Apple iOS 14 beta - All new features and review
So iOS 14 is here. Well, it'll be here this fall, but it's announced and developers can try it right now plus there's going to be a public beta in July.
So when you do get to install it, your iPhone is going to look totally the same and it's gotta look the same 'cause Apple's not gonna move your stuff around on your home screen.
But Apple is finally changing what you can do on your home screen.
Is it a little bit more like Android or Windows Phone?
Is it a little bit more like Android or Windows Phone?
Yes, there are widgets that you can put right on your home screen and there is this app drawer.
They call it an app library thing but it's also different.
Also Checkout:
Check out the new main features of iOS 14 Beta below:
So obviously the big headline news is widgets. You can put them wherever you want on any home screen.
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1. Widgets
So obviously the big headline news is widgets. You can put them wherever you want on any home screen.
They're not just trapped in this vertically scrolling today view that you have right now.
I still have the today view actually but now you can put them anywhere, you can intersperse them with your icons and your folders.
I still have the today view actually but now you can put them anywhere, you can intersperse them with your icons and your folders.
So it's just like Android, except not really for a couple of reasons.
The first reason is, I just think these widgets look better than Android widgets, and widgets they're not that well supported.
The first reason is, I just think these widgets look better than Android widgets, and widgets they're not that well supported.
And I don't know, I just have a sense that these are all gonna just be a little bit nicer on the iPhone.
The other reason I don't think it's like Android is because it's more like Windows Phone.
The other reason I don't think it's like Android is because it's more like Windows Phone.
All of these widgets basically come in three different sizes, small, medium, and large.
They all sort of fit into rectangles or squares which means that they fit into a grid that feels a lot more like a lifestyle home screen Windows Phone than an Android home screen does.
You can't just put an icon on the bottom of your Home screen like you can on Android.
They all sort of fit into rectangles or squares which means that they fit into a grid that feels a lot more like a lifestyle home screen Windows Phone than an Android home screen does.
You can't just put an icon on the bottom of your Home screen like you can on Android.
Because Apple apparently hates people having their icons or they can reach them more easily with their thumb or, but hates people seeing you know their wallpapers.
So we should talk about the jiggly mode.
2. Jiggle Mode
So we should talk about the jiggly mode.
You long-press anywhere in the home screen to get into the jiggly mode and I'm saying jiggly mode.
Because that's officially what it's called now in my opinion because Apple itself called it jiggly mode.
In the keynote and when you're in a jiggly mode, you get the minus buttons as usual.
In the keynote and when you're in a jiggly mode, you get the minus buttons as usual.
And I'll get to those in a second but you also can tap this little plus button in the upper left-hand corner to get to the gallery of widgets.
You can search for them, you can tap on an app to see the available sizes for those apps, widgets and then you can grab one of them with a long press, drag it out and then move it anywhere you want, anywhere you want on your home screen.
But jiggly mode actually has one new really interesting feature.
You can search for them, you can tap on an app to see the available sizes for those apps, widgets and then you can grab one of them with a long press, drag it out and then move it anywhere you want, anywhere you want on your home screen.
3. Edit Pages
But jiggly mode actually has one new really interesting feature.
If you tap on the dots that represent all your different pages on your iPhone, it opens up a view of all of your pages on one screen and you can turn them on and off.
So you can uncheck them and then they aren't there scrolling on your iPhone or you can go back into jiggling mode, go back into those pages and turn them on.
So you can uncheck them and then they aren't there scrolling on your iPhone or you can go back into jiggling mode, go back into those pages and turn them on.
So in theory, you could have a page that's like, specifically for work and you turn it on when you're at work and then you uncheck it to turn it off for the weekend.
So you don't get out there when you're scrolling through your iPhone. You can do the same thing with social media apps if you're afraid you're gonna look at them too often. It's really, really clever.
The other thing you will love about Apple's widgets is you can stack them. You can have them all in a stack and swipe through them with your thumb to get to the one that you want.
Now, this does mean that developers have to redo their widgets so the old widgets that you currently have in your today view won't automatically work on the home screen.
And that's for battery life actually but it also brings up an interesting feature with these stacks.
There's a smart stack so when the App Maker remakes their widget, they're able to put a timeline on it that says, well, you should update my app at 4:25, there's a storm coming and it's really, really important.
So that smart stack will look at all the widgets in the stack and see which one thinks it's most important and then float that one to the really clever top.
The bigger change for the iPhone is this thing called the app library.
On Android, there have historically been two places where your apps could show up.
So you don't get out there when you're scrolling through your iPhone. You can do the same thing with social media apps if you're afraid you're gonna look at them too often. It's really, really clever.
4. Smart Stack
The other thing you will love about Apple's widgets is you can stack them. You can have them all in a stack and swipe through them with your thumb to get to the one that you want.
Now, this does mean that developers have to redo their widgets so the old widgets that you currently have in your today view won't automatically work on the home screen.
And that's for battery life actually but it also brings up an interesting feature with these stacks.
There's a smart stack so when the App Maker remakes their widget, they're able to put a timeline on it that says, well, you should update my app at 4:25, there's a storm coming and it's really, really important.
So that smart stack will look at all the widgets in the stack and see which one thinks it's most important and then float that one to the really clever top.
5. App Library
The bigger change for the iPhone is this thing called the app library.
On Android, there have historically been two places where your apps could show up.
There's the home screen where all you know, you rearrange all your apps and put them in folders and put widgets there and whatever.
And then Android also has the app drawer which is usually just an alphabetical listing of all of your apps.
So Apple is now doing the same thing.
And then Android also has the app drawer which is usually just an alphabetical listing of all of your apps.
So Apple is now doing the same thing.
Your apps might not be on your home screen if you choose not to put them there.
They might instead be in the app library or in both places like Android.
So that is a bit of complication that wasn't really there before on the iPhone.
Now the app library the way Apple implemented it, it's interesting.
So that is a bit of complication that wasn't really there before on the iPhone.
Now the app library the way Apple implemented it, it's interesting.
You can swipe down to get an alphabetical list of all of your apps if you just wanna find something that way or Apple puts them in these little categories and it figures out on its own.
So there are suggestions in the upper left and that is four apps that Apple thinks you might wanna launch and I don't know, we'll see how accurate that is, often it's not.
There's a recently added box for all the apps that you've just installed and then the rest are just categories that Apple decided on. I think they're based on the store categories.
I don't love them.
So there are suggestions in the upper left and that is four apps that Apple thinks you might wanna launch and I don't know, we'll see how accurate that is, often it's not.
There's a recently added box for all the apps that you've just installed and then the rest are just categories that Apple decided on. I think they're based on the store categories.
I don't love them.
So for example, my WiFi utility app, eero is in the lifestyle category for some reason, the Apple Store is in the lifestyle category which I guess makes sense.
But the productivity category has my banking apps which I don't love and you can't actually customize any of this.
And so it's not so much that Apple stole this idea from Android as they kind of stole it from Samsung because Samsung has an app store.
And so it's not so much that Apple stole this idea from Android as they kind of stole it from Samsung because Samsung has an app store.
But they kind of try and customize it for you with all these little categories and it's just a little bit too confusing.
We'll see how this goes. I think that eventually, you'll learn where your stuff is and if you can't remember where your stuff is, well guess what, you can put it on your home screen.
The interface is also interesting because it shows three big icons and then little icons and they do different things depending on if you tap on it if you just tap on one of the big icons.
We'll see how this goes. I think that eventually, you'll learn where your stuff is and if you can't remember where your stuff is, well guess what, you can put it on your home screen.
The interface is also interesting because it shows three big icons and then little icons and they do different things depending on if you tap on it if you just tap on one of the big icons.
It doesn't open a folder it opens the whole app which is surprising.
If you tap on the little icons, you get a listing of everything inside that category but there's no obvious way to get out of it.
You have to know to sort of tap on a blank space on the screen or swipe up to go back just like going home.
If you tap on the little icons, you get a listing of everything inside that category but there's no obvious way to get out of it.
You have to know to sort of tap on a blank space on the screen or swipe up to go back just like going home.
So the app library is fascinating to me because it is the first real-time that Apple has added real complexity to the iPhone home screen.
App Clips, these are just like instant apps on Android.
They're little baby versions of an app that you don't technically like go through the full Apple Store install process.
You can install just a little baby version of the app on the fly when you need it and then it sits there inside your app library.
6. App Clips
App Clips, these are just like instant apps on Android.
They're little baby versions of an app that you don't technically like go through the full Apple Store install process.
You can install just a little baby version of the app on the fly when you need it and then it sits there inside your app library.
The little dotted line around it and eventually goes away or if you want the full version of the app, you can tap on the app clip, and then you can install the full version of the app from the App Store.
The idea behind it is actually really clever.
The idea behind it is actually really clever.
Sometimes you wanna do a thing that only an app can do but you just don't want the whole damn app sitting there on your phone forever.
So a good example of this is if you're renting a smart scooter or paying for parking.
So a good example of this is if you're renting a smart scooter or paying for parking.
I don't know I go to a random city, they have their own custom parking app. I don't, I'm gonna, I don't want that app.
I'm gonna delete it. I'm gonna forget to delete it. I'm gonna be annoyed and might track me and I don't know.
Just having an app clip for that thing is really smart but I don't know how much use this thing is actually going to get.
Because if you think about it, you've got web pages for stuff that you just wanna look at and you want to go away pretty much right away and you got apps for things that you wanna be permanent.
And App Clips live in the middle for things that can do things that webpages can but you don't want them to stick around like full apps.
Just having an app clip for that thing is really smart but I don't know how much use this thing is actually going to get.
Because if you think about it, you've got web pages for stuff that you just wanna look at and you want to go away pretty much right away and you got apps for things that you wanna be permanent.
And App Clips live in the middle for things that can do things that webpages can but you don't want them to stick around like full apps.
And I just don't know how many things live in that middle zone like parking meters, renting scooters, maybe you know paying for like certain things or like a, I don't know, amusement park app or something but really that's about it.
You install them using QR codes or NFC codes or maybe it'll be some custom URLs.
You install them using QR codes or NFC codes or maybe it'll be some custom URLs.
But we'll have to see just how much developers really adopt this kind of thing because on Android it's sort of been seen that many of them.
Alright, so let's review the ways that I think Apple has made the iPhone home screen more complicated in iOS 14.
There are widgets that you can put anywhere on the home screen and you can scroll through them into little stacks that might algorithmically try and figure out which one should go at the top at any given moment.
There's the new jiggly mode which lets you go to the app pages view and turn app pages on or off if you don't wanna have to see them at a certain time of day or whatever.
There's the app library which means that your apps are potentially in two different places, the home screen or the app library and your home screen folders in your app library folders work a little bit differently.
7. iOS 14 is finally complicated
Alright, so let's review the ways that I think Apple has made the iPhone home screen more complicated in iOS 14.
There are widgets that you can put anywhere on the home screen and you can scroll through them into little stacks that might algorithmically try and figure out which one should go at the top at any given moment.
There's the new jiggly mode which lets you go to the app pages view and turn app pages on or off if you don't wanna have to see them at a certain time of day or whatever.
There's the app library which means that your apps are potentially in two different places, the home screen or the app library and your home screen folders in your app library folders work a little bit differently.
And last but not least there are App Clips which is a whole new kind of app and you need to know what that means or what the dotted line around an icon means.
And that those apps might go away in 30 days if you don't use them. Oh, and there's actually one more complication.
There's now a setting for the home screen where you can go in and decide whether app badges show up in the app library and whether new apps show up on your home screen.
So that's a lot of complication and it probably sounds like I'm complaining about all that complication.
And that those apps might go away in 30 days if you don't use them. Oh, and there's actually one more complication.
There's now a setting for the home screen where you can go in and decide whether app badges show up in the app library and whether new apps show up on your home screen.
So that's a lot of complication and it probably sounds like I'm complaining about all that complication.
But I'm actually not and don't get me wrong, I can complain about complications on Apple's platforms.
I think that Apple has made the iPad way too complicated when it comes to selecting text or knowing what's going on when there are multiple windows especially multiple windows from the same app.
But on the iPhone, I think it's different and that's because the defaults on the iPhone are not complicated.
I think that Apple has made the iPad way too complicated when it comes to selecting text or knowing what's going on when there are multiple windows especially multiple windows from the same app.
But on the iPhone, I think it's different and that's because the defaults on the iPhone are not complicated.
You don't have to learn any of this stuff, the widgets, jiggly mode, even the app library you could ignore even though it's over there.
The defaults are still the classic grid that you're used to and you can just keep using your iPhone in the same old way that you always have.
So well Apple makes you understand the new iPad OS interface. They've made it more complicated. With the iPhone, Apple lets it get complicated.
You get to do this new stuff if you want to or you can ignore it. If you don't know me, obviously I'm a power user.
I wanna use all this new stuff and I'm really excited to try a bunch of it out and make this thing just feel a little bit more.
The defaults are still the classic grid that you're used to and you can just keep using your iPhone in the same old way that you always have.
So well Apple makes you understand the new iPad OS interface. They've made it more complicated. With the iPhone, Apple lets it get complicated.
You get to do this new stuff if you want to or you can ignore it. If you don't know me, obviously I'm a power user.
I wanna use all this new stuff and I'm really excited to try a bunch of it out and make this thing just feel a little bit more.
Like it's mine and a little bit more like it's customized to the way that I wanna use its smartphones.
And so it's great that I have that option but if you don't, I think it's also great that you don't have to.
Let me know what you think of the iOS 14 home screen stuff down in the comments. Keep visiting Qasimtricks to stay updated with the latest Apple updates.
Let me know what you think of the iOS 14 home screen stuff down in the comments. Keep visiting Qasimtricks to stay updated with the latest Apple updates.
