Apple’s WWDC 2020 conference has finally arrived and surprise, that means big changes for your iPhone. With the introduction of iOS14, Apple has announced the biggest update for an iPhone software to date. There’s quite a bit to cover. From spacial audio for Airpods Pro to the Guides and Translate features now available, using an iPhone will never be the same again.
Speaking of tech upgrades, we spoke about the PS5 on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
But, here are the biggest changes that are coming to the iPhone, which will affect you on a daily basis.
Widgets
The iPhone home-screen has more-or-less been the same for the past decade. With fixed App sizes, we’ve grown accustomed to swiping through pages and pages of the same square apps. But, that’s all about to change with the introduction of widgets. Widgets will affect Apple’s core apps like ‘Podcats’ and ‘Weather’ and will be available to appear on your Home screen in different sizes. Downloadable via the new Widget gallery, users are able to selectively enlarge the size of their favourite apps, depending on how much they use them. There is also the ‘Smart Stack’ widget, which allows users to swipe through widgets in real-time.
The App Library
Another change happening to your home screen is the introduction of the App Library. Instead of having pages and pages of apps that you don’t use anymore. All your apps will be stored in the App Library, which is a vertical scroll, placed at the end of your horizontal scroll. Here, the apps will be prioritised with ‘Recently Added’ and your most used at the top of the page. Also, the apps are presented to you organised into groups like ‘Social’ and ‘Health and Fitness.’
Picture In Picture
Have you ever been watching a video on your iPhone then go to reply to a message then been disappointed when the video stops playing? Yeah, us too. Luckily for us, Apple is changing that with their new ‘Picture In Picture’ software. Now, you’ll be able to continue watching a video or enjoying your FaceTime call when you go to other Apps. You also have the ability to drag it to other parts of the screen, change sizes by pinching the screen and swipe the video to the side to just listen to the video’s audio.
Messages
Messages is also getting a bit of a glow up, especially if you’re a big user of group-chats. Taking a note from Facebook Messanger, users are not able to You can reply to specific messages now within a group chat, making it easier to know who is replying to who. Also, users can now “mention” certain people in a group chat so that they are the only ones notified. Group chats aside, users will also get new animations, new Animojis and have the ability to pin important conversations so they always stay at the top of the Messages app. Oh and Siri can also send audio messages now.
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