Apple today released iOS 10 for all supported iPhones and iPads. The latest version of iOS brings with it a number of new features and enhancements for you to play around with.
If you are not particularly tech savvy, the new features and additions in iOS 10 might be a bit too overwhelming or you might not be able to figure out how to use a particular feature. To help you with this, we have compiled all the new features that Apple has introduced in iOS 10 below along with relevant how-tos on how to use them.
iMessages
The new iMessages app in iOS 10 packs in plenty of new features to help bring your conversations to life. This includes a dedicated app store, sticker support, attachments, and more.
Read: How iMessage Apps will work
Stickers
iMessage now has its own App Store where you can download stickers, GIFs, and more. To get you started though, Apple already includes four set of sticker packs in iOS 10.
Tapback
You know how you can send a Like in the Facebook Messenger and how you can react to status updates in Facebook with different emoticons? This lets us quickly acknowledge that we’ve read the message and even show how the message makes us feel, very quickly, without even typing anything. The new Tapback feature in the Messages app of iOS 10 lets you do just that.
Bigger Emoji
Among the most innovative features in the new iMessages app in iOS 10 is the ability to send bigger emoji. And even better, you can replace words with Emoji in the Messages app easily.
- How to send 3x bigger emoji in Messages in iOS 10
- How to replace text with Emoji in Messages in iOS 10
Digital Touch
It means is that for a second or two, your iPhone’s screen becomes your canvas. And whatever you doodle/write on it is send to the conversation, with an animation of exactly how you drew it. It’s pretty cool. You can do it on photos and videos as well.
Manage Attachments
iMessage in iOS 10 is making it easier to manage attachments that you send or receive. By managing your iMessage attachments smartly, you can keep your iPhone free from clutter.
Effects
There’s no escaping it. The new bubble and full-screen effects in the Messages app in iOS 10 are loud. Colorful, and loud. If you are unsure on how to use Effects in iMessage, check our how-to below. And if your brain is annoyed by so many colors or sudden movement from the effects, we have a solution for that as well.
- How to send animations in Messages in iOS 10
- How to send messages with Bubble effect in iOS 10
- Disable effects in the Messages app in iOS 10
Send GIFs
Did you know that you can now send GIFs in iOS 10? And you don’t have to manually hunt for a relevant GIF as well. Its all inbuilt.
Invisible Ink: Ever wanted to send some a secret message? Like in those movies. The message would only be revealed when they put it under this certain light. Well, you can do a version of it in the Messages app in iOS 10. It’s called Invisible Ink.
Markup images
You can finally markup images in iMessage in iOS 10. Yes, drawing dog ears on your friend’s graduation photo and sharing it in a group chat just got infinitely easier.
Quickly Send selfies
You know what’s better than sending an emoji, a bitmoji, or a GIF reaction? Sending a picture of your actual facial reaction to the message you just got. Call me old fashioned, but it just has its own charm. If you think so as well, the new Messages app in iOS 10 just made this a lot easier to do.
App Store
iMessage in iOS 10 comes with its own App Store that features a variety of apps, games, and stickers.
Music
The Music app has received a huge overhaul in iOS 10 that makes using Apple Music simpler to use. The bold redesign means that you might have to make yourself familiar with basic features of the app once again.
Shuffle
Wondering how to shuffle songs from your library, from an album or from the Now Playing view?
Play Later
The iOS 10 Music app redesign, while much of an improvement, has left many eyebrows raised. From hiding the Up Next queue in a place no one can figure out, to the removal of star ratings and the “Add to Up Next” queue.
Download and manage music
The redesigned Apple Music app in iOS 10 is making it easier to manage your music library and download new songs from Apple Music. It also makes it easier to differentiate between songs downloaded to your device and the ones that are available for streaming.
Optimise storage
If you own a 16GB iPhone, storing music on it can be a particularly tough task to manage since you are likely going to run out of space sooner than later. To ease your pain, Apple includes a handy new Optimise storage feature in Apple Music in iOS 10 to make managing space on your handset easier.
Lyrics
The updated Music app in iOS 10 now features built-in support for showing lyrics so you can sing along to your favourite songs easily.
Shuffle
The Music app in iOS 10 has received a big, bold redesign. And some feature placement has been shuffled a bit. Including the Shuffle feature. Don’t worry it’s all there (it’s not iOS 8.4 all over again).
Photos
Besides iMessage, the Photos app has also seen a major upgrade in its functionality in iOS 10. It borrows heavily from Google’s Photos app, with the only difference being that it manages to achieve all the features without having to upload your photos to cloud i.e. all the processing is done right on the device itself.
Searchable objects
The smarter new Photos app is capable of searching for people, objects, and texts and more in your photos. This might seem like a trivial feature, but it definitely comes in handy every once in a while. Think how easily you can pull up all the photos of a particular friend or family member by simply searching for their name in the Photos app. Cool, ain’t it?
- How to search for people, places, and objects inside Photos in iOS 10
- How to add names to recognised faces in the Photos app in iOS 10
Memories
There is a new Memories tab in the Photos app of iOS 10 that stores Memories. Here you’ll find albums of sorts – Memories – generated periodically by the app itself, based on certain context. It can be a time, place, people you were with, or all of the above. The best way to explain it is when you come back from your next weekend trip, you’re sure to find a “Memory” for that location inside the Memories tab.
New features
The Mail app in iOS 10 remains largely the same as before, but it does come with some major new features to help make managing your inbox easier.
Easily unsubscribe from Newsletters
The updated Mail app also makes it easier to unsubscribe from Newsletters
Lock Screen
Quick reply from lock screen
The Lock screen in iOS 10 has received a major revamp and now comes with features like raise to wake. It now also provides you with quick access to widgets and lets one quickly reply to messages without having to open the app.
Quickly call favorite contacts
Thanks to quick access to widgets, you can also quickly make calls to your favourite contacts without having to unlock the phone.
Disable Press to Unlock
The second generation Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 6s and iPad Pro is so fast that users were flying through the lock screen. Thus, whilst revamping the lock screen for iOS 10, Apple has changed the unlocking behaviour for iOS as well. Instead of simply keeping your finger on the Touch ID sensor, one has to press the button to unlock their device now. This is already causing confusion for new users. And people are worried that such a frequent use might wear out their home buttons. I personally think that we’ll all get used to it in a while.
Disable Lock screen widgets
Don’t like widgets on the lock screen? You can always disable them.
Others
Notes
The Notes app in iOS 10 has received some major new collaboration features and some basic new additions like checklists.
View Voicemail Transcripts
With iOS 10, Apple has introduced a new transcription feature for voicemail that automatically transcripts your unread voicemails.
Finding Your Parked Car Location
iOS 10 is all about getting a little bit smarter, and making small annoyances a thing of the past. One of those delightful little features in the Maps app is the ability to automatically find your parked car. Now, when you leave your car (as long as it’s not at your home address), iOS 10 will remember the location.
Clear all notifications
Apple has finally added the option to clear all notifications for all 3D Touch capable devices in iOS 10.
New widgets: Widgets in iOS 10 are finally getting the attention they deserve. Almost all the widgets in the stock app have been upgraded to make them more useful.
Remove stock apps
No longer will you have to create a folder called “Extras”, put in all the unused stock apps and drag it over the last Home screen. For Apple has finally, finally added a feature in iOS 10 that lets you delete all the stock apps.
Wake Alarm in Clock
iOS 10 brought a lot of little things. One of these features was tucked under the new “Bedtime” tab in the redesigned Clock app (that dark mode looks amazing though). Wake Alarm feature is simple. Basically, you tell the Clock app what time you usually wake up, how much time you’d like to sleep and the app will take care of the rest.
Screen Filters
iOS has always been the leader in terms of accessibility features, and with iOS 10 Apple is making things even better by introducing Color Filters to help people with color blindness.
Home App
Home is an entirely new app iOS 10, that’s supposed to be the only app you’ll ever need for controlling all the smart home (HomeKit) devices that you own. Once you’ve setup the particular devices using their own apps and pairing systems, you’ll see them in the Home app.
Let us know how your experience with iOS 10 has been so far.
