Apple has quietly confirmed that the much-anticipated rollout of its iOS 15.4 update is coming sometime next week.
iOS 15.4, which has been tested in beta since January, will allow iPhone users to unlock their smartphone while wearing a mask.
It also includes 37 new emoji, including a pregnant man, a motorcycle tyre, a slide, a disco ball, a troll with a club, coral, kidney beans and a low battery.
There’s also a new ‘gender neutral’ voice for its smart assistant Siri, called Quinn, recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Apple’s confirmation follows the unveiling of new products on Tuesday, including the third generation phone in its ‘budget’ iPhone SE line, starting at £419 ($429).
Since the start of the pandemic, getting Face ID to automatically recognise our face to unlock our iPhones has been a bugbear as we’ve had masks over our faces. With iOS 15.4, that seems to have finally been remedied
Availability of iOS 15.4 was quietly announced by Apple in a press release for new green versions of the iPhone 13.
‘iOS 15.4 will be available as a free software update starting next week,’ the firm says right at the bottom of the release, in small text.
The firm didn’t reveal what day it’ll be available, although The Verge notes that it could be the same day these green iPhones become available – March 18.
Here’s a closer look at the features coming to iPhones with iOS 15.4.
UNLOCK WITH A MASK
Nearly two years since the Covid pandemic started, Apple is finally letting iPhone users unlock their iPhone with Face ID when wearing a face mask.
Face ID, Apple’s facial recognition system, has finally received the all-important update as part of iOS 15.4, which was undergoing beta testing throughout February.
According to Florida-based iOS user Brandon Butch, who posted screenshots of the feature to Twitter in January, users first have to go to their iPhone’s settings and tap ‘Face ID’, followed by ‘Use Face ID With a Mask’ to toggle the option on and off.
Also, the new feature will only work on iPhone 12 and newer, according to 9to5Mac, meaning users stuck with an iPhone 11 or anything older will still have to take their mask off to get Face ID to work.
A CNN tech reporter tried out the new Face ID feature with several different masks and found the experience ‘inconsistent’.
NEW EMOJI
From a pregnant man to a biting lip, the 37 new emojis coming to iPhones were revealed at the end of January.
The pregnant man and pregnant person recognise that ‘pregnancy is possible for some transgender men and non-binary people’, says Emojipedia, which is part of the California-based Unicode Consortium, the central bank of all approved emoji.
But the two new pregnant emoji could also potentially be used as ‘a tongue-in-cheek way to display a food baby’, a very full stomach caused by eating a large meal.
iOS 15.4 also includes seven brand new smiley emojis, including Melting Face, Dotted Line Face, Face Holding Back Tears and Face with Diagonal Mouth.
Companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft apply stylised versions of the consortium’s designs to their own operating systems. This is Apple’s own emoji versions for Person with Crown, Pregnant Person and Pregnant Man, to be available in the iOS 15.4 update
New emojis have arrived on iOS as part of the first iOS 15.4 beta. These include a melting face, pregnant man, mirror disco ball, and multi-racial handshake emojis
Other additions include a motorcycle tyre, a slide, a disco ball, a troll with a club, coral, kidney beans and a low battery.
The Unicode Consortium officially signed off candidates for the next emoji release, version 14.0, last September.
But companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft apply stylised versions of the consortium’s designs to their own operating systems.
Apple’s were revealed by Emojipedia in a blog post published on January 27, the same day iOS 15.4 arrived in beta.
GENDER-NEUTRAL SIRI
While Siri is best known for its original, female voice, with iOS 15.4 users will be able to opt for a new ‘gender-neutral’ voice, called Quinn.
The tech giant has confirmed that the new voice was recorded by a member of the LGBTQ+ community, but did not offer any further details.
‘We’re excited to introduce a new Siri voice for English speakers, giving users more options to choose a voice that speaks to them,’ Apple told Axios at the end of February.
While the new voice is simply called ‘Voice 5’ on the iPhone, its filename refers to the voice as Quinn, according to iOS developer Steve Moser.
When the new iOS 15.4 rolls out, users opting for an American Siri will have a choice of five voices for their smart assistant.
A video posted to Twitter by The Verge reporter Jon Porter demonstrates the various voices in action.
While Siri is best known for its original, female voice, users will soon be able to opt for a new ‘gender-neutral’ voice, called Quinn. Apple is launching the new voice in its next iOS update
Voices 1 and 3 are low-pitched male voices, while Voices 2 and 4 are more high-pitched female voices, while the new Voice 5 is not distinctly male or female.
It comes just under a year after Apple stopped defaulting to its original female voice, and launched two new options.
Other updates coming with iOS 15.4 are vaccination records in the Health App and an Apple Card widget in the Today view.
