Apple has released iOS 15.5, the latest update for your iPhone and iPad, bringing a few very nice changes to make the best smartphone and best tablet even better.
With iOS 15, Apple introduced a lot of great features that took the iPhone to the next level, including new privacy options to cut down on apps tracking you, Live Text selection from photos, Focus mode, and updates to FaceTime.
We're a few weeks out from seeing what iOS 16 has to offer at WWDC 2022, too, which should take things even further ahead of the iPhone 14.
While iOS 15.5 isn't as revolutionary an update as iOS 15 was and iOS 16 will be, it's still packing some interesting and useful changes, the largest being the full rollout of Universal Control, one of the most exciting Apple features in years.
So, let's jump into everything you need to know about iOS 15.5.
Universal Control
One of the most exciting features from Apple in a while, Universal Control is the dream for anyone that has bought into the ecosystem and owns a Mac and iPad.
The basic premise is that you can control your devices using one mouse with no setup required, moving between them easily.
The feature has been in testing for the last few versions of iOS 15 and it's now officially here with iOS 15.5.
If you own an iPad with iPadOS 15.5 and a Mac that runs the latest version of macOS, you can go and give it a try right now. A huge productivity win.
Apple Cash
Apple has added a few nifty tools to the Apple Cash section of the Wallet app, including the ability to easily send and receive funds from people, like Cash App or Monzo.
Apple Pay in Messages has also been renamed as Apple Cash, which is pretty neat.
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts, easily one of the best podcast apps, is getting an update with iOS 15.5 that will help if you don't have that much storage.
The app can now limit the number of episodes stored on the device and will automatically delete older or previously played episodes to conserve space.
Given that Apple still offers 64GB storage in the base models, this is a pretty big win for podcast lovers out there.
Everything else
Those are the big three updates but there is plenty more in iOS 15.5 so we thought we'd quickly give you a list of the more minor – but still important – tweaks and changes.
- "Reader Apps", such as Netflix or Spotify can now link to external websites for account creation and subscription management, as part of the broader changes around how Apple's in-app purchases features work.
- Photos will now let users block "Sensitive Locations", which blocks them from showing up in Memories. These include holocaust memorials and concentration camps, for example.
- According to MacRumors, there are numerous references to Apple Classical, the forthcoming classical music streaming service from Apple. We can't wait to give this a try with iOS 16.
- Apple has expanded the Communication Safety feature to the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand from just the US. The feature proactively scans incoming and outgoing messages on kids' devices for nudity and other harmful content. The feature is opt-in and must be enabled by parents.
- Security updates and bug fixes aplenty in iOS 15.5, as outlined by Apple.
Anything else?
That's everything we could find in iOS 15.5, which should be available to most Apple device owners right now. To get the update, go to Settings > General > Software Update.
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