On September 17, Apple officially rolling out the official version update of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14. To upgrade from iOS 13.7 to iOS 14, you need to download a 2.75GB file package. iOS 14 has updated the core user experience of the iPhone, including major updates to the App and other new features. You can check the full changelog given below.
iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 Changelog
New widget
- Redesigned widgets can be placed directly on the home screen
- Small, medium, and large size widgets allow you to choose the amount of information to be displayed
- Widget stacking can make full use of the main screen space, while “smart stacking” uses device-side smart technology to display appropriate widgets in a timely manner
- The widget library includes all available widgets for you to browse and choose
- Redesigned Apple widgets include: weather, clock, calendar, news, maps, fitness, photos, reminders, stocks, music, videos, reminders, memos, shortcuts, battery, screen time, files, podcasts and Siri Suggest
App Resource Library
- “App Resource Library” automatically organizes all your apps into categories
- The “Recommendation” category uses device-side smart technology to display the apps you may be looking for based on factors such as different times of the day or location
- The “Recently Added” category displays the apps that have been downloaded from the App Store recently and the light apps that have been launched recently
- The home screen page can be hidden, just tap the dot at the bottom of the screen in the jitter mode, and you can go directly to the “App Resource Library” after hiding
Compact design
- Incoming phone calls and FaceTime calls are displayed as banners at the top of the screen
- The compact design of Siri allows you to seamlessly start the next task while viewing the information on the screen
- “Picture in Picture” allows you to watch a video or make a FaceTime call while using another App
Information
- Sticky conversations allow you to keep up to nine favorite message conversations at the top of the list
- “Mention” allows you to send messages directly to individuals in the group chat
- “One line reply” allows you to reply to a specific message and view all related information in a separate view
- Group photos can be customized to create a common group appearance
Emoji
- Added 11 hairstyles and 19 headwear styles for you to customize your facial expressions
- New impersonation stickers, you can send punch, hug or blush emoji
- Six new-age options
- New mask option
Map
- Cycling routes are provided along bicycle lanes, bicycle lanes, and routes suitable for cycling on bicycle roads, taking into account changes in height or street congestion
- “Guide” recommends places to eat, meet or explore for you, carefully selected by selected trusted brands
- Electric vehicle routes can plan the itinerary for supported electric vehicles and automatically add charging stations along the way
- Traffic congestion areas can help you bypass or pass through congested areas in cities such as London or Paris
- The speed limit camera can alert you when you are approaching the speed limit on the route and running through the red light camera
- “Refined Location” can provide highly accurate location and direction information in urban areas with weak GPS signals
- Applicable license plate restrictions in China. Store your license plate safely on the device. The “map” will navigate you in the city based on your vehicle’s eligibility
Light App
- The light app is a light version of the app, which appears when you need it and focuses on specific tasks; developers can create light apps
- The lightweight App design is small and can be used in a few seconds
- Tap the NFC tag, scan the QR code, or find the light app from “Info”, “Map” and Safari browser
- The recently used light apps are displayed in the “recently added” category of the App resource library. You can download the full version of the app for long-term use
Translation
- The new “Translate” App is designed for conversations and can work completely offline to keep your conversations private
- The dialogue mode with split-screen design includes a microphone button, which can automatically detect which of the selected languages is spoken, and display the transcribed original text and translation on the correct side of the screen
- The eye-catching mode displays the translation in larger text, which is easy to attract the attention of others
- Voice and text translation supports any combination of 11 languages
Siri
- The new compact design allows you to seamlessly start the next task while viewing the information on the screen
- The expanded knowledge base contains 20 times more information than three years ago
- Internet answers provide answers to a wider range of questions by using Internet information
- Audio messages can be sent via Siri on iOS and CarPlay
- New Siri voice and Siri translation support more languages
Search for
- Find anything in one place: search for quick information such as apps, contacts, files, weather and the stock market, common sense questions about people or places, and even quickly start a web search
- The “most frequently clicked” result shows the most relevant information, including apps, contacts, knowledge, points of interest, and websites
- “Quick Launcher” allows you to type in a few words to open an app or website
- “Type and search” suggestions show more relevant results as soon as you start typing
- Web search suggestions can open the Safari browser and get the most relevant web results
- Search for content in the App such as “mail”, “message” and “file”
Family
- The suggested automation helps you set up automation with one tap
- The visual status at the top of the “Home” app shows a summary of accessories that need your attention
- Dynamic suggestions for the most relevant accessories and scenes are displayed in the “Home” control of the “Control Center”
- “Adaptive lighting” automatically adjusts the color temperature of smart bulbs throughout the day to maximize comfort and productivity
- The “facial recognition” of the video camera and doorbell uses smart technology on the device to let you know who is visiting based on the people marked in your “photo” app and the recent visitors you identified in the “home” app
- The “active area” of the video camera and doorbell will only take a video or send you a notification when motion is detected in the defined area
Safari browser
- Use a faster JavaScript engine to improve performance
- “Privacy Report” can display cross-site trackers blocked by “Smart Anti-Tracking”
- Password monitoring can safely screen whether your stored passwords have appeared in data leaks
The weather
- The next hour’s precipitation map displays the next hour’s rain and snow intensity forecast in the United States by minute
- Extreme weather information shows certain extreme weather event warnings issued by the government, including tornadoes, winter blizzards, and floods (applicable to the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia)
- AirPods
- Spatial audio on AirPods Pro uses dynamic head tracking to spread sound throughout the space, creating an immersive surround sound experience
- Automatic device switching to transfer audio between iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac
- Battery notification lets you know if you want to charge AirPods
Privacy
- The recording indicator will be displayed when the App accesses the microphone or camera
- Now you can share your approximate location instead of precise location with the App
- Limited access to the “Photos” gallery allows you to choose to share only selected photos with the App when the App requests access
- App and website developers can now choose to upgrade your existing account to “Sign in with Apple”
Accessibility
- “Tap the back” allows you to tap the back of the iPhone to quickly trigger accessibility features
- Headphone adjustment can amplify soft sounds and adjust specific frequencies to customize the personal listening experience
- Sign language highlighting in FaceTime calls can detect that the participant is using sign language and highlight the person in the FaceTime group chat
- “Sound recognition” uses device-side intelligent technology to detect and recognize important sounds such as alarms and remind you through notifications
- “Narration recognition” uses device-side smart technology to identify elements on the screen to improve the narration support experience for apps and websites
- Image description can read a full-sentence description of images and photos in the App and on the website
- Text recognition can read the recognized text in images and photos
- “Screen recognition” can automatically detect interface controls to help navigate within the App
- This update also includes other features and improvements.
App Store
Important detailed information of each App is displayed in a scrollable view that allows you to view the games your friends are playing
Apple Arcade
- “Coming soon” gives you a glimpse of upcoming Apple Arcade games, and can also be automatically downloaded immediately after release
- “View all games” has been optimized and can be sorted and filtered by release date, update, category, handle support, etc.
- “Achievements” can be browsed directly in the Apple Arcade tab
- “Continue Game” allows you to easily continue playing recently played games on different devices
- The Game Center dashboard displays your profile, friends, achievements, leaderboards, etc. All information comes from your game
Augmented Reality
- The “location anchor” in ARKit 4 allows the app to place the AR experience at a specific geographic coordinate point
- Extended face tracking now supports the new iPhone SE
- The video texture in RealityKit allows the App to apply the video to any part of the scene or virtual object
Camera
- The performance of shooting one by one is improved, the shooting speed of the first photo is accelerated, and the shooting of multiple photos is also faster
- Quick recording videos can now also be shot in the “Photo” mode of iPhone XS and iPhone XR
- Fast switching is supported in “Video” mode, and the video resolution and frame rate can be changed from the “Camera” App
- The night mode shooting experience on iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro has been updated, guiding you to keep the lens stable throughout the shooting process, and also provides the option to cancel the shooting
- Exposure compensation control allows you to lock the exposure value during the entire camera shooting
- The mirrored front camera allows you to take a selfie that is consistent with the front camera preview
- Improved QR code reading, even if the QR code is small or curved on the object, it can be scanned
CarPlay
- Added parking, electric car charging, and fast food ordering categories in the supported apps
- New wallpaper options
- Siri can share arrival time and send audio information
- Provide a horizontal status bar for cars equipped with vertical screens
- Supports Chinese and Japanese keyboards, enriching users’ options for searching points of interest
FaceTime call
- Improved video quality, the resolution can be up to 1080p on iPhone X and subsequent models
- The new eye contact feature uses machine learning to fine-tune the position of your eyes and face, making video calls more natural, even if you are looking at the screen instead of the camera
File
- Supports external drives encrypted with APFS
Health
- “Sleep Aid” helps you create sleep aid schedules through App and shortcut commands, such as listening to a relaxing playlist
- Customize your sleep schedule to help you achieve your sleep goals through bedtime reminders and wake-up alarms
- Sleep mode minimizes interference during “sleep assistance” and “sleeping” by turning on “do not disturb mode” and simplifying the lock screen content
- “Health Checklist” helps you track and manage health and safety functions in one place
- The new “Activity” category in the “Health” app includes indicators such as walking speed, bipedal support time, step length, and step asymmetry
Keyboard and international functions
- Device-side dictation helps protect your privacy by processing all content completely offline. Dictation in search uses server-based dictation to identify vocabulary you might want to search through the Internet
- Search by word or phrase in the emoji keyboard
- The keyboard can display auto-fill suggestions from the “Contacts”, and can suggest email addresses, phone numbers, and other information in the App
- Added French-German, Indonesian-English, Japanese-Simplified Chinese and Polish-English dictionaries
- Simplified Chinese added Wubi input method
- Irish Galvin and Norwegian Nynorsk support automatic correction
- The redesigned Japanese Kana keyboard makes it easier to enter numbers
- “Mail” supports e-mail addresses in non-Latin languages
Music
- Play and discover favorite music, artists, playlists, and selections in the new “Listen Now” tab
- “AutoPlay” can find similar songs and keep the music playing continuously when the song or playlist ends
- “Search” now shows your favorite genres and activities of music and shows useful suggestions as you type
- Library filtering can help you find artists, albums, playlists, and other items in the library faster
Memorandum
- The enhanced operation menu allows you to easily lock, scan, top and delete
- The “most frequently clicked” in the search shows the most relevant search results
- The “sticky memo” list can be collapsed or expanded
- Shape recognition allows you to draw perfect lines, arcs and other shapes
- Enhanced scan capture makes scans clearer and automatic cropping is more precise
Photo
- The collection can be filtered and sorted, making it easier to find and organize photos and videos
- Pinch and zoom with two fingers to quickly find photos and videos in more locations such as “favorites” and “shared albums”
- Support for adding descriptions to photos and videos
- Live photos taken in iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 can be automatically played back more stably in the “year”, “month” and “day” views
- Enhanced “Memories” provides more relevant and selected photos and videos for “Memories” movies, as well as more music options
- The redesigned image selector in the app uses the same smart search as in the “Photos” app, which can help you easily find what you want to share
Podcast
- “Listen now” is smarter and includes your personal single episode queue and new episodes selected for you
Reminders
- Can assign reminders to your list sharing users
- You can create new reminders directly from the list screen without entering a specific list
- Smart suggestions allow you to add date, time, and location with one tap
- Create personalized lists with emoji and new symbols
- Can rearrange or hide the smart list
Set up
- Added the option to set the default email and web browser
Shortcut
- “Getting Started Shortcuts” allows you to start from the built-in shortcuts folder customized for you
- Can suggest quick instructions to automate operations based on your habits
- Folders allow you to organize shortcuts and add them to the home screen as widgets
- The compactly designed new shortcut command operation interface allows you to master the associated content when using another App
- New automated trigger conditions can be based on running shortcut commands such as emails or messages you receive, battery power, and closing apps
- “Sleep helps quick instructions” provide a series of quick instructions for you to relax and help you prepare for a good night’s sleep
Voice memo
- Folders help you organize “voice memos” recordings
- “Personal Collection” allows you to mark the best recordings for quick access later
- “Smart Folder” automatically groups Apple Watch recordings, recently deleted recordings, and recordings marked as “favorites”
- “Enhanced recording” can reduce background noise and room echo
Some features are not available in all regions, nor are they available for all Apple devices.
iOS 14/iPadOS 14 compatibility:
iPhone/iPod Touch:
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone X R
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone SE (first generation)
- iPhone SE (second generation)
- iPod touch (7th generation)
iPad:
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro (4th generation)
- 11-inch iPad Pro (second generation)
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro (third generation)
- 11-inch iPad Pro (first generation)
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd generation)
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro (first generation)
- 10.5-inch iPad Pro
- 9.7-inch iPad Pro
- iPad (eighth generation)
- iPad (7th generation)
- iPad (6th generation)
- iPad (5th generation)
- iPad mini (fifth generation)
- iPad mini 4
- iPad Air (fourth generation)
- iPad Air (third generation)
- iPad Air 2