New information has emerged about the feature additions that will arrive with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, the next releases of Apple Inc.’s smartphone and tablet operating systems, respectively.

Some of the new features will become available on both platforms, according to Bloomberg, which detailed the enhancements in a report today. Others will roll out only to iPads. The report also provided an announcement date, June 7, which is when Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference is scheduled to take place in virtual form. 

Among the biggest enhancements said to be in the works is a privacy menu that will enable users to check if any of their apps are secretly collecting information such as location data. A second new menu reportedly included in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 is expected to give users more control over notifications. According to the report, Apple customers will gain the ability to customize how their devices alert them about new notifications based on what they’re currently doing. 

Apple is also bringing increased customization options to the automatic message reply feature in iPhones and iPads. Users can currently only turn on automatic replies when their device status indicates that they’re driving. In iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, the feature will work when a device is set to a different mode as well. While at it, Apple plans to release a new version of iMessage with social media features aimed at making the chat app more competitive with Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp, Bloomberg’s sources said. 

For iPads, the company is reportedly developing an enhanced Home Screen that is seen as the biggest update to the interface section since the tablet series launched in 2010. The main change is that users of iPadOS 15 will have the option to display widgets on the Home Screen alongside standard app shortcuts. Widgets are interactive icons that can perform tasks such as displaying real-time weather updates. 

The latest leak about Apple’s upcoming mobile operating system releases emerged this morning shortly after another report, in the Financial Times, that suggests the iPhone maker could be preparing updates to the App Store as well.  

Apple has long enabled developers to place ads in users’ App Store search results to promote their apps. Now, it’s said to be planning to allow ads in the marketplace’s suggested apps section as well. The move could potentially provide a significant boost for Apple’s search advertising business, which, according to an AllianceBernstein Holding LP estimate cited by the Financial Times, currently generates about $2 billion in annual revenues.

The new reports come a day after Apple debuted two new iPad Pro models powered by its internally designed M1 chip. The company is promising an up to 50% performance increase compared with previous-generation tablets. Alongside the new iPad Pro, Apple executives introduced an M1-powered iMac and formally announced the company’s long-rumored AirTag item tracker. 

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