iOS 15.4 developer beta explored: Here’s everything new

Apple has just released the first iOS 15.4 developer beta, with a ton of new features and changes that will enrich the iPhone experience. Probably the last but one major update before we get a taste of the upcoming iOS 16 that will be unveiled at Apple’s WWDC’22 developer conference, iOS 15.4 is shaping up to be a rather neat quality-of-life update, especially in these trying times.

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iOS 15.4: All the new features

Face ID on steroids

For me, and possibly many of you, Face ID hasn’t been working well with a mask on, and iOS 15.4 will finally allow you to unlock your iPhone without having to reach for your mask and take it off your face. This is a major improvement to Face ID, which was hampered down in contrast with other biometric unlocking methods, like fingerprint authentication, which are largely unaffected by facial masks.

However, donning a mask on your face means Face ID has way less data to work with, so it has to actively scan the area around your eyes to authenticate that the person holding the phone is actually you. This is supposedly a much more intensive process, so Apple has limited it to newer iPhones and iPads only. Unfortunately, the feature was absent on slightly older iPhones, like the iPhone 11 Pro Max. To make use of the improved Face ID features, you’ll need an iPhone 12 or newer.

New emoji

Text scanning with Notes & Reminders

This one is a pretty decent feature that’s so simple yet so brilliant at the same time. With iOS 15.4, you will be able to directly scan text with your iPhone’s camera from within apps like Notes and Reminders. This quality-of-life addition to the overall iPhone experience will certainly save you some precious time, as instead of having to input text like it’s 2010, you will be able to simply point your phone at any text and have it automatically scan and import it in a note or a reminder.

Turn off notifications for Shortcuts

Apple’s Shortcuts app is undoubtedly a very powerful tool for device automation, yet one of its ‘quirks’ is that almost all personal automations you create notify you with a pesky notification whenever they run, which breaks the immersion a bit. Fortunately, iOS 15.4 will allow you to get rid of those and achieve a less intrusive experience if you’re a fan of Apple’s Shortcuts app and the whole new layer of functionality that it delivers.

iCloud Keychain Notes

Apple’s Keychain is probably the most accessible password manager because it’s just so well integrated within iOS itself. While the core functionality (keeping your accounts and respective passwords safe), Keychain has been lagging behind the popular third-party password managers in some ways, and iOS 15.4 will rectify that. Apple’s Keychain will finally allow you to take notes for each specific login entry you have, which is undoubtedly something useful to have.