iOS 14 rethinks the home screen


iOS 14 will come with many changes to the OS and integrated applications, but the highlight seems to be changes to the home screen and interactions between core features.

The home screen will support embedded widgets, to display app data right on the main screen. For example, rather than click into the Activity app to see ring status, a 4 x 4 graphic can be displayed with this info on the home screen. Also new is an App Library feature that aims to wrangle many screens and folders of apps.

Messages get improvements around conversations. Of interest for those unwieldy group conversations, Messages will now support mentions to specific people and allow to mute conversations while providing notifications of mentions.

iOS 14 also brings some new privacy controls with planned improved documentation of data apps are using. Also, there's an interesting feature of allowing an app to use your location, but less precisely so as not to reveal your precise location.

Not specific to iOS, but AirPods will have what seems a great feature to seamlessly transfer to different devices. Currently, you have to select AirPods on a device to change its source, but Apple says they will now be able to change based on activity.

Like the other updates, iOS 14 will be available as a public beta in July and released in the fall.