iOS 15 is packed with new features and improvements. We’ll tell you about the best and show you how to use them

Written by Kenny Hemphill

We’re now a year and a half into a pandemic, and with many of us still working remotely, the overarching theme of iOS 15 is communication. What may be a surprise – although perhaps not, given that this is Apple — is that the communication is social, rather than business focused.

As with macOS Monterey, the chief beneficiary of the iOS update is FaceTime. And, just like on the Mac, FaceTime in iOS gets SharePlay (although not until later in the year in an update to iOS 15), Grid View, and the ability to invite friends who don’t own Apple devices to join the conversation. Elsewhere, several of the other new features are the same as those on the Mac. So there’s a new Focus mode and Live Text. And, of course, the new iCloud+ features – Private Relay and Hide My Email – are incorporated into iOS 15.

There are some iOS-only new features too, including revamped notifications, which now look better and can be delivered en masse to a schedule you set. Read on to dig deep into iOS 15.

Which devices will work with

iOS 15?

The good news is that if your iPhone was compatible with iOS 14, it will run iOS 15. The list of devices on which Apple supports iOS 15 is identical to those for iOS 14. However, there is a caveat. Some features, such as Live Text and on-device Siri processing, need at least an A12 Bionic processor. In effect, that means iPhones made in 2018, such as the XR and XS, along with the iPhone 11 and 12 ranges, and the second-gen iPhone SE.

Here’s the full list of compatible devices

iPhone 12

iPhone 12 mini

iPhone 12 Pro

iPhone 12 Pro Max

iPhone 11

iPhone 11 Pro

iPhone 11 Pro Max

iPhone XS

iPhone XS Max

iPhone XR

iPhoneX

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 (seventh generation)

FaceTime, Messages and Memoji

FaceTime gets a social boost with SharePlay, photos are better in Messages, and there are new Memoji accessories

What’s new in FaceTime

What’s new in Messages

The headline new feature in FaceTime is SharePlay, which enables you to hold watching or listening parties on group calls with friends. When you watch a movie or TV programme, playback and controls are synced, and when someone on the call speaks, the video volume dips. SharePlay also enables you to share your screen with others on the call. However, SharePlay won’t be available at launch as planned and will now appear as an update.

Grid View enables you to see participants tiled on the screen, and spatial audio makes it sound like a person’s voice is coming from their position on screen. Portrait mode allows you to blur your background, and you can now invite friends who don’t have an Apple device, by sending them a link that opens the call in a web browser.

Portrait mode allows you to blur the background in FaceTime, so you can hide that messy bedroom.

When multiple images are sent in a Message, they are now stacked like cards and you can swipe through them.

What’s new in Memoji

Memoji have become hugely popular since they were first introduced on the iPhone X, both in their animated form, where they change as your facial expression changes, and as stickers. In iOS 15, Apple has added customisable outfits in up to three different colours, accessibility options such as cochlear implants, oxygen tubes and soft helmets, and multi-coloured headwear. There are also new stickers that enable you to send gestures such as a hand wave or light bulb moment, and you can now select a different colour for each eye. There are also new options for spectacles including heart-and star-shaped glasses.

Animated Memoji can be used in FaceTime or Messages – where you create a video of up to 30 seconds to send to a recipient – and Memoji Stickers can be used in any app that takes text input.

Memoji now has additional options for spectacles, as well as new gestures and clothing.

Messages got a hefty upgrade in iOS 14, and this time around the changes are more modest. Links, images and other content sent to you in Messages now appear in a Shared with You section in the relevant app.

For example, if the content is an Apple News story, it appears in Apple News. If it’s a web link, it will appear in Safari. And multiple photos sent in a message are now stacked. You can swipe through them, tap to view them as a grid, or save them to your Photos Library. The animation when you swipe through images is reminiscent of riffling through a deck of cards – emphasised by the rounded rectangular shape of the images. It’s a much more elegant way to deal with multiple photos than displaying them one above the other as they are sent.