After teasing the release of iOS and iPadOS 15.4 at the Apple event on March 8, the time has now come. In Cupertino, the switch was flipped and the update was released – the files are already online for installation via iTunes, OTA it sometimes takes a few more minutes. Version 15.4 brings a lot of new features, which we would like to summarize for you at this point.
Probably the most helpful change is the ability to train Face ID with a mask. From now on, your smartphone will also let you in in public facilities or when shopping without having to enter a code. Apple Watch owners have long been able to unlock without a code. Incidentally, Face ID with a mask works system-wide, i.e. also in banking apps, etc.
iOS 15 .4 also brings visual lookup, a kind of counterpart to Google Lens. You can recognize the function by the highlighted “i”. If you tap on it, you can see what the iPhone recognized in the picture. If you work with automation, you should be happy that personal automation can also run silently if you wish. You will therefore no longer necessarily receive a notification.
Those of you who have been vaccinated may use the CovPass or Corona Warn app to save the vaccination certificates. This is now also possible natively with 15.4. The camera recognizes the certificates and can store them in the wallet and Apple Health if desired.
Do you use password management within the iCloud keychain? If that’s the case, then you should be happy that you’ll soon be able to attach notes to the passwords to have more details about them.
Emoji friends will also be pleased to know that the 37 new emojis from Unicode 14 are on board. You now have even more possibilities to enrich your texts with small pictures.
Another new feature is that you can integrate your own mail domain directly into the Mail app within iOS. To do this, visit Settings -> Apple ID -> iCloud -> Mail -> My Email Domain and you can walk through the process. iOS 15 .4 also brings a lot of other minor innovations and of course bug fixes. The update can now be downloaded via the settings. Apple Watch wearers also have the option to download watchOS 8.5.
FaceID
- Face ID can also be used to unlock iPhone 12 or later while wearing a mask.
- Apple Pay and password autofill in apps and Safari can be used with Face ID while wearing a mask.
Emoji
- New emojis such as faces, hand gestures, and household objects are now available through the emoji keyboard.
- Different skin colors can be selected for each hand in the handshake emoji.
FaceTime
- SharePlay sessions can be started directly from supported apps.
Siri
- On iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and iPhone 11 or later, Siri can also set the date and time offline.
Vaccination Cards
- Health supports the EU’s digital COVID certificate, making it possible to load and save verifiable versions of COVID-19 vaccinations, lab results and proof of recovery.
- COVID-19 vaccination cards in Apple Wallet now support the format of the EU COVID digital certificate.
This version also includes the following improvements for your iPhone:
- Added Italian and Chinese (Traditional) to the web page translation feature in Safari.
- In the Podcasts app, episodes can now be filtered by season, played, unplayed, saved, or downloaded episodes.
- Custom email domains in iCloud can be managed from Settings.
- The camera in the keyboard can add text to Notes and Reminders.
- The Shortcuts app now supports adding, removing, or querying tags with Reminders.
- The option “Call by holding” in Emergency SOS settings now applies to all users. “Press 5 times” can still be selected in Emergency SOS settings.
- On iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, Close-up in Magnifier uses the ultra-wide camera, so you can see even the smallest objects in the big picture.
- Saved passwords can now contain your own notes in Settings.
Also, this version fixes the following bugs on iPhone:
- The keyboard may insert a period between two entered numbers.
- Photos and videos may not sync to iCloud Photo Library.
- The Speak Screen accessibility feature may exit unexpectedly in the Books app.
- The Live Monitoring feature may not turn off if turned off in Control Center.