📱💻 Finer Tech Newsletter ⌚️📺 iOS 15 Live Text, Maps, More Focus, GoodNotes, more

Happy weekend everyone! Can you believe we’re over halfway through 2021? That means we’re a few releases into Apple’s beta OS cycle and Lollapalooza is back in Chicago. Hooray for the latest potential COVID superspreader event!

This issue’s tips focus on iOS 15 and watchOS 8—macOS Monterey and tvOS 15 tips are still en route, I swear. Let me know what you think about this issue via emailand Twitter.

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Cover image for this issue is from my Flickr

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Live Text is a headlining feature in iOS 15, allowing you to grab and act on text from just about anything in front of an iPhone or iPad camera.

Live Text also works on images already saved in Photos and—while this may seem obvious—that counts for screenshots. You can copy text, call phone number, and even translate text from a handful of supported languages.

Apple’s relentless preparations for AR glasses via the iPhone has arrived in Maps. AR walking directions are now available in iOS 15, complete with floating street labels and arrows.

To see walking directions floating virtually in front of you, tap your location icon in brackets at the center of the map. It might ask for a scan of your current environment (panorama-style) in order to determine your exact location and start serving what I predict people will totally call “I(A)RL directions.”

Maps AR screenshot courtesy of MacRumors

It seems like Focus is at or near the top of the iOS 15 feature list for a lot of people, including myself. I’ve wanted more granular control over apps and notifications for years, and Focus nailed a lot of that for me.

One of my favorite options is that opening a specific app can trigger a Focus mode. For example: When I open the Destiny 2 iPad app, my Focus mode called ‘Gaming’ can:

My only wish so far is for Focus to set a Tab Group in Safari (another great new feature!).

I’m starting to use PDFs more often for a handful of tasks, and some of them are pretty large. Initially, I thought the bookmark option was mainly for reading PDFs, which I only rarely do in other apps.

But for the last 8 months or so, I’ve been tinkering with digital personal planners from the likes of Flourish Planner and The Focus Course. Respectively, these have dozens and even hundreds of pages for organizing goals, tasks, appointments, vision boards, and much more. Bookmarks (‘Favorites’ in the app) have been nearly essential for getting around to key pages.

Simply tap the… bookmark icon in the upper left (iPad) or the menu in the upper right (iPhone). 

Tap the Pages icon in the upper left, then the Favorites section.

Need to share that bangin’ Apple Music track playing from your Watch, iPhone, or car? Can’t wait ‘till you can pick up a thumb-friendly device? Fret not, you only need a Watch.

New on the Now Playing screen in watchOS is the option to share the current track as a link through Messages. Just tap the (…) menu in the lower right, then Share Song to spread the love. Recent friends appear first. Messages and Mail are options at the bottom of that list.

I can’t test if this works for other apps and services since I don’t have them installed on my Watch.

To be clear: Sharing music can wait while driving. Please keep all available eyes and at least one hand on the wheel.

I think the tech media’s conversation around whether the iPad can be one’s main or only computer would be better served by speaking to people like Kristin above who are actually making it happen.

How did you like this issue? Was it useful and bite-sized enough? Are there certain kinds of tips or apps you’d like to see here? Let me know what you think via email and Twitter.

You can also find me on Mastodon, Tumblr, and Micro.blog.