How to download iOS 15

On September 20, 2021, Apple released iOS 15, the new major release of the operating system for the iPhone, and you, after learning about it, promptly decided to update your “iPhone by”. Consequently, you rushed to the Net in search of useful information about it and you ended up here, on this tutorial of mine dedicated to the subject.

How do you say? The situation is precisely this and, therefore, would you like to understand if I can actually help you or not? Of course yes, do not worry. If you give me some of your precious time I can in fact provide you with all the instructions you need on how to download iOS 15 on your iPhone. But it doesn’t stop there! It will be my pleasure to also show you what are the main new features of the operating system and how to take advantage of them. Eventually you should have a pretty complete picture of the situation.

Then? How about putting the chatter aside and taking action? Yup? Great! Position yourself comfortably, grab your Apple-branded smartphone and read on. I just have to do you a huge good luck!

Index

• Requirements to install iOS 15
• Preliminary operations
• Download and install iOS 15
  • Standard procedure
  • Alternative procedure
  • Clean installation
• Main features of iOS 15
  • Notifications
  • Full immersion
  • Safari
  • Active text and quick info
  • Maps
  • Other news

Requirements to install iOS 15

Before getting to the heart of the tutorial, going to explain what are the practical operations you need to do to be able to download iOS 15 , you must make sure that you are actually able to do the aforementioned operation.

You must verify, in fact, that your device has the minimum requirements required to proceed with the installation of the new version of the Apple mobile operating system. Below, therefore, you will find listed all devices compatible with iOS 15.

iPhone

• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone Xs
• iPhone Xs Max
• iPhone Xr
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 6s
• iPhone 6s Plus
• iPhone SE (1st generation)
• iPhone SE (2nd generation)

iPod touch

• iPod touch (7th generation)

After making sure that your iPhone is indeed compatible with iOS 15, connect the device to the Internet via Wi-Fi (the update download cannot be done with the data connection), making sure you have a sufficiently fast connection at your disposal and stable . For more details, refer to my guide which focuses specifically on how to connect iPhone to the Internet .

To perform the update it is also essential that the device on which it will be downloaded is sufficiently charged, that is, that it has a charge level equal to or greater than 50% , and that there is at least 4 GB of free space on the internal memory of the same . For more information, check out my tutorials on how to charge iPhone and how to free up space on iPhone .

For completeness of information, I also point out that starting from 2019 Apple has decided to separate the operating system of the iPhone (and iPod Touch), which is iOS, from the one for the iPad, which is iPadOS. In this guide I have chosen to focus only on iOS. As for the operating system for the iPad, if you are interested, you can consult my guide on how to install iPadOS and the  section dedicated to it on the Apple website .

Preliminary operations

Now that you’ve made sure your iPhone is compatible with iOS 15, there are some preliminary steps you need to take to make sure everything goes smoothly. Here they are.

• Backup iPhone to iCloud– tap on the Settings icon  (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ) found on the home screen and / or in the iOS App Library, tap on your name located at the top and on the iCloud entries and iCloud Backup . Then, tap Back up now . If you want, you can also configure the backup to run automatically by moving the switch next to iCloud Backup to ON . For more information, check out my guide on how to backup iPhone .
• Backup iPhone to computer– connect the iPhone to the computer using its charging cable, open iTunes (on macOS macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier and on Windows, on which it must first be downloaded and installed ) or the Finder (on macOS 10.15 Mojave or later), click on the iPhone icon on the left and press the Back up now button . To learn more, read my guide on how to backup iPhone .
• Save photos and videos to your computer– connect your iPhone to your computer using its charging cable and follow the instructions I gave you in my guide on how to download photos from iPhone .
• Update iTunes or Finder software– if you’re using Windows, open Apple Software Update and, if available, update from there. If you are using macOS High Sierra 10.13 or earlier, open the Mac App Store , click on the Updates item and, if necessary, press the Update button . If you are using macOS 10.15 Mojave or later versions, after connecting the iPhone to the computer via its charging cable, if an update is available for the software required for the connection, a warning will appear indicating this and you can proceed with the update by clicking the button Install. For more details, you can check out my article onhow to update iTunes .

Download and install iOS 15

At this point, I would say that you are finally ready to take the real action and, therefore, to download and install iOS 15 .

You can do this in two different ways: by acting directly from iOS (which is the standard system , as well as the most recommended) or from a computer (which is the procedure considered as an alternative ), by performing the installation on the device from there and also proceeding with any complete restoration of the same (a clean installation , in short). Find everything explained below.

Standard procedure

The first way to download iOS 15 and updates on iPhone in general is to go and act directly from the device . In fact, there is talk of an OTA update  , that is over the air.

To do this, access the home screen and / or the iPhone App Library and press the Settings icon  (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ). In the screen that is shown to you at this point, first tap on the General item and then on the Software Update item , after which a warning will appear indicating whether the update is available or not.

When your iPhone detects the availability of the update, proceed with the download and installation, pressing the Download and install item located at the bottom, entering the device unlock code and tapping the Accept and Accept and install items .

After completing the above steps, the download of the update will start. Wait for the procedure to finish, but keep in mind that it could take a long time, considering that iOS 15 weighs over 3 GB.

When the download is complete, if you want to proceed immediately with the installation of iOS 15, tap the Install now button , while if you want to install at a later time, tap the word Install later (if you have enabled the automatic installation of updates, you will also be asked to enter the device ‘s unlock code and an installation attempt will be made during the night, if the iPhone is charging, connected to Wi-Fi and has sufficient autonomy).

Once the iOS 15 installation procedure has started, the iPhone will automatically restart several times and it will take about 15 minutes to complete everything. A bar will appear on the display through which you can keep track of the progress of the procedure.

Once the installation procedure is complete, the iPhone will turn on as usual and you will be asked to unlock the device by entering the code , then you will have to press the button to proceed further and accept the terms and conditions of Apple and you will have to follow the instructions on the display through which you will be presented with the new operating system and through which you can configure some features of the same. After you’ve done everything, you’ll find your data, apps, and settings exactly as you left them.

Alternative procedure

If you prefer to download iOS 15 from a computer , using iTunes or the Finder (depending on the operating system you are using), you can do it by following the instructions contained in this step.

So, connect the iPhone to the computer using its charging cable and open iTunes or the Finder, then click on the iPhone icon that appears on the left. In the new screen that appears, press the Check for updates button , wait for iOS 15 to be detected and press the Download and update button . You can also decide to install the update later by clicking on the Download Only button .

Considering that by acting as a computer, the full version of iOS is downloaded and not the one that includes only the files necessary for the update that is distributed via OTA, know that the download of iOS 15 could be heavier than that made directly from the smartphone.

Once the download is complete, the installation of iOS 15 on the “iPhone by” will then automatically start, which will be restarted several times and automatically to complete the operation. At the end of the process, you will have to follow the brief initial configuration tutorial proposed, proceeding similarly to how I explained to you in the previous step , and you can resume using the device with all your data, apps and previous settings.

Clean installation

You can also download iOS 15 by doing a clean installation of the operating system, i.e. by returning the iPhone to its factory state, removing all your data, apps and settings, but with the most recent version of iOS.

To do this, you must first turn off Find My iPhone on iOS. So, access the home screen and / or the iOS app Library, select the Settings icon (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ) and tap on your name located at the top, then select the item Where is , that Find my iPhone and, on the next screen, move the switch to OFF in correspondence with the word Find my iPhone .

Once the above steps have been carried out, connect the iPhone to the computer with its charging cable, open iTunes or the Finder (depending on the operating system you are using), select the iPhone icon located on the left and hit the Restore iPhone button .

Once the “iPhone by phone ” has been restored, associate your iCloud account to the device and, if you deem it appropriate, you can recover your data synchronized with the cloud (photos, videos, music, documents, app data, etc.). For more details on what to do, consult the instructions contained in my specific guide on how to restore iPhone .

Main features of iOS 15

Now that you have completed all the procedure to download iOS 15, I’m sure you are wondering what are the main features of the new operating system. To find out, keep reading: you can find them reported right below.

Notifications

In iOS 15 notifications have been subjected to important notifications and now show contact photos and there are larger icons to identify the reference apps more easily.

The function called Notification Summary was also introduced , which allows you to view a summary of all notifications of the day in the iOS Notification Center, with a personalized frequency and organized according to priority with the most relevant at the top.

To activate the aforementioned function, simply select the Settings icon (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ) on the home screen and / or in the iPhone App Library, tap on the Notifications item in the new screen displayed, then on that Scheduled summary and turn ON the appropriate switch.

Next, tap the Continue button , select the apps you want to include in the scheduled summary and press the Add app button . Finally, define the times in which you want to view the notification summary and press the button Activate the notification summary .

If you had previously configured the operation of the scheduled summary for notifications, you can manage all the above settings from the visible screen by going to the Settings> Notifications> iOS Scheduled Summary section .

If you want, you can also make the next summary visible in the Notification Center before the scheduled time by turning ON the switch next to the Show next summary option .

Full immersion

Full immersion is a new feature introduced with iOS 15 that reinvents and improves the functioning of the already known Do Not Disturb. In fact, it allows you to activate modes that help you focus and reduce distractions, filtering notifications and apps based on the content the user wants to focus on.

To activate and configure one of the full immersions available, tap on the Settings icon (the one in the shape of a gear wheel ) on the home screen and / or in the iOS App Library, select the Full immersion item on the next screen and choose one of the available modes in the list according to your needs or create a new one by pressing the (+) button at the top right.

Then, tap the Next button , indicate the people allowed for notifications when the full immersion mode is active and press the Allow button , then choose the apps to allow  and, finally, touch the Allow and End buttons .

Subsequently, you can activate a full immersion date and further customize its operation by going to the Settings> Full immersion> [full immersion name] section of iOS or by calling the Notification Center , tapping the Full immersion button and selecting the desired mode from the menu that appears.

I also point out that from the screen where all the full immersions are listed, you can decide to share their use on other devices, by turning the switch next to the Share on devices option to ON .

Safari

Yes, even Safari , the default browser of Apple devices, has been modified and improved and has additional features that allow you to surf the Net more easily.

To be precise, the address bar has been moved to the bottom, together with the  panel bar and allows you to always have all the controls you need at your fingertips. You can switch between panels by simply swiping left or right, while swiping up displays the open ones.

You can also save and organize the panels as it is most convenient, creating groups that are synchronized on all devices, so that they can be found the same everywhere. To do this, swipe up on the panel bar, tap the menu at the bottom and select the New empty panel group option , then type the name you want to assign to the group and tap the Save button .

To select a different group of panels, always press on the bottom menu and tap on the name of the one you are interested in, while to delete or rename it, touch the word Edit in the upper right part of the menu, press the relevant button (…) and choose the correct option. You can also position the groups of panels in a different way, by making a long tap on the button with the three lines horizontally next to it. To save the changes, tap on the Finish item .

Furthermore, Safari for iOS now supports the use of extensions , which can be downloaded from the appropriate section on the App Store and which can be managed in the browser, by tapping on the icon with the puzzle piece located on the address bar and on the wording Manage extensions attached to the menu that appears or directly on the name of the reference extension .

Voice search has also been introduced , which you can use by tapping the icon with the microphone visible in the address bar and then saying the reference keywords or website address.

Active text and quick info

Another very interesting function launched with iOS 15 is the one called Active text , which uses the on-device intelligence to recognize the text in the photos and allow the user to perform actions, for example copy them, perform translations, call a number, send an email etc.

To take advantage of the functionality in question, all you have to do is tap on the writings you find in photos and images that you see in the Photos app , when you capture screenshots , when quick view mode is enabled and in Safari . The text will be automatically recognized by iOS and through the menu that will be shown you can decide what action to take.

You can also take advantage of the functionality in question through the Camera app , starting the latter, framing any text, waiting for the display of the selection rectangle on the text of interest and then tapping on the button with the text included in the four corners appeared at the bottom To the right. The detected text will be enlarged and you can choose which actions to perform with or on it using the appropriate menu.

At the same time, you may also find the function called Quick Info interesting , which allows you to obtain information on works of art, monuments, plants and flowers, books, etc. present in the images displayed. To use it, just swipe up or tap the (i) button on any photo and wait for the information to appear in the box that opens.

Maps

The Maps app has also been updated and improved. Now, in fact, big cities can be explored with new details of streets, neighborhoods, trees, buildings and much more and the 3D view of famous monuments is also supported.

New features have also been introduced that can be used while driving , such as the display of turning lanes, pedestrian crossings and cycle paths. There is also a new dedicated map that allows you to quickly see the level of traffic and if there are any accidents.

There is also greater integration with public transport . In fact, it is now possible to view the nearby stops and the timetables of the races and it is possible to keep the lines used most frequently in evidence and receive special alerts when you are close to your stop.

Other news

Together with the main features that I have described to you in the previous lines, iOS 15 brings numerous other innovations worthy of attention. I point out below those that in my humble opinion are the most interesting.

• Siri– offers the feature that announces notifications on AirPods earphones and headphones, the ability to share what appears on the screen simply by asking and much more.
• Messages– the Shared with you feature is introduced, which works at the system level and allows you to find articles, music, TV series, photos and other content shared in conversations and then open them in apps such as Photos, Safari, Apple News, Music, Podcasts and Apple TV so you can access them in the right context.
• FaceTime– the SharePlay function has been introduced which allows you to share the screen and everything that is watched or listened to during calls. Spatial audio support, grid view, use of portrait mode, and the ability to select a different microphone mode for different circumstances have also been added.
• iCloud +– offers all the options of iCloud along with new premium features, including the one called Hide My Email, extended support for HomeKit safe videos and iCloud Private Relay, a new service to ensure online privacy. Those who already have an iCloud subscription automatically switch to iCloud +, at no additional cost. All iCloud + plans can be shared with members of the Family Sharing group.
• Spotlight– provides more detailed information, allowing you to see the information together at a glance. It is also able to search among photos in the gallery and among images on the web, shows App Clips in the results, and the search on the App Store has been improved. Also, it is now accessible from the lock screen and the Notification Center.
• Photos– the app now includes new songs to accompany viewing photos in the Memories section and you can grab content available on Apple Music. The section in question has also been revisited and offers new types of memories and an interactive interface. Initial synchronization of the iCloud library has been made faster and improvements have been made in identifying people.
• Health– the app includes a new tab that allows you to share your health data with relatives, carers or doctors. Trends have also been added, which make it easier to focus on significant changes in your health parameters, and the Walking Stability parameter, which allows you to proactively manage the risk of falls.
• Where is it– the app has new features that help locate a device that has been turned off or erased and also includes live-streaming location with friends and family who decide to share this data. In addition, notifications have been introduced that warn the user if he leaves an AirTag, an Apple device or an accessory on the Where’s network in an unusual place and the latter now supports AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.
• Translate– the app brings a new real-time translation feature that makes conversations between people who speak different languages ​​smoother, and system-wide translation allows the user to translate text anywhere on the iPhone.
• Accessibility– VoiceOver can now be used to explore even more information about people, text, table data, and other elements in images. To support neurodiversity, there are new background sounds to help minimize distractions. Plus, with Sound Actions, you can customize Switch Control to work with voice sounds, and the user can adjust the size of elements and text for each individual app.

For more details about the features of iOS 15, you can refer to the appropriate section of the official Apple website .