With Apple announcing its Mac Studio, the iPhone SE 3, the Studio Display, and more at its March 2022 event, the release for iOS 15.4 has followed a week after, available for your iPhone SE, iPhone 6S, and above.
iOS 15 was released in September 2021, and it brought SharePlay, widgets to iPadOS, Focus modes, and more, all focusing on a theme of productivity.
But Apple has been full steam ahead with .1 updates since then, as 15.1, 15.2, and 15.3 have all brought bug fixes and refinements to your iPhone and iPad.
With this in mind, here are five features that you can get acquainted with as iOS 15.4 downloads to your device.
1. Face ID with a mask
(Image credit: Future)
While Apple introduced a feature that would allow your Apple Watch to authenticate you by unlocking your phone, it wasn't helpful to those who didn't own a watch.
With iOS 15.4, you can enable an additional feature where you will be asked to scan your face while wearing a mask. The Face ID hardware will then recognize your eyes and facial features to unlock your phone instead.
2. Universal Control with iPadOS 15.4
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
This is something that was announced at WWDC in 2021, Apple's yearly developer conference, but it was delayed from the latter half of 2021 to the release of iPadOS 15.4.
As long as you have a certain iPad model and a Mac running macOS 12.3 Monterey, you can use your mouse cursor across both devices, so you can drag and drop your content seamlessly.
If you're struggling to set Universal Control up, we've got a guide to help out with that.
3. New Emoji
(Image credit: TechRadar)
A new update wouldn't be the same without new emoji, and this time there's a bunch you can use.
From a salute to different genders being pregnant, alongside many new hand gestures, there's plenty to choose from for your WhatsApp and Twitter messages.
4. Better anti-stalking measures for AirTag
(Image credit: TechRadar)
When you set up a new AirTag in iOS 15.4, you will be greeted with a pop-up explaining that it's a crime to use it to track people, making users aware of its misuses across the world so far.
There's also better ways to manage its Notifications through the Find My app, so you can configure when the time-tracking alerts will arrive, alongside deciding whether to deliver all of its notifications right away or at a certain time of day.
5. Notes in iCloud Keychain
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You've been able to save and sync your passwords in iCloud since 2019 with the release of iOS 13. But 15.4 allows you to add notes to your custom iCloud passwords through iCloud Keychain.
While it sounds like a small feature, it's significant due to other password apps having this for a number of years, and the ease of adding some extra reminders in these sections can help, especially if you have multiple accounts for the same site.
There's been much speculation that Microsoft is already hard at work on the successor to Windows 11, likely to be called Windows 12.
Some of us at TechRadar are all for a swift follow-up to Windows 11, and would like to see Microsoft matching the regular update schedules of macOS and other operating systems.
So what improvements and new features might Windows 12 bring with it? Users have been peppering Microsoft with feature requests, with some of these wishes set to be granted in upcoming updates to Windows 11, tentatively called Sun Valley 2.
The TechRadar computing team has come up with its own wish list of five features we'd like to see in a Windows 12 release, no matter how unlikely some of them may be.
Windows 12 release date rumors
This is still very early days for Windows 11 – we're not even at the one-year anniversary of the update having been announced. However, going on past releases, we'd expect to see Windows 12 arrive in late 2025, just as support for Windows 10 is ending.
Windows 12 supported devices
When Microsoft announced availability for Windows 11, the main requirement was for machines to have a hardware feature called TPM enabled, which is a security feature that can be found on most motherboards.
While the same requirement will most likely be requested by Microsoft again, it may be at a point where almost every PC has TPM enabled anyway.
Other than that, it will likely have similar requirements to Windows 11:
A display larger than 9-inches with HD Resolution (1366×768)
DirectX 12 compatible graphics / WDDM 2.x
Internet connection
What we want to see
We don't know much about Windows 12 yet, or whether the rumored upgrade will even become a reality, but we do have a good idea of what we want from it, with the following features topping our list.
1. Merge Skype and Teams into MSN Messenger 12
(Image credit: TechRadar)
It's no secret that Microsoft's efforts on video calling and collaboration through messaging apps have been less than stellar in recent years. In a time when people needed to communicate remotely more, it was Zoom that took the lead and Skype was bafflingly left by the wayside.
While there have been some new features brought to both Teams and Skype, there's still an air of confusion as to which one you should use. If you need to take part in a job interview that's on Teams, for example, chances are you'll quickly need to install the app and make sure it works.
Instead, let's see them both retire and mark a fresh start for Windows 12, with the return of MSN Messenger to do the job these two apps have limped on with.
Not only to see the return of nudges, winks, and classic sounds if users want, but powerful features to make it go toe-to-toe with Zoom, Google Meets, and FaceTime. Perhaps have integration with Slack, so if a video meeting is needed, it can prompt in a channel and with one button, MSN Messenger will launch with the required invitees.
Microsoft needs to reboot how it perceives itself for messaging apps, and the return of MSN Messenger could be a great start to that.
2. Live Wallpaper
(Image credit: Wallpaper Engine)
A request by TechRadar's Senior Computing Editor Matt Hanson, and an intriguing one at that. There have been similar features in iPhones and Android phones for some years, with animations moving across these devices. But for PC and Mac, they've been relegated to third-party apps, such as Wallpaper Engine, to be able to have animated wallpapers with the ability to display information from your PC.
To have something similar from Microsoft for Windows 12 could further push its efforts in themes, something that's seen improvements in Windows 11, thanks to its dark themes.
Having a dedicated section for wallpapers where you can place static bytes of information on the desktop that works with an animated live wallpaper, could appeal to all kinds of users.
Microsoft could also bring back previous wallpapers, such as the hillside of Windows XP but have it animated, alongside some clouds displaying battery status or the weather.
This can update the desktop substantially and make it much more up to date, without having to rely on widgets or a taskbar to showcase changes.
3. Dedicated Podcast app
(Image credit: Primakov / Shutterstock)
While it's been great to see the return of Windows Media Player from Microsoft, having additional features such as podcasts feels irrelevant for what Media Player is for.
macOS has had its own podcast app since Big Sur in 2019, but if you wanted to use a similar app on Windows, it's not clear where to start, as Microsoft doesn't offer a dedicated podcast app.
This is why Windows 12 should include a dedicated podcast app that could also be used on other platforms, such as iOS and Android, so your subscriptions could sync across all your devices.
Podcasts are a great way of listening to interviews or the latest news that involve your interests, and managing them all in a first-party app would be great for Windows users. It's something that could really help spur the company's effort to make content available on almost every device.
4. Dedicated Streaming app
(Image credit: Razer)
A storming idea by our resident Computing writer Jess Weatherbed, as there is yet to be an integrated option in Windows to stream what you're playing.
For years there have been apps such as OBS and Twitch that offer ways to stream what you're playing or watching with others. However, these apps have always required extra effort to make sure that you're streaming to viewers in good quality, with low latency.
Then there's the additional aspect of the peripherals that streamers use to help show them in a better light, or Stream Decks to easily control their setups with shortcut keys.
It can be overwhelming to manage multiple apps just to control all of these, which is why Windows 12 could benefit from having one app that can manage your streams and the peripherals.
Microsoft has been pushing gaming in Windows 11 since its announcement in June 2021, with a redesigned Xbox app and HDR support. But countless gamers also stream these games through Windows, so there's a big opportunity here.
Having one app to control, say, ring lights and the streams for viewers is appealing, shifting the heavy lifting to one app. It could automate streams based on the schedule and the games being played, alongside different lighting scenarios for the different times of the day.
This could encourage more gamers to see Windows as a service, as the CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella has been stating since the release of Windows 10 in 2015, while also making Windows 12 an enticing prospect for streamers to earn more followers and income for their careers.
5. Companion app for Android
(Image credit: Samsung)
A suggestion by our Editor-in-Chief at TechRadar Pro, Desire Athow – this can be an expansion of Your Phone, Microsoft's effort to sync your phone to Windows. But when you open this new app in Windows 12, it has a layout reminiscent of Windows Phone and its tile layout that can enable a desktop experience from your phone.
This would be similar to Samsung DeX, where you can transform your S22 or Tab S22 Ultra into a desktop once it's connected to a peripheral.
This new app would go beyond DeX and Microsoft's Your Phone efforts. When you connect to a monitor, it becomes a fully-fledged Windows 12 desktop, showcasing everything from your main PC. And when you click on an icon, it downloads the content from the cloud and displays it in its native resolution.
It would be an innovative extension of the cloud, where you can access your files wherever you are. Here, you're carrying your desktop with you and all you need to do is to connect your smartphone to a monitor, either with touchscreen features or a keyboard and mouse.
This would also further Nadella's plans again, similar to the streaming feature, of seeing Windows as a service. Having your PC in an app is an enticing thought, and could help for those situations when you have a short window of opportunity to do some work with a spare monitor, keyboard, and mouse somewhere.
Since Parallels Desktop 17 was released earlier this year, we’ve been inspired to try out many games on Apple’s M1 Macs in how they run through virtualization.
With many tests impressing us so far, such as Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes running at full speed in 1440p on high settings, we’re still testing more games from other storefronts to see how far these Macs will go.
But you may have already received a new Mac this Christmas, and you’re already trying out Apple Arcade or games from the Mac App Store.
With this in mind, we’ve curated five games that will run great on your new Apple Silicon Mac, but are also perfect to play during the Christmas holidays.
Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair
(Image credit: Future)
Released in 2019 by Playtonic, a team of ex-Rare veterans and more, this is the second entry into the Yooka Laylee series after the first game had a successful Kickstarter, and was released to positive reviews.
This entry is 2D based, which is inspired from the Donkey Kong Country games of Rare's past. Here, you run through a series of worlds and levels to collect quills and T.W.I.T. coins, as well as to free a member of the 'Beetalion' crew. These will grant Yooka and Laylee additional 'hit points' to use when you reach the final level.
While you can play this game on Steam, we also saw no issues in playing the game on the Epic Games app within Parallels as well. Everything played well on high settings on both the M1 Mac mini and M1 Pro MacBook Pro, so if you want a great 2D platformer to pass the holidays with, Yooka and Laylee can greatly help with that.
Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain
(Image credit: TechRadar)
To date, an entry from the Metal Gear series has not seen a release on the Mac, but thanks to Parallels, you can play the fifth game with little issues.
Released in two parts – Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain that are available on Steam, you control Big Boss, or Phantom Snake as he's called here, where you need to infiltrate certain bases to rescue or recruit crew members to build out an army at a base called Outer Heaven.
While there are rumors pertaining to this day of the final game being unfinished, due to a missing chapter at the end, that doesn't make the game feel any less fun. The story, while confusing, is made up of the amount that you can do during a mission, You can drop in or be picked up in certain areas, and complete the tasks in different ways.
On the M1 Macs, you can easily run the game at a 1440×900 resolution at medium settings and have a great time. However, if you have a Mac with the M1 Pro or Max chip, you will be able to run the game on its highest settings with no issues.
Everything runs as expected, and over the holidays, it's a great game to lose yourself in.
Grand Theft Auto IV
(Image credit: Future)
While many are waiting to hear about a Grand Theft Auto VI, the fourth entry is one that gets overlooked the most from the series.
The first in the 'high-definition' series, its purpose was to remake Liberty City, the location from the third game, into this wide-sprawling city.
You control Eastern European war veteran Nico Bellic this time, where you're on a mission to help your family and friends by working with the local Mafia. Across four districts, you're soon flying helicopters and arranging dates to build up your reputation across the city.
The control is arguably better than Grand Theft Auto V, where driving has a better feel here, with more heft and better variation when you drive different vehicles across the city.
While the multiplayer mode was removed in 2020, the single-player mode available on Steam is still a lot of fun. On an M1 Mac, you can expect to play the game in high settings with no issue, but with an M1 Pro/Max Mac, you'll be able to play the game at a 2540×1440 resolution with no issues.
Tomb Raider: Legend
(Image credit: TechRadar)
With 2021 marking the 25th anniversary of the Tomb Raider series, you may have a favored entry that you go back to for some Lara Croft nostalgia.
However, while you can play the first three Tomb Raider games in Parallels with no issue, the seventh game, released in 2006 on Steam, is worth a playthrough over the holidays.
It's the first entry created by Crystal Dynamics, where Lara receives a soft reboot in her story and appearance, but with the gameplay being updated for the mid-noughties.
The controls here are much looser here than before, where you can play the game with a keyboard and mouse and have a good time.
Sprawled across 10 levels, from Bolivia to Kazakhstan, you're on a quest to find King Arthur's Excalibur in order to find Lara's missing Mother. It's a simple story, but it's where the gameplay shines. You're given a grappling hook that can attach to ledges and blocks to solve a variety of puzzles, alongside finding secret treasures that can unlock costumes for Lara.
For a game released in 2006, it still plays well today, and especially so on an Apple Silicon Mac. You can play the game at high settings, on a high resolution with no issues here.
Sonic Generations
(Image credit: Future)
This was a game that was designed to celebrate Sonic's 20th anniversary back in 2011 on Steam. Sonic Generations is one of the few 3D Sonic games that's fondly remembered, mainly due to how it honors the series' past.
Every level here is a remake of what came before, from Green Hill Zone in Sonic 1, to Sky Sanctuary Zone in Sonic 3. There are nine stages, with an additional stage of Casino Night Zone, from Sonic 2, where you merely collect enough rings in a pinball machine to complete the level.
Every level is as entertaining as the last, where you play a 3D and a 2D version of it, depending on the type of Sonic you pick. There's also plenty of collectibles that you earn by finding hidden red rings across the stages, which can unlock music, skills and more.
Running the game on an M1 Mac, it can stutter if all settings are on high, especially with the shaders. But when running in medium settings on a 1920×1080 resolution, you'll be running across Chemical Plant Zone with no issues.
However, playing Sonic Generations with an M1 Pro / Max Mac, you can easily play with high settings at a 2560×1440 resolution with rarely any stutters.
With so many broadband deals floating around now, it can be hard to know which ones to go for. Do you go for the fastest fibre plan? Or drop your costs with the cheapest ADSL? Or should you even be tempted by the many incentives on offer?
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