What's New in iOS 14 Beta 6: Spatial Audio Settings, Maps Splash Screen and More

[Anson_431]

That spatial audio function sounds really weird. Why would I want the sound to appear like it's coming from my phone instead of playing directly into my skull as usual?

Maybe it's just a way to say the audio remains like normal content that will remain in simple left and right manner like we're used to?

It does sound weird though, maybe it's purposefully written to encourage users to actually use and not switch it off......?

 

[twolf2919]

So what features do you guys think will be cut ahead of release and pushed off to a later iOS 14.X update? Seems to happen every year now. I think Spatial Audio might be delayed.

I haven't seen the electric car charging station route option yet. Seems to me that this will be delayed since it's still not here and this is actually a pretty significant feature.

 

[twolf2919]

Does anyone know if the EV charging station route option in Maps is in this beta? If this makes it into the final release, they're sure cutting it close.

 

[scouser75]

What Apple needs to fix pretty much more than anything is the Reminders app sync fiasco, where if you amend a date or time on a Reminder on your Mac it throws the date and time out totally on your iPhone. But if you amend on your iPhone it syncs on your Mac. This has been going on since ios 13. That's almost 2 years!!!

 

[Hellsurfer]

On spatial audio...
Supported movies and tv shows

Wouldn’t be surprised if that meant iTunes and Apple TV+ only, no third party app support.

There is a Spatial Audio API. any third party vendor can integrate it into their app.

I guess it will be a while before we see it appearing in netflix and youtube.

 

[bobjr12345]

That spatial audio function sounds really weird. Why would I want the sound to appear like it's coming from my phone instead of playing directly into my skull as usual?

What Content did you test it with? Was it an Apple+ TV show/Movie?

 

[ScottL57]

Natural Eye Contact toggle for FaceTime is back.

 

[archer75]

That spatial audio function sounds really weird. Why would I want the sound to appear like it's coming from my phone instead of playing directly into my skull as usual?

No the sound doesn't appear to come out of your phone. Instead the sound is in your head, through the airpods pro as usual, and tied to the location of the phone. So the sound direction is always correct based upon the location of the video. Which creates an accurate sound representation based upon the location of the video to the location of your head.

 

[neoelectronaut]

What Content did you test it with? Was it an Apple+ TV show/Movie?

I don't have Airpods Pro and was unable to test it, I'm only reacting to the description of the feature from the MacRumors post.

If I'm using headphones, I want the sound to come out of the headphones, not to sound like it's coming out of my iPhone's speaker "virtually".

 

[Bawstun]

Any speculation on what was wrong with the old time picker UI and why they felt the need to change it?

The old one feels more intuitive and easier to use.

You could not have possibly redesigned the app in a more less user-friendly or intuitive way. I am dead serious. It is probably the worst example of user interface design I’ve ever seen as a 34 year old. They need to fire whoever has been designing their UI lately IMO, because most of it has been awful or questionable.

 

[GIZBUG]

Now we just need the apps to catch up, then this will be a daily driver!

 

[JeffPerrin]

Eh, I’m gonna guess that it’s based on the format of the audio itself. Possibly only works with Dolby Atmos.

Make sense. However, Apple said at WWDC that it would support 5.1 and 7.1 content too...

 

[FuzzMunky]

That spatial audio function sounds really weird. Why would I want the sound to appear like it's coming from my phone instead of playing directly into my skull as usual?

I think Spatial audio with movies is just a stepping stone until they release Apple AR glasses, when positioning audio relative to your environment will be a key feature for suspension of belief.

 

[entropys]

I haven't seen the electric car charging station route option yet. Seems to me that this will be delayed since it's still not here and this is actually a pretty significant feature.

Do people use POI features all that much in reality? Just curious. I can’t ever say I have used carplay or maps to find a petrol station, or find a coffee shop or a place for a feed. In the back of my mind I would always think the map service would be directing me to someone who has paid for priority in the search function.

I mean, yes they are selling points, but I am curious how much people actually use these kind of features on a daily basis.

 

[Peter Alexander]

just updated to beta 6 and noticed a neat change to this update maybe i never seen before... when my iphone is locked and i say hey siri its just black and the lil siri icon is visible with the orange light up above (meaning my mic is being used ) but i cant see my wallpaper or lockscreen is this a new thing to save battery or something

 

[archer75]

If I'm using headphones, I want the sound to come out of the headphones, not to sound like it's coming out of my iPhone's speaker "virtually".

It doesn't.

 

[ghostface147]

I just wish they’d tweak the small battery widget to show percentages and still be a square. The middle sized one takes up too much space on my Home Screen.

 

[miamialley]

I bet spatial audio isn't ready in time for release

I still don't understand what spatial audio is/does.

 

[miamialley]

I hate how you have to add time now. I keep fu**ing it up when setting the time within calendar. It really isn’t that user friendly at all.

I've always loved the scroll wheel. It's too tedious to type it in. I'm at least glad the wheel is kind of still there.

 

[SkimPappa]

You could not have possibly redesigned the app in a more less user-friendly or intuitive way. I am dead serious. It is probably the worst example of user interface design I’ve ever seen as a 34 year old. They need to fire whoever has been designing their UI lately IMO, because most of it has been awful or questionable.

I hate using the alarm clock now.

 

[MacAttack2024]

You could not have possibly redesigned the app in a more less user-friendly or intuitive way. I am dead serious. It is probably the worst example of user interface design I’ve ever seen as a 34 year old. They need to fire whoever has been designing their UI lately IMO, because most of it has been awful or questionable.

apple lately has reached a point with iOS where they are over-designing. microsoft did the same thing with office. Setting alarms is not something people want to relearn every year.

iOS 15 needs to be an iOS 7 style rebirth.

 

[miamialley]

Any speculation on what was wrong with the old time picker UI and why they felt the need to change it?

The old one feels more intuitive and easier to use.

The old way was great. Loved it. Hate the new way.

 

[archer75]

I still don't understand what spatial audio is/does.

Gives you the illusion of full atmos surround sound in your airpods pro when watching tv/movies.

 

[Feyl]

Well it seems like there's a drive to make things less intrusive, like full-screen call screen, full screen Siri. The spinning wheels on a picker just took up half the screen for no real purpose.

Well, I think for the sake of pleasure, the user experience they called it, it's worth to include such things. Otherwise all products will be the same.

 

[Nimoy]

I was hoping for that adaptive light feature in the Home app. Hopefully they’re not ditching it.