Here are all the changes and tweaks in iOS 15 beta 3

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iOS edited July 2021
Apple continues the march towards its release of iOS 15. In the third developer beta, we saw a number of tweaks and refinements to new and existing features. Here is everything we've found thus far.

iOS 15 Beta 3
iOS 15 Beta 3

Safari

Safari is getting a big overhaul across the board in Apple's new updates. On iPhone, some changes have been fairly controversial. With beta 3, Apple has added some new polish. If you long-hold on the smart universal search bar in Safari you now can use the contextual menu to reload a page. This was previously hidden or required users to pull down to refresh.






In landscape, Apple also revived the physical reload button for iPhone users. On iPad, there is the return of the dedicated Share button.

We saw new Quick Search options with Safari so you can search on a specific website such as Google or Wikipedia and Safari's search results now match the system style, like when searching with Spotlight.

It is easier to reload in Safari
It is now easier to reload a page in Safari


The universal search bar also stays towards the bottom in Safari. In the initial two betas, the URL bar would sit at the bottom but when tapped, it would jump to the top for text entry. Now it resides just above the keyboard and is far less jarring.

Focus

Focus is a big new feature in iOS 15 and there are improvements here in beta 3.

Prior to this beta, if you wanted to allow anyone to contact you in a specific focus mode you'd have to manually whitelist them all. Now Apple has added an option to allow anybody to call you. This is much easier to set up.

New Focus explanation
New Focus status explanation


In the Settings app, Focus Status has a new explanation. This aids new users in understanding what they are sharing with others in the Messages app as they change their focus.

Focus also has new glyphs in settings and there are new location-based suggestions for Focus modes.

Other changes

There are many other minor changes as well:
  • Music widget was redesigned to take on the currently-playing album color

  • App Store has a new splash screen touting the new features

  • Maps spoken directions have new options in the Settings app

  • Background Sounds are now options in Shortcuts

  • When inserting text from camera, there is now an icon displayed instead of the text

  • When resetting an iPhone, a new view is displayed to help you move to a new iPhone
There are likely other tweaks that we haven't yet uncovered. If you spot any other changes, let Andrew know on Twitter @Andrew_OSU.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    When inserting text from camera, there is now an icon displayed instead of the text

    Not running the beta, but I don't understand what this means. Inserting text from a camera???


  • Reply 2 of 5
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 2,007member
    mike1 said:
    When inserting text from camera, there is now an icon displayed instead of the text

    Not running the beta, but I don't understand what this means. Inserting text from a camera???


    They're introducing the capability to run optical character recognition on things in your camera view. If there's a sign or print ad with info you want, point the camera at it, select, cut-and-paste. You can also point it at a phone number and pull up the option to call that number.
    n2itivguymike1
  • Reply 3 of 5
    CheeseFreezeCheeseFreeze Posts: 1,249member
    Safari: change for the sake of change.
    Reloading under a menu? I reload pages many times a day. Why? What is it solving?
    Tabs that look like buttons? Why? 
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 4 of 5
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    CheeseFreeze said:
    Safari: change for the sake of change.
    Reloading under a menu? I reload pages many times a day. Why? What is it solving?
    Tabs that look like buttons? Why? 
    I agree. It’s terrible. 
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 5 of 5
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,284member
    AppleZulu said:
    mike1 said:
    When inserting text from camera, there is now an icon displayed instead of the text

    Not running the beta, but I don't understand what this means. Inserting text from a camera???


    They're introducing the capability to run optical character recognition on things in your camera view. If there's a sign or print ad with info you want, point the camera at it, select, cut-and-paste. You can also point it at a phone number and pull up the option to call that number.

    Ahh. Thank you. I had heard about that, but did not equate it with "inserting text from camera".
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