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What’s New in iOS 8.3: Diverse Emojis, Password-Less Free Apps, Filtered Messages, & More

Apr 8, 2015 11:05 PM
Hand using a smartphone to select emojis in a messaging app.

After several weeks of testing out the public beta, Apple has finally released iOS 8.3 to the general public. The latest iteration of iOS for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch serves mostly as an update to fix many of the bugs that plagued earlier versions, but there are still a couple of awesome new features included in the new build.

Keyboard: New Emojis & Longer Space Bar

After appearing in both the iOS 8.3 public beta and Mac OS X 10.10.3 public beta, diverse emojis are now here for everyone on both platforms. New emojis include different skin tones for certain human faces, bodies, and hands, more gadgets like the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch emojis, more relationship-related emojis, gay and lesbian couples, etc.

All of the emojis can now be browsed on your iOS device by scrolling left and right on your emoji keyboard, or you can also use the familiar icons underneath the emojis to navigate a bit faster. You can call up diverse emojis by holding down on an existing one, which will bring up more skin tone options.

Another new feature in the stock keyboard is a larger space bar when in a search field. In previous versions of iOS, the space bar was a bit too small and caused many to hit the period key instead— something that I personally dealt with on a daily basis.

Text message conversation with repeated "what's up" messages and emoji options for reply.
What’s New in iOS 8.3: Diverse Emojis, Password-Less Free Apps, Filtered Messages, & More
Text message conversation with repeated "what's up" messages and emoji options for reply.
What’s New in iOS 8.3: Diverse Emojis, Password-Less Free Apps, Filtered Messages, & More

Siri: Speakerphone Calls & New Languages

iOS 8.3 has been available for developers and beta-testers for a while now, so we've already covered a few of its features, like the one that allows you to use Siri to make calls on speakerphone.

Calling screen on a smartphone displaying a call to "Neil Gazzanelli" on speaker.
Incoming call screen with contact "Neil Gonzalez."
Calling screen on a smartphone displaying a call to "Neil Gazzanelli" on speaker.
Incoming call screen with contact "Neil Gonzalez."

In addition to this feature, Siri has also gained several new languages, including Danish, Dutch, new English variants (India, New Zealand), Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish.

App Store: Download Free Apps Without a Password

Another new feature we've already shared is being able to disable the required password for free apps in the iOS App Store. Go to Settings -> iTunes & App Store -> Password Settings, then toggle "Require Password" so you can download free apps without entering your password every time. If you have Touch ID enabled for purchases, this option will be absent.

Password settings interface on a mobile device.
Top charts for mobile applications featuring Spotify, Pinterest, and Google services.
Password settings interface on a mobile device.
Top charts for mobile applications featuring Spotify, Pinterest, and Google services.

Messages: You Can Now Filter Texts/iMessages

There's now a feature that allows you to filter text messages, making it easier to navigate through them. Go to Settings -> Messages and enable "Filter Unknown Sender." This will divide messages into two categories: Contacts & SMS and Unknown Senders (which you will not receive notifications for).

Settings menu displaying messaging options and filters on a mobile device.
SMS conversation interface displaying messages from 2016.
Settings menu displaying messaging options and filters on a mobile device.
SMS conversation interface displaying messages from 2016.

Other: Organized Passbook & New Photos Icons

Finally, there are a couple of other smaller features in Passbook and the Photos app. In Passbook, Apple Pay credit and debit cards are now divided from passes, such as concert and plane tickets, making the app a bit easier to use.

With the Photos app, you'll now see small icons at the bottom left of each album indicating the type of file that was last placed in said album.

Apple Pay interface showing payment options and flight details for a Delta Airlines ticket.
What’s New in iOS 8.3: Diverse Emojis, Password-Less Free Apps, Filtered Messages, & More
Apple Pay interface showing payment options and flight details for a Delta Airlines ticket.
What’s New in iOS 8.3: Diverse Emojis, Password-Less Free Apps, Filtered Messages, & More

While iOS 8.3 didn't really bring about any features that blew my mind, it served more as a bug-fixer to clean up existing issues that users had with Wi-Fi, text messages, the Control Center, third-party keyboards, and more. You can view all of the bug fixes here.

Follow Apple Hacks on Facebook and Twitter, or Gadget Hacks over on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter for more Apple news, apps, and tips.

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.

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