Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s iOS 14

From cycling directions in Maps to new Memojis, here are all the new features Apple is introducing in iOS 14

At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference(WWDC) Apple announced iOS 14 which is set to be released in fall for all its devices.

The update will introduce new ways to customize the Home Screen, discover and use apps with App Clips, and stay connected in Messages and updates to many other features.

Following is a list of new features and upgrades.

Widgets

Widgets are beautifully redesigned on the Apple Home Screen pages in iOS 14, giving users apt information at a glance.

The new widgets can be pinned in different sizes on any Home Screen page. Users can create a Smart Stack of widgets, which uses on-device intelligence to surface the right widget based on time, location, and activity.

Home Screen pages can display widgets that are customized for work, travel, sports, entertainment, and other areas of interest.

App Library

At the end of the Home Screen pages is the App Library which is a new space that automatically organizes all of a user’s apps into one simple, easy-to-navigate view, and intelligently displays apps that may be helpful in the moment.

Users can choose how many Home Screen pages to display and easily hide pages for quicker access to the App Library.

PHOTO: Apple

Multi-tasking

iOS 14 delivers an all-new compact design that lets users multitask while receiving calls, asking Siri a question, or watching videos.

FaceTime 

With Picture-in-Picture support, iPhone users can now watch a video or take a FaceTime call while using another app.

“iOS 14 transforms the most iconic elements of the iPhone experience, starting with the biggest update we’ve ever made to the Home Screen,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.

Siri

Siri expands its knowledge, helps find answers from across the internet, and can now send audio messages. Keyboard dictation runs on device when dictating messages, notes, email, and more.

Messages

Apple has made it easier to access important conversations. Users can pin favourite conversations to the top of their messages list, with recent messages, Tapbacks, and typing indicators featured right above the pin.

PHOTO: Apple

New Messages allow users to easily keep up with lively group threads through mentions and inline replies, and further customize conversations by setting a group photo using an image or emoji.

Updates to Memoji

New Memoji options in Messages are even more inclusive and diverse with additional hairstyles, headwear, face coverings, and more.

Cycling directions in Maps

Maps makes it easier than ever to navigate and explore with new cycling directions, electric vehicle routing, and curated Guides. Cycling directions take into account elevation, how busy a street is, and whether there are stairs along the route.

PHOTO: Apple

Electric vehicle routing adds charging stops along a planned route based on current vehicle charge and charger types.

App Clips

An App Clip is a small part of an app experience designed to be discovered the moment it is needed. App Clips are associated with a particular product or business, and load within seconds to complete a specific task, such as renting a scooter, purchasing a coffee, or filling a parking meter. They can be easily discovered and accessed by scanning a new Apple-designed App Clip code,1 or through NFC tags and QR codes, or shared in Messages or from Safari, all with the security and privacy expected from apps.

App Clips are fast and easy to discover and allow users to get a part of an app the moment they need it.

Enhanced privacy features and more transparency

All apps will now be required to obtain user permission before tracking. Later this year, App Store product pages will feature summaries of developers’ self-reported privacy practices, displayed in a simple, easy-to-understand format.

Approximate location

Users can upgrade existing accounts to Sign in with Apple and choose to share their approximate location with app developers rather than their precise location when granting an app location access, and get even more transparency into an app’s use of the microphone and camera.

Information about how apps track

PHOTO: Apple

App Store product pages feature a summary of the privacy practices of each app before downloading it.

Additional iOS 14 Features

Translate

Translate is designed to be the best and easiest app for translating conversations, offering quick and natural translation of voice and text among 11 different languages. On-device mode allows users to experience the features of the app offline for private voice and text translation.

AirPods

Airpods gain the ability to seamlessly switch between Apple devices with automatic device switching.Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking brings a theater-like experience to AirPods Pro. By applying directional audio filters, and subtly adjusting the frequencies each ear receives, sounds can be placed virtually anywhere in a space to provide an immersive listening experience.

Safari

Safari offers a Privacy Report so users can easily see which cross-site trackers have been blocked, secure password monitoring to help users detect saved passwords that may have been involved in a data breach, and built-in translation for entire webpages.

Health

Health has all-new experiences to manage sleep, better understand audio levels that may affect hearing health, and a new Health Checklist — a centralized place to manage health and safety features — includes Emergency SOS, Medical ID, ECG, Fall Detection, and more.10 Health also adds support for new data types for mobility, Health Records, symptoms, and ECG.

Weather

The Weather app and widget keep users up to date on severe weather events and a new next-hour precipitation chart shows minute-by-minute precipitation when rain is in the forecast.

Sound

Headphone Accommodations amplifies soft sounds and tunes audio to help music, movies, phone calls, and podcasts sound crisper and clearer.

Sign language detection

Sign language detection in Group FaceTime, now makes the person signing more prominent in a video call. The industry’s leading screen reader for the blind community, now automatically recognizes what is displayed visually onscreen so more apps and web experiences are accessible to more people.

Home app

The Home app has a new visual status that provides an at-a-glance view of a user’s smart home accessories.

New software features will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 6s and later.