iOS 15
iOS 15 is the fifteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPhone and iPod Touch lines of products. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7, 2021, as the successor to iOS 14 and released to the public on September 20, 2021.[3]
Developer
Closed with open-source components
September 20, 2021[1]
- iPhone 6s & 6s Plus
- iPhone SE (1st generation)
- iPhone 7 & 7 Plus
- iPhone 8 & 8 Plus
- iPhone X
- iPhone XS & XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone 12 & 12 Mini
- iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 & 13 Mini
- iPhone 13 Pro & 13 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
Proprietary software with open-source components
iOS 15 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 6, 2022)
In touch. In the moment.
On June 6, 2022 at WWDC 2022, its successor, iOS 16, was announced. iOS 15 was officially succeeded by iOS 16 on September 12, 2022.
iOS 15 is the final version of iOS that supports the iPhone 6s & 6s Plus, first-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 7 & 7 Plus, and iPod Touch, as its successor, iOS 16, drops support for those models, including the seventh-generation iPod Touch.[4]
System features[edit]
Focus[edit]
Replacing the dedicated Do Not Disturb feature introduced in iOS 6, Focus is a new feature that allows a user to change their "state", such as Work, Sleep, Do Not Disturb or a custom focus. Based on the selected state, users can set the type of notification they want to receive and from which application. It is also possible to choose which pages and then apps to show on the Home based on the state. The state can change automatically based on where the user is or a time.[5]
Focus also controls the interactions with Contacts, so it is possible to decide which specific contacts can "disturb" the user.[6]
Some Lock Screen settings can be controlled based on the state: for example, the Dim Lock Screen feature, which darkens the lock screen from not showing notifications on that screen, can be automatically turned on or off based on the state.[7]
Focus is synchronized automatically across different iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices on the same iCloud account, as well as any paired watchOS devices.[8]
Notifications[edit]
Notifications receive a new look with contact photos for all communication apps and larger app icons. When the notification arrives, the user can mute the corresponding app for one hour or all day.[9]
The Summary allows the user to group and postpone the notifications coming from the chosen apps, delivering them at a scheduled time in a single big notification called summary notification.[10]
Live Text[edit]
Devices with an A12 chip or later support Live Text, which uses optical character recognition to recognize text in images, allowing copy-and-paste, look-up, and translation in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and Live Preview with Camera. This feature uses artificial intelligence text recognition using the Neural Engine.[11]
Smart stacks with suggested Widgets[edit]
The Widgets in iOS 15 are now more dynamic: depending on the context, the system can add or remove widgets to existing stacks. For example, near the start of a certain event in the Calendar, the system can decide to add the Calendar Widget to an existing smart stack, if it is not already present, and then remove it at the end of the event.[12]
Security and privacy[edit]
Siri Improved Privacy[edit]
On devices with an Apple A12 chip or later, Siri now converts audio into words on the device itself instead of sending it to Apple servers.[60]
Hide IP address for external content in Mail[edit]
In the Mail app, the user can enable the setting to hide their IP address when downloading external content that may be present in a mail message. In this way it is possible to privately download this external content without being tracked by spammers or commercial companies that have inserted them without the user's knowledge.
Hide My Email[edit]
Hide My Email creates random email addresses that forward to the inbox so e-mail can be sent and received anonymously.
Built-in one-time password authenticator With Autofill[edit]
The built-in authenticator allows iOS devices to be used to generate verification codes for additional sign-in security of accounts. There is no need to download a separate app because it is integrated into the OS. The verification codes are automatically filled when a user signs in to the site.
CSAM detection[edit]
CSAM detection identifying known Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in photos stored iCloud Photos was originally intended to be included. Implementation of CSAM detection was delayed indefinitely,[63] and cancelled altogether in December 2022.[64] This recognition is based on a perceptual hash called NeuralHash.[65]
Siri and Search were updated to intervene when users perform searches for queries related to CSAM. The Messages app will warn children when receiving or sending sexually explicit photos, blurring sent and received photos.[66] It was originally planned to also notify parents of children under 13 if they choose to view flagged messages anyway, but this was removed due to concerns about abusive parents.[67]