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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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Automotive

Mercedes-Benz holds a Welcome Home campaign to celebrate 140 years

Get freebies and discounts from now until the end of July.

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June 22, 2026

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Mercedes-Benz has been an important part of Filipino car culture. Stylized as the “Chedeng,” the brand’s cars are still worthy choices today. Now, to celebrate their 140th anniversary, Mercedes-Benz is launching the Welcome Home Campaign, offering treats and discounts for Filipino drivers.

From now until the end of June, new Mercedes-Benz owners can get an exclusive 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen Replica. The limited-edition replica represents the history of brand’s innovations in the motoring space.

Similarly, until the end of the month, interested customers can start their Benz journey for downpayments as low as PhP 140,000. Discounted prices, however, will go on until the end of July:

MODEL
Original Price
Discounted Price
CLA 200 Progressive
PhP 3,990,000
PhP 3,490,000
C 180 Avantgarde
PhP 3,990,000
PhP 2,990,000
GLB 200 AMG Line
PhP 4,590,000
PhP 4,090,000
GLC 200 4MATIC
PhP 5,190,000
PhP 4,690,000
EQB 250+ Electric Art
PhP 4,290,000
PhP 4,090,000
EQE 300 Electric Art Sedan
PhP 5,590,000
PhP 3,990,000
EQE 350+ AMG Line Sedan
PhP 6,290,000
PhP 4,690,000
EQS 450 4MATIC AMG Line Sedan
PhP 9,990,000
PhP 7,490,000
Mercedes-AMG CLA 35 4MATIC
PhP 5,719,000
PhP 5,519,000
Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 4MATIC
PhP 5,719,000
PhP 5,219,000

 

If you already own a Chedeng, Mercedes-Benz will show some love by offering special aftersales initiatives throughout the campaign period. Additionally, there will be more roadshow activations happening the entire year to showcase the latest in the Benz lineup.

Finally, if you have a Chedeng story of your own, Mercedes-Benz is inviting long-time fans to share their stories on social media by tagging the official Mercedes-Benz Philippines account and using the hashtags #Chedeng and #140YearsofInnovation. Featured users can win exclusive Benz merchandise.

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Gaming

Ubisoft co-founder dies in plane crash

Claude Guillemot was one of five brothers that founded Ubisoft.

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June 22, 2026

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Yasuke, Naoe

Claude Guillemot, one of the four co-founders of Ubisoft, has died last week in a plane crash. He was 69 years old.

As reported via Bloomberg, Guillemot died alongside the plane’s other passenger. They both died in La Baule in France.

Regardless of how you feel about the company today, Ubisoft is still an undeniable reason why RPGs are so popular. In 1984, Guillemot started the company with his four brothers. Since then, it’s become a household name for gaming. Its portfolio includes Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, Anno, and Far Cry. Despite the prolific resume, the company is currently struggling to recreate the magic that made it so popular over a decade ago. Its current efforts include remaking Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, which launches next month.

Though Claude might not be your first thought when thinking of Ubisoft, the company is still owned by the family, headed by his brother Yves. Claude, however, was the chairman of Guillemot Corp.

“Ubisoft was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the group and chairman of Guillemot Corp., in an accident. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. No further statements will be made at this time,” Ubisoft said about his passing.

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News

No new CMF phones this year, Nothing confirms

But Nothing still has a phone scheduled later this year.

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June 22, 2026

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For the past few years, Nothing kept launching smartphone after smartphone. Further, every new iteration felt like a reinvention, rather than just a modest upgrade. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, including Nothing’s streak. This year, after announcing that we won’t get a Phone (4), Nothing has announced that CMF is also skipping 2026 for a hopefully better 2027.

Now, whenever there’s bad news about delayed phone launches, there’s only one culprit. The ongoing RAM crisis is wreaking havoc across the entire industry. Because of the AI industry’s desperate need to stockpile chips, consumer-friendly devices find themselves with a scarcity of components, leading to delays or price increases.

Recently, in a moment of transparency, Nothing’s Akis Evangelidis confirms that CMF will not launch a new phone this year. Citing more of the same, he says that “with memory prices where they are right now, we can’t build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF.”

As a tease, Evangelidis did say that the brand is currently working on a sequel to the CMF Phone 2 Pro. Unfortunately, it’s going to take longer for the phone to come out.

All that said, there is a silver lining. Evangelidis concludes the announcement by also confirming that Nothing still has something up its sleeve. “The smartphone launch season at Nothing isn’t over yet,” he said.

This is a huge deal. Previously, Nothing’s Carl Pei said that the Phone (4) isn’t coming out this year. Even with the Phone (4a)’s launch already done and dusted, the brand still has something left in the tank.

SEE ALSO: Nothing Phone (4a) + (4a) Pro review

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