Apple released updates to its operating systems. These updates bring Face ID with Mask on iPhone 12 and newer, Universal Control and couple of other features.

Let’s review the changes.

iOS

Face ID
– Face ID while wearing a mask option on iPhone 12 and newer 
– Apple Pay and password autofill in apps and Safari can be used with Face ID while wearing a mask 

Emoji
– New emoji including faces, hand gestures, and household objects are now available in emoji keyboard 
– Handshake emoji allows you to choose separate skin tones for each hand 

FaceTime
– SharePlay sessions can be initiated directly from supported apps 

Siri
– Siri can provide time and date information while offline on iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone 11 or newer 
– Siri now includes an additional voice, expanding the diversity of options 

Vaccine cards
– EU Digital COVID Certificate support in Health enables you to download and store verifiable versions of COVID-19 vaccination, lab results, and recovery records 
– COVID-19 vaccination cards in Apple Wallet now support the EU Digital COVID Certificate format 

This release also includes the following enhancements for your iPhone:
– Safari webpage translation adds support for Italian and Chinese (Traditional) 
– Podcasts app adds episode filters for seasons, played, unplayed, saved, or downloaded episodes 
– iCloud custom email domains can be managed from Settings 
– News offers enhanced discovery of audio content in the Today feed and Audio tab 
– Camera in keyboard can be used to add text to Notes and Reminders 
– Shortcuts now supports adding, removing, or querying tags with Reminders 
– Emergency SOS settings have changed to use Call with Hold for all users. Call with 5 Presses is still available as an option in Emergency SOS settings 
– Close-up in Magnifier uses the ultra-wide camera on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max to help you see small objects 
– Saved passwords can now include your own notes in Settings 

This release also includes bug fixes for your iPhone:
– Keyboard may insert period between typed numbers 
– News widgets in Today View may not open articles when tapped 
– Photos and videos may not sync to iCloud Photo Library 
– Speak Screen Accessibility feature may quit unexpectedly within the Books app 
– Live Listen may not turn off when switched off in Control Center

Additionally, iOS 15.4 and watchOS 8.5 users could restore Apple Watch using iPhone only.

macOS

macOS 12.3 adds Universal Control so you can use a single mouse and keyboard across your Mac and iPad. This release also includes new emoji, dynamic head tracking for Music, and other features and bug fixes for your Mac. 

Universal Control (beta)
– Universal Control allows you to use a single mouse and keyboard across iPad and Mac 
– Text can be typed on either Mac or iPad and you can drag and drop files between them 

Spatial Audio
– Dynamic head tracking is available in Music with supported AirPods on Mac computers with the M1 chip 
– Customizable spatial audio settings for Off, Fixed, and Head Tracked are now in Control Center with supported AirPods on Mac computers with the M1 chip 

Emoji
– New emoji including faces, hand gestures, and household objects are available in emoji keyboard 
– Handshake emoji allows you to choose separate skin tones for each hand 

This release also includes the following enhancements for your Mac:
– Siri now includes an additional voice, expanding the diversity of options 
– Podcasts app adds episode filter for seasons, played, unplayed, saved, or downloaded episodes 
– Safari webpage translation adds support for Italian and Chinese (Traditional) 
– Shortcuts now supports adding, removing, or querying tags with Reminders 
– Saved passwords can now include your own notes 
– Battery capacity readings have improved accuracy 

This release also includes bug fixes for your Mac:
– News widgets in Today View may not open articles when clicked 
– Audio may sound distorted while watching video in the Apple TV app 
– Some photos and videos may be unintentionally moved when organizing albums in Photos 

There are also security updates for macOS Catalina and and macOS Big Sur.

watchOS

watchOS 8.5 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including: 

  • Ability to authorize Apple TV purchases and subscriptions
  • COVID-19 vaccination cards in Apple Wallet now support the EU Digital COVID Certificate format
  • Updates to irregular heart rhythm notifications designed to improve atrial fibrillation identification. Available in the United States, Chile, Hong Kong, South Africa, and many more regions where the feature is available.
  • Audio hints in Fitness+ provide you with audio commentary of visually demonstrated moves during workouts.

tvOS

tvOS update add support for Wi-Fi captive portals. Also “Up Next” viewing queue is introduced.

HomeKit cameras could now be viewed in picture-in-picture mode on Apple TV.

HomePod software is also updated.

Xcode and Swift

Xcode 13.3 is released with Swift 5.6.

Swift 5.6 enhances the language through a number of proposals from the Swift Evolution process, including:

  • SE-0290 – Unavailability Condition
  • SE-0302 –  Sendable and @Sendable closures
  • SE-0315 – Type placeholders (formerly, “Placeholder types”)
  • SE-0320 – Allow coding of non String / Int keyed Dictionary into a KeyedContainer
  • SE-0322 – Temporary uninitialized buffers
  • SE-0324 – Relax diagnostics for pointer arguments to C functions
  • SE-0331 – Remove Sendable conformance from unsafe pointer types
  • SE-0335 – Introduces existential any
  • SE-0337 – Incremental migration to concurrency checking

Release notes:

Reference:

Recommendations

Developer:

Try Xcode 13.3, check app compatibility issues. Check app compatibility with new OS releases.

QA engineer:

Check apps for regressions.

PM/DM:

Check new OS features, consider checking support. Consider implementing SharePlay activities with call initiation from within the app.

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