Apple is still beta testing its latest iPhone and iPad software, but the iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 updates will hit all devices soon enough. While there aren’t as many new features as there are in iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4, there are a few important ones in the US that you’ll want to know about.
Software beta testing began on April 5, just 22 days after Apple released iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 to the general public. While developers received their first beta bets, testers who joined Apple’s beta software program received them the very next day. We are currently knee-deep in a release candidate (RC) for the 15.5 updates.
A stable release date for iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 is unknown, but content shown in betas indicates that day may be close. If the schedule is similar to last year’s, we could see another significant update after Software 15.5 before WWDC releases the iOS 16 developer beta on June 6th.
Send/request buttons for Apple Cash
An Apple Cash card is a great way to pay at stores that accept Apple Pay. You can deposit money from your bank account, receive funds from other Apple Cash users, and collect Daily Cash from your Apple Card. To request money or pay other Apple Cash users, you’ve always had to do it from the Messages app.
With the iOS 15.5 update, the Wallet app itself now has two large buttons: “Request”and “Send”Apple Cash. Click on your Apple Cash card in Apple Wallet and you’ll see them right away. Click one, add a recipient, select an amount and send a message. You still need to send requests and money using Messages, but you no longer need to do so directly from Messages.
Apple Pay is now Apple Cash in Messages
In the app drawer, just below the text entry field in Messages, you’ll find the Apple Pay app, which lets you send and receive money. In iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5, this button has been renamed Apple Cash, which makes sense with the addition of Send and Request buttons for Apple Cash card in Wallet on iPhone.
Apple account card in wallet
Another change to the Wallet app revives an old feature that was available in the US but currently only exists in other countries.
iTunes Pass is a card that could be added to Wallet from the iTunes Store. You can use it to purchase content from the App Store, iTunes Store, Apple TV, Apple Books, and subscription services such as Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, and iCloud+. You can even use it to pay for things on the Apple website or the Apple Store app. You can deposit money directly into iTunes Pass or download it from a gift card.
In the US, this is currently called an Apple ID balance, and there is no card to add to Wallet. However, it may return as a new Apple account card. While not 100% accurate, code in iOS 15.5 hints at it according to 9to5Mac: “Your account balance can be used to purchase products, accessories, apps, games, and more online or in a store using Apple Pay.”
secret places dropped from memories
Apple Photos now blocks certain sensitive locations from appearing in Memories, such as Holocaust-related museums, memorials, concentration camps, and extermination camps. Most of these places are in Poland, but there are also in Germany, Amsterdam, Israel and the USA.
- Anne Frank House (museum in Amsterdam)
- Auschwitz II-Birkenau (concentration camp in Brzezinka, Poland)
- Belzec (death camp in Salenik-Koloni, Belzec, Poland)
- Chelmno, aka Kulmhof (death camp in Budy Przybylovsk, Poland, near Chelmno nad Nerem)
- Dachau (concentration camp in Dachau, Germany, near Munich)
- Holocaust Memorial (memorial in Berlin, Germany)
- Majdanek, aka Lublin (concentration camp in Lublin, Poland)
- Oskar Schindler’s enamel factory (museum in Krakow, Poland)
- Sobibor (death camp in Zlobek, Wlodaw county, Poland)
- Treblinka II (death camp in Wolka Okraglik, Poland, near Kosow Lacka)
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, D.C. memorial)
- Yad Vashem (memorial in Jerusalem, Israel)
customizable storage limits for podcasts
Both iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 have a new setting for the Podcasts app that helps you limit the amount of local storage downloaded episodes take up on your device. Go to “Settings”-> “Podcasts”-> “Downloads automatically”to adjust the settings. This menu replaces the “Enable with Subscription”toggle switch from earlier versions of the software.
You can download and save the last 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 episodes of each show, or choose the last 1, 7, 14 or 30 days. Saving all episodes is also possible, as well as none at all. Apple’s fine print includes a few important notes:
A few minor weather updates
There are a few minor updates to the Weather app. First, the city name, temperature, and current weather conditions at the top of each location page will remain visible as you scroll down. It used to disappear and you had to scroll back or see other hints on the page to remember which city you were viewing.
Second, the “Report a problem”link is more visible at the bottom of the weather page for the current location. Now, instead of a simple three-word line of text, it has its own description field: “You can describe the current conditions in your area to improve forecasts.”Now you click “Details”in the box to report the problem.
The current location page in iOS 15.4.1 (left) and iOS 15.5 (right).
Apple classic app may appear
It’s not certain, but the code in iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 suggests that the Apple Classical service might be around and have a dedicated app.
The app will be an addition to Apple Music, but only for classical music, based on the Primephonic service acquired by Apple in 2021. Apple Classical “combines the classic Primephonic user interface that fans have come to love with additional features”such as Apple Music’s lossless audio and Dolby Atmos spatial audio.
Although there is no Apple Classical app in the software packages, the Apple Music resource has links such as “Open in Apple Classical”, “Shortcut to Apple Classical”, and “Open this in a new app designed for classical music”. file.
reader applications will be able to avoid IAP
On iPhone and iPad, the reader app provides one or more types of digital content as a primary destination. In particular, this content will be audio, books, magazines, music, news and videos. Notable examples of these are Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, and Spotify.
In iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5, developers of reader apps can now include a link to an external web page on their signup and account management screens to avoid Apple’s in-app purchase (IAP) system.
Apple announced a change to App Store Review Guidelines on March 30, 2022, and the 15.5 updates allow developers to implement these changes through a new external link account entitlement. However, according to Apple, “Apps that offer in-app purchases on iOS or iPadOS are not eligible to do so.”
Images via Apple Developer