Apple announced many new features during their WWDC18 keynote from this past week. We discuss those and more of what you may want to consider when it's time to apply the upgrades to iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The upgrades will be released sometime in the coming months, but we want you to be prepared. Tune in for a great discount on a ticket to Macstock 2018! Full show notes are at InTouchwithiOS.com
News:
Free Trials for All Paid Apps Now Possible Thanks to Updated App Store Guidelines — MacRumors
Apple's watchOS 5 Adds Automatic Workout Detection, Walkie-Talkie, and More — MacRumors
Apple Reveals tvOS 12 With Dolby Atmos Support for Apple TV 4K, Aerial Screensaver Updates, and More — MacRumors
Apple's Podcasts app is coming to watchOS — Engadget
The iOS 11.4 update adds Messages to the list of iCloud services that back up and store your device data so it synchronizes with your other devices whether they be additions or replacements. We recommend backing up and/or archiving your Messages texts using a tool like iMazing first till you're comfortable with having your text messages stored in the cloud.
WWDC Review for iOS 12
iOS 12 Preview — Apple
Apple unveils iOS 12 for iPhone and iPad — 9to5Mac
- Performance - Apple said that iOS 12 doubles down on performance. CPU performance now ramps up 'instantly' when needed, apps launch 40% faster, keyboard appears 50% sooner and slide to take photo is 70% quicker.
- Siri shortcuts & lock-screen suggestions - Apple has long struggled with how to make Siri smarter without storing lots of personal data. Its new approach is to allow us to create our own Siri shortcuts, to access other apps, and to have Siri make proactive suggestions on the lockscreen, for example when it detects that you have started a workout.
- Measure app and AR experiences - Almost as soon as ARKit was available, there were a bunch of third-party augmented reality tape measurement apps. Apple has now created its own, able to quickly and easily provide 3D measurements of objects seen by the camera.
- Improvements to stock apps - Apple announced improvements to Apple Books, Apple News, Stocks and Voice Memos. Stocks and Voice Memos are also coming to iPad for the first time. The biggest overhaul is to the Books app (renamed from iBooks).
- Third-party maps now available in CarPlay - If you prefer Google Maps or Waze to Apple Maps, you can now use those in CarPlay.
- Three ways to tackle smartphone addiction - There's been much talk of smartphone addiction over the past year or so, and Apple has responded with three ways to reduce the temptation to pick up your phone too frequently.1. A Do Not Disturb at Bedtime feature winds down notifications at night.2. Grouped notifications pull together all notifications from each app (for example, all Messages appear together).3. Screen Time allows adults to monitor their phone usage, and parents to set limits for kids.
- Memoji personalized avatars - In addition to several new Animoji characters, Apple now allows you to create your own. Known as Memoji, the idea is that you can use a range of facial features – from hairstyle to glasses – to create an Animoji that looks something like you.
- iPhone X gestures on iPad - Almost certainly in preparation for a new iPad with reduced bezels and an iPhone X style notch, iOS 12 now allows you to use iPhone X style gestures: swipe-up to return to the home screen, and swipe-down from top-right to open control center.
- Face ID now recognizes two faces - While most iPhone X users say they would never want to switch back from Face ID to Touch ID, one complaint is that you can't register more that one face. That will be even more important when the iPad adopts the technology, so Face ID can now recognize two faces.
- Auto-fill of two-factor authentication texts - It's currently a pain when you get a login code texted and have to exit the app, read the text, memorize or copy the code and then return to the app to type or paste it. iOS 12 spots when a text code has arrived and offers it as an autofill option with no need to exit the app.
- Automatic iOS updates - It's not yet 100% clear how this would work, but a toggle in Settings suggests that you'll be able to configure your iPhone and iPad to automatically install iOS updates.
- Closing iOS apps now easier on the iPhone X - iPhone X users can now quit apps in the same way as on earlier models. Once you're in the app card view, you can simply swipe up on each app to close it, without the long-press required by iOS 11 on the iPhone X.