During its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), Apple took the opportunity to showcase iOS 12, the upcoming newest version of its mobile operating system. Just to be clear about everything, iOS 12 will not officially roll out until the fall season of this year, but Apple fans should have plenty of reasons to get excited.
As pointed out by Craig Federighi, the senior vice president of Apple’s software engineering division, iOS 12’s focus is on enhancing performance and optimization. According to him, 81 percent of iOS mobile users today already have iOS 11 installed in their handsets, and these users will likely be the first to experience how improved iOS 12 is upon launch. Also, it is quite intriguing that Federighi showcased iOS 12’s capabilities through an iPhone 6 Plus (released back in 2014).
Now to the new features -- Apple is introducing a new file format for augmented reality (AR), and it is called USDZ. Per Abhay Parasnis, the chief technical officer of Adobe, the USDZ format will enjoy full support on Adobe mobile apps.
Speaking of AR and mobile apps, Apple also has a new app that should help users have a better grasp of what AR is and how they may be able to use it in real life. This app is called Measure, and no doubt, there will be comparisons with another already existing app -- MeasureKit. What it does basically is allow people to measure real objects using their iOS device.
This year’s WWDC also saw Apple announced new updates to its ARKit brand. This time around, the AR platform now has multi-player support, which means that users can now enjoy the same AR experience with multiple ARKit compatible handsets. Apple even invited Lego’s Martin Sanders to talk about how pointing an iOS tablet at a Lego set can add virtual objects and structures (like a miniature metropolis, for instance).
With regards to searching among images taken with iPhone devices, Apple is now incorporating search recommendations to aid in discovery. Also, borrowing from Apple Music, iOS 12 now comes with the “For You” tab, which displays old photo albums, memories, and images with family or friends, among other things.
iOS 12 can also boast smarter alerts and do not disturb enhancements. For example, by activating the Do Not Disturb feature before going to sleep, users will not have to be bombarded with notifications if they check the time in the middle of the night. Also, the latest version of iOS can now group notifications together, and this can be done directly from the home screen.
To find out what other cool things iOS 12 has, better head to Apple’s iOS 12 Preview web page.
