Yesterday, Apple unveiled all of the new software features coming to the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and more. Craig and the crew did a great job showing off the major changes coming. The new features came fast and furious in a keynote that lasted almost two hours.
Since Apple had to show off all of the new features of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, tvOS, macOS 11 Big Sur, and announce a new chip transition for the Mac, some of the changes coming to these systems had to be cut.
The iPhone started off the event and Craig showed us all of the new iPhone features coming to the iPhone that will finally change the way we use our device. Apple has added widgets, an App library, App Clips, and more. But there were more new iPhone features that didn’t get any time at the keynote.
Luckily, Apple announced all the new iPhone features that are coming, even if they were not announced on stage. Here are some of the most exciting new iPhone features coming later this year.
Most Exciting New iPhone Features – Setting Default Apps
One of the most exciting iPhone features coming to iOS 14 flew under the radar. Apple will allow users to set a default web browser or e-mail client.
Starting with iOS 14, users will now be able to download whatever web browser and/or mail client they like the best from the App Store and set it as the default for the system. In developer beta 1, I haven’t been able to figure out how to set apps to default just yet. This might be a feature that is still in the works, but Apple has promoted this feature on the iOS 14 webpage. I would imagine that you will be able to change this in the Settings app eventually, but right now, I can’t figure it out.
For Apple, I would think that allowing users to choose will push them to make Mail and Safari the best that they can be, so that they stay as most users default apps. I’ve been happy with Safari and Mail and haven’t branched out much, but I might try some out to see what I’m missing once this feature launches.
New iPhone Features with AirPods
While not a new iPhone feature, AirPods received some cool updates during the WWDC keynote. Starting with iOS 14, AirPods will automatically move to the device that you are using and the AirPod Pros gain surround sound when watching movies on the iPad.
AirPod Battery
In iOS 14, you will receive a notification on your device when the battery on your AirPods gets low. One of the most annoying things about AirPods is putting them only to realize that the battery is dead. Until now, you never got a low battery warning on your device, telling you it was time to charge. Of course, iOS has made it easy to check the battery level, but I would rarely do that. The AirPods are so easy to just pop them in your ears and go, I never thought about the battery level. So it will be a blessing to get a notification on my device so that I know that I need to charge them.
Other than the notification, Apple will also be bringing Machine Learning to the charging of your AirPods. Starting with iOS 14, your AirPods will learn your charging patterns and help you try to maximize battery longevity.
Battery chemistry has a limited life. In fact, it isn’t good for batteries to be at 100% of their capacity for a long time. It decreases the life of the battery to keep a full charge. So, Apple analyzes how your devices get charged and will limit them to an 80% charge until it knows you are about to take them off the charger. If you take your AirPods off the charger every morning at the same time, it will make sure that your battery is topped off by then. All without you having to set a timer or anything.
Since the AirPods are so small, the battery deterioration happens sooner than an iPhone or MacBook. Apple’s iPhones and USB-C Mac have gotten this optimize battery charging to help these batteries last longer as well.
Headphone Accommodations – Personalize Your Sound
Apple is also bringing what they call Headphone Accommodations to AirPods. Apple claims that Headphone Accommodations “amplifies soft sounds and can tune for your individual hearing, to help music, phone calls, and more sound crisp and clear.”
This feature is can be found in the Accessibility section in the settings. Users will be presented with a test that compares a snippet of music with different effects. Based on your preferences with the test, Apple will tune your headphones to promote the sounds to your more clearly than before. The feature can boost the vocal range or brightness of music to make it sound better to the listener.
It feels like this is personalizing sound for your own hearing spectrum. Having done the test, it feels like music sounds better to my taste for sure.
Music Updates
Apple barely touched on the iPhone Music app during the WWDC 2020 keynote. It spent a few minutes when it discussed the new iPad version of Music, but no one seemed to go into detail about changes that will be coming. And they will be coming to Music, so be ready.
For You Changes to Listen Now
Apple is planning on changing the For You page in Apple Music to a Listen Now page. It will be the new home tab on Apple Music. The Listen Now page will be the first thing you see when you open the Music app. The app will attempt to put even more music options it thinks you will like in front of you.
Apple says that it is “designed for playing and discovering your favorite music, artists, playlist, and mixes all in one place.” Looming large at the top are giant playlist and radio album art that are in heavy rotation. Just below that are radio stations that the app suggests based on your listening history. It seems to offer up artist radios that you have listened to lately.
Further down, you will find more of the things For You offered previously. There’s the new from your artist (which I think is too low), what your friends are listening to, and the Made For You playlist that includes your New Music, Friends, and Get Up.
It’s a nice fresh look that I think will offer users plenty of choice.
Autoplay
Another Music feature coming to the Music app that wasn’t announced on stage at WWDC 2020 is a feature called Autoplay. In iOS 14, the Music App can keep the music from ever stopping. When you reach the end of a playlist or album, music will continue playing music that is similar to what you just listened to. It seems like a radio station based on the last played song starts as soon as the playlist ends.
It sounds like an interesting idea. As I was working on this article, my music came to a stop and I had to break my flow to figure out what to play next. Autoplay would have really helped out there.
I just hope that this is a new iPhone feature that you can turn off. Maybe I only want to listen to one album because of the timing. Again, something I’m looking forward to when I get the beta put on my device.
FaceTime Improvements
With all the time we’ve spent in the last few months on FaceTime, it’s no wonder that there are some updates to the video calling app in iOS 14.
To begin with, Apple is improving the streaming quality of video when using FaceTime. If your device is capable, it will now stream FaceTime in 1080p.
Apple is also bringing a feature called Eye Contact to FaceTime. I think this feature was in the works with iOS 13, but it got scrapped. Eye Contact will use AR to make it look like you are looking at the camera instead of looking at the screen of your iPhone. It was weird when I saw this before, but maybe Apple has refined the tech so it doesn’t look as bad.
Quick Hits
Along with these larger features announced at WWDC 2020, here are some other smaller new iPhone features scheduled to come to iOS 14 later this year.
- Family sharing of in-app purchases and subscriptions – so no more having to buy things inside the same app multiple times. The developer will need to enable this though.
- Updated Game Center and Apple Arcade games to get you into your games quicker. This will include a pick up where you left off feature for playing games across devices.
- Apple has improved the time it takes to get to the camera and take your first shot. If you need to get to your camera quickly to take a picture, this will make things much easier.
- New Exposure controls inside the Camera App.
- Use the Volume Up button to capture burst photos and the Down Volume to QuickTake a video in the Camera App.
- The Photos app will allow you to add captions to your media to provide context to pictures. These captions will be searchable within the app as well.
- New or improved stats inside the Health App for sleeping and hearing
- Users with a shared Reminder list can now assign tasks to certain users.
- The Weather app will inform the user about severe weather events and changes. I’m not sure if this will include notifications about impending rain or other weather, but that would be a nice addition.
- You can now share your directions ETA with a contact using Siri.
- The Podcast app gets a redesign. The app will try to recommend podcasts that you might like based on shows you’ve listened to.
- New Widgets are stackable. You can stack up to ten widgets on top of each other and swipe through them to find the one you want.
- Back Tap – Apple has added an accessibility feature that can sense if you tap the back of your iPhone. This can run a short cut or open an app.
- The Shortcuts app will get folders!
Wrap up
WWDC 2020 announced new features at such a quick rate, it makes sense that some of these things slipped through the cracks. Along with the new iPhone features that headlined the keynote, the “hidden” new iPhone features help to round out what I expect to be a great fall release.
Of course, some of the new iPhone features might not make the final cut. We’ve seen that happen in the last few years with features announced and then not make it. iCloud Folder sharing was a feature announced with iOS 13 and just shipped in the last couple of months after all.
So what new iPhone Feature are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments or in the new Forum! Also, make sure that you sign up for the mailing list, notifications, and follow along on Twitter to make sure you are getting all the WWDC 2020 news you can get your hands on.
