Bill Cosby Freed From Prison After Sexual Assault Conviction Overturned By Pennsylvania Supreme Court - CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) — Bill Cosby has been freed from prison after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said today that they found an agreement with a previous prosecutor that prevented him from being charged in the case.

The country watched — some cheering, some dismayed — as Cosby was shackled and lead into prison more than two years ago. Just this afternoon, he was released from the State Correctional Institution Phoenix with little fanfare

Cosby has served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. He had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand.

The opinions of the court blasted light on a press release issued by former District Attorney Bruce Castor more than 15 years ago. The document essentially promised that Cosby would not be prosecuted.

Years later, Cosby then testified in a deposition and did not take the Fifth Amendment. He made incriminating statements, and those statements became the foundation of prosecutions against Cosby as it related to the accused indecent aggravated assault of Constand.

Legal experts say the prosecution was essentially a violation of a written contract between the DA’s office and Cosby.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office released a statement on Cosby’s release:

The majority decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court orders the release of William H. Cosby Jr. from state prison. He was found guilty by a jury and now goes free on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime. I want to commend Cosby’s victim Andrea Constand for her bravery in coming forward and remaining steadfast throughout this long ordeal, as well as all of the other women who have shared similar experiences. My hope is that this decision will not dampen the reporting of sexual assaults by victims. Prosecutors in my office will continue to follow the evidence wherever and to whomever it leads. We still believe that no one is above the law—including those who are rich, famous and powerful.

The 83-year-old Cosby, who was once beloved as “America’s Dad,” was convicted of drugging and molesting Constand at his suburban estate.

Constand and her legal counsel released a statement on the court’s ruling Wednesday evening.

“Today’s majority decision regarding Bill Cosby is not only disappointing but of concern in that it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant or may force a victim to choose between filing either a criminal or civil action.

On the one hand, the Court acknowledged that the former District Attorney’s decision to not prosecute Mr. Cosby was not a formal immunity agreement and constituted at best a unilateral exercise of prosecutorial discretion not to prosecute at the time, but nevertheless precluded a future prosecution, which included additional evidence developed in the civil case. the Supreme Court acknowledged that it was bound by the lower court’s credibility findings, including that Andrea Constand and her civil counsel, Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz, were not privy to any discussions between the former prosecutor and Mr. Cosby or his then criminal counsel, let alone signatories to any agreement of any kind. We were not consulted or asked our thoughts by Mr. Castor concerning any agreements concerning immunity or anything, and we were not made aware if there were any such discussions. The press release had no meaning or significance to us in 2005 other than being a press release circulated by the then District Attorney.

Once again, we remain grateful to those women who came forward to tell their stores, to DA Kevin Steele and the excellent prosecutors who achieved a conviction at trial, despite the ultimate outcome which resulted from a procedural technicality, and we urge all victims to have their voices heard. We do not intend to make any further comment.

In the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s opinion, the judges “do not question the discretion that is vested in prosecutors ‘over whether charges should be brought in any given case,'” but rather the court examined if the prosecution performed within the bounds of due process.

Legal experts say the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s opinion reveals parts of the Cosby prosecution were braced on a legal house of cards. Prosecutors who took the legendary comedian and actor to trial twice say the ruling is an unfortunate technicality.

Cosby tweeted out a statement, maintaining his innocence and thanking supporters.

“I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence. Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law,” he tweeted.

Cosby’s return to his Elkins Park home was unceremonious in many ways but did inspire those passionate for and against the comedian to visit the property.

Credit: Getty Images

In a T-shirt ode to his Philadelphia high school, Central graduate Cosby returned from prison, yielding comment to his attorneys and representative.

“He said they was ringing his cell, they was just knocking on the walls the inmates, they said ‘you’re free! Get up! Get up.’ And he was just so excited,” spokesperson Andrew Wyatt said.

Nearly 60 women accused Cosby of sexual assault. Attorney Gloria Allred represented several of the women and says her heart breaks for them.

Phylicia Rashad, who played Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, took to social media after hearing the news Cosby would be released.

“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected,” Rashad tweeted.

FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected! pic.twitter.com/NrGUdwr23c

— Phylicia Rashad (@PhyliciaRashad) June 30, 2021

He was charged in late 2015, when a prosecutor armed with newly unsealed evidence — Cosby’s damaging deposition from her lawsuit — arrested him days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.

The trial judge had allowed just one other accuser to testify at Cosby’s first trial, when the jury deadlocked. However, he then allowed five other accusers to testify at the retrial about their experiences with Cosby in the 1980s.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that testimony tainted the trial, even though a lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a signature pattern of drugging and molesting women.

Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, so the reversal could make prosecutors wary of calling other accusers in similar cases. The law on prior bad act testimony varies by state, though, and the ruling only holds sway in Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors did not immediately say if they would appeal or seek to try Cosby for a third time.

The justices voiced concern not just about sex assault cases, but what they saw as the judiciary’s increasing tendency to allow testimony that crosses the line into character attacks. The law allows the testimony only in limited cases, including to show a crime pattern so specific it serves to identify the perpetrator.

In New York, the judge presiding over last year’s trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose case had sparked the explosion of the #MeToo movement in 2017, let four other accusers testify. Weinstein was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is now facing separate charges in California.

In Cosby’s case, one of his appellate lawyers said prosecutors put on vague evidence about the uncharged conduct, including Cosby’s own recollections in his deposition about giving women alcohol or quaaludes before sexual encounters.

“The presumption of innocence just didn’t exist for him,” Jennifer Bonjean, the lawyer, argued to the court in December.

In May, Cosby was denied paroled after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his nearly three years in state prison. He has long said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it means serving the full 10-year sentence.

This is the first year he was eligible for parole under the three- to 10-year sentence handed down after his 2018 conviction.

Cosby spokesperson Andrew Wyatt called the parole board decision “appalling.”

Prosecutors said Cosby repeatedly used his fame and “family man” persona to manipulate young women, holding himself out as a mentor before betraying them.

Cosby, a groundbreaking Black actor who grew up in public housing in Philadelphia, made a fortune estimated at $400 million during his 50 years in the entertainment industry. His trademark clean comedy and homespun wisdom fueled popular TV shows, books and standup acts.

He fell from favor in his later years as he lectured the Black community about family values, but was attempting a comeback when he was arrested.

“There was a built-in level of trust because of his status in the entertainment industry and because he held himself out as a public moralist,” Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Jappe, of suburban Montgomery County, argued to the justices.

Cosby had invited Constand to an estate he owns in Pennsylvania the night she said he drugged and sexually assaulted her.

Constand, a former professional basketball player who worked at his alma mater, went to police a year later. The other accusers knew Cosby through the entertainment industry and did not go to police.

CBS3’s Joe Holden, Natasha Brown and Alexandria Hoff contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Phylicia Rashad Responded To The Backlash Over Her Tweet Supporting Bill Cosby's Release From Jail - BuzzFeed

"I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward."

Now Rashad is clarifying her initial remarks in a follow-up statement.

Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images

"I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward," Rashad tweeted. "My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth."

I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward. My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth. Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.

08:35 PM - 30 Jun 2021

@PhyliciaRashad / Via Twitter: @PhyliciaRashad

"Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects," Rashad continued. "My heartfelt wish is for healing."

As previously mentioned, Rashad initially responded, "FINALLY!!!" to the news of Cosby's release: "A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!"

Paras Griffin / Getty Images

This is not the first time Rashad has come to Cosby's defense. When sexual assault allegations resurfaced against the actor and comedian in 2015, Rashad responded, "I love him," when asked about the claims during a junket.

Rich Polk / Getty Images

“What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy," she said at the time. "And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”

Dimitrios Kambouris / WireImage / Getty Images

Head here to read more about why Cosby's conviction was overturned today.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search your local center here.

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Judge Denies Britney Spears’ Request to Remove Father From Conservatorship Again - Variety

A judge has shot down Britney Spears’ request to have her father removed from her conservatorship — at least for now.

New court documents that were filed by the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday show that the judge has denied a months-old request by Spears’ attorney, Samuel Ingham III, to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as her sole conservator. These documents are not in direct response to last week’s hearing, where Spears gave an explosive testimony; though Spears delivered a powerful 24-minute statement, the judge cannot make any ruling based on what she said as she still has yet to file a petition to terminate her conservatorship.

“The conservator’s request to suspend James P. Spears immediately upon the appointment of Bessemer Trust Company of California as sole conservator of estate is denied without prejudice,” the court documents filed on Wednesday stated.

The new court filings are another legal setback for the singer, but the judge’s denial is nothing new. Samuel Ingham III had filed the request to remove Spears’ father back in November 2020, stating that his client was “afraid of her father” and would refuse to perform again, if her father continued to be in charge of her career. At that time, Judge Brenda Penny declined to suspend her father from the conservatorship, though she did not rule out future petitions for his removal or suspension. Also, at that time, the judge appointed financial company Bessemer Trust as a co-conservator.

Today’s paperwork was solely intended for the judge to approve Bessemer Trust as the co-conservator, but also reiterates the judge’s decision to not remove the elder Spears from the pop star’s conservatorship.

However, it’s significant that the document was signed by Judge Penny on June 30 — after the singer’s explosive testimony where she told the judge that her conservatorship was “abusive.”

Last week, Spears gave her 24-minute testimony, marking the first time she had publicly addressed the court in her 13-year conservatorship. While speaking to the judge, Spears said that her dad enjoys controlling her life, and stated that she believes her conservators, including her father, should be in jail, and that she wants to sue her family.

Spears’ case has garnered an enormous amount of global attention, with pressure mounting to support the pop star and remove her father from the conservatorship.

Wednesday’s court filing states that the court found Spears to be “substantially unable to manage his or her financial resources or to resist fraud or undue influence.”

Spears’ father has been her co-conservator since 2008, when the singer suffered a very public breakdown. He became sole conservator in 2019 after attorney Andrew Wallet resigned from co-conservatorship. In September 2019, he temporarily relinquished his powers and Jodi Montgomery became the conservator of her person, meaning she is responsible for Spears’ medical and personal well-being. Spears’ father remains the sole conservator of her estate, managing all of her finances — while making a hefty sum of of her annual multi-million dollar earnings, given that Spears has continued to record music and perform regularly at her residence in Las Vegas, while under her restrictive conservatorship.

Earlier today, Variety reported that Spears’ father attorney filed paperwork on his behalf, pointing the finger at Montgomery with the father’s perspective being that he loves his daughter, is very concerned and has done nothing wrong.

“Mr. Spears is concerned about the management and care of his daughter,” his attorney said in the docs. “Based on her statements to the court, Mr. Spears is concerned that the petition to appoint Jodi Montgomery filed by Ms. Spears’ court-appointed counsel Samuel D. Ingham III does not reflect her wishes. Ms. Spears told the court on June 23 that she is opposed to being under a conservatorship and revealed her ongoing disputes with Ms. Montgomery about her medical treatment and other personal care issues.”

Montgomery strongly denied the elder Spears’ stance with her attorney fighting back, releasing a statement that she is a “tireless advocate for Britney and for her well-being.”

Meanwhile, despite her father’s perspective and the judge’s ruling, the pop star has made her stance clear: she wants her father out, and wants to end her conservatorship altogether without further evaluation.

“I cried on the phone for an hour and he loved every minute of it,” Spears told the judge, referring to her father. “The control he had over someone as powerful as me — he loved the control to hurt his own daughter 100,000%. He loved it.”

Spears pleaded to the judge: “I just want my life back. And it’s been 13 years. And it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money. And it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested.”

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Google sunsets the APK format for new Android apps - Android Authority

Andy Walker / Android Authority

TL;DR

• Starting in August 2021, Google will require all new Android APKs to land on the Play Store as App Bundles instead.
• This will invariably result in smaller file sizes and other boons for the end-user.
• However, it will also require app developers to push out APK versions of their apps to other non-Play Store channels, as they won’t support App Bundles.

For as long as Android has been around, Android apps have been launched in the APK format (which stands for Android Package). However, in 2018, Google introduced a new format called Android App Bundles, or AAB (with the filename *.aab). Google touted that this new format would result in smaller app file sizes and easier ways to control various aspects of apps. Of the millions of apps on the Google Play Store, thousands of them already use the AAB system.

Today, Google announced that the AAB format will now officially replace Android APKs. This means that starting in August of this year, all new apps submitted to the Google Play Store must come in the AAB format. Apps that are currently APKs can stay that way — at least for now.

No more Android APKs: Good news or bad news?

In the end, this is good news for the average consumer. Android App Bundles can be up to 15% smaller than Android APKs, for example. Developers will also have more control over how they distribute updates to apps, which will likely result in faster and more efficient app updates.

However, there are two significant issues with AABs. The first is that developers who want their apps to appear in other distribution channels — such as the Amazon App Store or Huawei’s App Gallery — will need to manually export APK versions of their apps. This won’t require much effort on the dev’s part, but it would mean that any developer who wanted their app to only appear on the Play Store would have that power. In those cases, end users would need to export AABs as Android APKs on their own, as *.aab files would not work on alternative stores.

Related: An introduction to the Google Play Console for Android Developers

The other issue is that developers will need to give Google their app signing key to export an AAB app as an APK. This gives Google quite a bit of power. The app signing key is basically proof that a specific developer created a specific app. While it’s unlikely Google would ever do so, it is possible that it could sign apps on behalf of a developer. It’s also possible that someone could gain access to this key and then sign apps for themselves. As such, some developers aren’t too keen on the App Bundle format.

The bottom line, though, is that all new Android apps on the Google Play Store will need to be AABs. There’s no way around it. This is a bold new direction away from Android APKs, but we’ll need to wait for the dust to settle before we draw any conclusions.

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Bill Cosby freed from prison, his sex conviction overturned - The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and released him from prison Wednesday in a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as “America’s Dad,” ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby.

Cosby, 83, flashed the V-for-victory sign to a helicopter overhead as he trudged into his suburban Philadelphia home after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence for drugging and violating Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand in 2004.

The former “Cosby Show” star — the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era — had no comment as he arrived, and just smiled and nodded later at a news conference outside, where his lawyer Jennifer Bonjean said: “We are thrilled to have Mr. Cosby home.”

“He served three years of an unjust sentence and he did it with dignity and principle,” she added.

In a statement, Constand and her lawyers called the ruling disappointing, and they, like many other advocates, expressed fear that it could discourage sexual assault victims from coming forward. “We urge all victims to have their voices heard,” they added.

Cosby was arrested in 2015, when a district attorney armed with newly unsealed evidence — the comic’s damaging deposition in a lawsuit brought by Constand — filed charges against him just days before the 12-year statute of limitations was about to run out.

Previous coverage of the Cosby case

• – Bill Cosby refuses sex offender program, so is denied parole
• – Cosby's sex assault conviction goes before high-level court
• – Key question in Cosby appeal: Does defendant's past matter?

But the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Wednesday that District Attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest Cosby, was obligated to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to charge Cosby, though there was no evidence that agreement was ever put in writing.

Justice David Wecht, writing for a split court, said Cosby had relied on the previous district attorney’s decision not to charge him when the comedian gave his potentially incriminating testimony in Constand’s civil case.

The court called Cosby’s subsequent arrest “an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was forgone for more than a decade.” It said justice and “fair play and decency” require that the district attorney’s office stand by the decision of the previous DA.

The justices said that overturning the conviction and barring any further prosecution “is the only remedy that comports with society’s reasonable expectations of its elected prosecutors and our criminal justice system.”

Cosby was promptly set free from the state prison in suburban Montgomery County and driven home.

“What we saw today was justice, justice for all Americans,” said another Cosby attorney, Andrew Wyatt. ”Mr. Cosby’s conviction being overturned is for the world and all Americans who are being treated unfairly by the judicial system and some bad officers.”

Bonjean said Cosby was “extremely happy to be home” and “looks forward to reuniting with his wife and children.” Several supporters outside yelled, “Hey, hey, hey!” — the catchphrase of Cosby’s animated Fat Albert character — which brought a smile from him.

In a statement, Steele, the district attorney, said Cosby went free “on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime.” He commended Constand for coming forward and added: “My hope is that this decision will not dampen the reporting of sexual assaults by victims.”

“I am furious to hear this news,” actor Amber Tamblyn, a founder of Time’s Up, an advocacy group for sex-crime victims, said on Twitter. “I personally know women who this man drugged and raped while unconscious. Shame on the court and this decision.”

But “Cosby Show” co-star Phylicia Rashad tweeted: “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”

Four Supreme Court justices formed the majority that ruled in Cosby’s favor, while three others dissented in whole or in part.

Peter Goldberger, a suburban Philadelphia lawyer with an expertise in criminal appeals, said prosecutors could ask the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for reargument or reconsideration, but it would be a very long shot.

“I can’t imagine that with such a lengthy opinion, with a thoughtful concurring opinion and a thoughtful dissenting opinion, that you could honestly say they made a simple mistake that would change their minds if they point it out to them,” Goldberger said.

Even though Cosby was charged only with the assault on Constand, the judge at his trial allowed five other accusers to testify that they, too, were similarly victimized by Cosby in the 1980s. Prosecutors called them as witnesses to establish what they said was a pattern of behavior on Cosby’s part.

Cosby’s lawyers had argued on appeal that the use of the five additional accusers was improper. But the Pennsylvania high court did not weigh in on the question, saying it was moot, given the finding that Cosby should not have been prosecuted in the first place.

In sentencing Cosby, the trial judge had declared him a sexually violent predator who could not be safely allowed out in public and needed to report to authorities for the rest of his life.

In May, Cosby was denied parole after refusing to participate in sex offender programs behind bars. He said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it meant serving the full 10 years.

The groundbreaking Black actor grew up in public housing in Philadelphia and made a fortune estimated at $400 million during his 50 years in the entertainment industry that included the TV shows “I Spy,” “The Cosby Show” and “Fat Albert,” along with comedy albums and a multitude of television commercials.

The suburban Philadelphia prosecutor who originally looked into Constand’s allegations, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, considered the case flawed because Constand waited a year to come forward and stayed in contact with Cosby afterward. Castor declined to prosecute and instead encouraged Constand to sue for damages.

Questioned under oath as part of that lawsuit, Cosby said he used to offer quaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with. He eventually settled with Constand for $3.4 million.

Portions of the deposition later became public at the request of The Associated Press and spelled Cosby’s downfall, opening the floodgates on accusations from other women and destroying the comic’s good-guy reputation and career. More than 60 women came forward to say Cosby violated them.

The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Constand has granted.

Cosby, in the deposition, acknowledged giving quaaludes to a 19-year-old woman before having sex with her at a Las Vegas hotel in 1976. Cosby called the encounter consensual.

On Wednesday, the woman, Therese Serignese, now 64, said the court ruling “takes my breath away.”

“I just think it’s a miscarriage of justice. This is about procedure. It’s not about the truth of the women,” she said. Serignese said she took solace in the fact Cosby served nearly three years behind bars: “That’s as good as it gets in America” for sex crime victims.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did not express an opinion on the use of additional accusers

___

Follow Maryclaire Dale on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Maryclairedale

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Britney Spears' conservator slams Jamie Spears' claims she blocked star's personal care, medical freedom - Fox News

Britney Spears’ conservatorship team is apparently experiencing some in-house schism.

On Tuesday, the pop star’s father submitted a court filing claiming his daughter’s court-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham III, and temporary conservator of her person, Jodi Montgomery, are the people pulling the strings which the singer alleges disallowed her to freely make her own decisions regarding medical and personal care choices.

James P. Spears – otherwise known as Jamie – said in the filing obtained by Fox News that Montgomery "has served continuously as the sole Conservator of the Person of Ms. Spears since September 2019 and continues to serve in that capacity."

"Ms. Montgomery has been fully in charge of Ms. Spears' personal care and medical treatment in consultations with Mr. Ingham – and which consultations specifically excluded Mr. Spears. Mr. Spears, therefore, was greatly saddened to hear of his daughter's difficulties and suffering, and he believes that there must be an investigation into those claims," the court filing reads.

Jamie is now calling for an evidentiary hearing in order for the court to determine whether or not to grant Ingham III's petition to appoint Montgomery as a permanent conservator. He also stated that Britney's claims in court made last week – the most damning that she has been prevented from removing an intrauterine device (IUD) – have left him concerned.

BRITNEY SPEARS' FATHER JAMIE SPEARS BLAMES JODI MONTGOMERY FOR BLOCKING STAR'S PERSONAL CARE, MEDICAL FREEDOM

The singer's father claims he's been completely "cut-off" from communicating with his daughter in any capacity.

#FreeBritney activists protest at Los Angeles Grand Park during a conservatorship hearing for Britney Spears on June 23, 2021, in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

Now, Montgomery – whom Britney has raved about through her attorney in the past – is responding to Jamie Spears’ filing and claims through a statement released by her attorney Lauriann Wright that while Britney's conservatorship "includes multiple layers of protection" Montgomery has "unequivocally been a tireless advocate for Britney and for her well-being."

"Ms. Montgomery is a licensed private professional fiduciary who, unlike family members who serve as conservators, is required to follow a Code of Ethics," the statement reads. "While she does not control Britney’s financial assets, she is responsible for her personal care, and if Britney wants any issue brought up to the Court, Ms. Montgomery is and has always been ready, willing, and able to do so."

FEDERLINE MAY REQUEST EVALUATION BEFORE BRITNEY SPEARS’ CONSERVATORSHIP ENDS

The statement further maintains that since Montgomery was appointed as temporary conservator of Britney's person in September 2019, "Ms. Montgomery and the medical team that she assembled have had one primary goal – to assist and encourage Britney in her path to no longer needing a conservatorship of the person."

The statement also slammed Britney’s court account in which she stated for the record that the conservatorship has blocked her from getting married and removing her contraceptive in order to have more kids as "unaffected" by the conservatorship, citing Probate Code §1900.

Britney Spears' father Jamie.  (Getty Images)

"As to family planning, that is also unaffected by the conservatorship," the memorandum states. "If Britney needs any assistance with either, Ms. Montgomery has and will be there to provide any assistance needed to Britney."

"Britney’s choice to marry and to start a family have never been impacted by the conservatorship while Ms. Montgomery has been conservator of the person," the statement pressed.

INSIDE BRITNEY SPEARS, SAM ASGHARI’S HAWAIIAN GETAWAY FOLLOWING BOMBSHELL CONSERVATORSHIP HEARING: REPORT

Montgomery’s attorney writes that her client has acted in Britney’s best interest since her first day on the job and said all of the decisions that have been made were approved by her doctors and the oversight of the court.

"Because Ms. Montgomery does not have any power or authority over the conservatorship of the estate, every expenditure made by Ms. Montgomery for Britney has had to be first approved by Jamie Spears as the conservator of the estate," the statement reads in response to Jamie Spears’ claim that he has been cast aside in the decision-making processes within the conservatorship.

"Some expenses are pre-approved, but if new services or an increase in existing services is sought, Mr. Spears has to approve that expenditure," it continues. "Practically speaking, since everything costs money, no expenditures can happen without going through Mr. Spears and Mr. Spears approving them."

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"Ms. Montgomery has advocated on Britney’s behalf for any expenditures that Britney has requested as well as for expenditures recommended by Britney’s medical team," it reads, adding that "not every requested expenditure has been approved" and "Jamie Spears, as conservator of the estate, has a duty to make decisions in the best interests of the estate, and sometimes that has meant requested expenditures have been denied or limited."

A source familiar with the matter relayed to People magazine on Tuesday that Montgomery is "working with a team of experts concentrated on giving Britney the tools to get better" and "the hope is that [Britney] can eventually get out of the conservatorship."

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Montgomery’s attorney echoed the sentiment in her statement on Wednesday, writing; "While it is Ms. Montgomery’s professional duty to be Britney’s protector and advocate, honoring her wishes and seeing to her best interests while Britney is under conservatorship, it is her sincere personal wish that Britney continues to make meaningful progress in her well-being so that her conservatorship of the person can be terminated."

"Ms. Montgomery looks forward to presenting a comprehensive Care Plan to the Court setting forth a path for termination of the conservatorship for Britney," the statement concludes, "and Ms. Montgomery looks forward to supporting Britney through that process."

Fox News' Melissa Roberto contributed to this report

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Britney Spears' conservator slams Jamie Spears' claims she blocked star's personal care, medical freedom - Fox News
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William and Harry expected to have a 'dignified' reunion amid rift - Page Six

Princes William and Harry will be “dignified” as they reunite at Thursday’s unveiling of the Princess Diana memorial amid their long-running rift, sources who know them both say.

However, it’s not believed that the brothers will have time to have a heart-to-heart before Harry heads back to the US following the event, Page Six is told.

They will meet up at Kensington Palace, where they lived with their mother as young boys, to unveil a statue dedicated to her upon her 60th birthday.

There will be just 15 guests at the event due to COVID protocols, including Diana’s sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, and her brother, Charles, Earl Spencer.

While a royal source said the event could be “sad and a little strained,” another told us they expect the brothers to be dignified for the sake of their mother.

“The boys will be fine,” the source said.

We’re told it will only be a brief event, with other guests including members of the statue committee, the sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley and the garden designer Pip Morrison.

Despite reports, this will leave the brothers no time to have any private meeting, particularly with the media just steps away, it was pointed out.

Diana’s former chief of staff Patrick Jephson told us the statue unveiling is sure to “inspire feelings of love” for their mother, who died in 1997.

“The princes were still young when they lost their mother, and the depth of emotion they feel in remembering her can only be imagined,” Jephson said. “To their credit, they have said that they hope the statue will remind us of her positive impact on the world. That’s certainly worth celebrating so, alongside sadness, we can be sure the unveiling will inspire happier feelings of love for an irreplaceable parent, and pride in her enduring legacy.”

Princess Diana with sons Prince William and Prince Harry in 1985.

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It’s not yet known when Harry, 36, will return home to California to wife Meghan Markle, son Archie and newborn daughter Lilibet, but he is not believed to want to stay away too long.

On Wednesday, Harry was a surprise guest at the WellChild Awards at Kew Gardens after leaving self-isolation following five days in quarantine at Frogmore Cottage, his UK home.

The Duke of Sussex, who landed in the UK on Friday, was allowed to leave his Windsor home after testing negative for coronavirus.

The WellChild event, which celebrates inspirational young people living with serious illnesses, was originally scheduled for September, but the organizers changed the date to allow Harry — the charity’s patron since 2007 — to attend.

A source told the Sun: “WellChild is a charity that is very close to Harry’s heart and the organizers have moved heaven and earth to make this happen.

“His attendance was kept a complete secret and it was an amazing moment when he surprised those in attendance.

“Harry made sure he spent time talking to as many of the children and their families as possible — as well as caregivers who were present at the ceremony.”

Kate Middleton, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend a Commonwealth Day service in 2019.

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As we reported, 39-year-old William, his wife, Kate Middleton — who will not be at the event — and their three children will tour the memorial privately ahead of the unveiling.

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Bill Cosby released after sexual assault conviction overturned by Pennsylvania Supreme Court - NBC News

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the sexual assault conviction of Bill Cosby on Wednesday and ordered his release from prison after finding that he was denied protection against self-incrimination.

The court said that a prosecutor's decision not to charge Cosby, 83, opened the door for him to speak freely in a lawsuit against him and that testimony was key in his conviction years later by another prosecutor.

Cosby was convicted on three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004, and was serving a three- to 10-year sentence. He has served nearly three years of the sentence.

The state Supreme Court said Cosby cannot be retried on the same charges.

June 30, 202102:41

"When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce action and reliance by the defendant, and when the defendant does so to his detriment (and in some instances upon the advice of counsel), denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness," according to the high court opinion authored by Justice David Wecht.

"For these reasons, Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged."

The prosecution of Cosby was one of the first major milestones of the #MeToo movement, as women came forward with their tales of unwanted sexual advances and harassment in the workplace.

Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt thanked the comedian's legal team and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, calling Wednesday's ruling a moment of justice for Black Americans.

"This is the justice Mr. Cosby has been fighting for," Wyatt said in a statement. "They saw the light. He waived his Fifth Amendment right and settled out of court. He was given a deal and he had immunity. He should have never been charged."

June 30, 202102:35

About two hours after the ruling was published on Wednesday, Cosby was released from the SCI Phoenix detention center about 35 miles northeast of Philadelphia, where he had been housed as inmate No. NN7687, a corrections official said.

Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele lamented Cosby’s release and characterized the state high court’s findings as a “procedural issue.”

“He was found guilty by a jury and now goes free on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime,” Steele said in a statement.

“I want to commend Cosby’s victim Andrea Constand for her bravery in coming forward and remaining steadfast throughout this long ordeal, as well as all of the other women who have shared similar experiences. My hope is that this decision will not dampen the reporting of sexual assaults by victims.”

The entertainer once dubbed “America’s Dad” was sent to state prison following his 2018 conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand.

She testified that Cosby assaulted her at his Pennsylvania home in 2004 after she came to him for career advice.

But Bruce Castor, the Montgomery district attorney at the time, declined to press charges against the comedian and actor, "thereby allowing Cosby to be forced to testify in a subsequent civil action," according to the high court.

"Unable to invoke any right not to testify in the civil proceedings, Cosby relied upon the district attorney’s declination and proceeded to provide four sworn depositions. During those depositions, Cosby made several incriminating statements," Justice Wecht wrote in a 79-page opinion, joined by Justices Debra Todd, Christine Donohue and Sallie Updyke Mundy.

"The fruits of Cosby’s reliance upon D.A. Castor’s decision — Cosby’s sworn inculpatory testimony — were then used by D.A. Castor’s successors against Cosby at Cosby’s criminal trial."

Justice Kevin Dougherty sided with the majority and said large swaths of Cosby's prosecution amounted to a "coercive bait-and-switch," after Castor did not push a criminal case.

But Dougherty said vacating the conviction was not a proper remedy and argued that Cosby could be tried again, just without evidence obtained from the comedian's civil suit deposition.

"We can order it suppressed," wrote Dougherty, as he was joined by Chief Justice Max Baer. "And in fact this is precisely what this Court and many others have done in comparable situations."

Justice Thomas Saylor wrote in dissent and said Castor's decision not to prosecute Cosby was never set in stone for all following district attorneys.

Castor's action was just "a present exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the temporary occupant of the elected office of district attorney that would in no way be binding upon his own future decision-making processes, let alone those of his successor," Saylor wrote.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) decried the state high court ruling.

“We are deeply disappointed in today’s ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and by the message this decision sends to the brave survivors who came forward to seek justice for what Bill Cosby did to them," RAINN President Scott Berkowitz said in a statement. "This is not justice.”

And Christian Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women, bemoaned Cosby's release as the result of a "technicality."

"Today, the judicial system in America failed survivors again," Nunes said in a statement.

"The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby’s conviction for sexual assault not because anyone doubted his guilt of numerous crimes, but because of a prior legal agreement’s impact on the trial. Bill Cosby is free on a technicality, but the women he assaulted, who bravely came forward to bring him to justice, are suffering anew. They thought they had finally achieved some limited measure of closure — and now this."

In a rare jailhouse interview in 2019, Cosby said he wouldn't offer any remorse for his actions — even if that would've affected a parole board's decision.

"When I come up for parole, they're not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don't care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren't there. They don't know," Cosby told the news outlet BlackPressUSA.com.

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Britney Spears' father Jamie Spears blames Jodi Montgomery for blocking star's personal care, medical freedom - Fox News

Jamie Spears claims his daughter Britney Spears's court-appointed conservator Jodi Montgomery and her attorney Samuel Ingham III are the ones who have failed to give her freedom to make her own medical and personal care choices under her 13-year conservatorship.

In new court documents obtained by Fox News, Jamie, 68, on Monday argued he has no authority over Spears' personal care and medical desires following her bombshell claims made in court on June 23. He claimed he has not had authority because Montgomery "has served continuously as the sole Conservator of the Person of Ms. Spears since September 2019 and continues to serve in that capacity."

"Ms. Montgomery has been fully in charge of Ms. Spears' personal care and medical treatment in consultations with Mr. Ingham – and which consultations specifically excluded Mr. Spears. Mr. Spears, therefore, was greatly saddened to hear of his daughter's difficulties and suffering, and he believes that there must be an investigation into those claims," the court docs continue.

Jamie is now calling for an evidentiary hearing in order for the court to determine whether or not to grant Ingham III's petition to appoint Montgomery. He also claimed that Britney's claims in court made last week – the most damning that she has been prevented from removing an IUD – have left him concerned.

FEDERLINE MAY REQUEST EVALUATION BEFORE BRITNEY SPEARS’ CONSERVATORSHIP ENDS

FILE - Jamie Spears, father of singer Britney Spears, leaves the Stanley Mosk Courthouse on Oct. 24, 2012, in Los Angeles. When Britney Spears speaks to a judge at her own request on Wednesday, June. 23, 2021, she'll do it 13 years into a court-enforced conservatorship that has exercised vast control of her life and money by her father. Spears has said the conservatorship saved her from collapse and exploitation. But she has sought more control over how it operates, and says she wants her father out.  (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

"On September 9, 2019, Mr. Spears relinquished his powers as Conservator of the Person in favor of Ms. Montgomery. Unlike Ms. Montgomery and Mr. Ingham, Mr. Spears does not speak or meet with Ms. Spears' medical team, and he is not permitted to nor does he have the opportunity to provide any input into his daughter's current medical treatment, diagnosis, or therapy. Nor does Mr. Spears participate in or discuss Ms. Spears' personal affairs with her, such as issues related to her self-care, marriage, and reproductive desires. These are issues under the purview off Ms. Montgomery as Ms. Spears' conservator of the person, and issues that Ms. Spears presumably discusses with her court-appointed attorney, Mr. Ingham," Jamie's filing continues.

Additionally, Jamie claimed that Britney did not sign "nor verified" a petition filed by her attorney to appoint Montgomery as conservator of his person. 

The famous father added that he's been barred from having any communication with the "Toxic" singer, 39.

"Mr. Spears is simply not involved in any decisions related to Ms. Spears' personal care or reproductive issues. Furthermore, Mr. Spears is unable to hear and address his daughter's concerns directly because he has been cut-off from communicating with her.

BRITNEY SPEARS' CONSERVATOR JODI MONTGOMERY IS 'CONCENTRATED' ON GIVING STAR 'TOOLS TO GET BETTER': REPORT

Jamie Spears claims he has been cut off from communicating with the pop star and is not to blame for her lack of freedom under her current conservatorship. (Getty Images)

Jamie further claims Ingham "incorrectly" communicated to the court that his daughter's "incapacity to consent to any form of medical treatment was determined by order filed" on Oct. 10, 2014.

"But there was no such finding, and there is no such order," Jamie argues. "Nonetheless, based on this false premise, Mr. Ingham seeks and order from the Court taking away Ms. Spears' right to give informed consent for her own medical treatment."

Despite the lack of recent communication with Britney, Jamie claimed that he "dutifully served in various conservator roles for over thirteen years on behalf of his daughter, whom he loves unconditionally."

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 On June 23, 2021, Britney Spears addressed the court calling the legal guardianship 'abusive' and asking the judge to terminate it. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Following his daughter's testimony in court on June 23, Jamie argues that it's "unclear whether it is appropriate for Ms. Montgomery to serve in that role or for that matter, whether the continued conservatorship of Ms. Spears' person is appropriate."

In response, an attorney for Montgomery issued a statement on Wednesday, which was obtained by Fox News.

"I can state unequivocally that Jodi Montgomery has been a tireless advocate for Britney and for her well-being," the statement reads in part. "While she does not control Britney’s financial assets, she is responsible for her personal care, and if Britney wants any issue brought up to the Court, Ms. Montgomery is and has always been ready, willing, and able to do so.  From the very beginning of her appointment in September 2019, Ms. Montgomery and the medical team that she assembled have had one primary goal – to assist and encourage Britney in her path to no longer needing a conservatorship of the person."

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On June 23, Spears delivered an impassioned plea to a Los Angeles court to end the longstanding control it has over her life. The singer claimed that under her conservatorship she's blocked from getting married and removing her contraceptive in order to have more kids. 

"I want changes and I want changes going forward," Spears ordered the court in her speech. The star went on to note that she doesn’t want to be evaluated to determine if she has regained her mental capacity.

"My family didn’t do a God d--m thing," she fumed. "Anything I had to do, [my dad] was the one who approved all of it. My whole family did nothing."

Spears' attorney did not immediately return Fox News' requests for comment.

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William and Harry likely won't meet privately after Diana memorial - Page Six

Prince William and Prince Harry are not expected to meet in private after a statue of their late mother, Princess Diana, is unveiled Thursday, sources say.

Page Six is told that the brothers likely will not have time for a heart-to-heart amid their long-running rift before Harry flies back to his wife, Meghan Markle, and their two children in the US.

A private chat would also be particularly difficult with the media just steps away, it was pointed out to us — despite reports Wednesday saying the brothers would meet privately following the statue unveiling. 

It is not known when Harry, who arrived in the UK on Friday, will head back home, but it is believed that he doesn’t want to be away from his recently-expanded family for too long.

The statue unveiling falls on what would have been the late Princess of Wales’ 60th birthday.

There will be just 15 guests at the event due to COVID protocols, including Diana’s siblings. We’re told it will be short.

While a royal source said the event could be “sad and a little strained,” another source told us the brothers are expected to be dignified for the sake of their mother.

“The boys will be fine,” the source said.

Absent from the event will be William’s wife, Kate Middleton — which family sources previously told Page Six will be be “telling on so many levels.”

The Duchess of Cambridge was cut from the guest list in an effort to keep numbers down due to COVID-19 protocols, but an insider said it’s merely an excuse to keep the family drama away from the important ceremony.

“I think keeping the numbers down is a perfect ‘excuse’ for Catherine to stay away. William is fed up with the drama and Catherine doesn’t need to be dragged into this,” the source said.

The brothers, seen here with their mother Princess Diana in 1992, will unveil a statue in her honor on what would’ve been her 60th birthday.

AP

“They are planning a private family visit with their children, and that private moment is far more important than the public rhetoric.”

The source added, “William is determined that the Sussex drama does not overshadow this important moment of remembrance to his much-missed mother and is keeping that as his focus.”

Prince Charles, who divorced Diana a year before her 1997, will reportedly be absent from the event as well, as “old wounds” could be reopened.

“It brings back memories for him; happy, sad, regretful,” an insider told the UK Times. “Since Diana’s death, he has felt it’s best to keep those memories to himself and leave his sons to it.”

Markle remains in California, where she is caring for their newborn daughter, Lilibet Diana, and their 2-year-old son, Archie.

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iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 preview - The Verge

iOS 15 and iPad 15 are kicking off their public betas today, and after a few weeks with the developer betas of the new software, Apple’s OS updates feel like more of a grab bag of new features than ever before.

A major rethinking of either platform, this year’s updates are not. The two updates were clearly born in 2020’s norm-shattering pandemic. The feature list at WWDC and on Apple’s website wears last year’s remote-first influences firmly, from the heavy emphasis on FaceTime features to a better system for corralling notifications into “work” and “personal” buckets.

Of course, Apple’s release cadence and insistence on major updates coming just once a year means that some of these features are arriving in what will — hopefully — be a post-pandemic return to life this fall. So it’ll be interesting to see how things like SharePlay, one of the update’s marquee features, actually shake out once people have the option to watch movies and listen to music together in person again.

Other parts of iOS and iPadOS 15, like the overhauled Safari app or the new Maps app, feel like the kinds of more noticeable changes generally associated with Apple’s major software updates, but they’re sporadic.

The result is a software update that feels a lot quieter than Apple’s usual releases, one that — at least for now — looks to improve smaller things behind the scenes than rebuild things from the ground up.

FaceTime and SharePlay

The flashiest feature coming to the fall updates is SharePlay, a new Apple-wide system built on top of FaceTime for sharing TV shows, movies, music, and podcasts with friends and family even when you’re not in the same room. It’s also the most pandemic-inspired feature, an Apple product-based spin on the countless watch party apps and services that sprung up to replace movie nights over the past year.

SharePlay shows off how well Apple’s hardware and software services all work together: watching a TV show or listening to an album over FaceTime is seamless. But it also highlights the height of Apple’s walled garden: developers have to choose to use SharePlay — which is missing big names like Netflix and YouTube right now — and it only works on Apple hardware, despite the expansion of FaceTime and the Apple TV app to other platforms.

And since content is streamed locally, everyone watching or listening has to have access to it, meaning that you can’t share an episode of Ted Lasso with a friend who’s not a TV Plus subscriber, nor can you both watch the same movie if only one of you has purchased it from iTunes.

FaceTime is also getting a wide variety of long-overdue updates that help cement it as a more viable video chatting application: a sorely needed grid view, screen sharing, a portrait mode to blur your messy background, and the ability to FaceTime with Windows and Android users (in web browsers) thanks to sharable links.

These are all badly needed features for FaceTime, but they’re also the sort of thing that remains bewildering to have had to wait until September 2021 for, especially given the reliance on video calling over the past year and a half.

Unlike SharePlay, though, the FaceTime improvements feel like the kind of thing that will remain front and center even as things start to go back to normal, although the Apple product focus and more limited feature set when compared to professional solutions like Zoom or Microsoft Teams mean that FaceTime won’t be making a play for business meetings any time soon.

Focus up

As is traditional for an iOS update, Apple has done some tinkering with notifications on iOS 15. Some of the smaller notifications are bigger now, and feature contact images — which might be the push to get people to actually add photos to their contacts, something that doesn’t generally exist in the real world outside of an Apple presentation in my experience. And apps that you care less about can be filtered to a new summary mode that’s delivered several times a day, instead of pinging you for each notification right away.

But the bigger addition is the new Focus feature, and after only a few weeks of using it, it’s already one of my favorite features on iOS in years. On the surface, Focus is an expansion of Apple’s existing Do Not Disturb feature, but instead of a blanket mute, Focus allows you to select specific apps and contacts to share notifications at specific times or specific triggers.

A “work” Focus, for example, can be set to activate when you’re on the clock and mute all notifications except from your email, Slack, and calendar apps, then automatically switch off when you’re off work. Focus modes can be triggered by specific times, locations (like when you get to your office or home from work) or when opening a specific app.

So far, I’ve mostly just been using a “personal” focus for weekends and evenings to automatically mute any work Slacks and emails until the morning, which has been absolutely delightful. Apple’s machine learning also tries to learn from how you use your phone — for example, it suggested that I add a sports app I use a lot during “personal” time to the whitelist.

And while Focus can be used in conjunction with Apple’s Screen Time feature, it’s not a totally cohesive system: for example, there’s no way to automatically disable work apps like Slack when in a “personal” Focus mode. It just shuts off notifications.

Focus also lets you assign specific homescreen pages to each Focus mode — including widgets — for even more customized experiences. It’s not a perfect system, since iOS won’t let you have duplicate icons for apps (so you can’t have Apple Music visible on both a “personal” and a “work” homescreen, for example). But I’m a big fan of the feature, since it gives me a good reason to actually set up homescreens with widgets, and helps curb the instinct to tap the Slack icon when I’m supposed to be offline.

There’s also a new kind of notification to go with Focus and the morning summary feature, called “Time Sensitive Notifications,” which can override specific notification filtering features, so you don’t miss urgent alerts from your bank, for instance. Apple has specific rules for when developers can use these, but we’ll have to wait to see how they’re actually implemented when apps get updated this fall.

Safari explores a new look

Safari has been entirely redesigned in iOS 15. In terms of material changes to iOS, this is the biggest, and it’s coming to what might be the most essential application on the platform.

For the iPhone in particular, that means an emphasis on a one-handed design that moves the URL bar to the bottom of the screen, adds a swiping gesture interface, and a tab grouping feature (which is also coming to iPadOS and macOS Monterey).

I’m still getting used to it, even with a few days of use under my belt, and of all the additions in the latest software update, I suspect it’ll be the most polarizing. Over a decade of muscle memory has trained my brain to reach up for the menu bar on smartphones. I get Apple’s motivation in moving it to the bottom, making it easier to reach on the increasingly large phones it makes and putting the actual content of devices front and center at the top of the screen, it’s still a change that’ll require an adjustment period.

iPad multitasking: what’s a computer?

Overall, iPadOS 15 gets a lot of the same improvements as the iPhone update. There’s a few iPad-specific features, though, starting with two major features from iOS 14 that were oddly missing last year: widgets on the homescreen and the App Library (which comes with a spiffy animation when you open it). I still can’t explain why Apple didn’t add those features last year, but they’re extremely welcome now.

Widgets, as expected, work even better on the iPad than they do on the iPhone, given the bigger homescreen. It’s not as big of a sacrifice to give up a quarter of your homescreen for widgets when there’s still so much extra space on the screen. Apple has also added even bigger widget sizes, the biggest size of which is roughly the same area as an entire iPhone 12 display when viewed on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Despite the massive size, Widgets still have the same functionality as they do on the iPhone, meaning that they’re focused on glanceable information rather than more interactive mini applications.

Apple is also continuing to refine multitasking on the iPad with two new additions: a multitasking icon (three dots at the top of the display) that makes it easier to use the different split-view and slide-over modes it introduced in 2019, and a “shelf” that shows all the open windows for a particular app when you open it or tap the multitasking icon.

The new multitasking setup is better, albeit still slightly confusing. Putting a single app into split view using the new menu punts you back to the homescreen to select a second app (or the same app again) to view in split-screen mode. Apps can be dragged and dropped when you’re in the app switching window to create new split-screen or full-screen combinations. The multitasking dots light up to show which app in split-screen is in focus, which is incrementally better than the bar from before. And swiping down on the multitasking dots is now an almost home-button-like experience, closing that app and letting you select a new one.

There are still a lot of ways to move things around and arrange things and keyboard shortcuts available — so much so that Apple has a new menu when you hold the globe key to view system and multitasking shortcuts.

But there’s still plenty of friction here. iPadOS remains unpredictable: I’m never 100 percent sure what version of an open app or app windows will open when I tap in on my homescreen. Just opening a new window is still an opaque process that involves dragging and dropping things around in split view. Slide-over panels still live in their own, separate confusing world. Split view is still frustratingly rigid, letting you have exactly two apps open with a third visible as a slide-over panel, instead of any other configuration (like one large app on the left and two smaller ones on the right).

Ultimately, the new multitasking and split-screen views are a refinement of the older system, rather than some grand new paradigm for how to use an iPad. Those who like the iPad’s software abilities will likely find the new additions and enhancements to those modes nice. But those who were hoping that iPadOS 15 would offer a wildly overhauled windowing system — especially in the wake of Apple’s M1 upgrade in the latest iPad Pro — are going to be disappointed. Apple may do some additional tweaks or changes before iPadOS 15 launches this fall, but it’s unlikely to do any sweeping design changes for this update. iPadOS is still firmly an iPad operating system with iPad apps, and that seems to be how Apple likes things.

Also new is a Samsung-like “Quick Notes” feature that lets users swipe up from the bottom corner of the display or hit a keyboard shortcut and scribble down a thought, highlight text on a website, or add a link for context. Quick Notes get saved to their own category on the Notes app, and can be accessed from other Apple devices, too. They’re useful, although like many iPadOS 15 features, it’s not something you’d likely figure out how to use without outside prompting.

The best of the rest

As is always the case, there are dozens of bigger and smaller features coming in iOS and iPadOS, too. Here are some of the more notable ones to check out on the public beta:

Live Text might be the most technically impressive part of the updates, letting you point your camera at any handwritten or typed text to grab a phone number or email address, translate it, or pull it directly into a text field. Apple has quietly made this a system-level feature — meaning that it’s available whenever you’re viewing an image, be it in the live camera feed, an image on the web, or directly from the keyboard.

An interesting new addition on both operating systems is a new “Shared with You” feature, which shows photos, Apple Music songs, links, Apple TV Plus content, and podcasts that were shared over iMessage in dedicated rows within those apps. The theory is that if someone texts you a nice photo or their favorite playlist, you’ll be able to see it (and respond to it) in the Photos or Music apps. The feature is unsurprisingly entirely limited to Apple services for now, so sending a Spotify song to someone won’t appear in Spotify. It also might be overestimating how often users send links to TV Plus shows to each other, but showing shared links and photos are admittedly useful (at least, when the feature works properly).

The Weather app has an overhauled design that adds a vertical, Dark Sky-style 10-day forecast and Dark Sky-style maps for temperature and precipitation. It looks nice. Notes and Reminders are both getting hashtags for categorizing and organizing, and the Memories feature in Photos is getting completely overhauled.

Lastly, you can now put your Memoji avatars in outfits. I have no opinion on this.

A lot of the other flashy new features are things we can’t test yet. Apple’s beta is only rolling out new maps to the San Francisco Bay Area to start (although it’ll be in far more locations when the final software is out this fall). IDs and keys in Wallet will also have to wait for broader support from state governments, hotels, and workplaces before we can see how those work.

There are also a lot of features that will have to wait for third-party developers, like Focus statuses or SharePlay in third-party apps, which also have to wait for app updates.

---

The most notable thing from my time with the betas, though, is how easy it is to miss the newer features. Outside of the most in-your-face updates like the larger notifications or the new Safari design, most of the updates here are quieter, behind-the-scenes features.

They’re things that give you more options and ways to use your devices, but they’re just that — options. Focus modes are great for those who want to use them and integrate them into their workflow, but iOS doesn’t go out of its way to advertise them or push you to use them. It’s a mature way of looking at software, and one that’s nice to see, even if it means that iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 aren’t the most exciting updates ever.

Photography by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge

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