The best features coming to iPhone this fall

FaceTime is getting a few new features. One is called SharePlay. Once you start a FaceTime video call with someone (or multiple people), you’ll be able to open supported apps like Disney+, Hulu, TikTok and other apps, and then watch a movie or TV show together. Viewers can pause or fast forward and everything will stay in sync. You can even switch to chatting over iMessage while watching or share your screen. It works across iPad, Mac and iPhone.

You’ll be able to bring Android and Windows friends into your FaceTime video chats. Anyone with a Mac, iPad or iPhone will see a new button to create a link for a FaceTime video, which can be shared with users on non-Apple devices. You’ll need to let those users into the chat, too, so you don’t have to worry about the link being passed on to other folks and random people showing up in the chat. 

Apple will soon let you store your driver’s license in the Apple Wallet app on your iPhone. That means, to start, you won’t have to pull out your license to move through TSA at the airport. This feature will come in the winter and Apple is working to get approval state-by-state. You’ll still need your driver’s license in case you get pulled over, since it will only be accepted by the TSA when it launches.

And speaking of the wallet, you’ll soon be able to store digital keys to your house in Apple Wallet. If you have a supported HomeKit smart lock at home, or even at the office if your workplace offers it, you’ll be able to tap your phone to unlock the door. And you’ll be able to share temporary or permanent digital keys with other visitors.

iMessage will start to share relevant information in other apps. So, for example, if someone sends you a link to a news story, you’ll see that in the “Shared with You” section of Apple News with a reminder of who sent the link. It’s convenient if you want to read a story later but don’t want to go digging back through hundreds of messages to find the link.

And if someone sends a picture (not a meme or a screenshot), it’ll appear in “Shared with You” in Apple Photos. This applies to links in Safari, podcasts, and movies and TV shows in Apple TV. Also, instead of seeing a long list of pictures when someone sends many, you’ll get a clean stack of photos you can flip through.

Your iPhone will be able to identify and tell you more information about an animal, a landmark, a plant or an object, like a book. A small icon will appear on top of photos in your gallery and, with a tap, it can identify a pet’s dog breed and show you more information, for example. Or a flower with some background on the plant. The feature is similar to the one that’s been available on Android phones called Google Lens.

Focus in iOS 15 lets you tell other’s you aren’t available.

Apple

I’m excited for this. A new “Focus” feature will only allow notifications from people and apps you’ve pre-approved at a certain time.

The idea is that, when you just want to sit down and read, or don’t want your phone buzzing after a certain hour, you won’t see random apps spamming notifications or texts from people you don’t need to hear from in the moment. And recipients will see if you’re focusing, with a message that says, for example, “Todd has notifications silenced with Focus.” If it’s urgent, the sender can push the message through anyway.

You can create Focus settings for lots of things: work, play, sleep and more. And each will let you create a custom home screen, so you only see (but can still access) certain apps, too. Maybe you create a home screen for work apps, and another for apps you use when you’re at home, for example.

Apple finished rolling out a full redesign to its Maps app last year, but it’s already back with another big update. Among lots of other things, it offers improved driving directions with more clearly marked lanes, crosswalks and more. And there’s a really cool 3D model that shows elevation and points of interest in major cities. The new maps will work in San Francisco first, followed by Philadelphia, New York, London, Washington and Los Angeles before it spreads to other cities.

And speaking of your location. iOS 15 will also provide more public transit information, including real-time alerts for when you need to get off the bus, train or subway. There’s even a new augmented reality feature that, like in Google Maps, overlays more information over the real world so you can see where you’re going.

Safari in iOS 15 gets big changes, too.

Apple

Safari is getting a big update on iPhone, Mac and iPad. It includes a redesign that brings the search bar to the bottom of the page on iPhone, support for saving groups of open tabs (like ones you use for work, or for planning a vacation) that you can reopen on any device and a new option to search the web by voice.

Any text in any photo can be copy and pasted or translated. So, if you’re reading a menu in another language, you can just take a picture of it and see what it says. Or, you can take a picture of an address or restaurant name and then tap it to get more information in Apple Maps. Another neat example: take a picture of a package and then click the tracking number to follow where the package is through UPS or FedEx. Lastly, you can also tap phone numbers in images to call a place right away.

Spotlight search is the tool you get when you swipe down on the screen to search your iPhone. It’s getting big improvements, too. If you search a contact, for example, it’ll show you the pictures you’ve snapped that that person and any text message links that person has sent you. You’ll get more information about TV shows, movies, artists and musicians and more.

Apple will tell you even more about how apps are using your phone. A new privacy report will show you how often an app accesses your microphone, location, photos and camera over the last seven days. And it will show you the servers the app is contacting, so you can see if an app might be sending data to lots of other companies or places. 

iCloud+ is a fancy new name for iCloud. You won’t pay more for some of the features, but it includes new benefits. It will hide your online activity using “iCloud Private Relay,” which makes it harder for people to see the sites and other places you visit.

A “Hide My Email” feature that creates a random email address in forms where you need one to sign up, so the recipient doesn’t know your actual one (though you can still receive forwarded emails in your regular address.) And lastly, you’ll get support for up to unlimited HomeKit Secure Video cameras you may have around your house. (The $0.99 per month plan includes support for one camera, but you can add more depending on your plan.)

Siri is faster for some tasks in iOS 15. New on-device processing means you can ask Siri to do things like set timers and alarms, open apps, control music, turn on the flashlight and more, all without requiring an internet connection. That means those tasks should happen right away, instead of with a slight delay. This feature requires an iPhone XS (the 2018 iPhone) or newer.

A new “Digital Legacy’ program lets you set contacts who will be able to access your account when you pass away. This should make it easier for loved ones to get everything off of your device, transfer the ownership of the phone or close an account. It’s currently a difficult and confusing process. Also, a new “Account Recovery Contacts” feature lets you designate certain people who will be able to help you change your password in case you ever forget it and get locked out of your account or certain devices.