iOS 14.5 Features More Than 200 New Emojis, Facial Recognition with Masks, and New Siri Voice Options

Source: Complex

April 27, 2021 at 15:41

Apple’s iOS 14.5 is officially available for iPhone owners as of Monday, and there’s plenty to be excited about.

The latest version of the OS is full of new features, such as new voice options for Siri, updates that allow you to unlock your phone a lot more easily in a mask, and several new emojis to choose from. The update follows the Jan. iOS 14.4 and offers a lot more than its predecessor.

Seemingly one of the most popular new features is that Apple Watch owners now have the ability to use Face ID to unlock their iPhone when their watch is unlocked, regardless of if they’re wearing a mask or not. The watch will then provide haptic feedback and indicate that the phone has been unlocked.

The update also includes App Tracking Transparency, which is a new privacy control allowing users to tell developers whether or not the developer can track them.

On the Siri end of things, users now have the ability to adjust the voice that Siri speaks in when setting up their phone’s default voice. The voices will use Neural Text to Speech, as Apple’s Newsroom says “the updates further Apple’s long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, with products and services that are designed to better reflect our customers and the world.” Siri will also be able to man Group FaceTime and announce incoming calls via AirPods or Beats.

The new OS will also feature 217 new emojis, ranging from new options for skin-tone variations in kissing couples, a heart on fire, faces exhaling, faces in clouds, and faces with spiral eyes. Similarly, Apple has updated the syringe emoji to remove blood.

Check out all the new Emoji you will find in iOS 14.5.

Which one is your favorite? pic.twitter.com/S80PJBSIB0
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 26, 2021

Apple Music also sees some interesting changes in iOS 14.5, such as Chart-Toppers playlists for cities around the world. Listeners can now see the top 25 tracks being played in cities like New York, Paris, São Paulo, Tokyo, and elsewhere.

Other OS changes include new privacy controls, incident reporting on Apple Maps, and more, which can be viewed on Apple’s Newsroom.