At the much anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2021 event, held online on June 7, Apple made the big announcement that iOS 15 would be coming to customers’ devices in 2021. With this announcement, they gave consumers an overview of what to expect from iOS 15 and how it is going to improve the lives and experiences of iOS users worldwide.

IOS 15 was subsequently released on September 20 and the team at Adapptor has picked out some of the big highlights that we are excited about and we are sure you will be too.

FaceTime

FaceTime has received a massive facelift, adding a number of exciting features that will no doubt be in response to the surge in teleconferences and video calls that have come about as a result of the COVID 19 Pandemic. Apple has added new features and improved upon the previous FaceTime build to produce what promises to be the best FaceTime experience yet.

New features such as:

• Voice isolation for microphone, so that users can cancel out background noise around them;

• Wide spectrum audio for when you want to capture all the sounds of your setting;

• Grid view for group FaceTimes;

• FaceTime links for scheduling calls which can be sent and set up to be in calendar (much like Zoom calls, Google meetups etc.);

• Spacial Audio which creates a sound field that positions the voices where a person's video image is on the call;

• Apple has even made the FaceTime links useable for Android and Windows.

The improvements and additions to FaceTime certainly seem to be angling Apple’s video call software to be able to handle the demands of business video conferences and other large volume video conferencing that are now in demand globally.

SharePlay

SharePlay has been designed to give users the ability to share experiences whilst on FaceTime. Apple has introduced a Group Activities API that will help developers design and build their apps to be utilised in a shared space where people are already connecting with each other.

Importantly SharePlay also offers the ability to screen share, which will offer the Adapptor team another way to show teams or clients app demos remotely.

Notifications

iOS 15 has brought new features and a new layout for notifications. Marketed as ‘Finding Focus’, the aim of the new features is to reduce clutter and allow individuals a customised look and feel to how they see and receive notifications. Users are now able to set up their device to match their current mindset. Whether they are at work, enjoying personal time, sleeping or want to design a customised mindset, users can choose what they see and when they see it.

Prioritising which notifications to receive and using do not disturb to inform people when they are uncontactable, iOS 15 is giving iPhone users their most personable user experience to date.

Exploring The World

Apple continue to make a number of big moves with their Wallet, Weather and Maps with some exciting announcements at WWDC.

Wallet

iOS 15 has made further enhancements to the Apple Wallet, adding keys, and identification to the already large offering of features. BMWs new car releases will allow car keys to be added to Apple Wallet, as well as more hotel access keys, corporate access cards and now drivers licences and other forms of identification.

Weather

The Apple Weather app has a new look design with more animated backgrounds to accurately reflect the current weather conditions for users. IOS 15 has also brought with it full screen high resolution weather maps for the most accurate and real time representation of weather conditions yet.

Apple Maps

Disappointingly for Australia, a number of the changes implemented in iOS 15 will not be released for some time, however, the new maps that have already been released in the UK, US, Ireland and Canada, will be released later in 2021.

An interactive globe for enhanced exploring, 3D map overlays for bridges to help drivers better understand traffic, enhanced maps in cities to show more information than ever to help people find their way around on the roads and just in general. Apple is determined to make Apple Maps the go-to navigation app for their users.

Developer Technologies

The big news for developers from WWDC is that Apple will be releasing (and have already released a Beta) of Xcode Cloud. Xcode Cloud is a continuous integration and delivery service built into Xcode and designed specifically for Apple developers. It will accelerate the development and delivery of apps by bringing together cloud-based tools that help to build apps, the ability to run automated tests in parallel, deliver apps to testers, and view and manage user feedback.

IOS15 has also brought with it the ability to create multiple App product pages to see what design and highlighted features work best to create traction and conversions. This will allow developers to trial different designs including, icons, videos, screenshots and other features. Keep your eyes on the lookout for our upcoming blog post about how to create an engaging app product page.

If you’d like to watch the full WWDC conference you can watch it in full in the Apple Developer app (https://apps.apple.com/au/app/apple-developer/id640199958) or Apple’s YouTube channel.