Apple announces ‘App Library,’ new iMessage features, and more in iOS 14

Apple finally unveiled its latest update to the iPhone’s operating system, iOS 14, on Monday during its online-only Worldwide Developers Conference.

And while the final version of the OS won’t be available until September, the company did discuss its new features. From a new iMessage app and Home Screen widgets to an App Library and Translate app, here’s everything that’s coming to iOS 14. 

App Library

Located at the end of your Home Screen page, the App Library automatically organizes all your apps into different categories like Social, Productivity, Entertainment, and more. That way, you can see all of your apps in one place.

That also means that you can hide your Home Screen pages, and simply access all of your apps using the library instead. 

There’s also a search field function, so you can easily find the app you’re looking for rather than having to scroll through several pages to find it. If that’s not enough, the App Library will also display your most recently added apps along with suggestions for the ones you use most.

Maps

Maps will now offer Guides for suggestions on places to eat, and spots to sightsee wherever you are. You can save Guides to refer back to later and they’ll also update when new places are added so your recommendations will always stay fresh. 

With iOS 14, Apple is introducing a new Cycling experience with a dedicated section on Maps. Users can ride their bike along bike lanes, paths, and roads listed in the app. It now also takes elevation into account as well as if the bike passage is steep, busy, or if you’ll have to carry your bike up the stairs. The new feature will also allow you to avoid any places that require carrying your bike.

Maps is also getting an electric vehicle routing feature (for those who are environmentally friendly), which tracks your car’s current charge, and factors in weather and charging stations along your route. Additionally, congestion and green zones will be added as well as any alternate routes to take based.

For those of you trying to avoid speeding tickets, the “Speed cameras” feature will notify you when you’re approaching one, in addition to red-light cameras throughout your route. You can also view where these individual cameras are located on the map, so that you know when to avoid them ahead of time.

Widgets

Rather than having to swipe over to the “Today” tab on your iPhone, you can now place Widgets on the home screen, with the option to choose from widgets like Screen Time and Siri Suggestions to Shortcuts and Files. 

These widgets come in a variety of sizes so you can pick the amount of information you want for each one. It’s as easy as dragging it out of the “Today” section and on to the home screen. You can stack up to 10 widgets on top of one another to optimize space on your home screen.

The Widget gallery also offers a feature called “Smart Stack.” Using on-device intelligence, it curates a particular widget for that time of day. For example, you’ll see the Calendar app in the morning for an overview of what you have planned for the day, and Apple Maps in the evening for your commute home.

Less distracting calls

Currently, whenever you receive a call on your iPhone or iPad, it takes up the entire display. With iOS 14, both phone calls and FaceTime calls will appear as banners (similar to other notifications like texts) at the top of the screen. To expand the call options, you’ll have to swipe down. And to ignore the call, you just swipe up. 

Picture-in-Picture  

With Picture-in-Picture, you can watch a YouTube video and scroll through Twitter or take a FaceTime call simultaneously. Simply pinch to resize the video, drag it to any corner of the screen, or swipe it to the side and continue to listen to the audio. 

CarKey

With CarPlay, Apple is “rethinking car keys.” The company has introduced a digital version that allows you to unlock and start your car with your iPhone. It uses NFC and all you have to do is tap to unlock. 

You’ll also be able to turn off your keys remotely, using iCloud, and share the keys from wherever you are using iMessage. Of course, if you’re sharing with your teens, you can also take advantage of the driving restrictions feature. 

In addition to iOS 14, Apple will be enabling the feature in iOS 13. As of right now, however, the feature is only compatible with the BMW 2021 5 Series with expanded options coming next year.

Translate

iOS 14 includes a new app called “Translate,” which allows you to download specific languages to use even when you don’t have an internet connection. It currently supports 11 languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, French, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Arabic. 

In conversation mode, when you turn the phone  sideways into landscape orientation, the app will provide a split-screen view to show text from both sides of the conversation. When you tap the microphone button and say something out loud, it will detect the language you’re speaking in and translate it for both parties. 

There’s also voice translation mode, which works similar to conversation mode but gives you translated text and audio in your desired language.

iMessage

Finally, we have some new (and useful) iMessage features.

For starters, you can now pin conversations at the top of iMessage rather than having to scroll through all the conversations you have going at once. If you pinned a conversation in a group chat, you’ll also be able to see the three most recent people who have responded. You can have up to nine pinned conversations in total, which will sync across all platforms, including iPadOS and MacOS.

Then, there’s the mentions feature which allows you to tag an individual person in a group chat so that they receive notifications. You’ll also be able to customize specific group chats you’re part of to only receive notifications when you’re mentioned.

Additionally, iOS 14 includes inline replies which allow you to directly reply to a specific message in the group chat to create a thread. That way, all of your messages are neatly organized and easy to follow. 

Apple has thrown in some new Memoji features, too, including more age options, expressions, hairstyles, headwear, and face coverings (like a face mask, to really match your current look).

App Clips

With App Clips, you can use features from an app without having to download the full app. It’s accessible when you need to use it in that moment, but doesn’t have to live on your phone afterwards.

The feature’s compatible with QR codes, NFC, iMessage, and Apple Pay, so you don’t have to constantly enter your information to download the particular Clip each time.

Third-party app settings

One feature that Apple didn’t touch on during the keynote but is very exciting for those of you who don’t prefer Apple’s native apps: The ability to set a third-party web browser or email app. So, for me, that’ll be Google Chrome instead of Safari and Gmail instead of Apple Mail. 

But don’t get too excited. As mentioned before, the final version of iOS 14 won’t be available until September. However, if you’re impatient, you can always download the public beta when it launches in July.