This past Monday, Apple held their 27th annual WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) There, they announced the next versions of their television, watch, mac, and mobile operating systems. However, probably the most dramatic change took place around iOS. In this list, I want to tell you about my top 15 new features in iOS 10 which Apple did not tell you about. I am using my iPhone 6 on the first developer beta. I do absolutely enjoy the awesome new features, but some of the changes do take some getting used to.
1.A Dedicated Magnifier
Personally, I have been a big fan of using the iPhone camera as a magnifier, but with the new update, Apple has actually added an accessibility feature that is specifically dedicated to enlarging content for those with low vision. Under the accessibility menu, there is now an option that says Magnifier. From there, you can enable it through triple home click.
2. Display Accommodation
What is this you may ask? Just like Invert Color, which most are familiar with, Display Accommodations allows for a user to enable color filters in order to aid in the viewing of content. Invert Color has been added to this menu which can be located under General and Accessibility.
3. The Ability to “Remove” Stock Applications
Why do I have quotes around remove? Apple has finally made any easy way for a user to remove all of those stock applications that no one ever uses. Stocks, Reminders, Tips, and many other annoying programs infest our screens. Many in the past have resorted to hiding them in a folder which does not completely get rid of them. Apple has now made it possible to remove them from your screen, but data from them will still remain, unfortunately. This is at least a good move in the right direction. At least it’s not as big of a deal as it is with competitors who load on dozens of programs from the manufacturers and carriers (cough Android cough).
4. Unsubscribing from Mailing Lists
Have you ever been on a mailing list which you keep forgetting to get off of? Apple has thought of a way that can help people such as I get off of all of those annoying lists which clutter our inboxes. In an email that is part of a mailing list, iOS will present an option at the top of the email that allows you to select one button to unsubscribe. I am pretty excited about this extremely handy tool.
5. Redesign of Health
Most who have used the health app are familiar with the various panels in which your activities are sorted, but now, your various measurements are collected into “Heath Genres.” What I mean by this is you have a separate collection for sleep, activity, nutrition, and a new section called mindfulness. I definitely appreciate the new look, and the ease of use it brings about.
6. Toll & Highway Avoidance
Let’s say you are trying to navigate to a certain destination,but you don’t want to pay a toll or go on the interstate. There is now an option within settings that allows for a user to select what they want to avoid.
7. Wireless Security Notifications
It’s quite obvious that you should never connect to a network that you are unfamiliar with, and if you do, you should not do important things on that network. These networks can allow for hackers to take advantage of other clients who are using the internet connection. These hackers are then able to infect a system without the user even knowing. Your device will now give you a heads up on what network is secure, and if you should or should not connect to it. I think this is a very handy tool considering how dangerous our digital lives have become.
8. Wake Alarm
Have you ever had difficulty getting in enough sleep? Apple hopes to help solve this problem with a new feature built right into the clock app called Wake Alarm. This feature will tell you when to go to bed to get the best desirable amount of sleep. Though this is more of a simple type of addition, I can see how some might take advantage of it.
9. Improved Safari
Previously, Apple limited you to only 36 tabs, which is personally enough for me, but maybe someone else had trouble with that number. Now, you can have an unlimited amount of tabs! How do you get rid of them all when you are done though? You can now hold down on the tab button, and you will get an option to clear all of the tabs that are currently open.
10. Improved Apple Watch App
For those of you who have an Apple Watch, you will love this update. The new app will allow for you to customize a watch face from your phone, and then apply that onto your watch. This is probably useful for those who have difficulty working on such a small screen, and want a quick and easy way of adding complications and widgets to their watch face.
11. Intuitive Texts
Last year, Apple made it possible for your phone to guess who might be calling you at a certain time, and now, that technology has been brought over to your texts. If a person is not in your contact list, your phone will now be able to guess who a certain person may be that is trying to text you. You can also add events from your texts into your calendar just as you would do within the mail app. I hope to see this tool in action as I spend more time with the operating system, but so far, it has been a very enjoyable experience.
12. Exporting Websites to PDF
This feature has been requested by many, and Apple listened to its customers. You can now bring up the share sheet, select print, expand the image, and export it into a PDF format. I personally don’t think I’ll need to use this feature very much, but I know others will.
13. Pronunciation
Have you ever had Siri say something the wrong way, and no matter what you do, it doesn’t seem like it will stop? Apple has provided a way for users to resolve this issue. I know this will cut my frustration a whole lot. I am glad that this was added.
14. More 3D Touch Support
Unfortunately, I have not gotten to try out all of these shortcuts due to not owning a 6s, but I have seen it in action, and it appears to work smoothly.
15. Improved Contacts Experience
As part of the new design change, Apple decided to give one of their oldest stock applications some attention. Now, you can easily get to call, text, email, or FaceTime all at the top of a contact. In addition, the contact profile pic is centered versus off to the left.
I know I have thoroughly enjoyed this update, and I can’t wait for you to get your hands on it! What features do you think are missing? Are these additions worth the hype? How well do you think Apple does at implementing accessibility into their devices? If you have any questions about the update, feel free to leave a comment below.