My Top 5 Features in the Apple Ecosystem in 2023
The latest software that Apple releases is always the most secure. This is why it’s increasingly important to ensure your products are constantly up to date. It’s a win-win to keep your devices completely up to date as Apple gives us new, fun, and intuitive ways to use our products. I wanted to pull together a list of my 5 favorite new Apple software features that they launched this 2023 with updates to their product ecosystem.
#1 - FaceTime on Apple TV
With your iPhone running iOS 17 and your Apple TV running tvOS 17, you’ll notice the FaceTime App in finally included locally on the Apple TV. It’s an easy as it sounds by launching the FaceTime App on Apple TV. You’ll notice a pop up on your iPhone to use rear camera as a continuity camera, and then you simply navigate with the TV remote to FaceTime Call someone. One of the best parts of this is that Apple utilizes their feature of “Center Stage” and the camera will reposition itself to center the call participants. Give it a shot as it’s quite fun to use a main family room TV as a gathering point and connect virtually with friends and family. Since Apple TV is connected to your TV it will use your standard audio output for speakers, as in my setup I have a home Sonos setup which sounds incredible and clear. I’ve been using this iPhone camera stand by Sophie that I purchased directly at the Apple Store to securely position my iPhone in front of my TV so we can enjoy hands free family Facetime calls. Link here for stand.
#2 - FaceTimeVoice Mails on iOS 17
For years I have been talking about this feature, and Apple finally heard my thoughts! When you give someone a FaceTime call from your iPhone or any of your Apple devices and they’re all up to date to macOS Sonoma and iOS 17, iPadOS 17 etc. You can leave them a video message that will be waiting for them in the FaceTime App. It’s quite fun and another great way for Apple to sell “services” as these videos will save and go against your iCloud monthly storage. Quite brilliant if you ask me. 🤔
#3 - Ability to portrait mode photo after it’s been taken
Portrait pictures, in my opinion, have been one of the greatest iPhone camera features that we’ve seen to date. From someone who has been connected to the theatre and arts with “actor headshots”, it always amazed me how a camera or lens could blur the background by changing the bokeh. Now with iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, you are able to take a photo in the Camera App as a regular Live Photo, and add “portrait mode” after the fact natively in the Photos App. Also an added bonus is this works not only on people but also on pets! 🐾 If you have the latest iPhone, give it a shot!
#4 - Password and Passkey Sharing via iCloud Keychain
This is one that I feel Apple will continue building on for years to come. We are on the brink “passwords” becoming a thing of the past. Now I’m not saying they’re going away all together. That is a very distant vision, but what I do feel is that we will see more and more adoption of a “passkey” which is a secure type of login credential that will leverage your biometric authentication on your device. It’s a fancy yet approachable way to use cryptography to log you into the service at hand. With iCloud Keychain set up on iPhone you can securely share a password or passkey seamlessly via Settings, Passwords. One thing to call out is that you will need to ensure your software is completely up to date. This is a feature that won’t work on any device not running iOS 17, iPadOS 17, or macOS 14 Sonoma so ensure your devices are updated to hit the ground running. 🔒
#5 - iPadOS Stage Manager updates to set up external display workspace the way you want it.
This update for iPadOS 17 really allows someone to use iPad as their primary computing device. It’s quite impressive to plug your iPad into an external display via USB C or an adapter to USB C. This can be Display port, Mini Display Port, DVI, etc. I’ve tested all sorts of adapters with a lot of success with different brands and models. This latest update to iPadOS allows you to resize your external windows to the exact dimensions you like. The cherry on top with this feature is the ability to use and utilize external webcams. This can be either external USB C Webcams such as an Logitech that I use, or better yet if your USB C Display has a camera built in, in true Apple fashion, it should “just work”. = )
So how are you enjoying the new software features that Apple has launched this year? This was a great year for tech, and I believe 2024 will be even brighter with some new products on the horizon. Apple Vision Pro will be leading the way in this category, and I believe that this will pave the way for the future of Apple with further strengthening their ecosystem.
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Be well, and happy new year!
Joe
joe@macmeicloud.com
