At the time of this writing in late May 2021, iOS 14.6 has just released, a minor update that won’t be terribly interesting to many. Even these updates that don’t sound interesting are still important to install, because small security patches often get bundled with new features, and we should always keep up with these security patches to keep our devices as protected as possible.
iOS 14.5, now more than a few weeks old already, had some improvements that are worth noting. I won’t discuss the exhaustive list, but I’ll comment on the things that either you’ve heard about in the news, or the more useful but subtle new features.
- App Tracking – This is the biggest deal of iOS 14.5. If you don’t know, Apple is big on privacy, more so than most big tech companies out there. Apple feels that we should have some say in whether or not the apps we use should have the ability to track our online activity. You might experience the results of being tracked when you look at new shoes on Amazon, and then saw ads for the very same shoes while you were checking your Facebook timeline later that day. This is called ad retargeting, and apps and websites can track you and share information to display to you these creepily relevant ads. If you like the sound of putting a stop to being tracked across the Internet, open your iPhone or iPad and tap Settings > Privacy > Tracking, and turn Off the setting that says ‘Allow Apps to Request to Track’. Turning this Off means that when you download and install a new app, the app is told up front not to bother you with a request to track you because the answer is No! If you leave this setting On, then when you install new apps, you’ll see a pop-up message asking if it’s OK for the app to track you, and you’ll have to respond to each new app with a tap on either ‘OK’, or, ‘Ask App Not to Track’. It’s important to note that turning this feature Off does not mean that you won’t see ads, it means the ads you will see won’t be as relevant… it won’t be the shoes you just looked at on Amazon, it will be something a little more random. As you can imagine, companies like Facebook and Google are not too happy about this new feature, which limits their ability to deliver you those retargeted ads. You may even see messages from Facebook asking you to turn that feature back On. The ad retargeting may or may not give you the creeps, so you can decide what you’d like to do. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes as those tech giants do battle on this topic. Just for fun, watch this short, fun, and creepy video that Apple made about that demonstrates what happens with tracking. Click HERE to watch.
- Unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask – For those who have Face ID setup on their iPhone X or newer, you’ve not doubt noticed that while you’re wearing a face mask, that your iPhone does not recognize you. This feature has been highlighted on the news, but I have to say, it’s not that great. Doing this requires that you also have an AppleWatch, and the watch has to have its’ own passcode on it. So, when you want to unlock your iPhone while wearing a mask, you can lift your wrist and punch in your 4 digit code to unlock the watch, which will in turn unlock the iPhone. For those who don’t own an AppleWatch, you can’t do this. For those that do, you have to enable a passcode on the watch, which means every time you want to see more than the time, you have to punch in your code. Personally, I would rather just pull my mask down briefly so the iPhone can recognize me in order to unlock it with the Face ID. Perhaps you’re not somewhere you can drop your mask, so why not just punch in your passcode into the iPhone itself to unlock it, rather than punching it into your watch…!? Beyond that, it’s warm outside, mask mandates are diminishing, this new feature is too little, too late. :0(
- AirTags – This is the next big deal of iOS 14.5. If you’ve ever heard of a little device called ‘Tile’ that allows you to track your own stuff, AirTags are Apple’s attempt at the same thing. AirTags are small devices that you can attach to your keys, bag/purse, bicycle, car, whatever! When any of these items go missing, you can use the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad to track these lost items. You can buy these directly from Apple for $29 each, or 4 for $99. Older iPhones and iPad won’t be able to track lost items… don’t forget, you need iOS 14.5 on your mobile devices in order for them to work with AirTags. Make sure your device can update to iOS 14.5 before you stock up on AirTags.
- Podcasts – For the podcast lovers out there, Apple just redesigned the Podcasts app, and it makes a lot more sense now! Gone is the word, ‘subscription,’ which was confusing and made people think you had to pay for podcasts, which are in fact Free. Now, instead of subscribing, you ‘Follow’ a podcast, which makes it easy to find in the Library section. Additionally, the Podcast app won’t download and bulk up your device anymore with dozens of episodes that you intended to listen to but never did. You don’t have to ‘Add’ shows to your Library before you listen to them anymore. When you find an episode you want to hear, there’s a Play button right there so you can stream it in the moment, or you can tap More (…), and Download it for offline listening later, or even Save it without downloading it. The Library section is clearly labeled with sub-sections for Shows (that you’re following), Downloaded (episodes for offline listening), and Saved (episodes you’ve bookmarked so you can find easily later). It’s a HUGE improvement… check it out!
- Maps – A few really nice changes have been added to the Maps app as well. The most obvious thing is that during GPS driving navigation, the red END button has disappeared from the bottom of the screen. That may not seem like a good thing, but I’m guessing lots of people were accidentally turning off their navigation. So now, you see a little Up arrow instead, tap that and you’ll see a big red X to end your navigation when you’re ready. Another addition is a new feature stolen from popular competitor map app, Waze, where drivers can report things like accidents, speed traps, etc. This crowd-sourced data improves the accuracy of the map as it displays what’s happening along your route. To report something, tap that same Up arrow (you have to be GPS navigating at the moment), tap Report, and then choose either Accident, Hazard, or Speed Check. Finally, the last improvement fixes that scenario where you’re driving, and you need a gas station. You end the navigation so you can search for a nearby gas station (while someone else is driving of course!), but the map shows you gas stations that are behind you, and you don’t care to turn around. Now, while navigating, tap that same Up arrow, and tap Add Stop, and choose what you’re looking for, gas, restaurant, bank, convenient store, etc., and you’ll be shown these businesses along your route, not behind you, without having to stop your navigating to conduct the search. Brilliant!!
- Reminders – The Reminders app gained two small, but nice features. First, you can now sort the items on your list. Open the Reminders app, and then tap a list to see its’ contents. Tap More (…), then Sort By, and then you can choose how you want the list sorted by Creation Date (date items were added), by Title (alphabetical), or by Due Dates and Priority (if you use those features). Secondly, you can finally print a list! Open a list and tap More (…), and then select Print from the menu. It’s about time on that one! :0)
- Translation – The Translation app was completely new in iOS 14, and now in iOS 14.5, Apple has added a small, but helpful change. I anticipate that many people will begin traveling again, so this feature may come in real handy if you plan to travel to a foreign country. Open the Translate app, select your languages at the top (left is your language, right is new language). Tap ‘Enter text,’ type a short sentence, and tap Go. You’ll be able to read the translation on the screen, but you can also tap the triangle Play button to hear it spoken. What’s new is the ability to long-press the Play button to see some options to slow down the spoken translation, so you can hear it a little better. Not new, but good to know, is to turn your iPhone sideways to enter conversation mode, where two people speaking the languages you’ve selected can take turns pressing the microphone button and speaking so the iPhone can translate. This mode prevents you from having to switch the native and foreign language setting back and forth, as the iPhone will listen and detect BOTH languages simultaneously and translate automatically into the opposite language. Amazing!
OK, that’s enough, right!? That’s a lot, for a little update. There were more changes as well, but this list is my own selection that I think will be most useful for my audience. Enjoy!