Apple releases iOS 15.1 with SharePlay support

Apple today is rolling out iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 to compatible devices. The major change in this update is the inclusion of SharePlay, one of the headlining features of iOS 15.

With SharePlay, users will be able to listen to songs, watch a movie or a TV show, complete a workout together, or share their screen to view apps with their friends or family members while on a FaceTime call. SharePlay is currently supported by Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Fitness+, as well as Disney+, ESPN+, HBO Max, Hulu, MasterClass, Paramount+, Pluto TV, SoundCloud, TikTok, Twitch and will be coming to other services in the future. It works on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV.

Apple has also added the option to record videos in ProRes on the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. ProRes is a high quality acquisition and post-production codec used in the cinema industry and supported by all major cinema cameras and editing applications. On the iPhone, it will enable recording in the highest quality possible for editing and post processing with less compression than the standard H.264/HEVC codec.

Apple has also added an option to disable the automatic camera switching to macro mode. Currently, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max camera will automatically switch to macro mode when you get close to your subject with no manual control over the transition. With this update, the user can disable the automatic transition when the camera gets close to the subject.

The 15.1 update also adds COVID-19 vaccination card support within the Apple Wallet app, making it easy to store and present your vaccination card from your iPhone or Apple Watch.

Here’s the full list of changes in this update:

SharePlay

• SharePlay is a new way to share synchronized experiences in FaceTime with content from the Apple TV app, Apple Music, Fitness+, and other supported App Store apps
• Shared controls give everyone the ability to pause, play, rewind or fast forward
• Smart volume automatically lowers the audio of a movie, TV show or song when your friends speak
• Apple TV supports the option to watch the shared video on your big screen while you continue the FaceTime call on iPhone
• Screen sharing lets everyone on a FaceTime call look at photos, browse the web, or help each other out

Camera

• ProRes video capture using iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
• Setting to turn off automatic camera switching when taking macro photos and videos on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple Wallet

• COVID-19 vaccination card support allows you to add and present verifiable vaccination information from Apple Wallet

Translate

• Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) support in the Translate app and for system-wide translation

Home

• New automation triggers based on the current reading of a HomeKit-enabled humidity, air quality, or light level sensor

Shortcuts

• New pre-built actions let you overlay text on images or gifs, plus a new collection of games lets you pass the time with Siri

This release also fixes the following issues:

• Photos app may incorrectly report storage is full when importing photos and videos
• Weather app may not show current temperature for My Location, and may display colors of animated backgrounds incorrectly
• Audio playing from an app may pause when locking the screen
• Wallet may unexpectedly quit when using VoiceOver with multiple passes
• Available Wi-Fi networks may not be detected
• Battery algorithms updated on iPhone 12 models to better estimate battery capacity over time