All the features that weren’t

All the features that weren’t available at launch

Some of iOS 15’s best features will be saved for future updates. Jason Cross reports

It happens every year. Apple shows off a bunch of awesome new iOS features at WWDC, only to have a handful of them miss the initial release. Some of the delayed features are big, some are small, but inevitably they will show up – in iOS 15.1, iOS 15.2, or another update. We don’t have an exact release time frame for any of these ‘missing’ iOS 15 features (Apple rarely divulges that sort of thing). We only know that history tells us to expect them before the end of the year.

SHAREPLAY

This is one of the biggest new features of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey. It lets you use FaceTime to watch TV or movies together,

share your screen or listen to music together. It keeps playback in sync with your remote FaceTime friends, lets them control playback, and even dynamically controls volume so you can hear each other speak over the music or video.

It just doesn’t work that well. Apple has officially delayed the feature, and now says it will come in a feature update after the initial launch of iOS 15 and macOS Monterey. That’s a good thing, as it’s more important to get it right than get half-baked features out to a billion users who will form a bad first impression.

3D MAPS NAVIGATION IN CARPLAY

APP PRIVACY REPORT

Apple has a new way to see exactly how the apps you use are accessing and sharing your data. Just open Settings, then Privacy, then scroll down to Record App Activity. Turn that on and your iPhone will keep a record of every single time any app access your microphone, camera, contacts, location, and which web domains they contact.

All that information 3D Maps navigation is only coming to select big cities, will be distilled into and isn’t currently available in CarPlay.

a report, so you can see exactly how your apps are accessing your potentially private data. While the Record App Activity toggle is there in the iOS 15 beta, the App Privacy Report itself will be available in a future iOS 15 update. Apple Maps has a new detailed 3D city view for big cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and London. It gives landmarks and features a soft and pleasing look, and it’s a great way to experience Maps in the big cities for which it exists.

But if you want to see the new views on your car’s navigation screen, you’ll have to wait. Apple’s iOS 15 site

says, “CarPlay support coming in a software update later this year”.

CUSTOM iCLOUD EMAIL DOMAINS

Another feature not officially announced as releasing later this year is the ability to customize your iCloud email with a custom domain name (which you can invite your family to use for their iCloud email).

We’re not exactly sure how this feature is going to work, and it wasn’t in any beta software.

AIRPODS FIND MY NETWORK SUPPORT

Apple announced that it would be expanding the Find My network to include AirPods Pro and AirPods Max in iOS 15 so users can track them just like any other device, but at the last minute, the feature was delayed. Apple now says expanded Find My support will be available later this autumn. Once it arrives, users will also be able to set separation alerts so they won’t leave their AirPods behind.

CSAM SCANNING FEATURES

Apple was planning a feature as part of iOS 15 that would scan photos as they are uploaded to iCloud to see if they match any in a known database of child sexual abuse material. It was carefully designed to preserve users’ privacy, but privacy advocates are worried about a ‘slippery slope’ of similar scanning technology being used for more nefarious purposes. As a result of pressure from these groups, Apple delayed the release of the feature until it can be adjusted and reworked to further enhance the privacy and security of your iPhone.