Apple just announced the most awaited iOS operating system today morning. It is the iOS 14. Before the WWDC event takes place, rumours were circulating around saying that Apple is going to rebrand iOS to iPhone OS. So now we know that’s just a rumour only. During today’s event, Apple announces tons of features for the iOS 14. But we feel you will love this 10 features in the latest iOS 14.
1. Newly redesigned widgets on the Home screen
To be honest, we were expecting updates on performance and stability. But Apple surprised us with a newly redesigned widgets for the Home screen. The current iOS 13, you will have widgets on the left side of your Home screen. And that widget is not very customizable, but in the iOS 14, you can literally customize how you want the widgets to be.
First of all, the widgets can be placed in any of the grids on the home screen. So if you want to have world clocks on your Home screen, you can easily add the clock widget with a bigger size on top of your Home screen. Apart from that, there is also a new “Smart Stack” widget which is one of our favourite widgets. With the “Smart Stack” widget, you can add it to your home screen and it will automatically change the content according to your most-used apps throughout your day. The best part is, it will show up automatically at the right time in your day.
2. The new App Library
Another feature which we think you will love is the all-new App Library. When we say App Library, the first thing strikes to your mind is a library of apps which are organized accordingly. That is how the App Library works. All it does is it organizes all the installed apps on your iPhone into categories.
In the current iOS 13, you have to manually add the apps into folders and then name it accordingly. Now, you don’t have to worry about it again. All you need to do is swipe right from your Home screen and you should be able to see a beautiful page with all your apps organized in categories. The best part of it, the App Library intelligently knows what apps you used frequently and show it on the top left side. You can even view your recently added apps on the right side of the App Library. With this new App Library, you can easily disables the pages on your Home screen. So next time, you won’t need more than four pages on your Home screen with tons of apps in it. Just two pages in the Home screen would be fine.
3. Compact Calls
Have you been in a situation you are busy playing games and suddenly, you receive a call. We know the moment of frustration because, when you receive the call, it blocks your whole screen. That sometimes could be disastrous if you are playing games such as Call of Duty Mobile. In the latest iOS 14, there is this new feature called the Compact Calls.
Using this feature, you will receive your call notifications in a compact way. Imagine it receiving calls on your Android device. That’s exactly Compact Calls is. You can either continue playing game on your iPhone or just tap to answer the call. The Compact Calls feature is not only for the iOS stock apps, but sooner, other third party apps also will be able to use this feature.
4. Picture-in-Picture
Looks like finally, Apple is adding some of the Android features in the iOS 14. One of it is the Picture-in-picture. We the heading itself is self-explanatory what is this feature is all about. Using this feature, you can FaceTime with your loved ones at the same time continue using another app. This is a feature which Android has it a long time ago. It is good finally, Apple is getting some inspiration from Android.
5. A new Translate app
Another feature which we think you going to love in the iOS 14 is the new Translate app. After Apple introducing Siri, you can easily ask Siri to translate words for you. By having a new Translate app, you can use it frequently, especially when you travel to other countries. The Translate app has a new conversational feature which you can simple turn your iPhone to landscape mode and then just start speaking. The Translate app automatically translates it for you.
At the same time, you can enlarge the translated text in landscape mode and use it show to the native people over there. We feel this is something very useful for backpackers or business people who travel on business trips frequently. The translation happens seamlessly by using advance on-device machine learning and the powerful Apple Neural Engine. With this, the translated words sound more natural in the native language.
6. A new Siri compact design
This whole time, Siri has been using the whole screen of the iPhone when you ask Siri a question. In iOS 14, Apple is making Siri more compact. Now Siri looks like a small round button. As usual you can simply say “Hey Siri” to activate Siri and then now it pops up like a button. The new Siri design looks more cleaner because it doesn’t takes up the whole Home screen.
Apart from that, now each of your Siri request will be shown like a notifications. So, you can continue using another app while Siri performs your request. But, this feature has been inside the Android operating system. When you say “Hey Google” the Google Assistant also shows in a compact design. The only difference between this two AI assistant is the shape of buttons.
Now, Siri is much smarter than you expected. Previously, when you ask question which it is not able to find, it will directly show you the web result. But now in the latest iOS 14, Siri is getting smarter now. It will give you answers directly from the web. This means you don’t have to open the web browser to find answers to your questions.
7. Unlock and start your car with your iPhone
From the heading itself you probably already know about the new iOS 14 feature. This has been a dream come true. We can say probably this is one of the futuristic feature. Unlocking your car with iPhone is something doable. But starting your car with your iPhone, that’s totally mind blowing.
With the new iOS 14, you can forget about carrying your car key with you. You can simply add your Car Key to the Wallet app and just need to go near to your car to unlock it. And to start your car, all you need to do is place your iPhone inside the wireless charging tray and you start your car. But, if you lose your smartphone then you might need to login to your iCloud account to disable the Car Key feature.
With this new Car Key feature, you can event share your Car Key with your friends or colleague. For instance, if your friend wants to borrow your car, you can share your Car Key with them and they can use it to unlock your car. You have all the rights to restrict the access to your car by customizing the controls of the Car Key.
However, this feature is only available for the upcoming 2021 BMW 5 Series. Probably, you might need to wait longer to get access for other brands of cars.
8. Spatial audio for the AirPods Pro
Another feature to talk about is the spatial audio for the AirPod Pro. If you own the AirPods Pro, then probably you are going to love this feature in the iOS 14. With this feature, you don’t have to own a super expensive headphones. You can get the same surround sounds with the AirPods Pro. This feature would be fun to use especially when you like to listen to orchestra or cinematic musics. We can’t wait to try out this feature on the AirPods Pro.
9. Automatically switching AirPods between devices
Moreover, there is another feature which is quite useful for the AirPods is the new automatic switching feature. If you are person who owns different types of Apple devices, then this feature will be really useful for you. Now, you can seamless switch between devices on your AirPods. You can continue switching listening songs on your Mac and then when you receive a phone call on your iPhone the AirPods will be automatically connected to your iPhone.
10. App Clips
The last feature in the iOS 14 which we find you going to love is the App Clips. This a new feature Apple is creating for those who don’t like to download many apps on their iPhone. With the App Clips, you can say it as a mini apps without really downloading the full app from the App Store.
You can simply scan the QR code or NFC tags to activate App Clips. For example, if you need to pay for your parking ticket using an app, you can simply move your iPhone near to the NFC tag or QR code to activate App Clips. And from there you can easily make payment to your parking ticket with your Apple Pay. There is an option given too if you would like to download the full app from the App Store.
So guys, there you have it! These are the top 10 features which we think you going to love on the iOS 14. Share with us which feature you would love to try. Our pick would be the newly redesigned widgets. For more tech updates follow our TechmonQuay Facebook page.
