At WWDC today, Apple unveiled iOS 10 — the latest version of its operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, iOS 10 comes with a number of major new features, and fixes some major pain points of the OS. The highlight of the update, however, is the smarter and more powerful Siri that developers will soon be able to integrate into their apps thanks to an SDK and APIs that Apple is releasing alongside iOS 10.
Redesigned Lock Screen
Apple has redesigned the Lock Screen in iOS 10 with better 3D Touch integration. The latest version of iOS also comes with ‘Raise to Wake’ feature that automatically lights up the screen of your iPhone when you pick it up. This way you will be able to view the notification without having to press any button on the device.
With 3D Touch integration, you can respond to messages, view email content, and more right from the lock screen itself. There is also a Clear All button to clear all notifications from the lock screen.
Apple has also redesigned Control Center, with a special section dedicated to the Music, which can be accessed by swiping to the left. Lock Screen on iOS 10 also provide quick access to widgets by swiping to the left, while swiping to the right will open the camera app.
The Home Screen now also gains deeper 3D Touch integration that allows you to view more information from an app without opening it.
Smarter Siri
The smarter and more powerful siri from Apple is the highlight of iOS 10’s release. With third-party app integration, iPhone owners will be able to use Siri to order food, book taxi rides and movie tickets, and more. During its demo, Apple showed using Siri to send a message in WeChat by simply using voice commands. This feature will work across popular messaging apps like Slack, WeChat, and more. Similarly, you can use SIri to start/stop workouts in third-party apps, send money to your friends, VoIP calling, and more.
Quicktype with Siri integration
Apple is adding Siri integration to Quicktype. This allows Siri to automatically provide you with relevant information depending on the conversation you are having. So, for example, if your friend asks for a location, Quicktype will automatically provide you with the suggestion to send your location to him/her.
The stock iOS keyboard is also gaining bilingual support with iOS 10, which means that you can get suggestions from multiple languages at once.
Improved Photos app
Apple has further improved its Photos app for iOS 10 by adding facial, object and scene recognition feature to it. There is also a new feature called Memories that will automatically group photos based on their location, time taken, and more. It will also create a highlight reel of the best photos and videos from a particular event. All of these features work on-device without using your photos being uploaded to the cloud.
You can also customise the Memories to your liking by changing the background music and tempo according to your liking.
New Apple Maps app
With iOS 10, Apple is introducing a new Maps app for the OS. The new app features an easier to use UI, with more information density and features like Dynamic view; Quick Controls to see route details; support for alternate routes, and more.
Apple is also opening Apple Maps to developers using Extensions that will allow third-party apps to integrate into Apple Maps. This will make it possible to book a car/hotel or book a table in a hotel right from inside the Apple Maps app.
Redesigned Apple Music app
iOS 10 also comes with a new redesigned Apple Music app that comes with a beautiful new UI. The new music app features a ‘Downloaded Music’ section that makes it easier to find songs that are locally stored on your iOS device. The Now Playing screen also comes with Lyrics integration that one can access by simply swiping up from the Now Playing screen.
There is a new ‘For You’ section in the Apple Music app that will provide you with playlist recommendations based on your music taste.
Apple News
Apple is giving its News app a redesign with iOS 10. The app is now divided into multiple sections that will help you in following you topics from a variety of categories. It will now also recommend articles based on your reading habits.
Apple News is also adding Subscriptions support to Apple News to it. This means that you can read magazines and websites that you have subscribed to right from within Apple News app. Lastly, Apple News in iOS 10 is also capable of providing breaking new notifications.
Home app
A standalone HomeKit app was expected to make its debut in iOS 9 last year, but that did not happen for some reason. A year later, Apple is finally releasing ‘Home’ as a part of iOS 10 that allow one to control all HomeKit-compatible devices connected to their account from one place.
The Home app also features Scenes that allows you to chain multiple reactions into one. So, for example, with a ‘Good Night’ scene, the lights will automatically dim, music will stop playing, and more. Scenes will also be supported by Siri.
The new Home app also supports interactive notifications, so you will get a notification when someone rings the bell of your home. The Home app will also be available for the iPad and Apple Watch.
Phone
The new Phone app in iOS 10 features Voicemail transcription, so you can read the voicemail sent to you instead of having to listen to it. The new Extension for Phone app also allows third-party apps like Tencent to integrate with the app, so you can get information about the caller right on the incoming call screen.
The new VoIP API ensures that third-party apps like WhatsApp, Skype, Hangouts etc. get to enjoy the same notification priority and UI as the stock Phone app and traditional phone calls.
iMesssage
The new iMessage app in iOS 10 gains support for previewing links, videos, and other files that are sent through it. Emoji on iMessage are also getting 3x bigger and Quicktype will also provide emoji suggestions based on the message you are sending. There is a new ‘Tap to replace’ feature that helps highlights words that you can replace with emoji.
There is a new Bubble effect feature that lets you send messages with bigger, smaller, or hidden bubbles to better share your emotions. You can also send handwritten messages in iMessage i.e. you can scribble down in your own handwriting and send it to your friend or family.
Other new features in iMessage include full-screen effects, Digital Touch, full screen effects, and more.Like with Apple Maps and Siri, Apple is also opening iMessage for developers. The company is also introducing an App Store for iMessage where users can find apps that are developed specifically for iMessage.
Collaboration in Notes
The Notes app in iOS 10 is gaining collaboration features so you and your friends can work on a single note from your respective iOS devices remotely.
Split View in Safari
Safari in iOS 10 is gaining the much-needed Split View feature that will let you open two websites side-by-side on your iPad.
The above are just the major features that Apple is introducing in iOS 10. There are a plethora of other minor features that the company is also bringing like Live Photos editing and more. Make sure to follow us as we will cover these minor (and major) features in-depth over the next few weeks.
