To update, or not to update?
That is the question.
iOS 14 is almost upon us and we’ve gathered everything you need to know to decide whether
an update should be high priority or put off until later.
This is DIY in 5!
Hey everyone!
I’m Trisha Hershberger.
Welcome to DIY in 5, the show where we make tech easily digestible in 5 minutes or less - usually.
Today we’re talking all about iOS 14 - the new operating system update coming to iPhones this fall.
What are the new features?
And is it worth the update?
Let’s dig in.
If you find the tips in today’s video useful be sure to like this video, subscribe to this
channel and tap that bell so that you don’t miss out on any future tech tips.
Let’s start off with a feature long beloved to Android users and finally coming to iOS...
WIDGETS!!
Widgets are a bit of self-contained code that allows a small bit of an app to be displayed
without fully opening the app
and now, they are available on the home screen with this latest iOS update.
Certain apps will have widget support, mostly Apple proprietary apps at first, with different
sizes available you can choose from and then pin on your home screen.
Note you cannot manually resize these widgets,
nor pin them to the middle of a page, but it’s a start.
You can even add a “smart stack” widget which allows you to stack multiple widgets
on top of each other, occupying the same home screen real-estate but showing multiple widget’s
worth of information with just a swipe.
Pretty cool.
There’s also a new app library interface at the end of your home screens to show all
your apps at a glance, in neat little Apple auto-organized drawers.
No longer do you have to put your infrequently used apps
in the "folder of shame" at the end of your last homepage,
now you can hide apps from a home screen altogether and they will appear in your app library instead.
It’s not only great for cleaning up your home screen, it’s also great if you have
apps on your phone you’d rather others not find out about.
I swear, I totally deleted TFT and Hearthstone off my phone!
Hehe!
Speaking of cleaning up the look of your home screen,
Apple has incorporated other space-saving measures as well.
Incoming phone calls and Facetime requests will no longer take up the whole screen,
only displaying a bar at the top.
From this bar, you can choose to take the call, reject the call or continue working underneath.
Not today Aunt Cathy!
Siri will also now take up less space, showing a small animated icon at the bottom of the
screen and giving you results in a small bar at the top of the screen.
While this animation takes up less screen real-estate, you should note that you are
not able to continue working underneath Siri without exiting Siri altogether
- so mega multi-taskers, be forewarned.
Another way Apple is saving some space is with a new Picture in Picture mode.
Now Facetime calls or videos can be run in a small window
so you can continue work in another app at the same time.
These small PiP windows can be resized, moved around and even totally swiped off screen
so that you hear audio-only.
It remains to be seen if this will entirely decimate YouTube’s paid user base.
App clips allow users to use some app features without downloading the entire app.
Great for buying a coffee, filling a meter, making a reservation, you get the idea
- all by just scanning a code, similar to Android Instant Apps.
This is great.
I literally have several parking meter apps installed on my phone that I only used once.
A new accessibility feature that could be quite useful is sound recognition.
Your phone will listen for certain sounds that you choose - like sirens or alarms
in your accessibility settings and alert you on screen if detected.
Not only is this great for hearing-impaired users,
but if you like to jog while listening to music, this could be very useful too.
Some other welcome additions include that you can now change
your default email and browser apps - Gmail and Chrome users rejoice!
You can also search for emojis within the native keyboard while you type.
Happy face happy face prayer hands.
For the privacy minded folks out there,
Apple will now notify you by way of a small green or orange dot at the top of the screen
if an app is accessing your camera or microphone, respectively.
And finally, Apple has added a new way to further customize shortcuts with a Back Tap feature.
You can now double tap or triple tap the back of the phone to access custom shortcuts of
your choosing like taking a screenshot or bringing up Siri.
Cool.
So should you update?
If you are a mega multi-tasker or someone who is very particular about the layout of
your home screen, then I would say this latest iOS update might be a game changer for you.
If you found yourself giving a resounding ‘meh’ to most of the features mentioned
in this video, then maybe it’s best to hold off for a bit.
What new feature has you most excited?
Let us know in the comments.
Alright everyone, thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time with more DIY in 5!