iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 Gain New App Store, Find My, Contacts, Sleep, Game Center and Mail Widgets
The iOS and iPadOS 15 updates that were released today introduce several expanded widget options, which can be used on the Home Screen or in the Today section of the Notification Center on the iPhone and iPad.
Apple has created several new widgets for Apple products and services, as listed below:
- Find My - Track your friends and personal items from the Home Screen.
- Contacts - Includes options to call, Message, FaceTime, locate, or email contacts, and with Family Sharing, you can approve purchases or Screen Time requests from kids.
- Game Center - The Continue Playing widget shows recently played Game Center games, and a Friends Are Playing widget shows the games your friends are playing.
- App Store - The App Store widget displays stories, collections, and new in-app event options on the Home Screen.
- Sleep - Shows data about how you slept and lets you review your sleep schedule.
- Mail - Shows your latest email at a glance and offers up access to one of your mailboxes.
In iPadOS 15, widgets on the iPad mirror widgets on the iPhone and can be placed anywhere on the Home Screen for the first time, rather than being limited to a specific widget block.
Apple has also added a new Default widgets feature that shows a default layout with widgets from the apps you use most arranged in Smart Stacks, plus there are new intelligent widget selections.
Suggested widgets from the apps that you use will appear in your Smart Stack at the right time based on past app usage activity, and you can now reorder your Smart Stacks.
Popular Stories
Apple regularly releases new firmware for the AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, but the company has historically provided limited information on how to initiate an update. That changed today, and Apple updated its AirPods firmware support page with more specific instructions.
Prior to today, here's what Apple said on the subject:
Firmware updates are delivered automatically while your...
Update: Apple has released iOS 18.3.
In its press release unveiling a new Black Unity Sport Loop for the Apple Watch today, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.3 is "upcoming." According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple Stores are being instructed to update the software on demo devices today, so iOS 18.3 should be released either today or within the next few days.
Below, we recap everything new...
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner.
Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri ...
Apple today released tvOS 18.3, the newest version of the tvOS 18 operating system that came out in September. tvOS 18.3 comes more than a month after Apple released tvOS 18.2, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and the Apple TV HD models.
tvOS 18.3 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the Apple TV. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes.
While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Apple today released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, the third major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 software that came out last year. iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 come six weeks after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iPadOS 17.7.4 for...
Apple continues to explore the idea of releasing camera-equipped AirPods in the future, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman only briefly mentioned the possibility of AirPods gaining tiny cameras, as part of his Power On newsletter intro this week, focused on Apple's future wearables ambitions. He did not explain what the cameras would be used for.
The tiny cameras would not be...
