Apple releases iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 security updates

Apple has released iOS 15.5 (for iPhones) and iPadOS 15.5 (for iPads), respectively. Though this one isn’t a big update, but it still manages to pack in a couple of new features.

The update should already have been announced by your iPhone or iPad, but if not, you can always head into Settings and manually grab it. Apple’s rollouts thankfully aren’t staged, so the new software is already available for everyone who wants it.

Devices eligible for iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 update

Apple has announced that the new security update for Apple iOs 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5 will be rolled out for iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation).

What’s new in the update

Apple iOS 15.5 doesn’t make a lot of changes to the feature list of the iPhones. However, there are enough changes under the hood. Here are some of the feature updates that you will notice with the iOS 15.5 update.

One of the biggest changes is to the Podcast application. The Podcast app now has a new setting that allows the user to set the number of Podcast episodes that can be stored on an iPad or an iPhone. This new setting will delete the older podcasts stored on the device to maintain the number of episodes on the phone.

The Apple Pay Cash portion on the Wallet will now have separate “Request” and “Send” buttons. This will make it easier for the user to manage the cash.

In iPadOS 15.5, the Universal Control feature is finally out of the beta phase. The 15.5 update brings out the stable update for the eligible iPads. The Universal Control is designed to allow you to control different iPads and Macs with the use of just one mouse or trackpad.

iOS 15.5 also introduces a much-awaited “External Link Account Entitlement”. This new feature will allow apps to add a link to an external website in order to manage their account and manage other things. For instance, an app like Spotify will be able to provide a way to sign up for its services outside of Apple’s own App Store purchase system.

Apple has also introduced a new feature that limits some of the media captured in specific locations from popping up on the Photo Memories. For instance, if you tag a location such as your home as one of the sensitive locations. You won’t see images from this location on Apple’s Photo Memories.

Apple has provided third-party Music applications (all apart from Apple Music) to manage the playback speed of songs. The API has been made available after it was removed in iOS 15.4.