iOS 15.2: Apple updates iPhone with a host of new and controversial features

Apple Published iOS 15.2, adds a bunch of new features Iphone.

While some updates to the iPhone operating system bring only minor updates, new features bring some more important – and controversial – additions that have been on hold since iOS 15 was released. launched earlier this year.

The new update is available for download like any other update, found through the “Software Update” option in the Settings app.

That includes a new “communication safety” setting that allows the phone to scan through images sent to children’s phones and warn them if the photos appear to include nudity.

That feature has been scaled back since it was first announced in the summer, when it was met with fierce criticism. Apple announced shortly after that it would stop alerting parents to such nudity – and indefinitely delay another part of the project, which will scan through images contained in the photo library. of the user.

Apple is also adding the third and final part of that effort to address child sexual abuse material. That’s new guidance when people use Siri or other search engines to search for potentially unsafe information, when they’ll be redirected to Apple’s own information.

Also included in the new update is the full version of the App Privacy Report, which adds an option in settings to see which apps have reviewed a user’s “location, photos, camera, microphone, contacts and more” in the last week. as their network activity. That could also be controversial, given the outcry that Apple’s privacy-focused features have met with resistance from other companies like Facebook.

The update also includes other less controversial features, such as the implementation of the Apple Music Voice Pack. That gives people the option of paying less for a membership of the music streaming service – if they just use it through Siri and control the songs with their voice.

It also includes the introduction of Apple’s new “Digital Legacy” tools, which aim to control what happens to personal information if the account owner dies. People can select “Old Contacts,” who will be able to access their iCloud account and other data in the event of their death.

Many of those features were announced over the summer, when Apple unveils iOS 15 at WWDC . event. But they didn’t come up with that update in September, along with other promised features – some of which, such as the “Common Controls” tool that allows control of iPads and Macs. together, has yet to be released.

Other smaller updates bring minor changes to the way the Camera app, TV, and CarPlay features work. An improvement to Find My also means that iPhones can be found up to five hours after the battery dies, if they are running in “Power Reserve” mode.

The update comes with new versions of watchOS and tvOS, though most of the new features are limited to iPhones.