Apple revealed several significant updates on its devices and operating system including Siri's view which is getting a redesign, and iOS 14's new homescreen with customizable widgets.
According to The Verge's latest report, the first official look at the latest version of Apple's iOS 14, was announced at the WWDC 2020. Together with the update, the company confirmed its biggest change to the iOS homescreen: widgets.
IOS 14 update . #WWDC20 #iOS14
1) Widgets on home screen
2) Picture in picture video
3) Messages w/ Inline Replies & Mentions
4) New SIRI
5) App Library pic.twitter.com/Upv7x5fcCZ — Tahir (@tahir_diablo) June 22, 2020
WWDC 2020 Update: Wigdets, Siri, iOS14
Widgets can still be viewed in the Today view. However, in the latest iOS 14, widgets will live right alongside your apps since Apple will now allow them to be added to the main Home screen. Users can easily customize and add widgets using the new "widget gallery." Relevant apps will be automatically shown by the new "Smart Stack" widget based on the time of day.
Apps can now be automatically organized into lists and groups using the newly announced "App Library" view. It will allow users to now hide their apps on their main home screen. The new update is similar to the app drawer of Android, however, it will have some additional smart grouping features that will allow users to automatically pull out their Apple Arcade games into one batch.
System-wide picture-in-picture to iOS videos was also announced by Apple. Video size can be adjusted or it can also be collapsed into the side of the display and can hover over apps in macOS, allowing the videos to continue playing in the background.
According to Apple, Carplay will receive support for new app categories, such as EV chargers, fast food takeout, and parking apps, and also for custom wallpapers.
The long-requested option from users to set their own browsers and default email is also coming soon to iOS 14. However, the company hasn't announced specific details yet on how it will work.
Instead of taking over your whole screen when you activate the digital assistant, Siri will now have a new view where a small overlay of the animated Siri icon will be displayed at the bottom.
Instead of taking over the entire screen, incoming FaceTime calls and phone calls will also appear with a less obtrusive new pop-up.
Aside from these updates, Apple will have a new Translate app, similar to Google Translate, that will be built into iOS allowing users to easily translate between languages.
The update will allow users to dictate messages and enter texts which can be translated into 11 languages: Mandarin Chinese, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Arabic, and Russian.
