iOS 14 - page 2

iOS 14.5 is the best update of the pandemic era because it works with your Apple Watch to remove the hassle of unlocking your iPhone while wearing a face mask. You don’t have to type in your passcode every single damn time. The phone just unlocks. Like it’s supposed to.

But the trick does require an Apple Watch. If you’ve been on the bubble about getting one, this feature should go a long way toward convincing you. It serves as yet another elegant example of how Apple’s ecosystem offers users simple solutions to modern life’s annoyances.

The fresh emoji appearing in iOS 14.5 will set your heart afire. Or at least let you show that in texts. The new collection of pictographs also includes some new faces, and plenty of additional variations to show how we couple up in the 21st century.

iPad users get the same emoji thanks to iPadOS 14.5 and macOS 11.3, which also launched on Monday.

iOS 14.5 gives us the ability to unlock iPhone with an Apple Watch for the first time. It’s perfect for those who can’t get Face ID to work when wearing a mask.

We’ll show you how to get it all set up.

iPhone and iPad just got a significant new privacy protection, preventing third-party apps from tracking you without permission. App Tracking Transparency debuted in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

Here’s how to use it. And what to do about all the popups asking, “Allow [THIS APP] to track your activity?”

Apple on Monday gave all iPhone users access to iOS 14.5. And iPad users can install iPadOS 14.5  Today’s updates bring a ton of new features, including unlocking an iPhone with an Apple Watch while wearing a mask.

The OS updates also bring App Tracking Transparency, a controversial change that makes it harder for apps to track users for targeted advertising. Other upgrades include new emoji, fresh Siri voices, additional features for Apple’s news and map apps, support for the just-announced AirTag trackers and a wholesale redesign of the Podcasts app.

watchOS 7.4, which is necessary for the new mask-friendly Face ID feature, and tvOS 14.5 also became available today, along with macOS Big Sur 11.3.

A group of media, tech, and ad companies in Germany have made an official antitrust complaint about Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature.

The group, which represents Facebook among other companies, is concerned about the effect the new privacy feature will have on the ad business. It also claims that the feature could wind up hurting users by making apps more expensive.

Apple just added a brand-new feature to Apple TV that works with your iPhone to color calibrate your TV. It’s really simple to use and the results can be terrific. What’s more, you don’t need the newest Apple TV.

The new Color Balance tool is available on Apple TV models released in 2015 or later. Here’s how to use it.

Apple already began testing the first betas of iOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.6, watchOS 7.5 and tvOS 14.5. Developers were seeded these on Thursday, even though the versions that were previously in beta testing have yet to be introduced to the public.

Apple revealed on Tuesday that iOS 14.5 and the iPad equivalent will reach customers iPhones and tablets some time “next week.” These include a rush of new features, like unlocking an iPhone with an Apple Watch. And a controversial change that make it harder for apps to track users for ads.

To help make the launches possible, developers were given access to the release candidates for these upcoming operating system versions on Tuesday. They can both look for bugs and  test their own applications with the new OS versions.

Ahead of the launch of the new App Tracking Transparency iOS 14 feature, Apple on Wednesday published a report titled A Day in the Life of Your Data.

It details the “$227 billion-a-year industry” made up of websites, apps, social media companies, data brokers, and more who harvest user personal data for profit — and what Apple is doing about it.

iOS 14 adoption tops 90%, according to figures published by analysts at Mixpanel. The firm’s most recent data shows 90.45% of users with an iPhone or iPad run either iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 on it. That’s an incredibly impressive feat, considering Apple only made the operating systems available in mid-September.

Last time Apple released its own figures, back in late February, the company reported that 80% of iPhones and 70% of iPads ran the new operating systems. Those figures increased to 86% and 84% respectively when focusing on devices from the past four years.

Apple reminded developers on Monday that new iOS, iPadOS and tvOS versions coming soon will block applications from tracking users without specific permission. It’ll no longer be possible for networks of apps to surreptitiously track what people use their devices for.

The same note includes a warning that its also is also forbidden to try to find a workaround for this block by “fingerprinting” devices.

After almost a decade of using a female voice by default, Siri users will be given a choice of voices for the virtual assistant when they set up Apple devices. The virtual assistant will also come with two new English-language voices.

These changes debuted in iOS 14.5 beta 6 and the iPads equivalent, which Apple seeded to developers Wednesday.

For much too long, the iPhone’s built-in pornographic content blocker prevented searches just because included the word “Asian.” Apple reportedly fixed the issue in the latest beta of iOS 14.5. But the problem is still in place for everyone not running the pre-release software.

Apple has a fix for a serious bug in the mobile version of its Safari web browser. Hackers have reportedly already used it, which makes a high-priority of installing iOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.2 and watchOS 7.3.3. All three hit Apple servers Friday morning.

Apple has insisted that it will be applying its App Tracking Transparency globally following reports that developers in China are trying to find workarounds to the feature. A report this week suggested Apple was turning a blind eye to the efforts.

Apple is apparently preparing to release iPhone security updates separately from iOS updates with feature changes. The just-released fourth beta of iOS 14.5 gives users a new, separate toggle to choose whether to automatically install security updates.

However, at this point this feature doesn’t work quite as many might expect.

A French lobbyist group is accusing Apple of hypocrisy over new privacy measures in iOS 14, which make it harder for other companies to track users. Why? Because Apple also operates a feature called Personalized Advertising, which capitalizes on user data to display targeted ads within apps.

Want to stop Apple from targeting you with personalized ads? Here’s how you do it. (And everything else you need to know about the new complaint.)

iPhone users should install iOS 14.4.1, which Apple released Monday entirely to kill a bug in the Safari web browser. Obviously, Apple considers it a significant enough threat to devote an entire software update to justify it.

There’s also an equivalent iPadOS 14.4.1 version. Plus, the newly released watchOS 7.3.2 deals with the same security problem, as does macOS Big Sur 11.2.3.

It won’t be possible for someone to hide an AirTag on you and track your location without permission. iPhones will notify their users if one of Apple’s item tracker tags is moving along with them.

Apple’s newest iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 betas add a new “Items” tab to the built-in Find My app that allows users to tracks Beats headphones, luggage and other third-party gadgets.

The tab is also expected to be home to Apple’s long-rumored “AirTags” trackers … when they finally appear.

iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 offer the ability to share lyrics directly from Apple Music for the first time. You can use the feature to send snippets from your favorite tracks to social media, messaging apps, and more.

We’ll show you how to use it on iPhone and iPad.

The next iOS version will make it more difficult for hackers to break into iPhones. Security researchers digging around in Apple’s beta code for iOS 14.5 found that the company began encrypting pointer authentication codes, which will make zero-click attacks far tougher to pull off.

The new Mobility Metrics feature that Apple added in iOS 14 offers important insights into your health and fitness. Using its built-in sensors and some extremely smart software, the iPhone in your hip pocket captures data and analyzes how you walk at all times. Then, the Health app serves up seven key measurements that provide an overall picture of your strength, coordination and cardiovascular health.

Even if you don’t experience any mobility difficulties, you might still be interested to see what these new stats reveal about the way you walk.

Apple Maps will start collecting crowd-sourced accident reports when iOS 14.5 is released. The beta version already lets users test sharing the locations of accidents, speed traps and other hazards.

This is hardly cutting edge, of course. Google Waze has included the feature for years.