Tuesday, which will be on August 9th.

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Source: Microsoft

The post You’ll soon be able to install major Windows 11 updates during setup appeared first on XDA.

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