Apple is hosting its WWDC conference today and the company has announced software updates to many of its products.Not all that surprising, the company has announced the next version of iOS and it will be called iOS 14.

When it comes to iOS updates, these changes impact a billion users. Much like Windows, this means changes have to be cautionary and don’t take huge risks as the established user-base typically doesn’t react well to big updates. That being said, here is what Apple has on the agenda for iOS 14

Here are the highlights:

• Widgets are getting revamped and can now be added to the home screen
• Picture-in-Picture mode will let you play video on any screen and swipe to the side to have the audio continue to play without the video being present
• A new translate app makes it easier to translate voice and text
• Messages you can now pin messages to the top of your message list
  • There are now in-line threaded replies for group texts
  • You can also @mention people in the thread as well
• There is a new app tool that will auto organize your apps into frequently used or recently downloaded
• Apple Maps is getting a sizeable update to make it easier to find content around you.
  • New tools to find bicycle lanes, EV routing, congestion zones, and more.
• CarPlay gets a new Car Key features where your phone can unlock your car
• App Clips let you access features of an app without having to download it – you can pay for services in an APP Clip without having to download it.

iOS 14 will arrive later this year and you can expect a few beta releases to arrive this summer. That being said, if these betas are like anything in the past, you may want to avoid the early iterations as they typically will drain the battery much faster than the current iOS 13 release.

Tagged with Apple, iOS 14