After several betas and months of build-up, Apple earlier this week officially released iOS 15 to the masses. Admittedly, iOS 15 doesn’t have a singular killer feature that overshadows the rest. This is especially true in light of the fact that SharePlay is delayed. Still, the iOS 15 update boasts enough features and performance enhancements to make upgrading a no-brainer.
It’s been a few months since WWDC so it’s perfectly understandable if you’ve already forgotten about some of iOS 15’s more compelling features. With that said, we’ve highlighted 5 particularly intriguing features that might persuade you to download and install the update immediately.
New iOS 15 features
Focus Mode
A productivity feature like Focus Mode may not seem intriguing, but Apple’s implementation is quite clever. With Focus Mode, users can set up different workflows to help them focus on the task at hand. For instance, you can set up a work mode that keeps pesky notifications from ESPN from popping up. Conversely, you could just as easily set up a weekend mode wherein you don’t see any incoming notifications from work colleagues.
What’s more, users can set things up such that certain apps aren’t even visible under certain modes. In the work mode example, for instance, users can easily ensure that apps like Facebook and Twitter don’t show up on the home screen so that you won’t be tempted.
Live Text
Live Text effectively delivers OCR functionality to your iPhone. The feature lets users easily select text from scanned photos and paste it elsewhere. A video showing how smooth Live Text is in action can be seen below:
The new built-in iOS 15 text selection feature is slick!
1. Tap in any text field
2. Tap the Scan Text icon
3. Point phone at any text to slurp it in.Even works with handwritten text! https://t.co/jkUBuWZEO8 pic.twitter.com/MU8GdK27b3 #ifttt
— Maxbot 2000 (@maxrssbot) September 21, 2021
FaceTime for everyone
The coronavirus pandemic saw Zoom become a household name. In turn, Zoom’s feature set quickly highlighted how lackluster FaceTime was as a video conferencing app.
With iOS 15, Apple upgraded FaceTime across the board. One of the more exciting new features is the ability to use FaceTime to video chat with Android and PC users. To do so, simply fire up the FaceTime app. Next, select the “Create Link” option at the top. From there, you can send that link out to anyone you want for a scheduled FaceTime call.
Improved text selection
Text selection with iOS 13 took a bizarre step backward. Apple for some reason did away with the beloved magnification loup and replaced it with a scheme that simply was less useful. With iOS 15, users can once again use the magnifying glass to select text.
Interacting with the iOS 14 copy & paste menu obscured the word you were trying to view. iOS 15 solves this problem by adding a text loupe that duplicates the text above your finger with a magnifying glass effect so you can see what you are selecting. 15/ @malonso pic.twitter.com/42RPiu0vo5
— Ryan Burnett (@ryanburnett) September 21, 2021
Never forget your iPhone, iPad, or Mac again
Sure, Find my iPhone is great, but it’s preferable to not misplace it in the first place. With iOS 15, you can set things up such that you’ll get an alert when a device — whether it’s an iPhone or an iPad — is left behind.
So, for example, if you’re at a coffee shop and pack up and go and leave your iPad behind accidentally, you’ll see an alert on your iPhone.
You can access this feature by going to the Find My app on your iPhone and selecting Devices. From here you can determine which device you’d like to receive alerts for.
