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15 Important Features and Changes in iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 Updates

Apple’s latest software for iPhone and iPad, iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5, became available on May 16th, so you can download and install it now if you haven’t already. While there aren’t as many new features as there are in iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4, there are a few big ones in the US that you’ll want to know about, aside from Apple’s tiny “About this update”information in the Software Update menu.

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. Apple spent 41 days testing before releasing stable software updates to everyone.

On June 6, WWDC will provide iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 betas to developers, and iOS and iPadOS 15 updates will fluctuate as Apple and developers focus on a three-month development cycle for the next major iPhone and iPad software. However, we may see iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6 before then, especially since the one feature mentioned below could arrive sooner rather than later.

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.”

Sensitive locations excluded 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.

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:

  • “This default setting will not affect shows with custom settings.”
  • “Episodes that you manually saved or downloaded will not be deleted.”

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).

Reader apps 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

Various security updates

As always, Apple has released numerous security updates for its new software. iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 fixes 27 security issues, some of which you may be aware of. The basic information is below, but you can find all the technical details on Apple’s security updates page.

  • AppleAVD: Use after free fix prevents applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • AppleGraphicsControl: A memory corruption fix prevents the processing of malicious images that could lead to arbitrary code execution.
  • AVEVideoEncoder: Fixing an out-of-bounds write issue prevents applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • DriverKit: Out-of-bounds access fix prevents malicious applications from executing arbitrary code with system privileges.
  • GPU Drivers: Memory corruption fix prevents applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • ImageIO: An integer overflow fix prevents remote attackers from causing an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.
  • IOKit: Race condition fix prevents applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • IOMobileFrameBuffer: Memory corruption fix prevents applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • IOSurfaceAccelerator: Memory corruption fix prevents malicious applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • Kernel: Memory corruption fix prevents applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • Kernel: Use after the free fix prevents applications from executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges.
  • Kernel: Memory corruption fix prevents attackers who have already gotten kernel code to execute from bypassing kernel memory protections.
  • Core: The race condition fix prevents random read/write attackers from bypassing pointer authentication.
  • LaunchServices: Access fix prevents sandboxed processes from bypassing sandbox restrictions.
  • libxml2: Use after a free fix prevents remote attackers from causing an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.
  • Notes. The fix prevents large input processing from leading to a denial of service.
  • Safari Private Browsing: A logic bug fix prevents malicious websites from tracking users in Safari Private Browsing.
  • Security: A certificate parsing fix prevents malicious applications from bypassing signature verification.
  • Shortcuts: Fixing an authorization issue prevents people with physical access to an iOS device from accessing photos from the lock screen.
  • WebKit: Memory corruption fix prevents processing of malicious web content from leading to code execution.
  • WebKit: Use after a free fix prevents the processing of malicious web content from executing arbitrary code.
  • WebKit: Memory corruption fix prevents processing of malicious web content from leading to arbitrary code execution.
  • WebRTC: A logic issue in the handling of parallel media fix prevents video self-preview in WebRTC calls from being interrupted if the user answers a phone call.
  • Wi-Fi: Memory corruption fix prevents malicious apps from exposing limited memory.
  • Wi-Fi: Memory corruption fix prevents malicious apps from elevating privileges.
  • Wi-Fi: The fix prevents remote attackers from causing a denial of service.
  • Wi-Fi: Memory corruption fix prevents malicious applications from executing arbitrary code with system privileges.

Apple Classical app coming soon

This didn’t happen in the iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 stables, but the code still 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 “[merges] the classic Primephonic user interface that fans have come to love with additional features”such as Apple Music’s lossless audio and spatial audio with Dolby Atmos.

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. Maybe we will see the app in the 15.6 update?

Other important updates

  1. Universal control in macOS Monterey 12.4 is not compatible with macOS Monterey 12.3 or earlier or iPadOS 15.4.1 or earlier. You need to update your iPad to iPadOS 15.5 to use Universal Control in macOS Monterey 12.4.
  2. The physical Apple Card in the Wallet app is now called Titanium Card.
  3. Apple has fixed an issue where automation triggered by arrival or departure was not working.
  4. Wi-Fi signal bars appear in the Home app when HomePod is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
  5. SportsKit includes real-time hit, ball, and pitch counts for Friday Night Baseball on AppleTV+, as well as jump buttons to restart or live stream.
  6. Apple has included the Apple Music API for playback speed, which was previously removed in iOS 15.4, and developers can now re-enable it in their apps so users can slow down or speed up Apple Music songs.

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