iOS 15

iOS 15

Version of the iOS operating system
iOS 15 home screen on an iPhone 12 Pro
Developer	Apple Inc.
Source model	Closed with open-source components
General availability	September 20, 2021 (2021-09-20)
Latest release	15.8.3 (19H386) (July 29, 2024 (2024-07-29)) [±]
Update method	Software Update
Package manager	App Store
Platforms	iPhone iPhone 6S & 6S Plus iPhone SE (1st generation) iPhone 7 & 7 Plus iPhone 8 & 8 Plus iPhone X iPhone XS & XS Max iPhone XR iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max iPhone SE (2nd generation) iPhone 12 & 12 Mini iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max iPhone 13 & 13 Mini iPhone 13 Pro & 13 Pro Max iPhone SE (3rd generation) iPod Touch iPod Touch (7th generation)
Kernel type	Hybrid (XNU)
Default user interface	Cocoa Touch (multi-touch, GUI)
License	Proprietary software with open-source components
Preceded by	iOS 14
Succeeded by	iOS 16
Official website	iOS 15 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 6, 2022)
Tagline	In touch. In the moment.
Support status
Supported, widespread third party app support
Articles in the series
iPadOS 15 (derivative for iPad)

iOS 15 is the fifteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPhone and iPod Touch lines of products. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7, 2021, as the successor to iOS 14, and released to the public on September 20, 2021.

On June 6, 2022, at WWDC 2022, its successor, iOS 16, was announced. iOS 15 was officially succeeded by iOS 16 on September 12, 2022.

iOS 15 is the final version of iOS that supports the iPod Touch, as its successor, iOS 16, drops support for the seventh-generation iPod Touch.

History

Further information: iOS version history § iOS 15 / iPadOS 15

Updates

The first developer beta of iOS 15 was released on June 7, 2021, and the first public beta was released on June 30, 2021, six days after the release of the second developer beta. iOS 15 was officially released on September 20, 2021.

Version	Build	Codename	Release date	Release notes	Update type
15.0	19A341	Sky	September 24, 2021	Initial release on the iPhone 13 lineup	Initial Release
	19A346		September 20, 2021	Initial release for all other iPhones Adds Spatial Audio support for FaceTime, which allows people's audio to sound like it is coming from the direction on screen, for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Adds Voice Isolation to block background noise for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Adds Wide Spectrum to bring all background noise into a FaceTime call for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Support for Portrait Mode which blurs the background focuses the camera on the user, for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Adds Grid View support, to display up to 6 people at a time in Group FaceTime calls, along with highlighting the current speaker FaceTime links allows users to invite their friends via links, regardless of platform Adds over 40 Memoji outfit choices and 3 more colors Adds Focuses, which allows users to filter certain types of notifications depending on time of day, or manual activation Home Screen pages can be customized with Focuses as well, along with notifications to others that a Focus is enabled and user's notification will not be sent Redesigns Notifications to be more compact Adds Notification Summary, which delivers a "helpful collection of your notifications daily" Notifications can be muted from any app or messaging thread for the next hour or the day Detailed city maps display elevation, buildings, crosswalks and turn lanes, landmarks, buildings, and 3D views to navigate complex interchanges, with more available in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and London, with support for more cities coming later, for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Adds support for Maps to show traffic and incidents, along with planning future journeys with a set departure or arrival time Walking directions now use AR for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later An interactive 3D globe shows enhanced details for mountain ranges, forests, oceans, deserts, and more, for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Adds the bottom tab bar to Safari, allowing users to simply swipe between tabs instead of selecting Tab View Tab Overview now uses a grid to display tabs, instead of displaying them like a deck of cards Safari extensions are now downloadable in the App Store Voice Search lets users with Voice Control enabled use Safari with their voice Home keys lets users tap to unlock a supported home or apartment door lock, for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Hotel keys allow users to tap to unlock rooms at participating hotels Office keys allow users to tap to unlock office doors at participating corporate offices Car keys with Ultra Wideband allow unlocking, locking, and starting supported cars without removing iPhone from a bag or pocket, on iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max and later Remote keyless functions on car keys allow users to unlock, lock, honk horn, preheat car, or open trunk on supported vehicles Live Text recognises text in images, allowing copy-and-paste, look-up, and translation in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and Live Preview with Camera for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Data detectors for Live Text recognize contact information, street addresses, and dates and highlight them Photos can now be searched for via location, people, scenes, text, or other pictured items Web image search allows for searching of people, animals, monuments, etc. Health data can now be shared Weather maps can be viewed in fullscreen and now show precipitation, temperature, and air quality in supported countries Next-hour precipitation notifications alert users when rain or snow will soon start or stop in the US, UK, and Ireland Animated backgrounds now more accurately represent conditions such as sun position, clouds, and more in the Weather app Siri is now able to process audio on-device, making many requests available offline for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max and later Introduces iCloud+ Adds support for iCloud Private Relay (currently in beta), which sends Internet traffic requests through two separate relays and encrypts the Internet traffic leaving users' iPhones. However, some carriers can prevent the use of it depending on configuration. Hide My Email allows creating of random and unique email address which forward emails to theirs HomeKit Secure Video allows for connecting more security cameras without filling up iCloud storage Custom email domain personalizes their iCloud Mail address, and allows family members in a Family Sharing group to use the same domain Live Text is supported with VoiceOver in Markup Text size can now be customized per-app Find My, Contacts, App Store, Sleep, Game Center, and Mail widgets are now available Images, documents, and files can now be dragged between apps Apple ID Account Recovery Contacts allows users to choose one or more Apple IDs to be used to reset your password Allows users to temporarily back up as much data as they need in iCloud for up to three weeks if a new device is bought Find My now notifies you if you have been separated from a supported device, with direction information given on supported devices Fixes a bug where devices may be tracked by WiFi MAC addresses Improves Face ID antispoofing measures Fixes a bug where a malicious application may be able to access physical metadata without being given permission to access photos Fixes a bug where a VPN may be installed and configured without user authorization Prevents malicious applications from accessing some of a user's Apple ID information eSim supported on iPhone XR and Xs or later
15.0.1	19A348		October 1, 2021	Fixes an issue where Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch failed to work with iPhone 13 Fixes a bug where the Settings app may incorrectly state that storage is full Addresses an issue where audio meditations may start a workout without user input on Apple Watch for Fitness+ subscribers Fixes a bug where a user may be able to access restricted content from the Lock Screen	Bug Fixes
15.0.2	19A404		October 11, 2021	Fixes an issue where photos saved to a user's library from Messages are deleted if the associated message or thread is deleted Fixes a bug where iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe may not connect to Find My Fixes a bug where AirTags may not appear in the Find My Items tab of Find My Addresses an issue where CarPlay audio playback may fail Fixes a bug where iPhone 13 models may fail to restore when using Finder or iTunes Fixes a bug where a malicious application may be able to read a user's contacts or gameplay data	Bug Fixes
15.1	19B74	SkyB	October 25, 2021	Adds SharePlay support to FaceTime Allows content to be synchronized between call participants in compatible apps, such as TV, Music, Fitness+, and more Shared controls allow anyone to play, pause, rewind, fast forward, and more Volume automatically lowers when someone is talking Allows capture of ProRes footage using iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max Allows adding a COVID-19 vaccination card to your Wallet Adds Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) support to the Translate app Fixes a bug where the Photos app may incorrectly report that storage is full during importing of photos and videos Fixes an issue where the Weather app may fail to update the temperature for My Location Fixes a bug where audio playing from an app may pause when locking the screen Fixes a bug where available Wi-Fi networks may not be detected Improves iPhone 12 battery algorithms to estimate battery health more accurately Fixes a bug that allowed a remote attacker to force restart a device	Feature Update
15.1.1	19B81		November 17, 2021	iPhone 12 series and iPhone 13 series only Fixes call drop issues	Bug Fixes
15.2	19C56 19C57	SkyC	December 13, 2021	Adds support for Apple Music Voice Plan, which adds a new subscription tier that allows access to music through Siri App Privacy Report in Settings lets users see how often apps have accessed sensor data, along with network activity Adds communication safety features to Messages, allowing parents to enable warnings for children if or when they send or receive photos containing nudity, along with helpful resources Adds macro photo control to allow switching to the Ultra Wide lens in the Camera app for iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max Adds the Store tab to TV, allowing users to rent and buy TV shows in-app Adds the ability to configure Hide My Email in the Mail app Find My can now locate iPhone for up to five hours when in Power Reserve Fixes a bug where ProRAW photos appear overexposed in third-party editing applications Allows Siri to respond again if VoiceOver is enabled and iPhone is locked Fixes a bug where CarPlay may not update the Now Playing information for certain apps Adds support for Legacy Contacts, allowing other Apple IDs to access user's iCloud account in the event of user's death. However, enabling this prevents any devices running a version of iOS or iPadOS below 15.2 from signing in to user's Apple ID.	Feature Update
15.2.1	19C63		January 12, 2022	Fixes a bug where Messages may not load iCloud Link-shared photos Fixes a bug where third-party CarPlay apps fail to respond to input Fixes a bug where a maliciously crafted HomeKit accessory name may cause denial of service	Bug Fixes
15.3	19D50	SkyD	January 26, 2022	Fixes a bug where an application may be able to access a user's files without permission Fixes a bug where a maliciously crafted mail message can lead to arbitrary JavaScript code execution Addresses an issue where processing of maliciously crafted web content may prevent the Content Security Policy from being enforced Prevents websites from tracking user information	Security Fixes
15.3.1	19D52		February 10, 2022	Fixes a bug that prevented Braille displays from responding Fixes a bug where processing of maliciously crafted web content causes arbitrary code execution	Bug Fixes
15.4	19E241	SkyEcho	March 14, 2022	Initial release on iPhone SE (3rd generation), also is a base of Apple Studio Display's firmware. Adds support for Face ID with Mask for iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and newer Adds new emojis Allows FaceTime SharePlay sessions to be initiated directly from apps Allows Siri to provide date and time information while offline on iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and later Adds a new Siri voice Adds vaccine card support in the EU Siri webpage translation can now translate Italian and Chinese (Traditional) Custom iCloud email domains can be managed from settings Emergency SOS can now be triggered via Call with Hold instead of Call with 5 Presses Close-up Magnifier now uses the Ultra Wide lens on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max Saved passwords can have attached notes in Settings Fixes a bug that caused the keyboard to insert periods between numbers Fixes a bug that caused photos and videos to fail to sync	Feature Update
15.4.1	19E258		March 31, 2022	Fixes an issue where battery may drain more quickly than expected after updating to iOS 15.4 Fixes a bug where Braille devices may become unresponsive while navigating text or displaying an alert Fixes a bug where hearing devices may lose connection within some third-party apps for iPhone Fixes a bug that allowed arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges in AppleAVD, Apple's framework for audio and video decoding. Apple notes that they are aware this bug has been actively exploited.	Bug Fixes
15.5	19F77	SkyF	May 16, 2022	Wallet now allows Apple Cash customers to send and request money with their Apple Cash card The Podcasts app can now be set to limit the number of locally stored episodes; if set older episodes will automatically delete Fixes an issue where Home automations triggered by people arriving or leaving may fail to activate Fixes numerous bugs where malicious applications may be able to gain arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges Fixes a bug that allowed a program with arbitrary read/write to bypass pointer allocation Fixes a sandbox escape Fixes a bug that allowed malicious websites to track users in Safari Private Browsing Fixes a bug that allowed malicious applications to bypass signature validation Fixes a partial lock screen bypass bug that allowed attackers to access the Photos app Fixes multiple bugs where processing of maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution	Bug Fixes
15.6	19G71	SkyG	July 20, 2022	Fixes a bug that caused the Music app to replace the app in the rightmost slot of the dock when reinstalling it	Bug Fixes
15.6.1	19G82		August 17, 2022	Fixes a WebKit bug that allows arbitrary code execution. Apple notes that they are aware it has been actively exploited. Fixes a bug that allowed arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges. Apple notes that they are aware it has been actively exploited.	Security Fixes
15.7	19H12	SkySecuritySydney	September 12, 2022	Patches a bug that allowed apps to bypass Privacy preferences surrounding Contacts Patches two bugs that allowed execution of arbitrary code with kernel privileges Patches a bug that allowed disclosing of kernel memory Patches a bug that allowed apps to read location information via Maps Patches a bug that allowed users to elevate privileges Patches a bug that allowed address bar spoofing Patches a bug that allowed user tracking via Safari extensions Fixes a logic bug that allowed access to Photo Library on a locked device Fixes two bugs in WebKit that allowed execution of arbitrary code	Security Fixes
15.7.1	19H117		October 27, 2022
15.7.2	19H218		December 13, 2022	[[! colspan="6" |Exclusive to iOS devices not supported by iOS 16 (iPhone 6S/6S Plus, iPhone SE (1st generation), and iPhone 7/7 Plus)

System features

Focus

The Focus allows users to set their "state", such as work, sleep, do not disturb or a custom focus. Based on the selected state, users can set the type of notification they want to receive and from which application. It is also possible to choose which pages and then apps to show on the Home based on the state. The state can change automatically based on where the user is or a time.

Focus also controls the interactions with Contacts, so it is possible to decide which specific contacts can "disturb" the user.

Some Lock Screen settings can be controlled based on the state: for example, the Dim Lock Screen feature, which darkens the lock screen from not showing notifications on that screen, can be automatically turned on or off based on the state.

Focus is synchronized automatically across different iOS and macOS devices on the same iCloud account, as well as any paired watchOS devices.

Notifications

Notifications receive a new look with contact photos for all communication apps and larger app icons. When the notification arrives, the user can mute the corresponding app for one hour or all day.

The Summary allows the user to group and postpone the notifications coming from the chosen apps, delivering them at a scheduled time in a single big notification called summary notification.

Live Text

Devices with an A12 chip or later support Live Text, which uses optical character recognition to recognize text in images, allowing copy-and-paste, look-up, and translation in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, Safari, and Live Preview with Camera. This feature uses artificial intelligence text recognition using the Neural Engine.

Smart stacks with suggested Widgets

The Widgets in iOS 15 are more dynamic: depending on the context, the system can add or remove widgets to existing stacks. For example, near the start of a certain event in the Calendar, the system can decide to add the Calendar Widget to an existing smart stack, if it is not already present, and then remove it at the end of the event.

Cross-App Drag and Drop

Pictures and text can be dragged from one app and dropped in another. This feature was previously only available in iPadOS.

Home

The various Home screens can be reordered, deleted, hidden, or limited using Focus mode.

Per-App Text Size

From the Control Center, the text size can be set per app.

Spotlight

The global search function has been enhanced and it is also available on the lock screen by pulling the page down.

Dictation

Formerly limited to 60 seconds, the Voice-To-Text dictation available in the keyboard is unlimited.

System-wide translation

System-wide translation allows the user to translate text in all apps by selecting it and tapping on the Translate option.

Adjust video playback speed

The system default player, used for videos and by many apps, supports changing playback speed.

Video Effects and Mic Mode

The Control Center supports Video Effects, adding Portrait effect to the camera, and Mic Mode to implement microphone Voice Isolation.

Accessibility improvements

• Per-App Accessibility: each app can have a different accessibility setting to customize the text (Bold Text, Larger Text, Button Shapes, On/Off Labels, Reduce Transparency), increase contrast, reduce motion, autoplay video-preview, etc.
• Image Exploration with VoiceOver: it describes photos to give users with low vision more context about what's displayed on the photo.
• Audible charts: the Audio Graphs accessibility framework allows to represent chart data with audio for blind and low-vision people.

iCloud

Backups to iCloud can now also be made on 5G cellular networks.

RealityKit 2

The new version for augmented reality (AR) uses new APIs to capture objects faster, and supports custom shaders, dynamic assets, custom systems and character control.

Accounts for School and Work

User accounts managed by an organization, such as work or school accounts, can be added without requiring external apps or profiles.

StoreKit 2

StoreKit 2 allows apps to implement the "Request a Refund" option in-app. The users can tap this option, select a specific in-app purchase and identify the problem that led to the refund request. It also allows developers to monitor the purchases made by their users without using third-party solutions.

App features

FaceTime

iOS 15 adds several new features to FaceTime including:

• Grid view for group conversations
• Portrait mode, requires A12 Bionic chip or later
• Spatial Audio
• Voice isolation mode: remove background noise during calls
• Wide spectrum mode
• FaceTime links and web integration: Allow Android and Microsoft Windows users to join calls
• Calendar integration
• Mute alerts, which let users know when they are talking while muted
• FaceTime can now take advantage of all rear cameras (on compatible devices)
• SharePlay allows the user to share his/her content from compatible video and music apps to a FaceTime call. The user can also share his/her screen to a FaceTime call.

Memoji

Memoji in iOS 15 have more customization options, including new clothing, two different eye colors, new glasses, new stickers, multicolored headwear, and new accessibility options.

Messages

• Multiple images in stack: Messages now displays multiple images in a stack, making them easier to navigate.
• Pinned content: the user can pin any content, text or link he/she receives from a contact.
• Shared with You: Messages also introduces a new feature called "Shared with You", which organizes links and other content shared via Messages in a dedicated section in their native apps for later viewing (for instance, a news article shared via messages is shown in the News app).

Maps

Apple Maps receives several new features:

• Greater depth has been added to the driving maps with the use of 3D modeling, which will make it easier to interpret directions when faced with roads that go over or under the one being driven on, including buildings, bridges and trees.
• 3D globe with a new color palette and increased mountain, desert, and forest detail
• Increased traffic information, turn lanes, bike, bus and taxi lanes, medians, crosswalks
• Walking directions in augmented reality on A12 devices or later
• Redesigned place cards
• Improved filtering for search
• The night mode set in Maps now follows the night mode set in the OS instead of activating it only at night and the colors are improved.
• Public Transport Info: public transport routes and times with ability to pin favorite routes to the top. In-app notifications will alert users when they need to get off a bus or train. Transit information can be visible on a connected Apple Watch.
• Reports and Reviews: the user can report incidents, write reviews and add photos to points of interest, etc.
• New features for driving, including a new map where details such as traffic and incidents are highlighted, as well as an itinerary planner that lets the user view a future journey by selecting departure or arrival time.

Photos

The Photos app can now manually set the time, date, and location of a photo. The app also allows the user to view information about the photo such as the camera used to take the photo and the photo's file size. In the Photos app, the user can now look up places that are inside images, however, this feature only works on the Apple A12 chip or later.

Camera

Improved panoramic shooting mode on iPhone 12 and above: less geometric distortion in panoramic shots with elongated fields of view, noise and banding reduction that are formed in the image due to changes in brightness and contrast when moving the camera from side to side, a less blurry and clearer image even when capturing moving subjects within the panorama.

Safari

Safari was completely redesigned, moving the tab bar and address bar to the bottom of the screen, but there is an option to keep the legacy layout. It now has tab groups, allowing users to organize tabs and share entire groups of tabs. The user can now use a pull to refresh gesture to refresh a webpage. Browser extensions are available for the first time in Safari for iOS; they are the same extensions available in Safari for the Mac. Safari will automatically upgrade HTTP URLs to HTTPS if compatible. The WebM audio codec is supported.

Safari opens with a new start page; it is possible to have a custom page on startup that contains sections including favorites, most frequently visited sites, Siri suggestions, etc.

App Clips more discoverable: it is possible to show a full-screen preview of the app clip in Safari.

Weather

Weather received an overhaul, with new animations and weather maps in full screen, and the weather icon was updated. The app also has a next-time precipitation notifications feature which allows the user to get a notification whenever rain or snow is going to start or stop within the next hour for the user’s current location and each saved location, independently.

Siri

Siri can now work offline on device with an A12 Bionic chip or later, responding faster to common requests supported locally without need for Internet connection.

News

Apple News has been completely redesigned, featuring more rounded corners.

Share with Siri

Siri responds to requests such as "Hey Siri, share this with [name]" or "send this to [name]" to share screen content using Messages. Items such as images, web pages, Apple Music or Podcasts, Apple News stories, and Maps locations will share the actual content (or a link to it). For content Siri cannot share, Siri will send a screenshot, notifying the user.

Announce Notifications: with announce notifications update in iOS 15, Siri can read all incoming notifications aloud and allow users to speak a response to them. This can be enabled for specific apps.

Health

Health data can now be shared.

A new monitored parameter called "Walking Steadiness" has been added, which determines the risk of falling using gyroscopic sensors that measure balance, stability, and coordination.

Added the Trend analysis i.e. horizontal lines that show the trend of the various parameters over the long term.

Lab Results allows the user to import laboratory results into the Health app from a healthcare provider.

Files

Groups is a new view mode that groups files of the same type.

The built-in PDF editor can insert pages from existing files or scans, remove pages, and rotate pages. PDFs can also be locked with a password.

Notes

New #tags allow classifying, organizing, then finding the user's notes faster. Smart Folders automatically group various notes based on tags. Ability to share notes with other collaborators and work on them together. The activity view shows a summary of the changes made by other collaborators before the user's last reading and a day-by-day list of the activities carried out by each collaborator. It is possible to mention @someone in the notes, who will be notified.

Reminders

Ability to insert #tags in reminders to classify them.

Shortcuts

• Sound recognition has been added to the automations, so it is possible to execute a customized command when a certain sound is recognized.
• New automation triggers based on the current reading of a HomeKit-enabled humidity, air quality, or light level sensor.

Voice Memos

Added new playback options to adjust speed and skip silence.

Wallet

• Keys: iPhone is able to unlock select HomeKit-enabled smart locks. Requires an iPhone with an A12 chip or newer.
• Identification cards and driver licenses: iPhone can store a copy of a U.S. user's state-issued identity card or driver license. Arizona, Georgia, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah will be the first states to support the feature. Arizona was the first state to support the feature with iOS 15.4 on March 23, 2022.

Security and privacy

App Privacy Report

By activating this app logging, the user can save a 7-day summary of the times when the various apps access certain data and the domains or websites they visit. This feature was called "Record App Activity" until iOS 15.2, when its functionality was extended.

Siri Improved Privacy

On devices with an Apple A12 chip or later, Siri now converts audio into words on the device itself instead of sending it to Apple servers.

Hide IP address for trackers in Safari

Safari's anti-tracking now prevents known trackers from reading the user real IP address.

Hide IP address for external content in Mail

In the Mail app, the user can enable the setting to hide their IP address when downloading external content that may be present in a mail message. In this way it is possible to privately download this external content without being tracked by spammers or commercial companies that have inserted them without the user's knowledge.

Hide My Email

Hide My Email creates random email addresses that forward to the inbox so e-mail can be sent and received anonymously.

iCloud Private Relay

Private Relay masks the user's IP address in Safari, preserving the region without revealing the actual location. It also protects the DNS query resolution and insecure HTTP traffic in all apps.

Built-in one-time password authenticator With Autofill

The built-in authenticator allows iOS devices to be used to generate verification codes for additional sign-in security of accounts. There is no need to download a separate app because it is integrated into the OS. The verification codes are automatically filled when a user signs in to the site.

WPA3 Hotspot

Hotspot connections now can also use the WPA3 security protocol.

Tethering to/from older iOS devices is not possible as WPA2 compatibility is not fully supported.

Apple Support have said that if enough people put in a feature request they might fix this issue.

CSAM detection

CSAM detection identifies known Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in photos stored iCloud Photos was originally intended to be included. Implementation of CSAM detection has been delayed indefinitely. This recognition is based on a perceptual hash called NeuralHash.

Siri and Search are also being updated to intervene when users perform searches for queries related to CSAM. The Messages app will warn children when receiving or sending sexually explicit photos, blurring sent and received photos. It was originally planned to also notify parents of children under 13 if they choose to view flagged messages anyway, but this was removed due to concerns about abusive parents.

Hardened memory allocation

Main article: iOS § Hardened memory allocation

iOS 15 introduced kalloc_type in order to advance memory safety in the XNU kernel. This is primarily to mitigate privilege escalation vulnerabilities.

Other changes

• New widgets have been added: Mail, Contacts, Game Center, Find My, App Store, Sleep, Apple Card
• New Emojis have been added in iOS 15.4.
• iOS 13 wallpapers were removed in the first beta of iOS 15.
• iOS 15 features a new wallpaper in two modes: light and dark.
• Weather's much more prominent new feature called "Report an Issue" was added instead of just text and the Weather design was tweaked and improved in iOS 15.5.
• Game Controllers Support for App Store was added in iOS 15.4.
• SharePlay was officially released in iOS 15.1. It was initially present in the iOS 15.0 betas but was disabled and hidden behind a developer profile before the final release.
• Support for SharePlay was added in iOS 15.4.
• SharePlay UI button was updated and more easily enabled in iOS 15.5.
• Support for Italian and Chinese (Traditional) for Safari webpage translation was added in iOS 15.4.
• "Other" storage was renamed to "System Data".
• Apple Pay in the Messages app was renamed to "Apple Cash" in iOS 15.5.
• New gender-neutral voice option for Siri was added in iOS 15.4.
• Podcasts received a new setting to limit episodes stored on user's iPhone and iPad and automatically delete older ones in iOS 15.5.
• Keychain Notes to iCloud was added in iOS 15.4.
• Passkey technology was added in iOS 15.0.
• Support for "External Link Account Entitlement" was added in iOS 15.5.
• iTunes Pass was revamped, rebranded and renamed to "Apple Account Card" in iOS 15.5.
• Apple Account Balance card received a new image in iOS 15.5.
• Custom Email Domains for iCloud Support was expanded and added in iOS 15.4.
• ‘Cosmetic Scan’ Trade-In Tool for iPhone was added in iOS 15.4.
• "Corner Gestures" for Notes in Settings was added in iOS 15.4.
• Apple Store includes a new feature "Pay with your iPhone in the Apple Store, shop online, or buy apps, subscriptions, and other services"; support for this feature was added in iOS 15.5.
• Emergency SOS was improved in iOS 15.2.
• Emergency SOS settings was changed to "Call with Hold for all users" and "Call with 5 Presses" in iOS 15.4. However, Emergency SOS "Call with 5 Presses" was removed and disabled from Settings in iOS 15.5.
• Broken toggle to disable iCloud data access on the web was removed on Settings in iOS 15.4.
• The option to turn off notifications for Personal Automations in Shortcuts was added in iOS 15.4.
• TV App Customization will choose "Preferences" and choose "Still Frame" or "Poster Art" options for the "Up Next" display that was added in iOS 15.4.
• On iOS 15.0–15.1, Face ID was disabled on the iPhone 13 series after a third-party screen replacement. This is no longer the case starting from iOS 15.2. Face ID was fixed and re-enabled in iOS 15.4.
• Issue with 120Hz animations not fully working on iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max was fixed in iOS 15.4.
• Face Mask and Glasses for Face ID was added in iOS 15.4.
• Vaccination Records in the Health app was added in iOS 15.4.

Supported devices

All the devices supporting iOS 14 support iOS 15. However, devices with an A9, A10 or A11 chip, such as the iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone SE (1st generation) and the iPod Touch (7th generation), all have limited support. The following is a list of devices that support iOS 15:

iPhone

• iPhone 6S & 6S Plus
• iPhone SE (1st generation)
• iPhone 7 & 7 Plus
• iPhone 8 & 8 Plus
• iPhone X
• iPhone XS & XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro & 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd generation)
• iPhone 12 & 12 Mini
• iPhone 12 Pro & 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13 & 13 Mini
• iPhone 13 Pro & 13 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (3rd generation)

iPod Touch

• iPod Touch (7th generation)

See also

• iPadOS 15
• macOS Monterey
• tvOS 15
• watchOS 8