iOS 15 leak just revealed top new iPhone features — and new iPad home screen

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iOS could include a notifications revamp and iPad home screen updates

iOS 15 icons design leak
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

While many of us excitedly await the release of iOS 14.5, Apple's iOS 15 isn't too far off, either. In fact, we expect to hear more about it this summer at Apple's WWDC event, where the company will break down what we can expect in the next full iOS version release.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is gearing up to lay down a swathe of improvements in the next update. These include a revamp of how users interact with notifications, adding widgets to the iPad's home screen, an updated lock screen and privacy adjustments.

iOS 15 is set to include some nice overhauls to notifications. You'll be able to set up filters based on your status (such as sleeping, driving, working, etc) and tell iOS how you want notifications to present themselves during these statuses.

Basically, you tell your phone whether you want things to ring through and other granular control options. You'll also be able to set up auto-replies based on these statuses. You can do so while driving in iOS 14, but it'd be great to see that feature expanded to other statuses.

In other big news, Bloomberg reports that iPadOS 15 will include home screen widgets, which will likely have a similarly large impact on the way users interact with their tablets. The publication even claims that this update will be "the most significant update to the device’s Home Screen since first launching the product in 2010."

That's not all. iOS 15 should also let you access a new menu to look at app privacy information. Here, you'll be able to see what info your installed apps are gathering about you, similar to the privacy labels you'll find in the App Store. 

Apple wants to take on WhatsApp and it plans to do so by adding more social features to iMessage. What those are exactly remains unknown, but Bloomberg says that Apple will discuss its plans later. 

Finally, Bloomberg says that macOS, watchOS, and tvOS will all receive some minor updates. 

While we have a few months to wait to hear about iOS 15 in full, this is the first deluge of information about what we can expect. Very little of it is as jaw-dropping as iOS 14 ended up being, but updated notification filters and iPadOS home screen widgets are still good to see.

We're just around the corner from iOS 14.5, a huge update that will bring plenty of extra features, including Unlock with Apple Watch and updates to the Podcasts app. Stay tuned for that.

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Jordan Palmer
Jordan Palmer
Phones Editor

Jordan is the Phones Editor for Tom's Guide, covering all things phone-related. He's written about phones for over six years and plans to continue for a long while to come. He loves nothing more than relaxing in his home with a book, game, or his latest personal writing project. Jordan likes finding new things to dive into, from books and games to new mechanical keyboard switches and fun keycap sets. Outside of work, you can find him poring over open-source software and his studies.