Apple Inc. has announced new features at their annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.This year’s event which was virtual did not launch a new Apple device.
However, a new IOS, the 14th version was launched with new features. Here are all the new features to expect on your Iphone.
- App Library: A new home screen page that will show up after you swipe past your final page of apps. It automatically categorizes and sorts all of your apps, highlighting those you use the most.
- Widgets: Widgets can now live on the homescreen alongside your app icons, rather than being buried away on the Today screen
- Picture-in-picture on iPhone: While the iPad has had picture-in-picture video playback since iOS 9, it’s been curiously absent on the iPhone. No longer! If you switch apps while playing a video (or having a video chat), it’ll continue playing in a small box you can drag around the screen.
- Siri: The Siri interface has been overhauled to no longer take over the fullscreen, and can do speech-to-text transcription entirely on-device for the sake of speed and privacy.
- Messages: You can now pin your most important conversations to the top of your messages list, and you can setup notifications on noisy group messages to only alert you when you’re mentioned by name. Oh, and Memojis can now wear masks.
- Maps: Apple’s “new maps” are rolling out later this year in the UK, Ireland, and Canada. Maps will also soon be getting cycling directions (in NYC, SF Bay Area, LA, Beijing, and Shanghai at first) that are mindful of things like bike lanes and hills, along with directions for electric vehicle owners that factors in things like battery range and charging locations.
- CarPlay: CarPlay is getting new wallpaper options, along with a handful of new built-in apps focusing on things like parking, charging, and food ordering. Meanwhile, Apple has been working with a handful of car makers (including BMW) to allow you to use your phone as a key.
- App Clips: Tiny, fast, lightweight “Applets” that pop-up on demand without requiring you to manually install anything — like, say, something to take payment on the fly when you want to rent a scooter. Can be triggered by NFC, QR code, or via Safari/Messages.