Tech Corner: Everything You Need to Know About iOS 10!

Apple has revealed what the new operating system is going to look like for iPhones, iPads, and iPods, on June 13th at WWDC. According to Apple CEO himself, Tim Cook describes iOS 10 as the “biggest release ever” for iOS users! So what changes are happening that makes this operating system’s details so exciting?

iOS 10 will have major updates for a wide variety of apps, services, and features, including iMessage, Siri, Photos, Maps, Apple Music, News, Apple Pay, the Control Center, and more. That was already a mouth full so let’s dive in and get the details.

iMessage: iMessage has been completely transformed with features like background animation, bubble effects, rich links, and digital touch: handwritten text, annotations on photos and videos, and hidden “invisible ink” messages. It will also have bigger emojis and a predictive emoji feature that will suggest certain words to be replaced with an emoji; basically an emoji translator. iMessage will also have its own Message App Store, so developers can create apps that can be used in iMessage. These apps can be sticks and GIFs to even making payments or collaborating with a group message on anything from work to dinner orders.

It seems as if Apple took some notes from Facebook Messenger and SnapChat when creating these features. These things can be somewhat useful, they seem to be mainly targeting the “teen” iOS users. Most users are still questioning why Apple did not take advantage in this moment in creating a cross platform communicator for Apple and Android users. I guess we will have to wait for the new update…?

Lock Screen: With iOS 10, we will receive a brand new experience when it comes to our lock screen. There will be a widget side panel, redesigned Control Center, and a revamp in notifications. The biggest change in the lock screen is the removal of the iconic “Slide to Unlock” feature. Now that that is eliminated, to get into your phone, the lock screen will now instruct you to “Press Home to Unlock” your device.

Siri: Apple introduced SiriKit SDK at the WWDC event. This will allow Siri to be integrated into third-party apps. Siri will also be able to do more than ever, with commands like ride booking, messaging (in various apps), photo search, payments, VoIP calling, and workouts. Siri has also been expanded into the keyboard, with new contextual predictions in apps like iMessage and Mail. Her intelligent suggestions will be from location and calendar availability, or even contacts.

Hiding Apps: This is a long-awaited feature for Ios users! We can now get rid of pre-installed iOS device apps that we are not using. The built-in iOS apps have been moved to the App Store as standalone downloads, allowing them to be deleted and re-downloaded at anytime. The catch here is that this feature is more of hiding the apps, than deleting them. While you will not see the icon, the functionality is just hidden, meaning they will still take up space on your phone.

Other Changes

• There is a new keyboard sound that plays whenever a key is pressed.
• Apple has removed Game Center apps, but the Game Center service will still be available.
• There will be options in the Settings to optimize storage and remove songs that have not been listened to in a long time. You can also limit music storage space.
• A Bedtime Alarm will be within the update, helping you to set a regular sleep schedule, sending you reminders to let you know it is time for bed.
• Incoming voicemail messages are translated to text and can be read instead of listened too.

iOS 10 is available for developers as of June 13th and will be available for beta testers in July. The release for all users is in the Fall.

What do you think of iOS 10? Cast your opinion and join the conversation by commenting on Facebook -or -sending us a tweet on Twitter! We want to hear from you!

Check out our Pinterest Top Ten Board for more pictures and how-to links.