News

iOS 15 brings focus, privacy, and more

Coming this fall

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iOS 15

WWDC 21 showcased plenty of the stuff coming to iOS 15. We already went in detail about what’s new on FaceTime. But here’s quick rundown of every other improvement on the smartphone OS.

Find Focus

Focus helps users filter notifications to reduce distractions, using a custom Focus or a suggested Focus like Work or Sleep. It uses on-device intelligence to suggest which people and apps are allowed to notify them.

Focus suggestions are based on users’ context, like during their work hours or while they’re winding down for bed, and when Focus is set on one Apple device, it automatically applies to their other Apple devices.

When a user’s Focus is blocking incoming notifications, their status is automatically displayed to others in Messages, reflecting that a user is not currently reachable.

New Notifications

Notifications have a new look with larger icons for apps to make them easier to identify. There’s also a new notification summary. It collects non-time-critical notifications for delivery at a more opportune time to reduce distractions.

This also uses on-device intelligence to determine the most relevant notifications based on a user’s interactions with apps. Urgent messages will be delivered immediately, so important communications will not end up in the summary.

It’s also easy to temporarily mute any app or messaging thread for the next hour or for the day.

Google Lens-like image to text capture

Named Live Text, the feature will recognize text in a photo and allow users to take action. You can take quick snap of some notes, phone numbers, and practically anything with a text on it, then Live Text will bring up actions relevant to what you captured.

Phone numbers will bring up an option to call, text will bring the option to copy the text, and Visual Look-Up will bring up information about what your camera is pointing at.

Better Spotlight

Used in conjunction with Live Text, Spotlight can now search photos by location, people, scenes, or objects. It now also offers web image search and all-new rich results for actors, musicians, TV shows, and movies.

Speaking of photos, the Photos app now has a new-look and vastly improved Memories feature. You can now pick which song will play for a particular memory collection from your Apple Music library.

Better Apple Maps

Details for cities for neighborhoods, commercial districts, elevation, and buildings have been enhanced. These include new road colors and labels, custom-designed landmarks, and a new night-time mode with a moonlit glow.

When navigating using iPhone or CarPlay, Maps features a three-dimensional city-driving experience with new road details that help users better see and understand important details like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks.

Transit riders can find nearby stations more easily and pin favorite lines. Maps automatically follows along with a selected transit route, notifying users when it’s nearly time to disembark, and riders can even keep track on Apple Watch.

New Privacy features

Siri requests is now processed entirely on iPhone by default with on-device speech recognition.

Mail Privacy Protection stops senders from learning whether an email has been opened, and hides IP addresses so senders can’t learn a user’s location or use it to build a profile on them.

App Privacy Report offers an overview of how apps use the access that has been granted to location, photos, camera, microphone, and contacts in the last seven days, and which other domains are contacted.

More Notes App functions

Notes adds user-created tags that make it easy to quickly categorize notes in line with relevant content. Mentions allow members of shared notes to notify one another of important updates. Additionally, an all-new Activity view shows the recent history of a shared note.

iOS 15 is coming this fall to the following 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, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone SE (1st Gen), iPhone SE (2nd Gen), iPod Touch (7th Gen).

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News

Apple reportedly gives up on the Vision Pro

But Apple will continue to sell the current model.

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April 30, 2026

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When they unveiled the Vision Pro in 2023, Apple touted the wearable as the next big thing after the iPhone. Now, almost three years removed from the launch, the Vision Pro hasn’t really taken over the coveted spot occupied by the iPhone. Apple, according to a report, is allegedly canning the short-lived wearable.

According to MacRumors, Apple has reportedly given up on making the Vision Pro a thing. The team handling the wearable has supposedly been subsumed by other teams within Apple.

If true, the wearable’s end is unfortunate but not surprising. Despite being out for years, the Vision Pro has sold only a little more than half a million units with numerous returns from customers. Most recently, Apple updated the wearable with the M5 chip, but the move hasn’t revitalized the device’s status in Apple’s lineup.

Most of the complaints about the device stem from its exorbitant price or its cumbersome battery pack. Besides costing a whopping US$ 3,499, the Vision Pro is also difficult to move around with, especially because of its total weight and a battery pack that can get in the way.

To be clear, Apple has not officially discontinued the Vision Pro yet. The company continues to sell the version with the M5 chip. Apple can also restart development in the future.

However, the meantime retirement on future development does coincide with the recent restructuring inside the company. Tim Cook recently decided to step down as CEO with John Ternus as his replacement. Canning the Vision Pro might be Ternus’ first step in redefining Apple according to his plans.

SEE ALSO: Apple Vision Pro gets M5 chip upgrade

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Apps

YouTube makes picture-in-picture mode free for everyone globally

The update is rolling out globally now.

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April 30, 2026

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Picture-in-picture (or PiP) mode is a godsend for multitaskers. The feature lets users watch videos in a tiny floating window while doing other tasks. However, the feature isn’t readily available for all users. Or wasn’t, at least. YouTube is now rolling out PiP mode for free globally.

Previously, PiP mode was exclusive to YouTube users who pay for Premium or Premium Lite. It was also exclusive to the United States.

Now, YouTube is making the feature completely free for users all over the globe. It will be available for both iOS and Android versions of the app.

There’s still a catch, though. The free version is available only for “longform, non-music content.” The same goes for Premium Lite subscribers. Music is still an exclusive feature for those who pay for the regular version of Premium. Basically, there is no change for paying users or users in the United States.

Using PiP mode is simple. All you need to do is load up a video you want to watch in the background. Then, just exit the YouTube app and go about your other tasks. The video will be inside a floating, resizable window while you look at other things.

There’s no timeline on when the update will reach your device. However, YouTube has promised that it will roll out globally within the coming months.

SEE ALSO: YouTube remains top PH video platform; advertisers urged to continue investing

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Enterprise

OnePlus has reportedly merged with realme

Both brands were previously rumored for restructuring early this year.

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April 30, 2026

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OnePlus 13

OnePlus has a problem. For a while now, rumors have swirled about the company’s dissolution. For their part, the company has continued to deny the reports, citing business as usual. Likely to their dismay, the reports just keep coming. Today, sources have hinted that OnePlus has merged with realme.

Back in January, it was rumored that OnePlus would be closing up shop this year. Since the company very quickly denied the rumors, the report hardly made waves. However, a suspected merger with realme is more difficult to debunk.

For one, realme is itself in a very interesting position. Also back in January, realme was reportedly moving back into being a sub-brand of OPPO. Coupled together with the OnePlus debacle, all this internal restructuring seems par for the course.

According to Digital Chat Station on Weibo, OnePlus and realme have already concluded the merger. The two brands have reportedly united their Chinese and international operations under one roof. Likewise, their marketing will be the same. Pete Lau will still be the main head for this new division.

As with anything of this nature, take this with a grain of salt. OPPO, OnePlus, and realme have not issued any official statements concerning a merger or a shutdown for any brand.

SEE ALSO: realme is reportedly going back to being an OPPO sub-brand

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