Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday by sharing some new details about its latest mobile software, iOS 12.
The software, which powers the iPhone and iPad, packs a slew of new features aimed at improving your device’s performance, as well as fun augmented reality tools.
Here’s what’s new in iOS 12:
Augmented reality
Apple released the next version of its augmented reality platform for developers, called ARKit 2.
ARKit, which was first launched in 2017, now has improved face tracking, 3D, object detection and a more persistent experience.
Apple also announced a new AR app called ‘Measure’ that lets you see the dimensions of objects, like photos or chairs, and get automatic measurements
Multi-user virtual environments are also coming to ARKit 2, so that more than one person can see the same perspective in real time.
Apple also announced a new AR app called ‘Measure’ that lets you see the dimensions of objects and get automatic measurements.
Photos
Apple’s Photos app is about to get a lot smarter.
In iOS 12, the Photos app will now display search suggestions when a user is looking for a specific picture, based on things that appear in the photo, including cars, dogs and flowers.
Apple is adding a ‘For You’ tab to the Photos app that will show memories, as well as produce sharing suggestions. It will suggest you share photos with other users
There’s also a new ‘For You’ tab, that will show memories, as well as sharing suggestions.
It will suggest that you share photos with a friend if they appear in a photo and then prompts the friend to share photos with you if you appear in their photos.
Siri
Apple is rolling out a new feature called Shortcuts, which adds ‘quick actions’ for any app.
For example, a user can change their settings so that if they say ‘I lost my keys’, it will prompt Siri to pull up the Tile app and show you where your keys are.
Another new tool is called Suggestions, where Siri will prompt the user to take certain actions in iOS, such as order their favorite coffee that they drink every morning
Another new tool is called Suggestions, where Siri will prompt the user to take certain actions in iOS, such as order their favorite coffee that they drink every morning.
Apps
The Stock app is getting a major upgrade and now lets users tap on certain stocks to get detailed information.
It’ll also show relevant news headlines under the stock, which users can click on to see the full article.
The Stock app is getting a major upgrade and now lets users tap on certain stocks to get detailed information. It’ll also show relevant news headlines under the stock
Apple is rolling out a new and improved Books app, renaming it Apple Books from iBooks.
There’s a new preview screen that shows users where they last left off in an eBook, as well as a new store that ‘makes browsing through eBooks and audiobooks better than ever’.
Screen Time
Apple is launching a suite of tools aimed at helping people curb their smartphone addiction.
Users can view and control how they spend their time on apps, set time limits and more.
Apple is launching a suite of tools aimed at helping people curb their smartphone addiction. Users can view and control how they spend their time on apps and more
It also comes with new parental controls that let parents view how their child is spending their time in apps and set time limits.
New Do Not Disturb features limit what notifications users see on their lock screen at night and in the morning.
Notifications
Users can now ‘fine tune’ their notifications and change the settings so that specific notifications only show up in the notifications center and turn other notifications off altogether.
Siri will also suggest that users turn off some notifications if the user hasn’t opened the app in a while.
A new grouped notifications tool will categorize app notifications by apps and topics.
Users can now ‘fine tune’ their notifications and change the settings so that specific notifications only show up in the notifications center and turn other notifications off
Users can swipe on a group of notifications and choose to view them later, removing them from the lock screen.
Better performance
Apple said iOS 12 will significantly improve how apps load and other performance features on iOS devices.
In iOS 12, apps will load up to 40% faster, the keyboard will come up 50% faster and sliding open to the camera will be 70% faster, even on older devices like the iPhone 5S.