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Highlights About Apple iOS 15, iPadOS 15 And WatchOS 8 At WWDC 2021

At WWDC 2021, Apple presented iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8, among others. From macOS, we now know the new name, data protection & security are written even larger, and good health and well being is also an issue.

iOS 15: Communication and Mindfulness

The pandemic not only inked Google I/O, but Apple’s counterpart WWDC 2021 as well. For example, iOS 15 is all about communication, productivity, and – related to this – mindfulness.

Facetime, Messages, and Photos Coming for Android and Windows

Facetime, for example, gets better audio features with Spacial Audio and a function for reducing ambient noise. For video calls, there is a portrait mode that softens the background. Calls at Facetime can now be organized using calendar invitations.

The shareplay function allows the calls to be enriched with all kinds of multimedia content. For example, there is the possibility of listening to music or watching videos together. The new Facetime app also allows you to share the screen.

And the big surprise: Facetime now also works with Windows and Android devices. And since there is a Shareplay API, all sorts of third-party apps can be integrated here in the future.

The iOS 15 messaging and photos apps are getting a few updates as well. Collages with pictures can now be sent directly, to which the recipients can react directly with little hearts & co. And photos should in the future easily transform shared experiences into shared photo albums – ideally without embarrassing memes in between.

The spotlight search is also exciting here, with which you can now search photos for texts shown, for example, and use them immediately.

More Focus With Notifications

Thanks to Focus, you should get a grip on the large notification noise in the future. You create different profiles for different scenarios from everyday life, and then, for example, only receive messages from your colleagues during working hours. You will then receive a summary of missed notifications at set times.

As is currently the case with DND mode, there is always the option to contact you in emergencies – the Slack users out there should be familiar with the feature. Otherwise, Apple has also pimped up the notifications in iOS 15. Messages from your contacts are, for example, provided with profile photos.

UWB: ID, room card and Car Key for mobile phones

Finally, iOS 15 also supports the UWB short-range wireless standard and will in the future transform your smartphone into a car key for compatible vehicles or the hotel card for the booked room. In addition, ID cards, driver’s licenses, etc. can soon be stored in the Apple Wallet – at least in the USA. Until that works in this country, a lot of water should still flow down the Isar.

iPadOS: the intuitive computer

With the iPad, too, a lot revolved around the love of productivity. The programmers out there should be happy about Swift Playgrounds, with the help of which apps can be developed directly on the iPad. No idea about Swift & Co.? There is now a built-in free coding course for this. But “normal mortals” also get their money’s worth.

Widgets & multitasking

With iPadOS 15, you can now organize your home screen better – and mix apps with widgets. And Apple has also greatly expanded its multitasking capabilities. Split-screen views can now be pushed together with the swipe of a finger and stored on a virtual shelf for later, which Apple calls “The Shelf”. So if you often write e-mails and have to have your browser open at the same time, you can keep this combination within easy reach.

Notes on steroids

The notes function has also received a huge update. A sticky note can be pulled out from the lower right corner, which you can then either fill in, type in or provide with information from the app itself, depending on the context of the current app.

If you later call up a website in the browser, for example, iPadOS will show you the associated notes – if available. And in the notes overview you can jump to your notes, context included.

Notes shared with friends and colleagues now offer a changelog and can be postponed for easier retrieval. You can also mark people when they should react to a certain point.

watchOS 8: Health & Mindfulness

Health was also a major focus of the Apple Watch. The watchOS opener marked a research project with heart attack patients. By motivating people to exercise more and at the same time closely monitoring the health data collected, the prognosis could be significantly improved.

The new mindfulness app offers various exercises on mindfulness and breathing technique. And Fitness + subscribers can look forward to tai chi, pilates and new HIIT workouts, which are accompanied by music by Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Alicia Keys.

In addition, the Apple Watch will measure your breathing rate during sleep in the future, which can also indicate illnesses if there are any changes. By the way, Apple calls this “trends” and analyzes long-term developments in many other health aspects.

For example, the user’s gait can be analyzed using the motion sensors in the iPhone. If there is an increased risk of falling, the iPhone then warns. These trends can of course then also be shared with treating physicians – or with family members, who can then support a healthy lifestyle.

And otherwise? Otherwise there are new watch faces for photos including a chic parallax effect and the possibility of simply sending photos to contacts. Writing messages including crass meme GIFs is now easier than ever.

Privacy and security

After iOS 14.5, it is no surprise that the topic of privacy came up again at WWDC. In the future, Apple will prevent e-mails from being tracked through hidden pixels (which, by the way, is quite a mess). Safari also hides the user’s IP address, making cross-site tracking even more difficult. The privacy report finally clarifies the various data messes that have been prevented.

In future, the Siri voice assistant will also no longer send voice recordings halfway around the world – voice recognition is done locally on the device and therefore works offline and, according to Apple, much faster.

Privacy also includes iCloud, which Apple is now making iCloud + for paying customers. This includes practical functions such as throw-away e-mail addresses in Trashmail style and an encrypted Internet connection, which, according to the functional description, was reminiscent of VPN services.

Finally, all iCloud users can add confidants to their accounts to help reactivate them. There is also a kind of will service, through which predetermined persons can access certain areas of the iCloud account in the event of death.

Here you will find a few more interesting news that did not deserve a paragraph of their own, but are still exciting:

  • By the way, Apple has announced a new smart home standard. However, many details about “Matter” are not known. However, numerous partners should already be on board.
  • In the future, Siri will also work on third-party devices in smart homes.
  • In the future, the various Airpods can also be tracked down using the Find-My function.
  • Spacial Audio now also works with TvOS – including head tracking for better spatial effects.
  • The next version of macOS is called – Drum Roll – Monterey
  • Continuity is now even more flexible with Universal Control. For example, you can move your mouse pointer directly from the Mac to the iPad and even copy files back and forth using drag & drop.
  • Safari gets a new design and supports tab groups for all the tab messies out there
  • Safari Extensions will also be available for iPad and iPhone in the future
  • Thanks to the Object Capture API, objects can be converted quickly and easily into photo-realistic 3D models for Cinema4D & Co. in the future.
  • The App Store will also support in-app events in the future

If you now have just under two hours left, you can watch the recording of the WWDC keynote again in full here: