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Apple spent a lot of time demoing iOS 11 at the WWDC 2017 keynote, but in the interest of time, they were only able to show off some of the top features rather than everything that's new.
In this piece, we'll outline a number of new features that Apple didn't get a chance to show you at the keynote.
iOS 11 included many new features and enhancements, big and small alike.
For example, a revamped storage-management section became available in Settings. Speaking of which, users can appreciate another new feature that allows them to optionally have their device automatically uninstall apps that haven't been used in a while.
If you venture to Settings → iTunes & App Store, you'll notice a new toggle at the bottom of the screen, labeled Offload Unused Apps. Setting that switch to the ON position shall prompt iOS to delete rarely used apps from your device in order to make more room for your photos, videos, documents and so forth.
iOS uses Siri intelligence to determine your usage of apps.
The feature's description notes that documents and data belonging to uninstalled apps will be kept on your device in case the app is reinstalled. “Reinstalling the app will place back your data, if the app is still available in the App Store,” notes Apple.
This feature is disabled by default.
Rightfully so, if I may add. Had Apple enabled it by default, novice users would've been stunned discovering iOS had deleted their apps for seemingly no apparent reason.
Apple's stock Podcasts app has undergone some visual changes in iOS 11. Functionally, a few things have moved around and some new features have been added.
For example, the Unplayed, My Podcasts, Featured, Top Charts and Search tabs lined up alongside the bottom of the interface have been replaced with a new and simpler tab layout: Listen Now, Library, Browse and Search.
Our resident video editor Andrew O'Hara has put together a quick video for you guys to see for yourselves Apple's new design for the Podcasts app on iOS 11.
Watch Andrew's video right below, then meet us in comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFsAlcnlmSo
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The Listen Now tab combines podcasts you're subscribed to (previously in the My Podcasts tab), recently played episodes (previously in the Unplayed tab) and shows other people like.
Under the new Library tab, you can easily browse all of the audio and video shows you're subscribed to, as well as individual podcast episodes, ones that have been download to the device and the recently updated episodes of any shows you're following.
The Browse tab is your storefront to the Podcasts section on iTunes.
There, you can swipe through featured podcasts Apple's editors highlight at the top, access the full Featured section, see charts-topping audio and video shows, access the list of major podcast providers and browse all podcasts by category.
The Search tab now lets you choose between searching across podcasts in your library or all shows on iTunes. As evidenced by the screenshots, the redesigned app has adopted a bold font with much bolder headings and other visual cues borrowed from Apple Music on iOS 10.
Another feature iOS 11's Podcasts app has borrowed from Apple Music is a completely revamped mini-player that can be now pressed with 3D Touch to access quick shortcuts pertaining to the currently playing episode.
Other tidbits worth mentioning include larger artwork and other visual tweaks to match the look and feel of other apps inside of iOS 11, as shown on the screenshot top of post. The official Podcasts widget has remained unchanged.
For those wondering, Apple still does not provide Podcasts for Apple Watch.
How do you like these Podcasts app changes on iOS 11?
Let us know by posting a comment below.
Apple had a pretty big day at yesterday's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, revealing a bunch of new or updated products and technologies that have set the stage for other important hardware announcements this fall.
If you didn't have the time to sit through the entire keynote talk and are wondering about the big takeaways, our video editor Andrew O'Hara has put together a short five-minute video highlighting the top six announcements Apple made during the WWDC 2017 keynote.
Andrew's main topics of interest include:
tvOS 11 with Amazon's Prime video-streaming app coming to Apple TV watchOS 11 with all the major improvements for workouts, notifications and more macOS High Sierra and core technologies aimed at AR/VR content creation iOS 11 with all of the improvements for your iPhone and iPad iPad Pro and iMac Pro changes and enhancements HomePod, Apple's high-end Siri-enabled speaker with hi-fi soundAnd here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQBulSRR9Fc
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What's your favorite WWDC 2017 announcement so far?
Post a comment below to let us know!
During Monday's keynote talk at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple introduced iOS 11, the next major software update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. As previously suspected, the mobile operating system has dropped support for legacy 32-bit apps.
Attempting to launch a 32-bit app on iOS 11 now yields a message, saying “The developer of this app needs to update it to work with iOS 11”. You can tap OK to dismiss the prompt or tap Learn More to open the full list of 32-bit-only apps that are currently installed on the device.
Apple's Clips app, for example, requires a 64-bit iOS device and the new Files app is optimized for 64-bit computing. Starting with iOS 10.3, Apple began naming and shaming legacy apps via a new App Compatibility section in Settings → General → About → Applications.
TUTORIAL: How to identify legacy 32-bit apps on your iOS device
Any previously installed 32-bit apps are no longer available for re-download through the App Store's Purchased tab. Moreover, 32-bit app no longer appear in App Store search.
The time is right to drop support for non-64-bit apps because running legacy 32-bit apps alongside 64-bit ones slows down the system as iOS has to load both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the kernel and system frameworks in the RAM.
Devices with the Apple-designed A7 or newer chips are 64-bit, including the sixth-gen iPod touch and every iPhone and iPad from their respective iPhone 5s and iPad Air models onward.
In fact, iOS 11 itself won't run on a non-64-bit iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, meaning iPhone 5s, iPad Air and the sixth-generation iPod touch are now the entry-level devices for iOS 11.
Monument Valley 2, the official sequel to UsTwo's surreal physics-based game of platforms and perspectives with a twist, is now officially available for download through App Store after being demoed during the WWDC keynote earlier this morning.
The game is priced at $4.99 and supports your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Thankfully, it features no In-App Purchases whatsoever. Monument Valley 2 is packed to the gills with the artistic backdrops, visuals and gameplay mechanics that have made the original so popular with fans. Like before, the design is inspired by a mixture of architectural styles, artistic movements and personal influences.
In Monument Valley 2, you guide a mother named Ro and her child as they embark on a journey through magical architecture, discovering illusionary pathways and delightful puzzles as you learn the secrets of the Sacred Geometry, according to the app's description.
Check out my colleague Andrew's video hands-on with Monument Valley 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A1ySdcHDY8
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The impossible world of Monument Valley 2 has you manipulating architecture to help guide Ro and her child on their way. This is a completely new and standalone adventure set in the Monument Valley universe, meaning you don’t need to have previously played Monument Valley to enjoy the sequel.
Augmenting the individually crafted levels with meditative puzzles, new interactions let you explore the changing dynamics between characters.
“Immerse yourself in uniquely melodic interactive soundscapes, tailored perfectly to every step of Ro and her child’s journey,” reads the description.
The original game was named Apple's Game of the Year 2014.
Buy Monument Valley 2 for $4.99 on App Store. It requires iOS 9 or later.
The original Monument Valley game currently sells for $3.99 on App Store.
Typing on those little mobile device screens has always been a cumbersome process compared to typing on a full-sized keyboard, but with iOS 11, Apple intends to take away some of the sting with new features on the iPhone.
iOS 11 makes your iPhone and iPad more powerful, personal and intelligent than ever before. You might be wondering if you have the device requirements to install it. Fortunately, we're here to answer that question.
Augmented Reality is set to make its mark on Apple's iOS 11, as the impressive technology has been showed off on stage moments ago. ARKit brings the API to all developers, allowing developers to tap into the latest computer vision technology to build compelling virtual content on top of real-life scenes. It brings along all new possibilities for existing apps like the by now infamous Pokemon Go, as well as for new creations such as camera apps allowing for virtual object manipulation.
The technology is going to be rolled out across all the latest iPhones and iPads, virtually rendering Apple's devices the largest player in the Augmented Reality field over night.
The live demo given certainly looked awe-inspiring and showed multiple objects being rendered on top of an on-stage table and subsequently affecting each other when shuffled around. That is to say, the shadows cast by all objects and light emanating from the virtual lamp adapted to corresponding movements and displayed correctly on surface of the real world table.
In a second, equally impressive, demonstration, a Lego Batmobile was projected onto the table and disassembled in real time by touching the iPad's screen, camera angle and individual bricks could be smoothly manipulated. It remains to be seen what else developers and Apple themselves have up their sleeves later this year, this short excursion alone certainly did whet our appetite for more.
The number one contactless payment service in the mobile world, Apple Pay, will be implementing person to person payments starting with iOS 11. What the rumor mill had treated for the longest time as Apple Cash is now going to be located in your redesigned iMessage app drawer, and serve as an easy way to send money to any friend or family member on Apple's iMessage service.
Money transferred via iMessage winds up in the recipient's Wallet app in the shape of a brand new card called Apple Pay Cash card. From there, the card can be thought of as a multi purpose account, facilitating purchases on the App Store, storing the money for future transactions, but also offering the handy option to withdraw the money to your private bank account. As expected, Touch ID authentication is required to go ahead with any one transaction.
With the live-streamed WWDC keynote almost upon us, Apple has now created a bespoke Snapchat geofilter to help promote this year's developers conference. The sponsored WWDC 2017-themed geofilter automatically appears for Snapchat users who find themselves near the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose.
As first noted by 9to5Mac, the filter is available when sharing photos or videos with other Snapchat users. Simply choose it from the list of Snapchat filters to have Apple's official WWDC 2017 banner design applied to your item. Again, this is a filter that uses geofencing so only people attending this year's developer conference will see it in Snapchat.
The same stickers can be found in iMessage via Apple's official WWDC app, as shown above.
Snapchat is available at no charge from App Store.
A placeholder listing for a new Apple Files app has briefly appeared on App Store ahead of today's live-streamed WWDC keynote, as spotted by iOS developer Steven Troughton-Smith late Sunday. It's surfaced in the Utilities section of App Store and has since been removed.
No screenshots or the official description were provided.
The app requires iOS 11 and 64-bit support and is designed for both iPhone and iPad. It sports a blue file folder icon resembling the design for folder icons in macOS. It's entirely possible that the new Files app is really just a rebranded version of the existing iCloud Drive app.
It's unclear if the forthcoming app will be a new stock item in iOS 11 or an optional download. If I had to guess, I'd say it will likely come pre-installed with iOS 11. Since iOS 10, Apple has allowed users to hide most of the stock apps from their Home screen.
To help users easily re-install any removed stock apps, Apple has provided all of its first-party iOS apps that are removable as downloadable App Store items. iOS 11 will be previewed at WWDC later today along with tvOS 11, watchOS 4 and macOS 10.13.