14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has recently announced iOS 14, and a preview is available right now for developers who are part of the company’s testing program.
As compared to the previous iOS releases, this new update is a massive one, coming with substantial changes in every single key area. And needless to say, the highlights have already been announced by Apple itself at the WWDC this week, though more subtle improvements are also part of this update.
And today we’re going to discuss three such refinements coming to all supported iPhones (iPhone 6s and newer) in the fall when iOS 14 is finally shipped to devices.
Safari password monitoring
The first of them is password monitoring in Safari browser. As everybody knows already, Safari is the default browser on iPhones, and needless to say, many users stick with it despite Google Chrome, Firefox, and others also available in the App Store.
As a side note, iOS 14 will come with a major change for browsers, as Google will allow users to change the default app handling the browsing on iPhones.
Those who’ll stick with Safari, on the other hand, will get a new feature: password monitoring. In essence, this is something that’s already available in other browsers and which is supposed to warn users when the passwords they configured for their accounts are known to have been exposed following data breaches.
“Safari securely monitors your saved passwords, automatically keeping an eye out for passwords that may have been involved in a data breach. To do this, Safari uses strong cryptographic techniques to regularly check derivations of your passwords against a list of breached passwords in a secure and private way that doesn’t reveal your password information — even to Apple,” Apple explains.
“If Safari discovers a breach, it can help you upgrade to Sign in with Apple when available, or automatically generate a new secure password.”
Most likely, this feature will be enabled by default in Safari on iOS 14 for enhanced security.
Improved Night mode in the Camera app
The Night mode in the Camera app on the iPhone is one essential feature that Apple has added with the previous iOS update, allowing users to take photos in low-light conditions.
The new enhancements will be exclusive to the iPhone 11 and iPhone 1 Pro (and most likely to the new iPhone 12 launching in September) and will include gyroscope guidance to help you keep your hand steady when taking a photo. This means that you reduce the likelihood of a blurry shot, which is obviously essential when taking pics in low light.
Furthermore, the Night mode will come with an option to cancel the photo even if you already pressed the capture button. This helps reduce the time you need to wait when taking a photo, especially if you noticed an unusual movement and you want to try take a better pic.
Next-hour precipitation in the Weather app
The Weather app is one of those that’ll benefit from the debut of widgets in iOS 14, but in addition to this, it’s also getting several other refinements, including next-hour precipitation.
In other words, the Weather app will warn you when it detects that the likelihood of rain or snow is high in the next hour, though for now, the feature will only be limited to the United States.
A chart in the Weather app will display a minute-by-minute view at the chances of precipitation over the coming hour, and you can check this out for any location in the US. Severe weather alerts will also be issued for the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia.
