Apple WWDC 2021: Important Points from the Keynote Speech about iOS 15

Apple is hosting the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2021) tonight with the keynote that started at 10:30 PM IST. It is morning in Santa Barabara, 10:00 am PDT, which will start soon. The WWDC 2021 keynote sets the tone of what to expect from Apple from the software product perspective, be it the next iteration of iOS or macOS or watchOS.

Users can watch the event on the official Apple website or stream the event on YouTube. The stream is working fine on both Google Chrome and Safari.

The Keynote

Tim Cook on stage addressed an audience of emojis and stated that the last year's WWDC had 25 million viewers. He added that like last year, Apple has made this year's WWDC available for free, again. Tim gave the stage to Apple's Craig Federighi, who started the Keynote with iOS 15. Here are all features that come out from iOS 15 at WWDC 2o21 today.

Apple officially unveils iOS 15 at WWDC 2021 - All special features

Updated FaceTime

Apple has updated FaceTime to make calls sound more natural. It has brought in Spatial Audio to make conversations sound more realistic - you can add voice isolation for your mic to make audio clearer using ML. If you want all the background noise, you can switch to wide spectrum audio. Apple is also bringing portrait mode to FaceTime. A new update will also let you use links that you can share via email and even the web, with FaceTime now available on the web with end-to-end encryption.

A new feature called SharePlay will also let people get together to consume content from services like Apple Music as well as TV shows and movies, all in a group watching environment. The company has announced that not only Apple products, but users can also watch other streaming apps like Disney+, Twitch, Hulu.

iMessages

Apple has also introduced some big new changes to Messages. Users can provide a new collage design for sharing photos and media in groups. If you head over to Apple Music, you can see shared playlists in Messages and you can see photos that are shared with you in Messages will appear in Photos as a separate section.

There's a new Shared with You section, which shows links, playlists and photos in a neat section in Messages. Users will also be able to pin an important message.

New Notification Shade

Apple has changed up its Notifications. It brings a new design and changes to how you interact with all notification. A new notification summary lets you see a collection of notifications that can be delivered at a certain time, whilst filtering out messages from other people. Do not disturb can now be displayed as a status in Messages so that people know you're out of reach. The notification shade will also separate your work and play apps' notifs.

There's also a new Focus mode, where users could set up a focus mode where notifications and alerts from only certain apps are shown to you during a set time of the day. When you use Focus one device, it will automatically set up on your other Apple devices.

Apple Photos

A new Live Text feature for photos can pull text out of images using your camera . Spotlight search now supports Photos. Apple is also making it richer with better results as well. Spotlight is the universal search on iOS. You can search for them based on location, people, scenes, and more. New rich results in Spotlight for things like your contacts give you more access for things like calls and emails too. Apple has also added new memory mixes, calling upon songs from Apple Music intelligently suggested based on photos in your memories, animated title cards, and more.

Apple has updated its Wallet app

Building on the work of Apple's Car Key feature, BMW is going to ship UWB keys with cars later this year. Apple will also partner with Hyatt as well and let users tap to unlock their hotel rooms. It will also add encrypted ID information to the wallet where the US users can use the wallet to showcase their digital ID to the TSA at the airports as well.  It is also adding house keys to iOS 15, as well as office badges and hotel keys, bringing more access options onto your iPhone.

Maps

Apple is expanding its new Maps to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Australia. In iOS 15, Apple will showcase more details in Maps for cities. It will also add a new night-time version. Apple is adding more details to roads in Maps so they can see more details such as bus lanes, bike lanes, etc. Further, a new AR feature will let users scan buildings to establish where they are in a city before showing you directions. This means, if you're lost somewhere, just hold your phone up and augmented reality will scan the area and show you which way to go. This new feature is coming to LA, London, New York, and San Diego later this year.

Maps will also have a new interactive globe, as well as big changes to cities. iOS 15 Maps includes new details for information like marinas and districts, as well as custom-designed landmarks. It will provide a better 3D driving experience which will debut on CarPlay later this year.

iOS for Airpod

Air Pods gets a conversation boost, so you can hear almost like hearing aids and listen to someone in front of you better. Apple is also adding announce notifications on AirPods, so users can choose which apps to enable. This way, Siri can read out the notifications to you. For example, Siri will read your shopping list to you while you're shopping via Air Pods.

Apple has also added Find My Air Pods and spatial audio headphones. With iOS 15 you can now use the FindMy app to find your AirPods Max and your AirPods Pro, even using proximity view to find them. Your phone will now give you a notification if you leave your AirPods behind. The new proximity view will also let users know when they are close by.

Apple is also adding Spatial Audio experience to TVOS as well. It will also come to M1 powered Macs as well. Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos on Apple Music will start rolling out today.