iOS 14 rumor round-up: Everything we know and want to see so far
As usual, Apple is expected to reveal iOS 14 at WWDC 2020 later this year. The next version of the OS will hit hundreds of millions iOS devices in the fall, but we will certainly see iOS 14 unveiled at the dev-centric summit, whenever this one is scheduled to happen.
What’s going to be new in iOS 14? It’s pretty hard to tell as of now, which is quite usual with software, but given the popularity of iOS, there are definitely some tidbits of info coming our way.
iOS 14: Expected features
Availability
Each year, the corresponding iOS update drops support for one of the older iPhones. For example, iOS 13 dropped the 2014 iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus from the support list and was only available on newer devices. Surprisingly enough, rumors are starting to pour in that iOS 14 will support the same devices that iOS 13 did. We expected the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus to get dropped from the list of supported devices, but it seems that they could get yet another year of software updates thanks to iOS 14. This is still a rumor so take it with a grain of salt, yet even if it proves to be wrong, your iPhone 6/6 Plus will still do just fine even with iOS 13 on deck.Here’s what devices iOS 14 will most probably support:
Release date
Apple usually rolls out iOS over-the-air alongside the iPhone each year, within a day or two. We expect that this would happen sometime in mid-to-late September, as Apple will most likely schedule an official event to announce the iPhone 9, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max on the second Tuesday of the month. With a market release within the next two weeks, you will certainly rock the new version of iOS before October comes along, provided that your device is eligible, of course.
iOS 14: What we want to see
With iOS already carrying years of touch-ups and improvements, there aren’t really giant, glaring omissions of the OS itself. That’s very fortunate, but there are some quality-of-life improvements that we’ll gladly welcome.
Redesigned incoming call interface
Incoming calls on iOS take up the whole screen… which is not nice. On Android, for example, some interfaces show incoming calls as pop-up bubbles that don’t take up the whole screen and don’t interrupt what you are doing right now, because let’s face it, millennialс don’t like talking on the phone. Jokes aside, a redesigned call interface on iOS has been one of the more requested features for a while, and iOS 14 could be the perfect vessel to bring it to an iPhone near you this autumn.
Set default apps
It’s 2020 already, and Apple needs to get up with the times and allow some more freedom to iPhone users. While the default iOS apps are worth their salt, they’re not the best, therefore Apple should allow us to set our own default apps if we wish to do so. Of course, many probably have grown accustomed to the way iOS defaults to Apple’s apps in certain usage scenarios, yet an option for power-users could be a great addition to the operating system.
Picture-in-picture for the iPhone
While the iPad can make use of the nifty multitasking picture-in-picture, the iPhone is left behind. And it’s a pity, as the big display of the iPhone 11 Pro Max can definitely fit a small video pop-out without things feeling too claustrophobic and cluttered.
Expanded camera features
The latest iPhones automatically switch to the front camera view to ‘group selfie’ when you rotate them in landscape mode, but why stop here? Why didn’t Apple add a zoom feature for selfie as well? This, as well as stock manual controls are definitely on our bucket list for iOS 14.
More customization
Customization has been the Achilles’ heel of iOS for years, and by now people have learned not to expect the same flexibility that Android offers. Still, this doesn’t mean that Apple shouldn’t shake things up from time to time. On the topic of customization, we want to see the home screen grid unlocked for even some basic home screen personalization. We’d also love to see a richer selection of stock wallpapers and ringtones, because let’s face it, setting up a custom ringtone on your iPhone is complicated.
Additionally, we’d love to see a feature that would blur your would-be wallpapers for better readability and aesthetics.