iOS 15

With the release of iOS 16 in September 2022, iOS 15 is no longer the most recent major version of Apple's iOS operating system. While Apple may continue to release minor security updates to iOS 15 for users who don't wish to immediately upgrade or whose devices are not compatible with iOS 16, the roundup below is no longer being updated.

Apple in June 2021 introduced the latest version of its iOS operating system, iOS 15, which was released on September 20, 2021. iOS 15 introduces new features for FaceTime calls, tools to reduce distractions, a new notifications experience, added privacy features, complete redesigns for Safari, Weather, and Maps, and more.

Notifications have been redesigned in iOS 15, adding contact photos for people and larger icons for apps. To reduce distraction, a notification summary collects notifications together for delivery at an appropriate time and arranges notifications by priority.

Focus is a new feature that can filter notifications and apps based on what a user wishes to focus on at a certain time. When a user's Focus is blocking incoming notifications, their status will be displayed to others in Messages. iOS will suggest a Focus for different occasions, such as work hours or winding down for bed, using on-device intelligence, but users can also create a custom Focus. When a Focus is set on one Apple device, it automatically applies to other Apple devices.

Safari features a completely new design. Controls are now easier to reach with one hand and give more focus to a webpage's content. There is a new, compact tab bar that floats at the bottom of the screen so users can easily swipe between tabs. Tab Groups allow users to save tabs and easily access them at any time across devices. There is also a customizable start page and web extensions for the first time.

The Maps app now offers a new 3D view in cities with significantly enhanced details, showing buildings, pedestrian crosswalks, bike lanes, and more. There is a new city-driving experience with added road details and improved Transit features, such as pinned favorite lines, notifications to disembark, and AR walking directions.

iOS 15 brings voice isolation and Spatial Audio to FaceTime calls so that voices sound as if they are coming from where the person is located on the screen. FaceTime also supports Portrait mode and offers a new grid view to see more faces at the same time. SharePlay is a new feature that allows users to share media together in sync during a FaceTime call. Users can also generate shareable links to a scheduled FaceTime call, which can also be opened on Android and Windows devices.

The Weather app has been redesigned in iOS 15, showing more graphical displays of weather data, full-screen maps, and dynamic layouts that change based on weather conditions. Totally new animated backgrounds can now more accurately reflect the sun's position and current precipitation, and there are notifications to highlight when rain or snow starts and stops.

The Wallet app adds support for new key types in iOS 15, such as homes, offices, or hotel rooms. In 2022, customers in participating U.S. states will be able to add a driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app.

The Photos app features a major update to Memories with a new design and an interactive interface. Memories now supports integration with Apple Music, using on-device intelligence to offer song suggestions for personalized Memories.

Live Text is a new feature that uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in a photo that users can search for, highlight, and copy. Spotlight can now search for photos by location, people, scenes, objects, and text. Spotlight also offers web image search and richer results for actors, musicians, TV shows, and movies. Enhanced results for contacts show recent conversations, shared photos, and location if it is shared through Find My.

iOS 15 also introduces new privacy measures, such as processing Siri requests directly on the iPhone, which has the added benefit of better responsiveness, Mail Privacy Protection to stop senders knowing if an email has been opened and detecting a recipient's IP address, and an App Privacy Report view to show how often apps use the permissions they have been granted.

There are dozens of tweaks and changes for other apps, such as user-created tags, mentions, and an Activity view in the Notes app, Trends, Walking Steadiness, and a new sharing tab in the Health app, a systemwide Shared with You feature for highlighting content that has been shared in Messages conversations, and a new For All of You row in the TV app to recommend entertainment for the whole household.

iOS 15 is compatible with the iPhone 6s and later, which means it runs on all devices that are able to run iOS 14, and it was released on September 20, 2021.

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iOS 15 is available to all users with compatible devices now, and it is possible to update in the Software Update section of the Settings app.

Questions or issues can be directed to our iOS 15 forum where readers are discussing the release.

The current version of iOS 15 is iOS 15.7.1, featuring security updates. A previous update, iOS 15.6, added the ability to restart, pause, rewind, and fast-forward live sports games in the TV app and bug fixes for Settings, Safari, and braille devices.

A previous update, iOS 15.5, added the ability to send and request money using Apple Cash in the Wallet app, settings to limit downloaded podcast episodes, external links in reader apps, Communication Safety in more countries around the world, references to Apple Classical, SportsKit improvements, rebranding of iTunes Pass to "Apple Balance," bug fixes, and more.

iOS 15.4 added new emojis, support for third-party apps to implement 120Hz animations on ProMotion displays, EU vaccine certificates in the Wallet app, the ability to use Face ID while wearing a mask with an iPhone 12 or newer, the ability to turn off notifications for Shortcuts automations, an Apple Card widget, iCloud Keychain notes, improvements to saving passwords, custom email domains, SharePlay in the share sheet, anti-stalking improvements for AirTags, a new Siri voice, the ability to restore a nearby Apple Watch, a range of other security improvements and bug fixes,