10 new features to look forward to on your iPhone

SAN JOSE, Calif – Apple has officially announced iOS 13, the latest operating system coming to your iPhone. The update will add many new features to your device when it launches in the fall. Here are 10 of the new things you can expect if you choose to upgrade.

Improved Performance

Apple says its latest operating system will boost the speed of many popular tasks within iOS 13. Face ID will soon unlock your iPhone 30 per cent faster. Apps will not only be 50 per cent smaller in size, but any updates you download will be 60 per cent smaller as well. Oh, and apps are expected to launch up to twice as fast.

Dark Mode

If you’ve ever looked at your iPhone while laying in bed in the dark, you know the brightness of the screen can sometimes be a bit too much to take. Instead of forcing you to adjust the brightness, Apple will soon let you enable Dark Mode. This new mode (which is currently available for Mac in OS Mojave), which will turn the bright white background in popular apps like Messages, Mail and Apple Music black while making the font white. This makes your iPhone much easier on the eyes, especially in dark environments.

Swipe to Text 

While there are third-party apps that will already allow you to slide your finger from key to key on the virtual keyboard to type, Apple has never allowed to you do this natively…until this fall. Tim Cook demoed the new swipe to text feature while replying to an iMessage on stage at WWDC. Some people swear this is the easiest and fastest way to type on a virtual keyboard. You’ll soon be able to try it yourself this fall (that is if you’re not using a third party app already).

Enhanced Privacy 

Right now signing into apps and websites typically requires you to link a social media account for authentication. The only problem is you sometimes end up sharing much more info with the app than you intended, including information like your birthday and home address. To combat over-sharing, Apple will be introducing “Sign-in with Apple” this fall. Users can download apps, and then sign-in using their Apple ID. They can then choose to give apps their real email address or have Apple create a random address which will then forward any communication to your real address while keeping your info private. You can disable the random address at any time.

Lyrics

Apple Music will be receiving an update in iOS 13. If you’ve ever argued with friends, your spouse, or your kids over the lyrics to a favourite song you will soon have Apple in your corner. This fall Apple will debut real-time lyrics in Apple Music. As you stream a song, you will be able to see the lyrics in real time on your iPhone screen. This feature will also be available in the soon to be released version of tvOS on your Apple TV, so you can play music and see the lyrics on the big screen at the same time.

No More Anonymous iMessages

Ever receive a message from someone who is not in your contacts? They are displayed by a silhouette icon with a phone number. This changes with iOS 13. Now you can automatically enable personal info to be sent along with your iMessage, so the receiver will see your profile photo along with your name. You can opt-in or out of this feature

More Memoji Options

Apple is letting you get even more creative with your Memoji! These animated 3D avatars will soon be customizable with the addition of makeup, lipstick, glasses, hairstyles and hats.  Apple will also allow you to customize your teeth (yes, you can remove a front tooth if you want to), add some earrings and piercings, or a pair of AirPods.

In-Depth Photo and Video Editing

Up until now you have been quite limited as to how much editing you do with your photos. You can crop, add filters and lighten images, but there has been a real lack of in-depth editing tools without using a third party app. iOS 13 will let users do much more including the ability to adjust contrast, saturation, shadows, vibrance, sharpen photos or correct the white balance or noise reduction just to name just a few. On top of this, users will be able to do many of the similar adjustments to video, even allowing you to change the orientation after it’s shot.

Siri Gets a New Voice

Right now Siri gets her voice by combining audio clips from voice actors. Siri sounds pretty good, but not always natural. In iOS 13 Siri’s voice will be 100 per cent generated by software. Apple showed off Siri’s new voice on stage this week by having her pronounce some difficult words on stage (“thermodynamics”) along with repeating some long sentences which can sound choppy with the current technology. Siri sounded much more natural, and a lot more human-like. You can expect to hear Sir’s new computer-generated voice not only on the iPhone, but on your iPad, in your home on HomePod or in your car with CarPlay.

AirPod Audio Sharing

AirPods have been a huge success for Apple, and the company will soon expand what they are capable of doing in iOS 13. This fall you will finally be able to hear incoming messages as soon as they arrive through your AirPods. You will also be able to share audio from a single device like your iPhone (or iPad) to two pairs of AirPods. Just bring a second pair close and both pairs will tap into the same audio stream.

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