Roadtesting iOS 14

[Rod]

Well I read the summary and featured articles listing the new features of iOS 14. There are a some features I have been wanting for a while like a smaller window for Siri, picture-in-picture for stuff I stream to my Apple TV and the App Library. All in all some pretty big changes to the display functions and options.
No one should take this as just another new iOS with a few new features added to existing apps and some optional new settings. This iOS is going to change the way the iPhone fuctions, from default display to default browsers and email clients.
It may well be a little like buying a different brand of smart phone.
So I did a full backup of my iPhone SE2 and I am now downloading the upgrade.
I'll get back with my impressions as soon as I have had a chance to take it for a spin and I'd love to hear about yours, both negative and positive.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I'm beginning the upgrade now, it will likely run overnight so we'll see what I end up with tomorrow and how this changes things for me..

 

[BluesForDan]

I've been trying the last 3 hours to get the update to download but no dice. My phone's Settings claims I don't have 3.07 GB free space yet iTunes on my Mac says I have 9.06 available. Who do I believe? The update button in iTunes is not highlighted (at least not greyed out) but like the goggles, zhey do nuthzing. Apple claims their servers are working normally. All I know I feel like going outside for a walk and it's freaking cold out there.

 

[MacInWin]

I have a lot of apps I have collected over the years, so I have a lot of pages of them. First thing I did was to kill the display of all of them but the front page. Then I moved onto that page a widget for my calendar. That pushed three folders to the second page, which was fine. So now I have two pages and then the App Library. So much cleaner and easier to find the apps I don't use so much. The widget is now a stack (of 2), so I have the weather and my calendar right there. Liking it so far.

 

[Rod]

Jake, thats kinda what I have done. I now have one (first) Home page with the apps I use all the time, the next page has folders with things like banking apps and I have hidden the other 3 pages.
The classifications that the App Store automatically delegates to some apps, Utilities, Information & Reading, etc, are a bit broad for my liking but I can cope with that especially with the larger most or recently used icons.

 

[BluesForDan]

using some of the ideas I've read here and abroad, I consolidated apps that I seldom used into one of those short cut folders. Then I went through Settings and offloaded the majority of them. I have no idea where they went, frankly I don't care. I managed to carve out over 2GB of space (really, HP? You needed almost 300 MB for your app? greedy greedy)

Anywho, it's currently verifying update during the install, we shall see if it was worth the pain.

 

[MacInWin]

I have no idea where they went, frankly I don't care.

If you deleted them, they are gone. The App Library just organizes the things installed on the iDevice, it doesn't do anything "magic" with the app. That's how you saved that space, you got rid of the apps and associated data.

 

[Rod]

Just out of curiosity BluesForDan, how much total storage do you have?

 

[CaryAppleService]

I did the iOS update on my iPhone XR last night, as well as the safari 14 update on my Mac. As soon as the update was installed on my iPhone, which really was done quickly, I immediately set all the privacy trackers to off, and set the exposure notification to OFF. I did not do the iOS 13.7 update because I do not want the covid-19 exposure notification at all, and happy to see it can be turned off in iOS 14.

I am going to install it on my iPad Air 2 today as well.

so far I really like iOS 14 and the new safari 14 browser on my Mac.

I am running Catalina on an unsupported early 2008 MacBook and am really surprised how well it runs. Windows supports older laptops with windows 10 and it runs horrible. Catalina is awesome on it. glad my friend had the hack tool to get it to run.

 

[Rod]

using some of the ideas I've read here and abroad, I consolidated apps that I seldom used into one of those short cut folders. Then I went through Settings and offloaded the majority of them. I have no idea where they went, frankly I don't care. I managed to carve out over 2GB of space (really, HP? You needed almost 300 MB for your app? greedy greedy)

Anywho, it's currently verifying update during the install, we shall see if it was worth the pain.

You understand that "Offloading" only removes the app, not it's data and the icon will remain but with a kind of download button so that if you ever need to use it's data you can re download the app. See; https://www.payetteforward.com/offloading-apps-on-iphone-what-it-means-why-you-should/
You can save more space by deleting the app completely (including it's data) but that's up to you. I can see the advantages of offloading though. Currently it's not an issue for me but it could be handy for my wife.

 

[CaryAppleService]

so far I love iOS/iPad 14 and macOS Catalina. Apple is awesome as usual.

 

[Rod]

Well, finally everything is upgraded, Watch, TV, iPad, and iPhone. The only thing I had trouble with was the Apple Watch. Despite "removal" of all third party apps I still could not provide enough space for the download of the upgrade to watchOS 7. The Watch app stated that 2.3GB was required for the download and try as I might I could not clear enough storage. Now with the upgrade complete and two third party apps with complications added I have 2.8GB free. I had to unpair the watch and setup as a new watch to get the upgrade installed which I have done once before, it's really not a big deal, just time consuming.

 

[Rod]

Back to iOS 14 I was disappointed to find that the promised option to change default browser only extends to Chrome and of all things Edge. Apparently the developers need to update their browsers in order to take advantage of the option so for now I will be sticking to Safari for email links. Nothing wrong with Safari, just not my browser of choice for searching and it would be more convenient to keep all my sites in one place. As for the default email client, it may be an issue for some but I prefer Spark so that's what I open.

 

[CaryAppleService]

I love safari 14 especially in Catalina with the privacy tracker stuff. I have firefox and chrome on all three, the iPad Air 2, the iPhone XR and my MacBook, but usually always use safari.

 

[Rod]

There are a few new security features in iOS14 some of which I have been able to test an others I have not; for example very time an app accesses the camera or microphone, a dot appears above the signal strength meter. A green dot for when the camera is accessed (similar to the green LED that lights up on Macs when the camera is on), and an orange dot for microphone access. I guess that beats putting a piece of tape over the camera like some have done with Mac desktops and portables but of course you then need to do something about it.

There is also, stopping apps that don't need it from knowing your precise location: To access this setting go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and then check the settings for the apps that have access to your location. You can un-click the Precise Location button for each app, obviously not for apps like Maps or Find My iPhone.

Another thing that I have seen is apps requesting local network access. Some apps need this because they may be used to control Bluetooth or WiFi gadgets like TuneIn Radio or Spotify but why other apps like Facebook need it is unknown, still if it is required I'm sure it will request it when needed. Or you can change it back in Settings > Privacy > Local Network

iOS 14/1PadOS 14 can now supply a random "private" MAC address when you join or reconnect to a Wi-Fi network. This can help prevent you being tracked when using network connections. I first became aware of this in a shopping centre when I noticed I could see my Wifes name in the free WiFi options along with a bunch of other people I didn't know.
It's good to be aware of this feature because is on by default, you can find it by going Settings > Wi-Fi and then click on the "i" in a circle next to the network should you wish to turn it off for a particular WiFi network. For example some smart networks are designed to send out a notification when a new device connects. It can also mess with parental controls or corporate/enterprise networks where permissions are assigned based on a MAC address. Pressing the "i" also enables you to see your assigned private address should you need to know.

Well that's it so far.

 

[MacInWin]

I first became aware of this in a shopping centre when I noticed I could see my Wifes name in the free WiFi options along with a bunch of other people I didn't know.

Is the "hotspot" option turned on on the Wife's iPhone? That's more likely why you see it in the WiFi settings.

 

[ferrarr]

I see my iPhones personal hotspot on my Mac Mini occasionally, even though it's not enabled. I am also able to use the connection with my iPad, since I am signed into the same Apple ID on both (all 3) devices.

 

[MacInWin]

I see my iPhones personal hotspot on my Mac Mini occasionally, even though it's not enabled. I am also able to use the connection with my iPad, since I am signed into the same Apple ID on both (all 3) devices.

That should not happen. The only place your hotspot should show up on any other machine is in the history of connections at System Preferences/Network <<Wifi>> Advanced and in the Preferred networks box. But that just indicates that at one point you were attached to that network. I have routers from my travels in that list going back over a couple of years. But when I click on the WiFi icon on the top menu bar, all I see are what I can see right now. If you can see your iPhone hotspot in the list under the Top bar icon menu, it's turned on and broadcasting from your iPhone.

 

[Rod]

I'll check Jake, I think she has, so you're saying the "private" setting would not hide her name if her Hot Spot is on? I can understand that if I had used it in the past but what about all the others; Cathy's ipad, Bills iPhone etc. Would it not hide them?

 

[ferrarr]

That should not happen. The only place your hotspot should show up on any other machine is in the history of connections at System Preferences/Network <<Wifi>> Advanced and in the Preferred networks box. But that just indicates that at one point you were attached to that network. I have routers from my travels in that list going back over a couple of years. But when I click on the WiFi icon on the top menu bar, all I see are what I can see right now. If you can see your iPhone hotspot in the list under the Top bar icon menu, it's turned on and broadcasting from your iPhone.

When I click on the Wi-Fi icon in my menu bar, I get a lot of options, including my iPhone hotspot.