First look: See iOS 14 in action with home screen widgets, app library, subtle call alerts, and more

You can choose which widgets you want to use, which page in the app you want to place them on, and how large the widget should be, making widgets much more useful because they can be placed front and center. Up to 10 widgets can be stacked, and there’s even a Smart Stack widget that will automatically display an appropriate widget based on usoiPhone‌ usage and time of day.

Along with widgets, app pages can be hidden from the home screen for a cleaner, more customizable appearance. All of your apps are still accessible thanks to a new App Library feature, which may be one of the best improvements in the upgrade. Swipe all the way from right to left on the PiPhone‌ to see all your apps organized in neat little folders.

You can search to find an app here, tap a folder to see all its content, or check out the Suggestions folder where Apple makes app recommendations based on usage habits.

Siri in ‌iOS 14‌ is smarter and can access more data sources to provide better answers to complex questions, but even better, ‌Siri‌ no longer takes up the entire ‌iPhone‌ screen when activated.

There’s an animated ‌Siri‌ icon that appears at the bottom of the ‌iPhone‌ when you summon ‌Siri‌, and most deSiri‌ results also appear on smaller banners at the top of the screen, without interrupting what you’re doing on your ‌iPhone‌. Ask about the weather, for example, and it is displayed on a small disposable banner.

Apple also made another major improvement in quality of life that users have been waiting for. years Now, and phone calls, FaceTime calls, VoIP calls and more now appear as banners and don’t take over the entire screen.

The Maps app received a major overhaul with bike directions for cyclists and commuters. It has bike paths, lanes and bike-friendly paths, plus information on elevation and incline levels to avoid stairs. For electric vehicles, there is now an option to create a route that includes charging stations.

Also new to Maps is a Guides feature that enables trusted brands and Apple partners to create guides highlighting notable attractions, places to eat, and more in various cities you visit. You can also create your own Guides – it’s the same as iOS 13 Collections, only with a new name.

The Weather app includes some features from Dark Sky, the app that Apple bought in March. Adds information on severe weather events, an hourly precipitation table, and minute-by-minute precipitation readings when rain is forecast, which is currently limited to the US. USA

Apple added some new features to the Messages app, many of which improve group chats. Up to nine important conversations can be pinned at the top of ‌Messages‌ so you can keep an eye on the most important chats, and there is a new online reply feature that allows you to reply to a specific message in a standard chat or group chat.

Mentions have been added in ‌Messages‌, so if you want to get someone’s attention in group chat, you can @mention them with their name and a notification will appear even if they have group chat muted because it is noisy. There are also new options for choosing images for groups, with emojis and Memoji icons.

Speaking of Memoji, Apple added new Memoji customization options. You can select new hair styles, hats or masks, and there are more age options. New Memoji stickers are available to hug, punch, and blush.

Apple also improved emoji, adding a much-needed search function. When you open the emoji interface, there is now a search bar at the top so you can find a specific emoji by keyword.

A new translation app expands on the ‌Siri traducción translation features in OSiOS 13‌, allowing you to write or speak text to translate to and from 11 languages ​​including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean , Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Languages ​​can be downloaded for translation on the device, and ‌Siri‌ can speak your translations for you. Open the ‌iPhone‌ in landscape mode and enter what Apple calls “Conversation Mode”. In this mode, the application listens to any of the two languages ​​in which it is configured, translating between each one so that you can have a conversation with someone in another language.

The long-rumored Apple car key feature was introduced alongside ‌iOS 14‌, but will eventually work with devices running ‌iOS 14‌ and ‌IOS 13‌. Car Key allows you to use your ‌iPhone‌ or Apple Watch instead of a physical key to lock, unlock and start a car with NFC. It has some neat new features like key sharing via ‌Messages‌ and in the future it will work without the need to take your ‌iPhone‌ out of your pocket. Car Key is due to be implemented by automakers and will hit the BMW 5 Series first next month.

There are many more features in ‌iOS 14‌, including tons of smaller changes, that we’ll cover in future videos. For more information on what’s new, you can also check out our summary of iOS 14, which is in the process of being updated and will include a super-detailed view of all the changes introduced in ‌iOS 14‌.

Later this week, we’ll have separate first-look videos available for macOS Big Sur, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7, so stay tuned.