Top 7 Features of iOS 14
Apple’s latest software version, iOS 14, could be the most involved visual face-lift and the most significant update from the company. Even though the iOS 14 has been around for a while, you probably haven’t fully discovered what the update offers.
Introduced in June 2020, the iOS 14 was officially released on September 16. The update features a bevy of new features, including Home screen design changes, Siri improvements, significant new features, updates for existing apps, and many other tweaks that streamline the iOS interface.
The New Features
To gain more insight, let’s go through the outstanding features that the iOS 14 update boasts of.
Widgets
For the longest time, widgets have remained essentially the same as Apple introduced them several years ago. They existed on the Today View, their screen, and were kept apart from the home screen. That changes for iOS 14.
There are two different ways of accessing the iOS 14 widgets: from Today’s View or directly to your Home screen, including all of your app icons. Widgets can now vary in size and are packed with rich and frequently updated data. You can also stack and scroll up to ten widgets on the Home screen as you see fit.
The Smart Stack is a set of widgets you can use to swipe to the proper widget based on context at the right time.
App Library
The App Library comes in handy when improving the Home screen. All applications in one, the easy-to-manage view will be automatically structured in the entire new App Library.
And to add to that — it categorizes them automatically and provides intelligent applications based on use, time, place, and operation. There is also a search bar at the top to enter your preferences and check the last thing that you downloaded from the Recently Added category.
You can also hide whole pages of your home screen for more straightforward and streamlined flows from the App Library, and it will still be the last page of your home page.
App Clips
There are instances where you want something, but you have to download another app to your smartphone. The latest feature, App Clips, works with NFC and QR codes.
Just type in an NFC chip for your iPhone or scan the QR code, and your smartphone has a notification banner that proposes an app. You can then use the App Clip to park, order, or pay for food or coffee, rent a bicycle or scooter, and more. For unique functionality, businesses may integrate with Yelp.
App Clips functions independently of a complete app download, and you can use Apple Pay with Sign-in. The App Clips also takes up only 10MB for each of them.
Pinned Conversations
iMessage (the safe and Internet-based alternative to texting, which has been appealing to users to switch to the platform since its launch in 2011) is probably more important than any other service in the “lock-in” to the iPhone, Mac, or iPad ecosystem.
So it is not surprising that Apple is investing heavily in the improvement and expansion of iMessage features. iOS 14 allows you to pin up to nine messages conversations. To be fast and straightforward to return to, you should always hold these important conversation threads at the top of messages.
Compact UI for Calls
If an incoming phone call or FaceTime or third-party VoIP has ever disrupted what you were working on, on the screen, this feature might interest you.
With the update, you will receive a non-intrusive banner notification on the top of your screen when you receive an incoming phone, third-party VoIP, or FaceTime call. You can either let it ring, react to, or decline it without interrupting your operation, with these notification buttons accepting or rejecting a call.
Siri also functions for Compact UI. Therefore, when Siri has been activated, a tiny Siri overlay at the bottom of the screen lets you know that you activated Siri. Then tell Siri what you want — all without stopping what you were browsing before.
Cycling and EV Routes in Maps and Siri
If you are a cyclist, this part of the update should come as a relief for you. In iOS 14 Maps, Apple has added turn-by-turn direction for cycling, and you can even personalize the kind of directions it provides. If you want cycle tracks or cycle-friendly roads, quiet or busy roads, some elevations, stairs, or none of the stairs, and more, you can plan your route accordingly.
You can now schedule trips for those who have EVs by letting Maps tell you where charging stations are on your route. These routes can also measure when you charge your ETA when information is given about the EV you are driving.
Translate
Translate is a brand-new software that will make communicating with each other simpler than ever for two people speaking different languages.
With Translate, you can half-divide your iPhone screen and click the microphone button to speak. The app will identify the language spoken intelligently and transcribe the original and translated word on the phone’s right side, accompanied by decoded audio.
Translate is integrated into iOS 14; hence users won’t have to worry that when traveling or interacting with someone who doesn’t speak the same language, they’ll have to download an app.
Wrapping Up
Of course, that’s not all, there are other features to the iOS 14 worth checking out, such as the picture-in-picture, which allows you to watch two screens simultaneously. The update is a job well done for the Apple team, being a major one of all-time. You should download the iOS 14 update and try its unique features.
