The 15 Most Intriguing Announcements from Apple’s WWDC 2021

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Last week, Apple held its annual WWDC conference filled with exciting announcements about what’s ahead in 2021. All of the announcements were about software updates that bring new features to their existing products. What that means for you is that all of these cool new features will be available free to Apple users who update their existing products.

Assuming your Apple devices are compatible with the updates (and many are), you’ll be getting all of these new features for free!

Most of the announcements from Apple will make your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac computer more useful. These features are designed so you can have more fun sharing with friends, sort through photos more easily, and have fewer reasons to carry an actual wallet with you. Your Apple devices may become much more essential for you with these updates.

In the fall, Apple will be bringing the world these updates via iOS 15 for iPhone, iPadOS 15 for iPad, WatchOS 8 for Apple Watch, and macOS Monterrey for Mac computers.

Apple Wallet

Apple Wallet is a handy app on your iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad for storing credit cards, loyalty cards, tickets, and more. You can even use Apple Pay with Apple Wallet to pay for items without ever touching your actual wallet.

One of the biggest announcements from Apple at WWDC was the expansion of Apple Wallet to include driver’s licenses and government IDs. Beginning in the fall, iPhone users will be able to store their driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet. Apple has partnered with most of the states in the U.S. to have driver’s licenses in Apple Wallet recognized as official identification.

With this new feature, you’ll be able to show your driver’s license in your Apple Wallet on your iPhone, Apple Watch, or iPad as official identification without having to bring along your physical driver’s license. Apple has not yet released the list of U.S. states that will accept Apple Wallet IDs as official identification.

Apple is also partnering with hotels so their guests can use Apple Wallet as a room key. Even before they arrive at a partner hotel, guests will receive their room key in Apple Wallet so they can go straight to their rooms without checking in at the front desk. When they arrive at their room, they can use their iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock their door.

FaceTime

Apple has made massive updates to FaceTime, with plenty of new helpful features coming in the fall.

FaceTime Links

FaceTime will be getting a major upgrade in the fall — the ability to place FaceTime video calls to people who use Android devices and Windows computers.

Users will be able to share a FaceTime link with others via email or text message. Your friends will be able to click on your shared FaceTime link to join your FaceTime call, no matter what device they’re using.

SharePlay

Another update to FaceTime is SharePlay, giving FaceTime users the ability to chat via FaceTime as they watch videos or listen to music. You’ll be able to see your friend’s reactions and talk to them as you watch a video or listen to a song.

Apple has partnered with streaming services such as Disney +, HBO Max, and Hulu to bring SharePlay to you in the fall.

Improved Audio

Apple is also improving the sound quality of FaceTime calls with new features. With Voice Isolation, FaceTime will be able to minimize the sound of background noise so your friends will hear your voice more clearly. At WWDC, Apple demonstrated this cool new feature with a leaf blower blowing right next to someone on a FaceTime call. The speaker’s voice could be heard loud and clear.

You can also turn off Voice Isolation if you want others on the FaceTime call to hear the world around you.

Grid View

FaceTime will have Grid View so you can better see others in a group FaceTime call. The speaker’s image will be highlighted by a frame.

Portrait View

Apple will be bringing Portrait View to FaceTime, allowing you to blur the background behind you. No more worrying about unmade beds, dirty dishes in the sink, or wayward pets (at least not on FaceTime calls!).

Photos

Beginning in the fall, Apple will make it easier for you to find photos and find what’s in photos.

Better Photo Organization

If you’ve ever tried to find photos others have shared with you in text messages, you’ll appreciate the new organization of photos coming later this year. When people share photos with you in text messages, they will appear in the new Shared with You section of the Photos app. According to Apple, the Photos app will be able to know which photos are meaningful to you and save only those photos to the Photos app.

Memory Mixes

When Apple creates Memory videos and albums for you in the Photos app, they will create Memory Mixes by adding music to match the mood of the Memory.

If your editing of those Memory Mix photos changes the mood, Apple will change the music accordingly. And if you don’t like the music Apple chooses for your Memory, you can add your own music instead.

Live Text

Beginning in the fall, the Photos app will offer Live Text, letting you copy text from a photo and paste it elsewhere such as in a text message, note, or email.

You can also copy a phone number from a photo and call the number directly from the Photos app. Apple demonstrated this nifty feature by calling an actual ice cream store, which may have received quite a few phone calls after the demo!

With Live Text, you’ll also be able to search your photos to find text. Live Text lets you translate text between seven different languages: English, Chinese, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Visual Look Up

Similar to Google Lens, Apple Photos will soon offer Visual Look Up, which can identify objects in photos, such as art, landmarks, nature, books, and pets.

Focus

At WWDC, Apple acknowledged how all of your notifications can turn your attention away from the task at hand. If only Apple could magically filter the important notifications and quiet the other ones. But what’s important to you can change, depending on whether you’re focused on work or other, non-work matters.

With Apple’s new Focus feature, you’ll be able to tell your device what you want to focus on so it can filter your notifications accordingly. If you’re at work, you can set Focus to filter non-work notifications. And if you’re away from work and rather not be bothered with work stuff, you can set Focus to filter work-related notifications.

Similar to Do Not Disturb, Focus can be set for a certain time period or until you turn it off.

You’ll be able to set Focus on one device and have it apply to all of your devices.

Apple Maps Improvements

Apple Maps will be getting a big update, complete with 3D landmarks that can be viewed in Day or Night modes.

Driving directions will include helpful information such as crosswalks, bike lanes, and turn lanes. Walking directions will offer the option of augmented reality views to help you get where you’re going.

Safari Tabs and Extensions

Safari will be more powerful, with new tabs and extensions. Tabs will be better organized, with a new layout for tabs in Safari on iPhone and on Mac computers. Tab groups will be able to sync across devices.

Extensions will be available on Safari on iPhone and iPad. So you’ll soon be able to use helpful extensions such as Honey and Grammarly in Safari on your mobile devices.

Multitasking on iPad

Multitasking on the iPad will be much easier in the fall. You’ll be able to open two windows, side-by-side in Split View and work on both of them at once.

You’ll be able to bring a window to the front and center of your iPad screen, without closing the other windows open in Split View. A bottom shelf shows you all the open apps you can easily add to Split View.

Universal Control

Have you ever wished you could work seamlessly on your Mac and iPad at the same time? With Universal Control, you’ll be able to use your keyboard and mouse on both your Mac computer screen and your iPad screen. Just place your iPad next to your Mac and Universal Control will automatically connect them.

You’ll be able to drag your cursor from your Mac screen over to your iPad screen. Universal Control lets you type on your iPad using your Mac keyboard. You’ll also be able to drag and drop items between your computer and your iPad.

Compatibility

As excited as you may be for these new features to arrive in the fall, you may be less excited if the updates aren’t available for your older Apple devices. The good news is that many existing Apple devices will be compatible with these updates. The not-so-good news is that not all of the features mentioned above will be available on all of these devices.

iOS 15

Good news. If your iPhone currently has been running iOS 14, then you will be able to update it to iOS 15. Apple announced that iOS 15 will be available for all iPhones that currently run iOS 14, beginning with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.  In other words, no iPhones will be made obsolete with the release of iOS 15.

iPadOS 15

iPadOS 15 will be compatible with these iPads:

 

WatchOS 8

WatchOS 8 will be compatible with Apple Watch Series 3 and later.

macOS Monterey

macOS Monterey will be compatible with these Mac computers:

Your Thoughts

Which of these new features from Apple are you most excited about? What preferences would you set for Focus to filter unwanted notifications? Would you like to SharePlay videos and music with friends on FaceTime? Would you like to use Universal Control with your Mac computer and iPad?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!