On the first day of WWDC 2019, Apple officially announced the next generation of its smartphone operating system, iOS 13. Probably the most important feature added to iOS 13 is the addition of Dark Mode. It’s a dark color scheme that, according to Apple, “works system-wide and across all native apps”. Just like the Do Not Disturb feature, it can be scheduled to go on at sunset, or at a specific time.
The Photos app gets smarter with on-device machine learning, highlighting the best images, hiding duplicates and clutter. The editing experience has also been improved, whether that’s effects or filters. A new High-Key Mono effect has been added to the Portrait mode, and all of the photo editing features will be available for video editing as well.
With iOS 13, Apple goes the extra mile to protect your privacy and data. You will be able to sign into third party apps and websites by using your Apple ID, either through Face ID or Touch ID, without giving out your name, or e-mail address.
A completely new Maps experience will be ready with iOS 13, bringing “broader road coverage, better pedestrian data, more precise addresses and more detailed landcover”. The Reminders app has been overhauled, Siri gets a new, more natural voice, and Apple is introducing a new way to type via swiping actions with QuickPath.
A first beta of iOS 13 is already available for developers, while the public beta program will start later this month. The final version will be available this fall, as a free upgrade for those using an iPhone 6s or later model.
Check out the rest of the features below, as described by Apple:
- Reminders has a new look and offers intelligent ways to create and edit reminders, with more ways to organise and keep track of them. The quick toolbar makes it easier to add times, dates, locations and flags, or add attachments. With deeper integration with Messages, it’s easy to tag someone in a reminder so that it surfaces when the user messages with that person.
- Messages can automatically share a user’s name and photo, or customised Memoji or Animoji, to easily identify who is in the Messages thread. Memoji are automatically made into sticker packs built into the iOS keyboard, so they can be used in Messages, Mail and other apps. Memoji also feature new hairstyles, headwear, makeup, piercings and accessories.
- Siri has a new, more natural voice, and Siri Shortcuts now supports Suggested Automations that provide personalised routines for things like heading to work or going to the gym.
- CarPlay gets its biggest update ever with a new Dashboard to view music, maps and more in a single view, a new Calendar app and Siri support for third-party navigation and audio apps.
- HomePod can distinguish voices from anyone in the home to deliver personal requests, including messages, music and more. Live radio gives Siri access to over 100,000 radio stations from iHeartRadio, radio.com and TuneIn, and a new sleep timer turns off music after a set amount of time. Handoff enables users to easily move music, podcasts or a phone call to HomePod when they arrive home.
- With AirPods, Siri can read incoming messages as soon as they arrive, from Messages or any SiriKit-enabled messaging app. A new audio sharing feature makes it easy to watch a movie or share a song with a friend by simply bringing a second pair close to iPhone or iPad.
- Voice Control provides a powerful new experience that enables users to operate their iPhone, iPad or Mac entirely by their voice. Using the latest Siri speech recognition technology, Voice Control gets even more accurate text transcription and editing.
- Notes has a new Gallery View, more powerful collaboration with shared folders, new search tools and checklist options.
- QuickPath brings easy one-hand typing to the iOS keyboard by continuously swiping through the letters of a word.
- Text Editing is enhanced, making scrolling documents, moving the cursor and selecting text faster and more accurate.
- Files app introduces the ability to share folders with iCloud Drive and access files from external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives.
- Health offers ways to monitor hearing health and brings new ways to track, visualise and predict a woman’s menstrual cycle.
- Location Services controls give users more choices for how they share location data with apps, including a new one-time location option and more information on when apps are using location in the background.
- Performance improvements make the entire system more responsive with faster Face ID unlock, and a new way to package iPhone apps on the App Store that reduces app download sizes by up to 50 per cent, makes app updates over 60 percent smaller and results in apps launching up to twice as fast.