iOS 15 will include tweaked user notifications, an updated Lock Screen, an iMessage overhaul, additional privacy features and a redesigned iPad Home Screen, according to Bloomberg.
Until now, little has been reported about iOS/iPadOS 15 ahead of its likely debut at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference this June. Thursday’s report says Apple refers to the upcoming upgrade internally as “Sky.”
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports:
“[Apple] is planning a new feature that will allow users to set different notification preferences, such as if the phone makes a sound or not, depending on their current status. The enhancement will come in the form of a new menu that lets users select if they are driving, working, sleeping or custom categories of their choosing. The menu will be shown on the updated Lock Screen and in Control Center, the iPhone and iPad’s menu for quickly accessing settings.”
More new features for iOS 15
In addition, Apple plans to add an improved auto-reply feature, replacing the current one available only while driving. Automatic replies can be sent, and notifications can be muted, based on settings like “Do Not Disturb” and “Sleep Mode.”
Gurman also says iMessage will get a big upgrade to bring it more in line with WhatsApp. However, these changes are still reportedly “early in development,” and may not be available right away.
The iOS 15 privacy features will build on those introduced in iOS 14. This includes a new menu to show which apps are collecting data.
Finally, the iPad will get “the most significant update” to its Home Screen since the tablet’s launch in 2010. This will, in essence, bring the iPad in line with last year’s iPhone upgrade. While the iPad currently boasts customizable widgets, these must stay in the Today panel. (On the iPhone, you can place them anywhere.)
“Users will also be able to replace the entire app grid with only widgets,” Gurman writes.
The same report notes that the 2021 macOS update will be far more minor than last year’s.
Coming soon to an iOS device near you
Apple almost certainly will follow a similar trajectory to previous years when it comes to rolling out iOS and iPadOS 15. That means showing off the software for the first time at WWDC, then making the first developer betas available soon after. After months of testing, the new operating systems should go out to the public in September around the time new iPhones arrive.
What are you hoping for from this year’s upgrade? How have you found your experience of iOS 14? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Bloomberg
