Due to the fact that Apple has regularly been announcing new versions of its iOS mobile operating system at its yearly Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it comes as no surprise that the iPhone maker has recently unveiled iOS 11 during the said conference this year. Of course, the wide release version of iOS 11 will likely be made available later this year (probably in September).
Craig Federighi, the senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, did the honors of introducing the new features present in iOS 11. In the latest version of the mobile OS, the iMessage apps and stickers apps are made more accessible by way of a shortcut drawer, which means that iOS mobile users will no longer have to tap several times in order to send a sticker. What happens instead is that convos are synchronized with iCloud automatically and they even stay in sync. Once a message is erased, it is deleted everywhere.
iOS 11 also brings new updates for Apple’s digital assistant, Siri, which is now being utilized on 375 million handsets on a monthly basis. The sound of the assistant’s voice has not been made more enhanced, especially in terms of inflections. Users can now request Siri for translations, starting with Chinese, French, German, Italian, and English. Siri also gets improvements in terms of contextualizing the user’s interests. For instance, it will check the user’s calendar for upcoming appointments, and then provide reminders through Messages.
As for Apple’s mobile payment system, iOS 11 delivers upgrades, too. Apple Pay users can now send cash to other users, a la Square Cash or Venmo. When a user gets the money being sent, he also receives an Apple Pay Cash card with a balance. The money can be spent via Apple Pay, re-sent to other users, or withdrawn to the person’s bank account.
iOS 11 also delivers support for HEVC (h.265) to the camera app. This should translate to enhanced video quality while keeping file sizes more manageable. Users are given the ability to edit live images in order to select a different primary still image. And just like what Boomerang does for Instagram, the camera app now lets users render live images in animated loops. Moreover, iOS 11 has also added new smart albums, including an album dedicated to throwback thursday (TBT) photos.
There is plenty more new features to check out -- to know more, head to Apple’s official web page.
