5 reasons to update iOS
DOWNLOAD APPLE’S GIFT TO USERS, THE NEW iOS11
YOU might have to wait a few weeks to get your hands on the iPhone X, but iOS 11 arrived this week – and installing it on whatever iPhone, or iPad for that matter, you’re currently packing, will open you up to a whole new world of magic.
So why should you switch to iOS 11? Here are the top five things I like about Apple’s new OS:
CAMERA/PHOTOS
THERE is no doubt that the camera and photos apps on the iPhone are among the most important things for Apple to get right. Any big change needs some careful consideration, to say the least. And so we have new filters.
And they are beauties. Gone completely are the old collection, to be replaced by new, subtle, thoughtful filters that are beautiful without ever grandstanding – three kinds of “Vivid” filter, three kinds of “Cinematic” filter, and three black and white filters, might be all you need. They are so right.
But if you want more there’s also the Photos app with lots of more intense editing options. The big news, though, is the ability to do more with live photos – short snatches of video captured when you snap an image that can be replayed with a long press on the screen – it’s supposed to bring your photos to life.
In iOS you can take those short snatches video and make them loop, or “bounce”, or turn them into the kind of long exposure you might be able to get from a “proper” camera – you know, when a stream seems to be flowing, or the streak of car taillights down a busy road express movement in a still image.
MULTITASKING AND THE NEW DOCK
iOS 11 brings lots of new functionality to the iPad, in fact, you might say its focus is on making the iPad Pro an even better machine for work.
On iPad you can now have many more apps in the dock, and the multitasking screen remembers the layouts you have used before when you have paired apps to use in split-screen mode. And then there’s drag and drop – new for iPad, and executed exquisitely.
Tap and hold an item to pick it up, then tap on other elements to add to your selection, then drag and drop into other apps just like you would on a real computer (as if the iPad isn’t a real computer…).
PENCIL
APPLE Pencil is a must add-on if you’re rocking an iPad Pro, and iOS makes it even more useful. You can take screenshots quickly and easily which are rendered as PDFs you can draw on and share or save so easily it’s almost insulting. There are lots of corners of iOS 11 where interaction with the pencil has been improved – especially in the notes app which just got a whole lot more useful.
APP STORE
THE App Store has had a total revamp in iOS. Four sections dominate – Today, Games, Apps, and Search – whipping the content into the kind of shape users need.
Today is the most innovative – Apple’s human curators highlight a very limited number of apps and games and some of the stories behind them.
WEB PRIVACY
ADVERTISING companies are annoyed that Apple has taken a stand against tracking users.
Apple’s business model is keeping its customers happy, so the Safari web browser on iOS sets some serious limitations on what advertisers can do with cookies – you know when you search for something on Amazon, and then it’s advertised on a totally different site.
Cookies is how they do that – they are little text files, stored on your computer, and designed originally to store log-in info, or the items you’ve added to a shopping cart so you can come back later and it’s all still there. Now, though, cookies are used to track your every move online, so that advertising can be “retargeted” – you can be shown ads for things you’ve already shown an interest in. Some people find it a little bit creepy.
Apple is using machine learning to try to puzzle out what the difference between “good” cookies and “bad” cookies might be. The fact the major online ad networks are upset about it probably tells you all you need to know about which side of the debate you should be on. There is much more to iOS 11 than just these things, obviously. Like the new customisable Control Centre, the brand new Files app that allows you access from a variety of online storage services, the automatic muting of notifications while driving, the enhanced Siri, the better News app, the Augmented Reality (worth the admission price alone).
I could go on, but I don’t need to. Just get it.
iOS 11 is available for iPhone 5S and later, iPad (fifth generation) and later, iPad Mini 2 and later, and iPod Touch (sixth generation).
It’s a free download available now. Find it in Software Update on your device.