22 ms·

iOS 15

340 points by plg 5y ago

systemvoltage 5y ago
They doubled down on animations and now they’re longer than ever. Facepalm.
- zepto 5y ago
  You can turn them off for the most part. I have.
  - bombcar 5y ago
    Where?
    - zepto 5y ago
      In accessibility settings under “reduce animation”. It’s a huge relief.
peakaboo 5y ago
And nobody cares. :)
- jsudi 5y ago
  17 points and counting.
- Darmody 5y ago
  I definitely do not care but some comments are just better not posted.
- ronnier 5y ago
  I was mostly excited about the "select text in images" feature. You can easily copy/paste text from any image. Really cool feature and just built into the OS now.
judge2020 5y ago
The RC had a lot of bugs and was unusable for some users on r/iOSBeta. The actual release is indeed two builds newer (19A346) so hopefully they've fixed these issues. Edit: looks like it's only available for people seeking it out[0]. Maybe they won't auto-update till 15.0.1? 0: https://i.judge.sh/troubled/Flam/YOWIKKHUYu.png https://i.judge.sh/troubled/Flam/YOWIKKHUYu.png
- alibert 5y ago
  "iOS may now offer a choice between two software update versions in the Settings app. You can update to the latest version of iOS 15 as soon as it’s released for the latest features and most complete set of security updates. Or continue on iOS 14 and still get important security updates." https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/
  - pacificmint 5y ago
    Interesting that they say “may” offer a choice. My phone does seem to offer the choice, while my iPad apparently doesn’t and only shows 15.
    - pitaj 5y ago
      iPadOS has a separate release schedule
    - gorbypark 5y ago
      Just checked my iPad and see an option for both. https://i.imgur.com/xy0zf0U.png https://i.imgur.com/xy0zf0U.png
- mark_l_watson 5y ago
  I was running the betas for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS since they were released. The iOS and iPadOS betas were buggy, but I expected some problems.
  - 5y ago
BryanBeshore 5y ago
For anyone wondering, this was supposed to be the release where Apple could scan your photos for child abuse. This was delayed for this release: https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-delays-child-abuse-photo-scanning-planned-for-ios-15 https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-delays-child-abuse-phot...
- gruez 5y ago
  it's also worth noting that ios 14 is supposed to get security updates even after ios 15 is released, so if you care about that kind of stuff it's probably better not to upgrade. edit: more info in sibling comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28596442 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28596442
- iosquestion 5y ago
  I wonder if upgrading to iOS 15 will increase the chance of receiving this spyware when they do roll it out? I mean 15.X - 15.Y will likely occur automatically while the phone is connected to WiFi and charging.. but 14 to 15 should require user approval, meaning we should be safe as long as we never upgrade >14..?
  - r00fus 5y ago
    I honestly doubt it. They will likely roll this out to both latest versions. I think they said as much.
    - SllX 5y ago
      If you look at it as reducing their liability for hosting CSAM, then more likely it’ll become a requirement at some point in order to upload your photos to iCloud at all, no matter which version of iOS you’re on.
  - Someone1234 5y ago
    Either turn off automatic updates or don't. You're overanalyzing this.
jkelleyrtp 5y ago
Apple Maps is so close to being a fantastic app, but is sorely missing “search along route” that Google has. Right now, you can press the “coffee” or “gas” button but there’s no way to say, search for a CVS on the way back home from work. I really wish Apple added this instead of just suggesting searches that might be useful.
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  https://www.apple.com/feedback/maps-ios-ipados.html https://www.apple.com/feedback/maps-ios-ipados.html
  - judge2020 5y ago
    Posting on HN is probably more valuable when your feedback is requesting new featureful changes and not just bugs. There are likely quite a few Apple engineers that browse this subreddit which might be able to make an internal push for these changes (eventually).
    - toomuchtodo 5y ago
      Agreed! But it can also be helpful to submit the requests through the usual channels. Engineers on HN can then point PMs and management to this data versus "someone on HN asked, create the story."
      - pininja 5y ago
        This has been my experience and is also why I push to get a feature request submitted, and then ask for some link to it. Also as a customer, sometimes when I’m writing out my request I realize an existing way to get what I want without needing to wait for them.
    - Operyl 5y ago
      Said engineers also push heavily for people to send in a FB. It’s something on paper they can show their management to show an interest exists.
Waterluvian 5y ago
Is apple’s photo search any less terrible now? Dunno if anyone else suffers this? Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Finding a years-old photo to upload is TERRIBLE. It's trivial to do in Google Photos, but then getting a handle on the photo when using the "photo selector" widget to upload it to Twitter or an existing email is horrible. I do this workflow dozens of times per week and the best I can come up with is: 1. text search Apple photos in the upload widget and be disappointed 2. text search Google photos and instantly find the image I want 3. "Delete from device" 4. "Download to device" (which puts it at the very front of the list) 5. Go back to Safari, finish composing Tweet, add photo, pick newest photo.
- kace91 5y ago
  Yup, been there done that. Google photos search is miles ahead, and the main reason I use the app (aside of obviously the cloud backup)
- DeRock 5y ago
  Can you give an example of the type of search where Apple photos fails but Google photos succeeds? I only use Apple photos, but it supports my use case of date/location/"object detection" search, but wondering if I'm missing out on something much better.
  - radicaldreamer 5y ago
    Object detection is much more broad in Google Photos and complex queries are in a different league ("dogs in new york city")
    - Terretta 5y ago
      The ‘complex queries’ in Apple Photos is done as a series of discrete set descriptors. As you type your descriptor, tap the appropriate found set below (they list photos in the set) to turn it into a tag, then continue typing the next descriptor. For this search, you’d end up with something that looks like: [new york metropolitan area][dog] These result in a venn diagram of the overlaps. In my case with 12K photos in NY metro, it found the one dog photo I had.
aborsy 5y ago
Is there a timeline for the client side scanning?! Or has that plan been dropped for good?! Cause I am not gonna upgrade if these features come at a cost to privacy caused by client side scanning.
- Someone1234 5y ago
  No. They've put a pin in it, but publically haven't discussed when it may ship (or what changes could be made). All we know right now is that it isn't in iOS 15.
  - hughrr 5y ago
    I’m going to upgrade. If they roll it I’m going to sell the phone.
- sneak 5y ago
  According to Apple, it's been postponed. It's obvious that people as smart as Apple wouldn't be doing this tremendous damage to their brand if they weren't deadset on launching it, so it's likely that it will launch quietly later, once the furor over it has died down.
pt_PT_guy 5y ago
Is it me or most of the features could be a simple app update?
- paxys 5y ago
  Most of these apps (Facetime, iMessage, Safari, Maps, Wallet, Photos) aren't built using their public SDK but rather have deep dependencies on the OS itself.
  - pt_PT_guy 5y ago
    Humm. gotcha. thank you
  - Someone1234 5y ago
    Which is why when these apps suffer a security vulnerability they've resulted in privilege escalation (inc. root) previously. I actually think it is a bad look for Apple not to dogfood their own public APIs. Microsoft used to do the same thing with Windows and Office, and it was a bad look then too. Credit to Google on this, since many of their apps are just normal apps. No special privileges or bypasses. Even their special stuff has pretty aggressive sandboxing and can be updated like a normal app via the store.
    - defaultname 5y ago
      How Apple distributes their core apps (Safari, Mail, etc) is orthogonal to how they are implemented, secured, ring levels, sandboxing, etc. These are separate considerations. Apple's core philosophy is that upgrading the system is the fundamental way to get new things. With iOS 15 we've seen the first real fracture in this model (where they are promoting a "stay on iOS 14 for now" option), and maybe eventually they'll separately distribute some of the tied applications. Google started Android with a very similar model to iOS but quickly recognized it was turning into a disaster given the slow uptake of new Android versions. Turning what were system level components (e.g. play services) into "apps" was a necessity.
      - 5y ago
xeroaura 5y ago
Anyone that's been on the beta find any nice to have Safari extensions? And do these extensions also apply to (non-safari) apps using the webkit UI to render a page? Like content blocker applies to these as well as safari.
- yoavlavi 5y ago
  iOS apps aren't allowed to release updates targeting new OSs until they're out, so we're all in the same boat there
- jshier 5y ago
  1Blocker has released an update for all platforms which adds a script extension to block YouTube ads. Doesn't help in the YouTube app or on the AppleTV, which is most of my usage, but is nice on the Mac (with today's Safari 15 release).
- cloin 5y ago
  There's a list of a few available now here: https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/20/here-are-the-best-new-safari-extensions-to-download-for-ios-15-and-ipados-15/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/20/here-are-the-best-new-safari-...
- Aaargh20318 5y ago
  I just installed Amplosion. The fact that I can now get rid of that AMP bullshit completely makes iOS 15 a major upgrade for me already.
shantara 5y ago
The feature the impressed me the most during the WWDC presentation - the cross-device drag and drop functionality between Mac and iPad - unfortunately won't be included in the initial 15.0 release.
- zaptrem 5y ago
  FindMy for AirPods also delayed
  - mig39 5y ago
    Was there a new feature? My AirPods have been on FindMy for a long time already.
    - shantara 5y ago
      FindMy for AirPods only works when they are close enough to have a Bluetooth connection to the phone. It does not take the advantage of the FindMy network.
Qi_ 5y ago
Can anyone speak for iPhone 6S performance with 15? I'm on 14 currently and it runs quite smoothly. I assume it would be similar on 15.
- mig39 5y ago
  I've been running the developer beta on the 6S since the beginning. Seems just fine to me!
  - Qi_ 5y ago
    Glad to hear it! Seems like not too long ago mobile devices were worthless after a few years, but those days are past.
- dmitshur 5y ago
  I’m using a 6s Plus temporarily for a few days, and only installed iOS 15 less than an hour ago. So far subjectively speaking it seems about the same as iOS 14.8 was.
- ShakataGaNai 5y ago
  Check out Mac Address’ review. It might help. https://youtu.be/6Rr_drLC-jk https://youtu.be/6Rr_drLC-jk
nicwolff 5y ago
Still supported on the 1st Gen iPhone SE, nice.
- zatkin 5y ago
  I’m using this device now and it sure does pack a punch! I do have to charge it throughout the day when on heavy usage, but it’s snappy and responsive just like my previous device, iPhone 12 Pro.
  - DantesKite 5y ago
    I had the first generation iPhone SE. Great phone. Some part of the phone degraded though and it started rapidly overheating, and then the iPhone SE (second generation) came out. If yours dies, I recommend that one. It’s a love letter to the first generation.
    - crossroadsguy 5y ago
      The fact that form-wise it’s a copy of iPhone 8 is sad. Especially the glass back and bigger size. Jack omitted (now, please don’t just say - “since I bought AirPods I’ve not looked back”). Besides even 12 mini is smaller than that. I’d say SE2 is rather a quiet breakup note to SE1.
      - DantesKite 5y ago
        I didn't feel that way. If you offered me a choice between SE1 and SE2 with equal computing capabilities, I'd stick with SE2. It really is elegant and beautiful.
- yepthatsreality 5y ago
  I’m switching to a Linux phone but recently upgraded from a Gen 1 SE to the newer models and I’ll be purchasing another SE as a backup phone instead once I make the leap because I personally think the no headphone port and larger screen (even on the Mini) is a very powerful phone but also worse to use in many ways. Long live Gen 1 SE.
DangerousPie 5y ago
Wow, I had no idea they were going to add support for cross-platform Facetime calls with this. If that works well that will definitely replace Zoom for me.
- Someone1234 5y ago
  Cross-platform is giving it too much credit. They aren't releasing native FaceTime on any non-Apple platforms, and you get a limited set of features in the browser based client that runs on Windows/ChromeOS/Android. It is better than nothing though. Mostly feels like a late response to Zoom eating Apple's lunch though.
  - horsemans 5y ago
    Less a "late response" and more the start of keeping a promise made by Jobs in 2010 to make FaceTime an cross-platform product supported by open standards, that was hampered by various legal I/P battles: https://www.imore.com/wheres-facetime-android https://www.imore.com/wheres-facetime-android
diebeforei485 5y ago
My phone is the electronic device I use the most (not counting my work laptop, which I don't own), so I'm going to wait a couple of days to make sure there are no glaring issues before I install the update.
- Someone1234 5y ago
  I've been using iOS 15 for a month or more, and I've had no glaring issues aside from Exposure Notification using excessive battery usage.
  - tandr 5y ago
    Excessive battery usage IS a good example of a "glaring issue", especially for a mobile device.
    - Someone1234 5y ago
      On one specific service that is opt-in (and can be disabled at any time). Pretty important distinction.
    - Cockbrand 5y ago
      This is most true, but I've also had the same issue with iOS 14.8 for a while between restarts. So this is not an iOS 15 exclusive.
thebean11 5y ago
The notification upgrades look promising! I always thought iOS was way behind Android in terms of customizing notification modes, and how each app behaves in each mode.
reacharavindh 5y ago
The only feature I am looking forward to is “live text” where it lets me simply copy text in images. That can be quite handy.
- dmd 5y ago
  works great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jb889eVN5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jb889eVN5U
- JxLS-cpgbe0 5y ago
  Google Lens has had the feature for more than a year now and it's incredibly useful. I wonder how the accuracy of Apple's version will compare.
  - reacharavindh 5y ago
    Does Google lens also recognise text based on local models? I am not so happy about the idea of having Google analyse all my photos.
    - cucumb3rrelish 5y ago
      I just tried it with internet turned off in both the photos and standalone app, and it did not work.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- fudged71 5y ago
  The most useful time I have ever used this was to enter one of those super long randomized string WiFi passwords that is printed on paper. Every text field in iOS now has the option to enter text via OCR!
- ShakataGaNai 5y ago
  I’m astonished how well and how quickly it works. I just upgraded with the release, but it’s quite snappy. At least as good as my previous experiences with Google lens.
schmorptron 5y ago
Uuh, I wonder how visual lookup will compare to Google Lens. I almost never use google assistant because of privacy concerns, and having it done locally sounds wonderful. (Although, on a second look, the website doesn't mention whether it's local or not. I just know Siri is now partly done on device).
- apetresc 5y ago
  Apple has confirmed it's on-device.
  - schmorptron 5y ago
    That's promising then!
CountDrewku 5y ago
What's the best foss option out there now? Graphene? Lineage? I hate that they're both Android based... I specifically dumped android phones because I was sick of Google and Apple still seemed to be the better option. Edit: Guess I upset the Apple and Google shills ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- culopatin 5y ago
  Your comment is just very off topic.
  - CountDrewku 5y ago
    Not really, iOS 15 is when they introduce image scanning. There are several other comments in this thread discussing that. Ergo, an alternative mobile OS discussion for people that don't want to go down Apple's invasive scanning route is completely appropriate.
jsudi 5y ago
Anybody running AltStore on this and can confirm whether it works right?
- chaoskanzlerin 5y ago
  I can't confirm it's running, but I guess it's been working on the iOS 15 beta versions? https://twitter.com/altstoreio/status/1413181075426213890 https://twitter.com/altstoreio/status/1413181075426213890
DanTheManPR 5y ago
Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE also gets the latest and greatest. Meanwhile, my flagship android phone from 2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9, is stuck on the last version of Android. At least it still gets security updates, some manufacturers don't even go that far.
- omegalulw 5y ago
  It's one of my biggest gripes with Android. At best, I have gotten 2 years of updates (updates which come 8-12 months after the official Android release). I could, of course, install a custom ROM. But that usually means (in my experience) that not all hardware features work, battery life is worse, I have to install updates myself and I am usually not as confident about device security. Despite these, I used to install and love custom ROMs a lot in college. when I had the time but not anymore. On my iPad (while it lasted, RIP), I would get updates on the same day as official iOS release. Night and day difference.
  - bmcahren 5y ago
    What led you to not buy the official android phone? Are you aware of it? Considering all the major non-Google Android phone manufacturers are also the same that manufacture Black Friday TVs that fail on schedule, don't you sense this was a problem not with Android but with your choice of manufacturer?
    - Jtsummers 5y ago
      I assume you're referring to the Pixel/Nexus devices. I've had two, I don't think either got updates after 3 years or so. A far cry from the 6 years that Apple is now offering with the 6S, and the 5 years most of their devices got before that.
      - bmcahren 5y ago
        I remember my Nexus program devices getting support longer than this. Hopefully we see a change in this trend over the next few years now that phones are generally more powerful and don't age as quickly except by battery degradation.
hyperstar 5y ago
My i-thing says it's up to date at 12.5.4. Wonder what that means securitywise.
- philwelch 5y ago
  It means it's old and doesn't support iOS 13. My iPad says the same thing. And according to Wikipedia, iOS 12 isn't receiving security updates anymore :(
  - tompazourek 5y ago
    However, the 12.5.4 is still quite a recent update (from June). I think there could still be some security fixes in the future, but probably only for very serious vulnerabilities.
- vxNsr 5y ago
  Looks like you lost updates a few years ago, if anything big securitywise happens there's a chance they'll fix it otherwise you just gotta be hopeful you don't run into anything nefarious.
  - cmg 5y ago
    That's where I'm at with my iPad, which is stuck at iOS 10. It still works pretty well for taking notes or browsing the web, even though that version of Safari is getting pretty old. For security, it's completely signed out of iCloud and all other services, and Safari is mostly for research purposes (so no social media, email, etc).
babesh 5y ago
What's up with the iCloud terms and conditions?
suyash 5y ago
Does anyone still use FaceTime ? How is the latest Apple Maps compared to google's ?
- r00fus 5y ago
  Most our family comms is FaceTime.
- Bud 5y ago
  FaceTime is more popular than ever, and adding the ability to use it with Android folks will help even more. Apple Maps has gotten fairly close to Google Maps at this point. I actually strongly prefer Apple Maps' interface, although the data is still not as good overall. (Disclaimer: I'm biased. I worked on Apple Maps during its very early days.)
  - suyash 5y ago
    +1 to privacy centric apps even over inconvinience
isatty 5y ago
Does extensions on iOS safari mean I can finally get ublock origin on it?
- dotdi 5y ago
  Content blocking has been possible for a long time.
  - hundchenkatze 5y ago
    with uBlock origin?
    - greggh 5y ago
      I use Wipr on all of my devices and its great.
  - thedrbrian 5y ago
    Since 2015 https://www.hackingwithswift.com/safari-content-blocking-ios9 https://www.hackingwithswift.com/safari-content-blocking-ios...
- brundolf 5y ago
  I don't know much about ublock, but I've got a Safari content-blocker set up that pulls from a custom set of easylist files and blocks all requests to those URLs from within safari
- onedognight 5y ago
  Unlikely. Safari supports stateless filtering (ie the blocker app doesn’t get to see your traffic, but just submits rules), and Gorhill has said uBlock cannot work with this restriction[0]. I understand Apple’s wanting to keeping blocking apps from spying and to ensure performance of the blockers, but the lack of uBlock on iOS is a huge pain point for me. [0] https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158
  - 5y ago
someonehere 5y ago
Warning to those with AirTags. Mine are gone from Find My. When attempting to reset one of my working/paired tags before the upgrade, I get a Bluetooth error when trying to set up. So all of my tags are dead right now and will not connect to my phone. However a friend who had one of my tags for a couple of days gets the notification that my tag was with them and to tap to contact the owner.
- kstrauser 5y ago
  Oh, interesting. Mine still works as expected but I'll keep an eye out.
staunch 5y ago
Is there a good breakdown of any changes/improvements to PWAs on iOS 15, like can a PWA app do background audio finally, etc?
- codyswann 5y ago
  No background audio.
pcurve 5y ago
Love all these pandemic driven sharing functions. Very solid upgrade.
AbrahamParangi 5y ago
I find it interesting to look at the differences between the localized versions of this page. Largely the same, but not entirely! English: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/ Chinese: https://www.apple.com.cn/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com.cn/ios/ios-15/ Japanese: https://www.apple.com/jp/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com/jp/ios/ios-15/
- ch4s3 5y ago
  Care to mention the major differences?
  - lgats 5y ago
    CN: No Grid View Facetime Featured, No street-view walking directions, no "driver’s license or state ID" Wallet feature, no "Visual Look Up", no anonymous "Hide My Email" relay feature JP: No Wallet (license/state id/hotel&garage unlock), no visual lookup This is just the difference in how the page are displayed and I didn't go and check to see if the actual features are there or not
  - jumelles 5y ago
    I've got a few minutes: Top image collage: Weather app is specific to city (China shows air quality). Chinese page replaces Ted Lasso with a Mojito music video. Japanese page has Greeen instead of Valiant on Apple Music. Chinese page is missing the spatial audio section with people's faces, and FaceTime sharing and links sections. Shared With You has six examples in English; four in Japanese and Chinese. Chinese page is missing some Maps info. Japanese page is missing the Wallet section. Visual Look Up is English-only. Spotlight section on Chinese page is missing a Billie Eilish screenshot; iCloud Private Relay is missing.
  - captn3m0 5y ago
    IN (Missing Features) based on the feature diff at https://editor.mergely.com/t2bxJa0q/ https://editor.mergely.com/t2bxJa0q/ - "ID cards" - Weather: "precipitation" isn't mentioned, and Weather app is just more "powerful", not "more engaging and powerful" (US). Air Quality maps are available for India, not sure about other maps. - Immersive walking directions - redesigned transit map - Nearby transit - Home Keys does not mention "Hotel Keys" or "Corporate Access Badges" - Car Keys - Visual lookup learning - Share health data with your doctor - Lab results enhancements - Apple Card - Buy directly from the Search tab - 5G - Redesigned News feed - Podcasts: Personalized recommendations - Next-hour precipitation notifications Comparison based on the following links: IN: https://www.apple.com/in/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com/in/ios/ios-15/ US: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/
TheCowboy 5y ago
Anyone have a guess about when iOS will support web push notifications? One shouldn't really have to spin up a native app just get this single feature that all other browsers support on every other platform.
- hbn 5y ago
  Hopefully never, at least not in their current state. I've said it a few times on HN, but web notifications are almost entirely used for malicious purpose. Copy-pasting from a comment I made previously on the topic: > Take a look at your grandma's Android phone and she probably has 12 Chrome notifications saying she won a free iPad because she went on a site that asked to send notifications, and users are so used to user-hostile UX's that force you to agree to everything to use the site, they just hit "allow" so they can get to the content. I'm not surprised Apple doesn't want that on the iPhone.
b3nji 5y ago
The Facetime update. Enabling you to be even further away from people interaction, including, but not limited to, watching a thing while on a Facetime conversion? This truly is the end if all things
- rsfinn 5y ago
  So I don't know whether you've noticed, but there's this thing that's been going around that makes some people want to keep their distance from other people, even if they might otherwise want to converse with them? More seriously: my father, who is about to turn 94, lives 500+ miles away from me, and I haven't seen him face-to-face for a long time. It would be nice to be able to watch a baseball game "together", for instance. I hope I can talk him through setting up FaceTime...
  - zimpenfish 5y ago
    > It would be nice to be able to watch a baseball game "together", for instance. I've watched TV programs simultaneously with people in the same city, even, whilst talking to them on IRC/whatnot. It's a fun experience. Especially in these nonsensical times!
gigatexal 5y ago
Loving focus mode and the Safari url bar at the bottom.
jenny91 5y ago
Looks like they're slowly starting to compete with Zoom on all those new FaceTime features.
yepthatsreality 5y ago
I just bought a Iphone 12 Mini (from Iphone SE Gen 1, which is the better phone btw) the day before the CSAM flurry started. I will not be upgrading my OS this year and will be switchching to Linux device this winter (Pinephone most likely). Good luck and thanks for all the -ish Apple.
ngrilly 5y ago
Apple please translate Swedish to English! In the meantime I'll still have to rely on Google Translate for this :)
- tradertef 5y ago
  Google translate is ages better..
dillondoyle 5y ago
The photos ML search from spotlight or whatever they call it is creepy accurate. Maybe just my brain bias but it seems to find context in images that aren't labeled. Adding OCR adds to that. But it doesn't have the same search within the photos app itself?
dmitshur 5y ago
This is the iOS version that adds WebGL 2 support. (https://webglreport.com/?v=2 https://webglreport.com/?v=2)
- astlouis44 5y ago
  Can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this - it’s huge for cross-platform games that can run at much higher performance, and the best part - no 30% fees from the walled garden App Store when you deliver via a webpage!
  - mzkply 5y ago
    The go-to-market for games without an app store (ios or android) is so bad that most game devs were rather get 70% of something rather than 100% of almost nothing... and that's probably why more people aren't talking about it. It'll make it easier to make cool sites, but I wouldn't expect any change in the games landscape. Plus it really looks like the 30% isn't here to stay.
    - astlouis44 5y ago
      Yeah and that's because nobody (from the browser vendors to the game engine providers) has bothered to create decent tooling for real-time 3D and game developers to be able to effectively deploy HTML5, with a specific focus on reducing build sizes via a combo of compression and a lazy loading asset fetching system. This is what our startup has been focused on for Unreal Engine 4 to target WebGL. We've achieved scenes that are sub 10MB that load in up in two seconds in the browser on most devices.
    - majani 5y ago
      Board and card games get a lot of joy from using the web. There's a lot of silent giants in that space such as PlayOK
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
speg 5y ago
I stayed away from the beta but hopped on as soon as this was released. Loving the bottom tab bars in safari, I don’t know what all the fuss was about. Interesting that this “add comment” button on hacker news has some weird default style with a bright blue background.
- flixic 5y ago
  Initial Safari design was quite different from what shipped today (beta process worked!). The main differences were: all the buttons where crammed into the address field, dropping the toolbar (shipping design returned the toolbar), and the address bar was floating over content, detached from the bottom. This caused many sites to break.
pentagrama 5y ago
> Now you can install Safari extensions on your iPhone Someone knows if uBlock Origin has plans/is able to develop the extension for Safari iOS? For Safari MacOS is kind of not available. Does not work for Safari 13+, and is maintained externally https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#safari-macos https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#safari-macos
- pacbard 5y ago
  uBlock Origin has been broken on macOS since Safari 13 / macOS Catalina [1]. If they ever get the port to work on a newer version of Safari, it could work on iOS. [1]: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158
  - cwizou 5y ago
    > If they ever get the port to work on a newer version of Safari, it could work on iOS. I looked at it at the time but sadly the Content Blocker API that Apple released is incredibly crippling compared to the feature set of uBlock Origin. Basically, you can onlly generate lists of domains that you want to block, package that in (multiple !) batches of 50k (at the time I think) and let Safari do the blocking for you. This removes the ability to do anything non-static basically, which is where uBlock Origin really shines, so I don't expect anyone to make a meaningful port anytime soon, sadly.
- temp0826 5y ago
  Hoping this will allow (some?) firefox extensions as well (considering how firefox on ios actually works). My single biggest gripe with the phone is no ublock with firefox.
  - pentagrama 5y ago
    You are right, since Firefox (and all other browsers) on iOS are somewhat Safari with a skin, maybe Firefox for iOS now can introduce extensions. At least the same "approved" extensions that now works on Firefox Android (more are coming).
thih9 5y ago
I really like the bottom tab bar in Safari; however the screenshot is very unfortunate, it shows a website with the mobile hamburger menu icon at the very top. Looks like the need to reach the top part of the screen is still there. I wonder if this will be the reality, at least for a while.
alberth 5y ago
Has anyone noticed the “add comment” button on HN is now a blue-pill color/style with iOS 15? EDIT: this appears to only happen on mobile iOS web and not desktop macOS
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
mmcnl 5y ago
Focus Mode / Do Not Disturb infuriates me. All I want is for my notifications to not light up the screen and make any sounds except for calls. Is that so hard? It keeps getting more complex.
- xtat 5y ago
  The inevitable end state of a closed ecosystem is compromise and that's why I'm out.
- CharlesW 5y ago
  > Is that so hard? YMMV, I guess—I found the customizable flavors of Do Not Disturb immediately useful. And if you don't, the old Do Not Disturb is still an option.
- illiac786 5y ago
  And Actionable Notifications are gone?? On gmail for example, I could swipe to the left, tap "display" (I think that's what it was called) and it would show me actions like "archive", "delete", etc. Now I have to open the app. Why??
xtat 5y ago
Is it me or do these updates look more and more like they should be dot releases?
yborg 5y ago
So widgets anywhere is kind of a step backwards for iPadOS ... if you place any widgets on a homescreen page it forces the "large icon" grid on that page :( Since this happens with no warning, any "extra" icons are shoved onto the next page. Apple really needs to do something about the homescreen management, it's been over a decade now and we're still subjected to the infuriating drag one at a time mechanism. Does nobody at Apple use more than one screen of apps? The mechanism that once existed in iTunes where you could drag and drop with a mouse among your available app homescreens was the closest thing to a usable interface. But it boggles the mind that there isn't at least a way from the edit homescreen dialog to just select an icon and "Assign to Page X" option.
- maxgashkov 5y ago
  It has 'drag multiple' functionality -- you have to start dragging one icon and quickly tap on several others to grab them also. Personally I don't have the finger dexterity (or maybe understanding how this actually is supposed to work) to reliably perform the gesture, so I resort to dragging one at a time :(
  - FragenAntworten 5y ago
    It looks like you start dragging one, far enough away from its initial position that you are unambiguously dragging it, then (while maintaining contact with the dragged icon), tap the other icons you want to drag as well.
    - yborg 5y ago
      Thanks, I remember doing this once, but before I wrote the comment spent 5 minutes trying to do it again and couldn't figure it out. An interface that a long-term user can't easily discover is kind of terrible; it's also completely different from how a desktop OS works where you select first and then drag.
babesh 5y ago
iCloud Terms and Conditions include If you agree to the terms of service, they can change it at any time and not tell you if there are governmental reasons. Furthermore, you agree to not use the services for things that Apple seems unlawful, harassing, threatening, harmful, abusive, tortious, defamatory, libelous, abusive, violent, obscene, vulgar, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or otherwise objectionable.
- ShakataGaNai 5y ago
  The government piece is more to let you know than anything else. The government’s of the world have repeatedly demonstrated that they can get any info they want from companies and use their powers to make sure you don’t know. See also proton mail.
singularity2001 5y ago
"Add link" in Quick notes doesn't work in safari if JavaScript is disabled tells a lot about their QA

iOS 15

340 points by plg 5y ago

systemvoltage 5y ago

They doubled down on animations and now they’re longer than ever. Facepalm.

zepto 5y ago
You can turn them off for the most part. I have.
- bombcar 5y ago
  Where?
  - zepto 5y ago
    In accessibility settings under “reduce animation”. It’s a huge relief.

peakaboo 5y ago

And nobody cares. :)

jsudi 5y ago
17 points and counting.
Darmody 5y ago
I definitely do not care but some comments are just better not posted.
ronnier 5y ago
I was mostly excited about the "select text in images" feature. You can easily copy/paste text from any image. Really cool feature and just built into the OS now.

judge2020 5y ago

The RC had a lot of bugs and was unusable for some users on r/iOSBeta. The actual release is indeed two builds newer (19A346) so hopefully they've fixed these issues. Edit: looks like it's only available for people seeking it out[0]. Maybe they won't auto-update till 15.0.1? 0: https://i.judge.sh/troubled/Flam/YOWIKKHUYu.png https://i.judge.sh/troubled/Flam/YOWIKKHUYu.png

alibert 5y ago
"iOS may now offer a choice between two software update versions in the Settings app. You can update to the latest version of iOS 15 as soon as it’s released for the latest features and most complete set of security updates. Or continue on iOS 14 and still get important security updates." https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/
- pacificmint 5y ago
  Interesting that they say “may” offer a choice. My phone does seem to offer the choice, while my iPad apparently doesn’t and only shows 15.
  - pitaj 5y ago
    iPadOS has a separate release schedule
  - gorbypark 5y ago
    Just checked my iPad and see an option for both. https://i.imgur.com/xy0zf0U.png https://i.imgur.com/xy0zf0U.png
mark_l_watson 5y ago
I was running the betas for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS since they were released. The iOS and iPadOS betas were buggy, but I expected some problems.
- 5y ago

BryanBeshore 5y ago

For anyone wondering, this was supposed to be the release where Apple could scan your photos for child abuse. This was delayed for this release: https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-delays-child-abuse-photo-scanning-planned-for-ios-15 https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-delays-child-abuse-phot...

gruez 5y ago
it's also worth noting that ios 14 is supposed to get security updates even after ios 15 is released, so if you care about that kind of stuff it's probably better not to upgrade. edit: more info in sibling comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28596442 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28596442
iosquestion 5y ago
I wonder if upgrading to iOS 15 will increase the chance of receiving this spyware when they do roll it out? I mean 15.X - 15.Y will likely occur automatically while the phone is connected to WiFi and charging.. but 14 to 15 should require user approval, meaning we should be safe as long as we never upgrade >14..?
- r00fus 5y ago
  I honestly doubt it. They will likely roll this out to both latest versions. I think they said as much.
  - SllX 5y ago
    If you look at it as reducing their liability for hosting CSAM, then more likely it’ll become a requirement at some point in order to upload your photos to iCloud at all, no matter which version of iOS you’re on.
- Someone1234 5y ago
  Either turn off automatic updates or don't. You're overanalyzing this.

jkelleyrtp 5y ago

Apple Maps is so close to being a fantastic app, but is sorely missing “search along route” that Google has. Right now, you can press the “coffee” or “gas” button but there’s no way to say, search for a CVS on the way back home from work. I really wish Apple added this instead of just suggesting searches that might be useful.

toomuchtodo 5y ago
https://www.apple.com/feedback/maps-ios-ipados.html https://www.apple.com/feedback/maps-ios-ipados.html
- judge2020 5y ago
  Posting on HN is probably more valuable when your feedback is requesting new featureful changes and not just bugs. There are likely quite a few Apple engineers that browse this subreddit which might be able to make an internal push for these changes (eventually).
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    Agreed! But it can also be helpful to submit the requests through the usual channels. Engineers on HN can then point PMs and management to this data versus "someone on HN asked, create the story."
    - pininja 5y ago
      This has been my experience and is also why I push to get a feature request submitted, and then ask for some link to it. Also as a customer, sometimes when I’m writing out my request I realize an existing way to get what I want without needing to wait for them.
  - Operyl 5y ago
    Said engineers also push heavily for people to send in a FB. It’s something on paper they can show their management to show an interest exists.

Waterluvian 5y ago

Is apple’s photo search any less terrible now? Dunno if anyone else suffers this? Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Finding a years-old photo to upload is TERRIBLE. It's trivial to do in Google Photos, but then getting a handle on the photo when using the "photo selector" widget to upload it to Twitter or an existing email is horrible. I do this workflow dozens of times per week and the best I can come up with is: 1. text search Apple photos in the upload widget and be disappointed 2. text search Google photos and instantly find the image I want 3. "Delete from device" 4. "Download to device" (which puts it at the very front of the list) 5. Go back to Safari, finish composing Tweet, add photo, pick newest photo.

kace91 5y ago
Yup, been there done that. Google photos search is miles ahead, and the main reason I use the app (aside of obviously the cloud backup)
DeRock 5y ago
Can you give an example of the type of search where Apple photos fails but Google photos succeeds? I only use Apple photos, but it supports my use case of date/location/"object detection" search, but wondering if I'm missing out on something much better.
- radicaldreamer 5y ago
  Object detection is much more broad in Google Photos and complex queries are in a different league ("dogs in new york city")
  - Terretta 5y ago
    The ‘complex queries’ in Apple Photos is done as a series of discrete set descriptors. As you type your descriptor, tap the appropriate found set below (they list photos in the set) to turn it into a tag, then continue typing the next descriptor. For this search, you’d end up with something that looks like: [new york metropolitan area][dog] These result in a venn diagram of the overlaps. In my case with 12K photos in NY metro, it found the one dog photo I had.

aborsy 5y ago

Is there a timeline for the client side scanning?! Or has that plan been dropped for good?! Cause I am not gonna upgrade if these features come at a cost to privacy caused by client side scanning.

Someone1234 5y ago
No. They've put a pin in it, but publically haven't discussed when it may ship (or what changes could be made). All we know right now is that it isn't in iOS 15.
- hughrr 5y ago
  I’m going to upgrade. If they roll it I’m going to sell the phone.
sneak 5y ago
According to Apple, it's been postponed. It's obvious that people as smart as Apple wouldn't be doing this tremendous damage to their brand if they weren't deadset on launching it, so it's likely that it will launch quietly later, once the furor over it has died down.

pt_PT_guy 5y ago

Is it me or most of the features could be a simple app update?

paxys 5y ago
Most of these apps (Facetime, iMessage, Safari, Maps, Wallet, Photos) aren't built using their public SDK but rather have deep dependencies on the OS itself.
- pt_PT_guy 5y ago
  Humm. gotcha. thank you
- Someone1234 5y ago
  Which is why when these apps suffer a security vulnerability they've resulted in privilege escalation (inc. root) previously. I actually think it is a bad look for Apple not to dogfood their own public APIs. Microsoft used to do the same thing with Windows and Office, and it was a bad look then too. Credit to Google on this, since many of their apps are just normal apps. No special privileges or bypasses. Even their special stuff has pretty aggressive sandboxing and can be updated like a normal app via the store.
  - defaultname 5y ago
    How Apple distributes their core apps (Safari, Mail, etc) is orthogonal to how they are implemented, secured, ring levels, sandboxing, etc. These are separate considerations. Apple's core philosophy is that upgrading the system is the fundamental way to get new things. With iOS 15 we've seen the first real fracture in this model (where they are promoting a "stay on iOS 14 for now" option), and maybe eventually they'll separately distribute some of the tied applications. Google started Android with a very similar model to iOS but quickly recognized it was turning into a disaster given the slow uptake of new Android versions. Turning what were system level components (e.g. play services) into "apps" was a necessity.
    - 5y ago

xeroaura 5y ago

Anyone that's been on the beta find any nice to have Safari extensions? And do these extensions also apply to (non-safari) apps using the webkit UI to render a page? Like content blocker applies to these as well as safari.

yoavlavi 5y ago
iOS apps aren't allowed to release updates targeting new OSs until they're out, so we're all in the same boat there
jshier 5y ago
1Blocker has released an update for all platforms which adds a script extension to block YouTube ads. Doesn't help in the YouTube app or on the AppleTV, which is most of my usage, but is nice on the Mac (with today's Safari 15 release).
cloin 5y ago
There's a list of a few available now here: https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/20/here-are-the-best-new-safari-extensions-to-download-for-ios-15-and-ipados-15/ https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/20/here-are-the-best-new-safari-...
Aaargh20318 5y ago
I just installed Amplosion. The fact that I can now get rid of that AMP bullshit completely makes iOS 15 a major upgrade for me already.

shantara 5y ago

The feature the impressed me the most during the WWDC presentation - the cross-device drag and drop functionality between Mac and iPad - unfortunately won't be included in the initial 15.0 release.

zaptrem 5y ago
FindMy for AirPods also delayed
- mig39 5y ago
  Was there a new feature? My AirPods have been on FindMy for a long time already.
  - shantara 5y ago
    FindMy for AirPods only works when they are close enough to have a Bluetooth connection to the phone. It does not take the advantage of the FindMy network.

Qi_ 5y ago

Can anyone speak for iPhone 6S performance with 15? I'm on 14 currently and it runs quite smoothly. I assume it would be similar on 15.

mig39 5y ago
I've been running the developer beta on the 6S since the beginning. Seems just fine to me!
- Qi_ 5y ago
  Glad to hear it! Seems like not too long ago mobile devices were worthless after a few years, but those days are past.
dmitshur 5y ago
I’m using a 6s Plus temporarily for a few days, and only installed iOS 15 less than an hour ago. So far subjectively speaking it seems about the same as iOS 14.8 was.
ShakataGaNai 5y ago
Check out Mac Address’ review. It might help. https://youtu.be/6Rr_drLC-jk https://youtu.be/6Rr_drLC-jk

nicwolff 5y ago

Still supported on the 1st Gen iPhone SE, nice.

zatkin 5y ago
I’m using this device now and it sure does pack a punch! I do have to charge it throughout the day when on heavy usage, but it’s snappy and responsive just like my previous device, iPhone 12 Pro.
- DantesKite 5y ago
  I had the first generation iPhone SE. Great phone. Some part of the phone degraded though and it started rapidly overheating, and then the iPhone SE (second generation) came out. If yours dies, I recommend that one. It’s a love letter to the first generation.
  - crossroadsguy 5y ago
    The fact that form-wise it’s a copy of iPhone 8 is sad. Especially the glass back and bigger size. Jack omitted (now, please don’t just say - “since I bought AirPods I’ve not looked back”). Besides even 12 mini is smaller than that. I’d say SE2 is rather a quiet breakup note to SE1.
    - DantesKite 5y ago
      I didn't feel that way. If you offered me a choice between SE1 and SE2 with equal computing capabilities, I'd stick with SE2. It really is elegant and beautiful.
yepthatsreality 5y ago
I’m switching to a Linux phone but recently upgraded from a Gen 1 SE to the newer models and I’ll be purchasing another SE as a backup phone instead once I make the leap because I personally think the no headphone port and larger screen (even on the Mini) is a very powerful phone but also worse to use in many ways. Long live Gen 1 SE.

DangerousPie 5y ago

Wow, I had no idea they were going to add support for cross-platform Facetime calls with this. If that works well that will definitely replace Zoom for me.

Someone1234 5y ago
Cross-platform is giving it too much credit. They aren't releasing native FaceTime on any non-Apple platforms, and you get a limited set of features in the browser based client that runs on Windows/ChromeOS/Android. It is better than nothing though. Mostly feels like a late response to Zoom eating Apple's lunch though.
- horsemans 5y ago
  Less a "late response" and more the start of keeping a promise made by Jobs in 2010 to make FaceTime an cross-platform product supported by open standards, that was hampered by various legal I/P battles: https://www.imore.com/wheres-facetime-android https://www.imore.com/wheres-facetime-android

diebeforei485 5y ago

My phone is the electronic device I use the most (not counting my work laptop, which I don't own), so I'm going to wait a couple of days to make sure there are no glaring issues before I install the update.

Someone1234 5y ago
I've been using iOS 15 for a month or more, and I've had no glaring issues aside from Exposure Notification using excessive battery usage.
- tandr 5y ago
  Excessive battery usage IS a good example of a "glaring issue", especially for a mobile device.
  - Someone1234 5y ago
    On one specific service that is opt-in (and can be disabled at any time). Pretty important distinction.
  - Cockbrand 5y ago
    This is most true, but I've also had the same issue with iOS 14.8 for a while between restarts. So this is not an iOS 15 exclusive.

thebean11 5y ago

The notification upgrades look promising! I always thought iOS was way behind Android in terms of customizing notification modes, and how each app behaves in each mode.

reacharavindh 5y ago

The only feature I am looking forward to is “live text” where it lets me simply copy text in images. That can be quite handy.

dmd 5y ago
works great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jb889eVN5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jb889eVN5U
JxLS-cpgbe0 5y ago
Google Lens has had the feature for more than a year now and it's incredibly useful. I wonder how the accuracy of Apple's version will compare.
- reacharavindh 5y ago
  Does Google lens also recognise text based on local models? I am not so happy about the idea of having Google analyse all my photos.
  - cucumb3rrelish 5y ago
    I just tried it with internet turned off in both the photos and standalone app, and it did not work.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
fudged71 5y ago
The most useful time I have ever used this was to enter one of those super long randomized string WiFi passwords that is printed on paper. Every text field in iOS now has the option to enter text via OCR!
ShakataGaNai 5y ago
I’m astonished how well and how quickly it works. I just upgraded with the release, but it’s quite snappy. At least as good as my previous experiences with Google lens.

schmorptron 5y ago

Uuh, I wonder how visual lookup will compare to Google Lens. I almost never use google assistant because of privacy concerns, and having it done locally sounds wonderful. (Although, on a second look, the website doesn't mention whether it's local or not. I just know Siri is now partly done on device).

apetresc 5y ago
Apple has confirmed it's on-device.
- schmorptron 5y ago
  That's promising then!

CountDrewku 5y ago

What's the best foss option out there now? Graphene? Lineage? I hate that they're both Android based... I specifically dumped android phones because I was sick of Google and Apple still seemed to be the better option. Edit: Guess I upset the Apple and Google shills ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

culopatin 5y ago
Your comment is just very off topic.
- CountDrewku 5y ago
  Not really, iOS 15 is when they introduce image scanning. There are several other comments in this thread discussing that. Ergo, an alternative mobile OS discussion for people that don't want to go down Apple's invasive scanning route is completely appropriate.

jsudi 5y ago

Anybody running AltStore on this and can confirm whether it works right?

chaoskanzlerin 5y ago
I can't confirm it's running, but I guess it's been working on the iOS 15 beta versions? https://twitter.com/altstoreio/status/1413181075426213890 https://twitter.com/altstoreio/status/1413181075426213890

DanTheManPR 5y ago

Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE also gets the latest and greatest. Meanwhile, my flagship android phone from 2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9, is stuck on the last version of Android. At least it still gets security updates, some manufacturers don't even go that far.

omegalulw 5y ago
It's one of my biggest gripes with Android. At best, I have gotten 2 years of updates (updates which come 8-12 months after the official Android release). I could, of course, install a custom ROM. But that usually means (in my experience) that not all hardware features work, battery life is worse, I have to install updates myself and I am usually not as confident about device security. Despite these, I used to install and love custom ROMs a lot in college. when I had the time but not anymore. On my iPad (while it lasted, RIP), I would get updates on the same day as official iOS release. Night and day difference.
- bmcahren 5y ago
  What led you to not buy the official android phone? Are you aware of it? Considering all the major non-Google Android phone manufacturers are also the same that manufacture Black Friday TVs that fail on schedule, don't you sense this was a problem not with Android but with your choice of manufacturer?
  - Jtsummers 5y ago
    I assume you're referring to the Pixel/Nexus devices. I've had two, I don't think either got updates after 3 years or so. A far cry from the 6 years that Apple is now offering with the 6S, and the 5 years most of their devices got before that.
    - bmcahren 5y ago
      I remember my Nexus program devices getting support longer than this. Hopefully we see a change in this trend over the next few years now that phones are generally more powerful and don't age as quickly except by battery degradation.

hyperstar 5y ago

My i-thing says it's up to date at 12.5.4. Wonder what that means securitywise.

philwelch 5y ago
It means it's old and doesn't support iOS 13. My iPad says the same thing. And according to Wikipedia, iOS 12 isn't receiving security updates anymore :(
- tompazourek 5y ago
  However, the 12.5.4 is still quite a recent update (from June). I think there could still be some security fixes in the future, but probably only for very serious vulnerabilities.
vxNsr 5y ago
Looks like you lost updates a few years ago, if anything big securitywise happens there's a chance they'll fix it otherwise you just gotta be hopeful you don't run into anything nefarious.
- cmg 5y ago
  That's where I'm at with my iPad, which is stuck at iOS 10. It still works pretty well for taking notes or browsing the web, even though that version of Safari is getting pretty old. For security, it's completely signed out of iCloud and all other services, and Safari is mostly for research purposes (so no social media, email, etc).

babesh 5y ago

What's up with the iCloud terms and conditions?

suyash 5y ago

Does anyone still use FaceTime ? How is the latest Apple Maps compared to google's ?

r00fus 5y ago
Most our family comms is FaceTime.
Bud 5y ago
FaceTime is more popular than ever, and adding the ability to use it with Android folks will help even more. Apple Maps has gotten fairly close to Google Maps at this point. I actually strongly prefer Apple Maps' interface, although the data is still not as good overall. (Disclaimer: I'm biased. I worked on Apple Maps during its very early days.)
- suyash 5y ago
  +1 to privacy centric apps even over inconvinience

isatty 5y ago

Does extensions on iOS safari mean I can finally get ublock origin on it?

dotdi 5y ago
Content blocking has been possible for a long time.
- hundchenkatze 5y ago
  with uBlock origin?
  - greggh 5y ago
    I use Wipr on all of my devices and its great.
- thedrbrian 5y ago
  Since 2015 https://www.hackingwithswift.com/safari-content-blocking-ios9 https://www.hackingwithswift.com/safari-content-blocking-ios...
brundolf 5y ago
I don't know much about ublock, but I've got a Safari content-blocker set up that pulls from a custom set of easylist files and blocks all requests to those URLs from within safari
onedognight 5y ago
Unlikely. Safari supports stateless filtering (ie the blocker app doesn’t get to see your traffic, but just submits rules), and Gorhill has said uBlock cannot work with this restriction[0]. I understand Apple’s wanting to keeping blocking apps from spying and to ensure performance of the blockers, but the lack of uBlock on iOS is a huge pain point for me. [0] https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158
- 5y ago

someonehere 5y ago

Warning to those with AirTags. Mine are gone from Find My. When attempting to reset one of my working/paired tags before the upgrade, I get a Bluetooth error when trying to set up. So all of my tags are dead right now and will not connect to my phone. However a friend who had one of my tags for a couple of days gets the notification that my tag was with them and to tap to contact the owner.

kstrauser 5y ago
Oh, interesting. Mine still works as expected but I'll keep an eye out.

staunch 5y ago

Is there a good breakdown of any changes/improvements to PWAs on iOS 15, like can a PWA app do background audio finally, etc?

codyswann 5y ago
No background audio.

pcurve 5y ago

Love all these pandemic driven sharing functions. Very solid upgrade.

AbrahamParangi 5y ago

I find it interesting to look at the differences between the localized versions of this page. Largely the same, but not entirely! English: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/ Chinese: https://www.apple.com.cn/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com.cn/ios/ios-15/ Japanese: https://www.apple.com/jp/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com/jp/ios/ios-15/

ch4s3 5y ago
Care to mention the major differences?
- lgats 5y ago
  CN: No Grid View Facetime Featured, No street-view walking directions, no "driver’s license or state ID" Wallet feature, no "Visual Look Up", no anonymous "Hide My Email" relay feature JP: No Wallet (license/state id/hotel&garage unlock), no visual lookup This is just the difference in how the page are displayed and I didn't go and check to see if the actual features are there or not
- jumelles 5y ago
  I've got a few minutes: Top image collage: Weather app is specific to city (China shows air quality). Chinese page replaces Ted Lasso with a Mojito music video. Japanese page has Greeen instead of Valiant on Apple Music. Chinese page is missing the spatial audio section with people's faces, and FaceTime sharing and links sections. Shared With You has six examples in English; four in Japanese and Chinese. Chinese page is missing some Maps info. Japanese page is missing the Wallet section. Visual Look Up is English-only. Spotlight section on Chinese page is missing a Billie Eilish screenshot; iCloud Private Relay is missing.
- captn3m0 5y ago
  IN (Missing Features) based on the feature diff at https://editor.mergely.com/t2bxJa0q/ https://editor.mergely.com/t2bxJa0q/ - "ID cards" - Weather: "precipitation" isn't mentioned, and Weather app is just more "powerful", not "more engaging and powerful" (US). Air Quality maps are available for India, not sure about other maps. - Immersive walking directions - redesigned transit map - Nearby transit - Home Keys does not mention "Hotel Keys" or "Corporate Access Badges" - Car Keys - Visual lookup learning - Share health data with your doctor - Lab results enhancements - Apple Card - Buy directly from the Search tab - 5G - Redesigned News feed - Podcasts: Personalized recommendations - Next-hour precipitation notifications Comparison based on the following links: IN: https://www.apple.com/in/ios/ios-15/ https://www.apple.com/in/ios/ios-15/ US: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/ https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/

TheCowboy 5y ago

Anyone have a guess about when iOS will support web push notifications? One shouldn't really have to spin up a native app just get this single feature that all other browsers support on every other platform.

hbn 5y ago
Hopefully never, at least not in their current state. I've said it a few times on HN, but web notifications are almost entirely used for malicious purpose. Copy-pasting from a comment I made previously on the topic: > Take a look at your grandma's Android phone and she probably has 12 Chrome notifications saying she won a free iPad because she went on a site that asked to send notifications, and users are so used to user-hostile UX's that force you to agree to everything to use the site, they just hit "allow" so they can get to the content. I'm not surprised Apple doesn't want that on the iPhone.

b3nji 5y ago

The Facetime update. Enabling you to be even further away from people interaction, including, but not limited to, watching a thing while on a Facetime conversion? This truly is the end if all things

rsfinn 5y ago
So I don't know whether you've noticed, but there's this thing that's been going around that makes some people want to keep their distance from other people, even if they might otherwise want to converse with them? More seriously: my father, who is about to turn 94, lives 500+ miles away from me, and I haven't seen him face-to-face for a long time. It would be nice to be able to watch a baseball game "together", for instance. I hope I can talk him through setting up FaceTime...
- zimpenfish 5y ago
  > It would be nice to be able to watch a baseball game "together", for instance. I've watched TV programs simultaneously with people in the same city, even, whilst talking to them on IRC/whatnot. It's a fun experience. Especially in these nonsensical times!

gigatexal 5y ago

Loving focus mode and the Safari url bar at the bottom.

jenny91 5y ago

Looks like they're slowly starting to compete with Zoom on all those new FaceTime features.

yepthatsreality 5y ago

I just bought a Iphone 12 Mini (from Iphone SE Gen 1, which is the better phone btw) the day before the CSAM flurry started. I will not be upgrading my OS this year and will be switchching to Linux device this winter (Pinephone most likely). Good luck and thanks for all the -ish Apple.

ngrilly 5y ago

Apple please translate Swedish to English! In the meantime I'll still have to rely on Google Translate for this :)

tradertef 5y ago
Google translate is ages better..

dillondoyle 5y ago

The photos ML search from spotlight or whatever they call it is creepy accurate. Maybe just my brain bias but it seems to find context in images that aren't labeled. Adding OCR adds to that. But it doesn't have the same search within the photos app itself?

dmitshur 5y ago

This is the iOS version that adds WebGL 2 support. (https://webglreport.com/?v=2 https://webglreport.com/?v=2)

astlouis44 5y ago
Can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this - it’s huge for cross-platform games that can run at much higher performance, and the best part - no 30% fees from the walled garden App Store when you deliver via a webpage!
- mzkply 5y ago
  The go-to-market for games without an app store (ios or android) is so bad that most game devs were rather get 70% of something rather than 100% of almost nothing... and that's probably why more people aren't talking about it. It'll make it easier to make cool sites, but I wouldn't expect any change in the games landscape. Plus it really looks like the 30% isn't here to stay.
  - astlouis44 5y ago
    Yeah and that's because nobody (from the browser vendors to the game engine providers) has bothered to create decent tooling for real-time 3D and game developers to be able to effectively deploy HTML5, with a specific focus on reducing build sizes via a combo of compression and a lazy loading asset fetching system. This is what our startup has been focused on for Unreal Engine 4 to target WebGL. We've achieved scenes that are sub 10MB that load in up in two seconds in the browser on most devices.
  - majani 5y ago
    Board and card games get a lot of joy from using the web. There's a lot of silent giants in that space such as PlayOK
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speg 5y ago

I stayed away from the beta but hopped on as soon as this was released. Loving the bottom tab bars in safari, I don’t know what all the fuss was about. Interesting that this “add comment” button on hacker news has some weird default style with a bright blue background.

flixic 5y ago
Initial Safari design was quite different from what shipped today (beta process worked!). The main differences were: all the buttons where crammed into the address field, dropping the toolbar (shipping design returned the toolbar), and the address bar was floating over content, detached from the bottom. This caused many sites to break.

pentagrama 5y ago

> Now you can install Safari extensions on your iPhone Someone knows if uBlock Origin has plans/is able to develop the extension for Safari iOS? For Safari MacOS is kind of not available. Does not work for Safari 13+, and is maintained externally https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#safari-macos https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#safari-macos

pacbard 5y ago
uBlock Origin has been broken on macOS since Safari 13 / macOS Catalina [1]. If they ever get the port to work on a newer version of Safari, it could work on iOS. [1]: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158
- cwizou 5y ago
  > If they ever get the port to work on a newer version of Safari, it could work on iOS. I looked at it at the time but sadly the Content Blocker API that Apple released is incredibly crippling compared to the feature set of uBlock Origin. Basically, you can onlly generate lists of domains that you want to block, package that in (multiple !) batches of 50k (at the time I think) and let Safari do the blocking for you. This removes the ability to do anything non-static basically, which is where uBlock Origin really shines, so I don't expect anyone to make a meaningful port anytime soon, sadly.
temp0826 5y ago
Hoping this will allow (some?) firefox extensions as well (considering how firefox on ios actually works). My single biggest gripe with the phone is no ublock with firefox.
- pentagrama 5y ago
  You are right, since Firefox (and all other browsers) on iOS are somewhat Safari with a skin, maybe Firefox for iOS now can introduce extensions. At least the same "approved" extensions that now works on Firefox Android (more are coming).

thih9 5y ago

I really like the bottom tab bar in Safari; however the screenshot is very unfortunate, it shows a website with the mobile hamburger menu icon at the very top. Looks like the need to reach the top part of the screen is still there. I wonder if this will be the reality, at least for a while.

alberth 5y ago

Has anyone noticed the “add comment” button on HN is now a blue-pill color/style with iOS 15? EDIT: this appears to only happen on mobile iOS web and not desktop macOS

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mmcnl 5y ago

Focus Mode / Do Not Disturb infuriates me. All I want is for my notifications to not light up the screen and make any sounds except for calls. Is that so hard? It keeps getting more complex.

xtat 5y ago
The inevitable end state of a closed ecosystem is compromise and that's why I'm out.
CharlesW 5y ago
> Is that so hard? YMMV, I guess—I found the customizable flavors of Do Not Disturb immediately useful. And if you don't, the old Do Not Disturb is still an option.
illiac786 5y ago
And Actionable Notifications are gone?? On gmail for example, I could swipe to the left, tap "display" (I think that's what it was called) and it would show me actions like "archive", "delete", etc. Now I have to open the app. Why??

xtat 5y ago

Is it me or do these updates look more and more like they should be dot releases?

yborg 5y ago

So widgets anywhere is kind of a step backwards for iPadOS ... if you place any widgets on a homescreen page it forces the "large icon" grid on that page :( Since this happens with no warning, any "extra" icons are shoved onto the next page. Apple really needs to do something about the homescreen management, it's been over a decade now and we're still subjected to the infuriating drag one at a time mechanism. Does nobody at Apple use more than one screen of apps? The mechanism that once existed in iTunes where you could drag and drop with a mouse among your available app homescreens was the closest thing to a usable interface. But it boggles the mind that there isn't at least a way from the edit homescreen dialog to just select an icon and "Assign to Page X" option.

maxgashkov 5y ago
It has 'drag multiple' functionality -- you have to start dragging one icon and quickly tap on several others to grab them also. Personally I don't have the finger dexterity (or maybe understanding how this actually is supposed to work) to reliably perform the gesture, so I resort to dragging one at a time :(
- FragenAntworten 5y ago
  It looks like you start dragging one, far enough away from its initial position that you are unambiguously dragging it, then (while maintaining contact with the dragged icon), tap the other icons you want to drag as well.
  - yborg 5y ago
    Thanks, I remember doing this once, but before I wrote the comment spent 5 minutes trying to do it again and couldn't figure it out. An interface that a long-term user can't easily discover is kind of terrible; it's also completely different from how a desktop OS works where you select first and then drag.

babesh 5y ago

iCloud Terms and Conditions include If you agree to the terms of service, they can change it at any time and not tell you if there are governmental reasons. Furthermore, you agree to not use the services for things that Apple seems unlawful, harassing, threatening, harmful, abusive, tortious, defamatory, libelous, abusive, violent, obscene, vulgar, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or otherwise objectionable.

ShakataGaNai 5y ago
The government piece is more to let you know than anything else. The government’s of the world have repeatedly demonstrated that they can get any info they want from companies and use their powers to make sure you don’t know. See also proton mail.

singularity2001 5y ago

"Add link" in Quick notes doesn't work in safari if JavaScript is disabled tells a lot about their QA