iOS 14.5 & WatchOS 7.4 Beta
This week Apple released a new beta of iOS 14. This included several new features but the most exciting one is one that requires an Apple Watch. FaceID has been a great piece of technology being much more secure than TouchID but also easier to use as I often found that when you had a slightly sweaty fingerprint for example TouchID wouldn’t work. FaceID resolved that problem but then the pandemic hit and wearing a mask became the normal thing. This resulted in FaceID not working properly when wearing a mask.
Apple came up with a quick fix with the release of iOS 13.5 where when FaceID recognized that you were wearing a mask it would pop up with passcode straight away. Well after all this time Apple have finally come up with a much better solution. From iOS 14.5 you can now unlock your iPhone with your watch. It’s a very similar process to the way your watch unlocks your Mac.
When you swipe up and the FaceID process begins the phone looks to see if you’re wearing a mask, if you are the phone then looks to see if you’re wearing an Apple Watch and if you are it looks to see if it’s close enough to unlock the device and remain secure. Obviously, your phone is doing all of this in split seconds.
So, from my experience how well does it work? Well it’s like an idea that they should have applied months ago. When I’m at work or at the supermarket its much quicker to unlock my phone now. The process you’ll barely notice and most of (Most not all) the time it unlocks straight away. You can’t use the feature for Apple Pay so you’ll still be prompted to type your passcode in, but you could just use your Apple Watch the same way you could before.
There are a couple new cool things to this version of iOS as well like a slightly tweaked design in the Podcasts app and finally a proper search function in the News app. There are some new features in Reminders too making it even easier to sort out or search your reminders.
Fitness +
As promised this week I will be finishing my long review on the newest Apple service dedicated to Fitness. I’ve also got more news on the service in iOS 14.5 you will be able to actually watch the fitness videos on Air Play 2 devices but without the Apple Watch data which sort of takes the magic away really doesn’t it.
Apple Car
Am I the only one that is bored of reading about Apple Car rumours all the time? I see it so much online and social media. It’s not coming anytime soon at least for another 5-10 years. Personally, I think we should all wait.
Bob March and how the Apple Watch saved his life.
Ending this post with a story that Apple shared on their Newsroom site on the 4th of February. It’s all about Bob March and his wife Lori. He first noticed a problem when he was relaxed his heart was reading at 127 beats per minute. First, they ignored it but they carried on noticing it and eventually get help. They truly believe that the Apple Watch saved Bob’s life as he wouldn’t of noticed at all if it wasn’t for the device.
You can read the full story here: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/02/an-apple-watch-anniversary-gift-and-the-future-it-helped-change/
Thanks for reading
Kyle Wilkinson
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