Apple Unveils iOS 14 With New Home Screen Updates, App Clips, And More

Apple today unveiled iOS 14 at its WWDC 2020 Keynote, introducing the biggest update ever to Home Screen pages with beautifully redesigned w...

Apple today unveiled iOS 14 at its WWDC 2020 Keynote, introducing the biggest update ever to Home Screen pages with beautifully redesigned widgets and the App Library, a new way to tap into the App Store with App Clips, powerful updates to Messages, and more.

First of all, the new widgets present timely information at a glance and can be pinned in different sizes on any Home Screen page. Users can create a Smart Stack of widgets, which uses on-device intelligence to surface the right widget based on time, location, and activity.

App Library, which can be accessed at the end of the Home Screen pages,  is a new space that automatically organizes all of a user’s apps into one simple, easy-to-navigate view, and intelligently surfaces apps that may be helpful at the moment. Users can choose how many Home Screen pages to display and easily hide pages for quick access to the App Library.

Incoming FaceTime and phone calls and Siri interactions take on an all-new compact design that enables users to stay in the context of what they are doing. With Picture-in-Picture support, iPhone users can now watch a video or make a FaceTime call while using another app.

Designed to be discovered the moment it is needed, Apple introduced App Clip, a small part of the app experience. App Clips are associated with a particular product or business and load within seconds to complete a specific task, such as renting a scooter, purchasing a coffee, or filling a parking meter. They can be easily discovered and accessed by scanning a new Apple-designed App Clip code,1 or through NFC tags and QR codes, or shared in Messages or from Safari, all with the security and privacy expected from apps.

Messages also received a huge update with iOS 14. Users can pin conversations to the top of their messages list, easily keep up with lively group threads through mentions and inline replies, and further customize conversations by setting a group photo using an image or emoji. New Memoji options in Messages are even more inclusive and diverse with additional hairstyles, headwear, face coverings, and more.

The Maps app on iOS 14, has added new features including cycling directions, electric vehicle routing, and curated Guides, which provides a curated list of interesting places to visit in a city, created by a selection of trusted resources, including AllTrails, Complex, The Infatuation, Time Out Group, and The Washington Post, among others.

Privacy wise, after updated to iOS 14, all apps will now be required to obtain user permission before tracking. Later this year, App Store product pages will feature summaries of developers’ self-reported privacy practices, displayed in a simple, easy-to-understand format.

Other new features included in iOS 14 are: a new Translate app; Siri can now find answers from across the internet, and can now send an audio message; Home app with new automation suggestions and expanded controls in Control Center and Adaptive Lighting; AirPods gain the ability to seamlessly switch between Apple devices with automatic device switching and Spatial audio; a new CarKeys feature gives users a secure way to use iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock and start their car; while the Find My app will add support for finding third-party products and accessories with the new Find My network accessory program; and Safari now offers a Privacy Report, secure password monitoring, and built-in translation.

The developer preview of iOS 14 is now available at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta will be available to iOS users next month at beta.apple.com. iOS 14 supports iPhone 6s and later.