After Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference last week, everyone was talking about new hardware. The company introduced its new HomePod speaker, a competitor to Amazon’s Echo, and unveiled a new iMac Pro, along with upgraded iMacs and MacBooks.
The
company also announced an update to its mobile operating system — the
one that powers the millions of iPhones and iPads that have become a
common part of everyday life for many people. Apple will roll out iOS 11
this fall, with a host of new features.
What are they? Let’s take a look.
‘Do Not Disturb While Driving’
We
all know how dangerous texting, or using your phone in general, while
driving can be, but it doesn’t stop people from thinking they can get
away with it. Plus, buzzing alerts on your phone are distracting even if
you don’t look at them (and sometimes it seems like they never stop).
Apple’s next update will include a possible solution to that problem: It
will automatically block notifications when your phone thinks you are
behind the wheel.
Texts
sent via iMessage will also be intercepted. When one arrives, the phone
will send an automatic reply saying you are driving and that you’ll
respond when you get to your destination. (You can program your phone to
let some numbers through the blockade, so loved ones can reach you in a
pinch.) When the phone has determined that you’ve stopped driving, your
screen will come back to life, and you can catch up on everything
you’ve missed.
Customizable Control Center
The Control Center, that panel full of easily-accessed buttons and tools you see when you swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen, will also get an overhaul in the new update. Soon all the controls will be located on one colorful, widget-filled page.
Some
have complained that the new layout is confusing and cluttered, but it
doesn’t have to be: The Control Center will be customizable, so you can
add as many (or as few) widgets as you like, including quick access to
your camera, calculator or Apple TV.
Additionally,
there’s a new toggle for the iPhone’s “Low Power” mode, designed to
save battery life while you’re out without a spot to charge your phone.
The new Control Center also features quick accessibility settings,
including options to magnify your screen, change the brightness, make
text display larger (or smaller), enable Do Not Disturb mode, and more.
And each setting now makes use of Apple’s “3D Touch” feature, where
pressing and holding on an icon brings up additional useful options.
Siri will get to know you. Well.
Siri,
Apple’s personal assistant program, will get an overhaul too. The
company said the program will soon have “a new, more natural voice” that
will be more “expressive” than the robotic lilt it currently has. At
the conference last week, some audio of both the male and female voices
were played to showcase its more nuanced pronunciations. But the biggest
changes for Siri will be under the hood, powered by machine learning
and artificial intelligence.
Here
is what that means: Apple says Siri will learn so much from you that it
will be able to anticipate your needs and make suggestions before you
even ask for them.
For
example, it will offer news stories based on things it has learned you
like. If you’re texting a friend about a film you saw or a place you
visited, Siri will auto-type the name of the movie or the place. It will
suggest new searches for you in Safari based on articles you’ve read.
It will automatically queue up songs you like, suggest songs it thinks
you will like or answer trivia questions about songs you play.
Siri is going to know a lot about you.
‘Offload Unused Apps’
iOS
11 will also help save storage on your phone. When your storage runs
low, a new optional feature will automatically remove apps you don’t use
very often. It is called “Offload Unused Apps” and you can turn it on
by going to Settings, then tapping General. The selected apps are
removed, and you get back all of the space they were using, which can be
especially useful for people who’ll need to make room for more photos,
for phone updates, or just to download music or movies for a long
flight.
Don’t
worry, though. Your phone will keep any data you have associated with
the deleted app, which will display as a gray icon after it has been
removed. If you ever want to reinstall it, all you have to do is tap the
gray icon and everything is back to the way it was.
Apple’s
mobile payment system, Apple Pay, will also get a boost with the new
update. Using your credit or debit card, you will be able to send money
to anyone who also uses iOS11 with just a text message, which can be
especially useful for splitting the check at a restaurant, paying
someone gas money, or even paying the rent if you’re close with your
landlord. You even get an electronic receipt that shows the payment went
through.
Receiving
money from someone will be just as easy. Once you’ve been paid via text
message you can either use Apple Pay to spend that money at stores and
online or you can transfer it to your bank account. Think of it as a
version of Venmo that is restricted to (or especially for, depending on
your perspective) Apple users. If you already use Apple Pay to pay for
purchases at participating retailers, the ability to quickly send and
receive money from other iPhone users may appeal to you.
source:
nytimes.com
Comments
Post a Comment