iOS 15 Aims to Remove Distractions With Focus, FaceTime Improvements

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Apple today unleashed the next versions of its iOS and iPadOS mobile operating systems to developers, and both operating systems have an eye on productivity.

With iOS 15, Apple wants to help you stay in the zone, be that a work or relaxation mindset. Focus features make notifications less obtrusive, while sharing options allow for more collboration between friends. That includes video chats between platforms; FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows—on the web, anyway.

With iPadOS 15, Apple continues its quest to make the iPad Pro as useful as a laptop. The much-maligned Split View and Slide Over multi-tasking features get a makeover in a bid to make it easier to view two apps at once on the screen and switch between them.

Both OSes will be released to developers today, a public beta is scheduled for July, and the rest of us will get our hands on them in the fall. Here's what to expect when they arrive.

iOS 15: FaceTime Gets an Audio Boost

Portrait mode on FaceTime (Image: Apple)

This past year has made many of us video chat experts, but we've all had a few audio pitfalls, from loud garbage trucks on the street to barking dogs.

With iOS 15, FaceTime adds new microphone modes that separate the voice of the person you're talking to from anyone background noise. For group calls, meanwhile, spatial audio will have sound come from the direction the person is placed on the screen. A grid view also lets people see more faces at once, while Portrait mode for FaceTime will blur your background.

iOS 15: Apple SharePlay

Music sharing via SharePlay on FaceTime

Though we're starting to hang out in person again, you likely have friends and family in far-flung corners of the globe, so iOS 15's SharePlay lets you listen to music, watch videos, and share your screen during a FaceTime chat.

Watch Disney+, ESPN+, HBO Max, Hulu, MasterClass, Paramount+, Pluto TV, TikTok, or Twitch from a video call or share playlists via Apple Music. Here's where you can bring in those Android-based friends, too. Create a link from iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and share it through Messages, Calendar, Mail, or third-party apps like WhatsApp and friends on non-Apple devices can join in via Chrome or Edge.

iOS 15: Stay Focused

Working from home has been a godsend to many, but when your desk is only feet from your living space, it can be hard to disconnect. With that in mind, iOS 15 expands on the Screen Time idea introduced a few years back with Focus.

If you're inundated with notifications, Focus can group them to only come in at a certain time of day—minus important messages from favorite contacts. It will also serve up suggestions, like telling you to log off and go to bed. Messages will also incorporate an oldie but goodie: the away message. If someone goes to message you, they'll be able to see you're unavailable before shooting you a note.

Also on Tap for iOS 15:

Live Text will recognize text in a photo and allow you to search photos by location, people, scenes, or objects from Spotlight.

Memories will integrate with Apple Music for personalized song suggestions.

A new floating tab bar in Safari makes it easier to surf the web one-handed.

In Apple Maps, Apple promises "significantly enhanced details in cities for neighborhoods, commercial districts, elevation, and buildings, new road colors and labels, custom-designed landmarks, and a new night-time mode with a moonlit glow."

In CarPlay, Maps adds a 3D city-driving experience.

Digital car keys adds support for Ultra Wideband technology.

iPad OS 15: Multitasking and Keyboard Shortcuts

Multi-tasking has been available on the iPad for several years, but it never quite stuck the landing. Apps aren't compatible, they disappear, and the interface is not particularly intuitive. Can iPadOS 15 fix all that? We'll see, but for now, Apple is talking up a new interface that it says will make it easier to work with more than one app at a time on its tablet.

There's a new multi-tasking shortcut up top; tap it to see apps that are available for Split View. When viewing two apps, switch to another app with multiple windows (like Safari and Pages) with an on-screen menu Apple is calling the "shelf."

iPadOS 15: Widgets Galore

Apple is sticking with widgets, and in iPadOS 15, you can mix and match, placing widgets among apps on home screens. iPadOS 15 also adds new widgets for App Store, Find My, Game Center, Mail, and Contacts. The App Library introduced in iOS 14 is also coming to iPadOS.

iPadOS 15: Quick Note

Need to jot something down digitally? With Quick Note, "Notes goes systemwide," Apple says. "Whether browsing in Safari or finding a restaurant on Yelp, users can bring up Quick Note anywhere to jot down a thought and add links, providing an easy way to get back to exactly what they were looking at."

The aforementioned upgrades to FaceTime, as well as Focus, are also coming to iPadOS 15

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