Best new features in Apple's iOS 10
Apple has released the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 10, and it’s full of changes, big and small, for iPhone and iPad users.
What’s new starts right on the home screen. Thanks to years of Apple’s conditioning, your fingers are probably trained to “swipe to unlock,” but in iOS 10, that feature is gone. Instead, you simply press the home button to unlock your phone.
Fun with Messages
Texting on iOS 10 comes with new perks: you can now send stickers, full-screen animations, and more. It’s Apple’s attempt to remain competitive with popular messaging apps like Snapchat and Facebook Messenger, which have more whimsical aesthetics.
To draw on a photo in Messages, tap on the photo to preview it. Then in the lower left-hand corner, tap on the Markup icon (two fingertips tapping a heart) and start drawing.
Write on
In addition to drawing on your photos and videos, you can even text in your own handwriting.
In Messages, turn the phone horizontally to access the handwriting option, then scribble with your finger right on the screen.
Emoji-palooza
The emoji revolution continues. Just tap on words in Messages to automatically swap them out with their corresponding emoji characters.
Wake up
iOS 10’s “rise to wake” feature means your screen will rouse from its slumber and display your notifications whenever you pick up the phone.
If this feature annoys you, you can disable it in Settings > Display & Brightness > Disable Raise to Wake.
Maps
Apple Maps on iOS 10 is more personal than ever. The app provides proactive guesses of where you’re likely to go and suggests the fastest ways to get there. You can make restaurant reservations, book a ride, and search for things to do and places to shop along your route, directly through Maps.
Overall, it’s a major leap from 2012, when the app’s initial launch went so poorly that CEO Tim Cook recommended people use rivals like Google Maps instead.
Smart predictions
Apple is integrating its apps to bring you “contextual predictions”: when you type something like “I’m available at...” iOS 10 automatically shows you the upcoming availability in your calendar. Or type “John’s number is...” and a match from your contacts will appear right on the screen.
Siri
Apple’s voice assistant Siri now works with external apps from the App Store. That means you can now tell Siri to book a ride through Lyft or send money to a friend through Square Cash.
Bilingual texting
Bilingual? With iOS 10, you can now text in two languages without the clunkiness of switching keyboards.
Search photos
No more scrolling through screen after screen looking for a particular photo -- iOS 10 lets you search a much more detailed way. Just tap on the search icon, type in a description of what you’re looking for -- “sunset” or “dog” or “party” pictures, for example -- and Apple will find them.
CNET reports that Apple software subjects each photo to 11 billion computations to identify its contents in a searchable way.