Apple unveiled the preview of iOS 13 at WWDC 2019 in San Jose California on Monday, which comes with Dark mode, new maps experience, upgraded Camera and Photo feature and much more.
According to the company, iOS 13 is faster, more responsive and comes with optimisations such as improved app launch, reduced app download sizes and enhanced Face ID experience.
iOS 13 update will be officially rolled out later this year in Fall to iPhone 6s and later; alongwith iPadOS for iPad 5th generation and later; iPad mini 4 and later; all iPad Pro models; iPad Air 2 and later.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, said, “iOS 13 brings new capabilities to the apps you use every day, with rich updates to Photos and Maps, and privacy-protecting features like Sign In with Apple, all while delivering faster performance.”
While the developer preview of iOS 13 is already available to Apple Developer Program members, the public beta program will be available next month onwards here.
“We’re excited for customers to experience what’s coming to iPhone this fall and can’t wait for them to see how great everything looks in Dark Mode.”
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Dark mode
A new look for iPhones, the Dark Mode brings a dark colour scheme that works system-wide across native apps to deliver a better experience in low-light conditions.
The feature will also be available to third-party app developers to integrate into their own apps.
Easier browsing for Photos
“Photos and videos are intelligently organized, making it easier to browse, discover and relive favourite memories, with autoplay videos to bring the library to life,” the company says.
Editing tools for Photos
Photo and video editing get a major upgrade with iOS 13 with new tools that make it easier to edit, review and apply at a glance. For example, users can increase or decrease an effect simply by swiping. Cropping, applying filters or rotating are now also available for video editing from within the Photos app.
Portrait Lighting adjustments — such as moving the light closer to sharpen or brighten the object, or push the light further to create a refined look, and apply the effect to get a smooth skin — can be made in real-time in the Camera app.
The high-key mono effect is also available to create monochromatic Portrait mode images.
Sign in with Apple
Apple users can now sign-into apps via their Apple ID instead of using a social account, email addresses or filling out forms. Signing in using Apple ID is a useful tool to protect privacy as Apple provides the developers with a unique random ID.
If a developer requires users to submit a name and email address, users have the option to share a unique random email address and keep their personal ones private.
Users can authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID when using Sign in with Apple, which also has a built-in two-factor authentication for added security.
Disclaimer by the company: “Apple does not use Sign In with Apple to profile users or their activity in apps.”
New Maps
Apple Maps holds the second place in most iPhone user’s usage after Google Maps as Apple’s own hasn’t lived up to expectations. The company plans to revive Apple Maps with richer details and better coverage.
In order to do that, Apple apparently drove 4 million miles to “rebuild the base map from the ground up”. The base map is coupled with 3D photography and the new Look Around feature that’ll deliver street-level images (similar to Google Streets).
Another feature included in the Maps app is Collections, which will allow users to share restaurants, travel destinations, places to shop and more. Users will also be able to mark Favourite locations such as home, work or others that you visit frequently on the Maps app.
The updated Apple Maps is currently available for select cities and states in USA and will roll out across the country by the end of 2019. More countries will also get the updated Maps experience in 2020.
Reminders
In addition to cosmetic changes, Reminders now offers more intuitive ways to create and edit reminders, organise them and not lose track. Adding times, dates, locations, attachments or flags is made easier with the quick toolbar.
Reminders have been integrated with Messages, which allows users to tag a contact in a reminder, which will pop up whenever users are messaging with that contact.
Messages
A user’s name and photo or customised Memoji or Animoji are shared automatically via Messages, making it easy to identify people in a Messages thread.
Memojis are made into sticker packs that are built into the iOS keyboard and can be used in Messages and Mail, among other apps. Memoji have been updated with new hairstyles, makeup, piercing, headwear and accessories.
Siri
Siri gets a more natural voice and Siri shortcuts support Suggested Automation, which provides personalised routines for things like heading to work and more.
CarPlay
CarPlay gets updated with a new Dashboard that’ll help users view music, maps and more in a single view. It also gets a new Calendar app, audio apps and Siri support for third-party navigation.
HomePod
HomePod can now distinguish between voices at your home and provide personalised information and requests such as Messages, music and more. Siri also gets access to 100,000 radio stations from iHeartRadio, radio.com and TuneIn via Live Radio.
A new sleep timer has also been integrated, which turns off the music after a set time. Handoff will allow users to move music, podcasts or phone call to HomePod as soon as they are back home.
AirPods
When using AirPods, Siri will now be able to read incoming messages from Messages app or any other messaging app that is SiriKit-enabled.
The new Audio sharing feature also makes it easy to share audio from a movie or a song by bringing the second pair of AirPods closer to an iPhone or iPad updated with iOS 13.
Voice Control
Users will now be able to operate their iPhone, iPad or Mac using their voice, entirely. This feature is powered by the latest Siri speech recognition technology, which helps Voice Control get accurate text transcription and editing.
Notes
Notes get new Gallery view, search tools, checklist options and collaboration with shared folders,
QuickPath
One-hand typing by swiping through letters of a word is now also available on the iOS keyboard.
Text Editing
Text editing gets an update making it seamless to scroll through documents and making it faster and more accurate to move the cursor and selecting text.
Files
Users can now share folders with iCloud Drive and also access files from external storage (SD card or USB) via the updated Files app on iOS 13.
Health
Health app will now be able to monitor hearing health and also brings new features that help track and predict a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Location Services
Now users will get more control over their location data that is being shared with apps, which includes a one-time location option and information on when apps are using the device’s location in the background.
Performance improvements
iOS 13 also brings some performance improvements such as faster and more responsive Face ID unlock, reduced app download sizes by up to 50 percent and app updates by over 60 percent — courtesy of the new way to package iPhone apps on App Store — which results in a faster launching app.
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