Apple’s WWDC21 kicks off tomorrow and the company is expected to unveil some new privacy, notification and multitasking improvement with iOS and iPadOS 15, according to a new report.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- A new privacy control panel in iOS 15 will detail apps’ data collection.
- Notification handling based on your status like driving, working, etc.
- You’ll be able to place iPad widgets anywhere on the Home screen.
New iOS 15 privacy and multitasking features
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has learned that the upcoming iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 updates, about to be previewed at tomorrow’s WWDC21 keynote, will include new privacy, multitasking and notification enhancements, plus “significant improvements” to iPad software.
- Privacy control panel: A central place to find in-depth detail on what data are being collected by each third-party app installed on the device. “The update will also include a larger focus on auto-replying to messages and a new design for incoming notification banners at the top of the screen,” Gurman writes.
- Notification improvements: Apple will tune the notification system with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to let you decide how incoming alerts are handled based on various statuses such as driving, sleeping, working, DND and similar.
- Home screen widgets on iPad: With iPadOS 15, you’ll be able to place widgets anywhere on the Home screen, just like on the iPhone on iOS 14. Apple debuted Home screen widgets with iOS 14 in 2020, but the feature has remained half-baked on the iPad to this date.
Most interestingly, however, The Cupertino giant reportedly will roll out an improved multitasking system in iPadOS 15 to make it “easier to operate multiple apps at the same time,” but the write-up stops short of detailing what those multitasking improvements might be.
What about macOS 12, watchOS 8 and tvOS 15?
Mac software, meanwhile, will get minor changes in macOS 11.2 while watchOS 8 should gain unspecified health-tracking and user interface improvements. As for the Apple TV platform, tvOS 15 will also bring “some enhancements” but Gurman wouldn’t reveal which ones.
Oh, and don’t keep your fingers crossed for a revamped lock screen that Gurman first talked about in April 2021. According to Gurman’s latest Bloomberg report, those features and other changes have been delayed and won’t appear this year.
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Of course, we saw this unfold with prior iOS releases—first, an initial version of a major software update drops (14.0) and it lacks some of the features that Apple had initially promised, but then those features get implemented in major point updates (iOS 14.1, iOS 14.2, etc.)
Health, Safari, iMessage and other improvements
Gurman mentions that Apple will also address the current App Store controversy by trying to convince developers that the App Store is “the best place to sell their software” although the company isn’t expected to unveil any “wholesale App Store policy changes” next week.
Of course, next week at WWDC the walls will get even higher. I hear there are big updates coming to Safari, Health, Maps and iMessage at WWDC next week.
— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) June 4, 2021
The report also corroborates claims by The Wall Street Journal technology reporter Joana Stern who said that Apple’s Messages, Health and Safari apps, as well as iMessage, are among those that will be gaining new capabilities.
Apple is scheduled to broadcast its pre-recorded WWDC21 keynote tomorrow, June 7, at 10am PT. iDB will be providing live remote coverage of the keynote as it happens.