While there’s still some time before iOS 14 arrives for the general public, heading over to Apple’s preview page gives us a closer look at what’s in store. There’s a lot actually, including some very specific changes that Apple is bringing for iPhone users in India. Since iPadOS (14) is essentially iOS (14) with some iPad features thrown in, you can expect these changes coming to it as well.
There are broadly four key changes that iOS 14 will bring to your iPhone in India. To begin with, Apple is adding new fonts, 20 brand new ones and “upgrades” to 18 existing ones with what Cupertino is calling more weight and italics. We don’t know what that latter bit means exactly, but we’ll know for sure once iOS 14 is out for public (it’s now rolling as a limited developer preview if you’re curious).
For the first time ever, iPhone users in India will be able to download and stream Apple TV+ content over cellular networks in iOS 14. Apple will also allow iPhone users to similarly download Indian Siri voices and software updates over cellular. All of this will be part of a new feature that Apple is calling smart downloads.
Elsewhere, iOS 14 will also bring full-screen effects in iMessage when you send greetings in 23 Indian languages. Apple Mail will also let you send and receive email using addresses composed of Indian script in iOS 14. That last bit is getting an even bigger update globally (including in India) with Apple finally giving iPhone users the flexibility to set third-party mail apps like Gmail and Outlook as default in iOS 14.
A lot of things that Apple is doing inside iOS 14 seems inspired from Google and Android (with an Apple twist) but on the whole, it’s turning out to be a big overhaul, some of which also goes against Cupertino’s tradition to offer iPhone users choice to do more. Home screen widgets and App Library are a few examples. There’s a lot more (you can read more about it here) but at the same time it would be interesting to see if Apple has also worked on the performance and stability sides, something that iOS 13 wasn’t very good at the start.
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