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Apple iOS 14 has arrived and while my Update Guide reveals that it is far from bug-free, it is also the most ambitious generational iOS update in years. Plus, away from the headline changes, iOS 14 packs a ton of great secret features.
Here are 25 of the best you need to know:
Apple iOS 14
Applications
Add to app library – When you delete an app, there is now a new option to add it to the App Library, which removes it from your home screen but keeps it in the new iOS 14 App Library.
Touch Back
Custom commands – Navigate to Settings> Accessibility> Touch> Touch Back and you can configure quick access commands for when you double or triple tap the back of your iPhone. Almost any command is available, from quick navigation shortcuts to opening Siri or the Notification Center, taking a screenshot, changing the volume, silencing or locking the phone, and many more. It’s cool and it even works with a case.
Battery
Custom Power Modes – Siri Shortcuts can now automatically apply custom settings to your iPhone when it’s charging or in low power mode. These include notification settings, screen brightness level, location sharing, Bluetooth on / off, and more.
Bluetooth
Banner notifications – iOS 14 shows which Bluetooth device is connected in a pop-up notification, so you no longer need to check in Control Center.
Charging AirPods – iOS 14 will warn you when your AirPods batteries are running low and remind you to charge them.
Camera
Selfie Mirroring – The iOS 14 camera settings allow you to toggle ‘Front camera mirror’, which means that the photo has the same final orientation that you see in the viewfinder. By default, iOS 14 reverses its image, so you may want to change this.
Apple iOS 14 selfie camera mirror option
Video formats – iOS 14 allows all iPhones to change their resolution and video format in the camera app. In iOS 13, this feature was restricted to the iPhone 11 series.
Facetime
False eye contact – Delayed from iOS 13, FaceTime can now automatically stake out your line of sight so that it appears to be maintaining eye contact with the other caller (Settings> FaceTime> Eye Contact). Smart but creepy.
Sign language – FaceTime can recognize when someone is recording a group call and gives the signer a prominent position so that it is easy to see.
Keyboard
Emoji search – at last, iPhone owners can search the iOS emoji library. When the emoji keyboard opens in iOS 14, you will now find that a search bar has been added.
Messages
Pin multiple conversations – You can pin a conversation by swiping right on the Messaging home screen, but tap the menu above and you can pin as many conversations as you want.
Apple iOS 14 Messages: Pinned Conversations
Filter messages automatically – find the Filters menu in Messages and you can have the app automatically sort by known senders, unknown senders, promotions, transactions and spam
Notify me – go to settings under Messages and enable the Notify me option, so you will still be notified if you are mentioned in a muted group chat.
Apple iOS 14 messages allow notifications based on specific user mentions in group chats, even when … [+]
Navigation
Long press the back button – Do this and you will get quick access to all menu levels in an app / Settings where you have navigated from. This saves multiple presses of the Back button to return to the main screen of an application.
Telephone
Hide calls – The new smaller incoming call banner notification in iOS 14 is not only less intrusive, it also allows you to swipe calls. The call continues to ring, but is minimized to an icon, allowing you to quickly finish a task before answering.
Apple iOS 14 Compact Calls
Photos
Add subtitles – Open any photo, swipe up and you will see a new title field. The best part about this is that the text is searchable, so you can use it to find specific images quickly.
Privacy
Camera and Microphone Warnings – These appear next to the WiFi icon and warn you if an app is using your iPhone’s camera (green dot) or microphone (orange dot) in the background.
Apple iOS microphone background usage warning
Precise location – you can now restrict applications to use an approximate location, rather than an exact location.
Clipboard warnings – iOS 14 will warn you if an app has accessed the clipboard data, specifying the app and where it got the data from.
Safari
Speed increase – iOS 14 introduces a new JavaScript engine for Safari and Apple boasts twice the performance of Chrome on Android 10.
Siri
Shortcut gallery – Apple has introduced a new user interface for the Siri Shortcut Gallery with enlarged thumbnails and bright color differentiation.
Apple’s Siri iOS 14 redesign
Sleep and sleep mode
Direct access to the control center – Go to Settings> Control Center> Enable Sleep Mode and you can set this new iOS 14 mode to appear as a shortcut in Control Center.
Time and date
New user interface Apple has introduced a new bubble-shaped user interface for entering the time and date throughout the operating system. It’s a welcome usability improvement over the terrible scroll wheel.
Security
Safety recommendations – Dig into the iOS 14 settings and you’ll get security recommendations, this can automatically warn you of data breaches and password leaks on third-party websites.
Apple iOS 14 Smart Stack widget can automatically switch to the data you need when you need it
Widgets
Smart battery – iOS 14 features home screen widgets and the best one is called Smart Stack. It allows you to combine multiple widgets into one and iOS 14 learns to automatically switch between them based on your usage, location, or time of day.
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