On September 16, Apple rolled out their newest operating system, iOS 14. When the software update first became available, I was a bit skeptical because I hadn’t really heard a lot of positive comments, but after downloading it, I really have not had an issue with it.
Over a short period of time, iOS 14 has become extremely popular among Apple users, mainly due to the major personalization features that could be done with the system. With the new system, users are creating their home screens to look more unique than they ever have in the past, with the use of widgets. Apple created these widgets that you can place on your home screen such as weather, battery life, music, photos, etc. Which ultimately, are larger versions of the app, but this way, with a glance you can check the weather or change your music for example.
People are spending hours upon hours curating their perfectly aesthetic screens using widgets, by using third party apps such as “Widgetsmith”. With this app, you can add small, medium or large widgets to the home screen to have a whole new experience. I downloaded Widgetsmith to play around with it but did not have much interest in spending several hours perfecting a certain aesthetic.
Unlike the widgets that Apple offers, with apps such as Widgetsmith, you can add as many widgets as you would like to your screen. I did not care to add many widgets because the more you add, the more spread out your apps become. Instead of searching for my apps across several different screens, I would rather have them close together.
When adding widgets to your home screen, you can display pictures, quotes, affirmations and anything that you could really want or need. I do think it is neat we have been given a way to customize our phones to the extreme and making it more personal.
Some of the other features that also came with the update are things such as the “app library” where all of your apps are organized for you on the furthest screen to the right. I really could do without this feature because I can get to my apps my much quicker without going all the way to the app library.
“I like the security feature that was added, so you know when the camera or microphone is being used,” said Loren Fox. This new security feature, when an app uses your camera, a green dot shows up in the corner and when the microphone is in use, an orange dot appears. This seems to be one of the first major steps for Apple and its security.
Alison Barrington - Staff Writer
