It’s that time of year again. 🍎 As predictable as the rise and fall of the Sun, September again saw the newest version of the iPhone released. The iPhone 13 series of phones are already on the shelves, and iOS 15 is available for installation on all iPhones from the 6s onward.
There are a lot of incremental updates in iOS 15, but there are also some brand-new features that we love.
iCloud+
Apple has rolled out a new subscription-based version of iCloud. You can upgrade to the new iCloud+ from any Apple device. There are three plans available: 50GB ($0.99/month), 200GB ($2.99/month), and 2TB($9.99/month).
Why do we love it? iCloud+ has a couple of new features focused on security and privacy.
iCloud Private Relay
Added to Safari is a new feature called iCloud Private Relay. This acts almost like a VPN in that any web browsing done through Safari sends your requests through two separate and secure internet relays.
The first relay is operated by Apple, where your DNS records are encrypted, preventing your ISP as well as Apple from seeing the website you are visiting. The second relay is through a third-party provider, where a temporary IP address is generated. The name of the website you are visiting is then decrypted, and you are connected.
We appreciate Apple’s unwavering commitment to the privacy of its users, and this is a game-changer for those who prefer private browsing. This feature is optional, so to use it, you need to enable it by simply opening Safari, going to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Private Relay.
Hide My Email
Furthering the theme of privacy and security, Apple now gives iCloud+ users the ability to keep their email addresses private by generating fake email addresses when filling out sign-up forms online. These fake email addresses will still forward messages to your primary email, so you will not be missing anything, but it achieves the goal of keeping your actual email address private.
The way it works is simple. When you are on a website filling out a sign-up form, you will see “Hide My Email” at the top right of the keyboard when you are in the email field. Pressing this will generate an email address to use for the website.
A window will pop up with the generated email address and a label that will list the URL for which this email address is used. There’s also a note field to optionally give yourself more information about this email for later reference. For more information on this feature, visit this link at Apple Support.
Read: How to Create a Human Firewall at Your Business and Why You Need One
It’s simple, secure, and helps maintain your privacy. With all of the cyber threats around today, it's a good idea to put this in practice to protect yourself and even your business from email-based attacks.
Read: 5 Ways to Protect Your Email Accounts
Wallet Enhancements
In addition to iCloud+ and its new features, Apple has added some great new features to the Wallet app in iOS 15. Apple had already added the ability to use your phone as a car key on select models, but now you can also add your house keys if you have smart locks, as well as the ability to add hotel keys and office security cards.
Of course, the usefulness of this feature remains to be seen until we see which lock manufacturers and hotels will support the feature. Still, companies tend to be more than willing to work with Apple, so there is a lot of promise here.
Read: Data Breaches Everywhere - What you Need to Know
Live Text
*This is really useful!* Live text is fantastic and incredibly useful. This new iOS 15 feature lets you take a photo of any document—or anything containing text, really—and the text from the image is recognized as text in the picture itself. You simply go to the photo after taking it, and any text can be highlighted to then copy, lookup, or even translate right from the image. Wow!
If the text in the image happens to be a phone number, it will be recognized, and pressing it will launch the phone app to place a call. When the text is an address, tapping it will open Apple Maps with that location. This is a nice enhancement that saves some time when you’re in a rush.
Final Thoughts
Each year as the fall season nears, the anticipation of what is upcoming from Apple builds. Some years the payoff is somewhat underwhelming. However, this year, we think Apple knocked it out of the park with the latest and greatest iPhone operating system. iOS 15 is packed with new features to enhance an already rock-solid OS.
Well done, Apple.
If your business uses Apple products, Blueteam Networks can help you manage and secure those devices. Get in touch today for more information!
