News

iOS 10 preview: your new Lock screen with Raise to Wake, widgets, interactive notifications & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 5, 2016

Having taken a closer look at a much improved Messages app, which delivers more expressive and animated ways to message friends and family, our preview of big new features in iOS 10 continues with a detailed overview of an all-new Lock screen. Wait, the Lock screen in iOS 10 warrants an article?

As you know, the Lock screen has remained virtually unchanged since the iPhone's inception. With iOS 10, however, it's  undergone some major improvements in the form of a refined look and feel, including vastly redesigned widgets, and new features such as interactive notifications, Raise to Wake and expanded use of 3D Touch shortcuts.

We think that many folks are going to appreciate how iOS 10 makes their device's Lock and Home screens way more functional than before, so here's a detailed walkthrough of all the goodies included in iOS 10's freshened up Lock screen experience.

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iOS 10 tidbit: clearing all notifications at once with a simple 3D Touch gesture

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2016

One of the longest-standing complaints about iOS has got to be its inexplicable lack of a Clear All button in the Notification Center that would permit users to clear out all of their missed alerts in one go rather than dismissing them one by one, like an animal.

Not anymore: iOS 10 makes expanded use of 3D Touch throughout the system, including making all missed notifications disappear with a single press.

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iOS 10 tidbit: 3D Touch the flashlight toggle to choose an intensity

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 15, 2016

Apple originally introduced Control Center in iOS 7, which was their way of answering both the competition on multiple Android platforms and the jailbreak community in one fell swoop.

With iOS 10, which Apple announced at the WWDC 2016 Keynote this week, Apple has shown off some obvious changes to Control Center, including a modular paged navigation design and different color tones and styles.

Of course, aesthetic wasn’t the only change. Apple also made the flashlight toggle button from Control Center a whole lot more useful as well.

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iOS 10 tidbit: keyboard has a new clicking sound

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2016

Aside from the headlining new features, including a revamped Lock screen, a vastly improved Messages, a lot smarter Maps and more, iOS 10 sports a bunch of refinements that make for a more pleasing experience overall.

One of those tidbits is an all-new tapping sound when using the stock keyboard on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Here's what it sounds like.

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iOS 10 tidbit: apps now must seek permission before accessing your music library

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2016

Apple has made some changes to how iOS handles apps that wish to access users' music libraries, with iOS 10 now requiring your explicit permission before any app is allowed to interact with your music.

This new safeguard increases your privacy while ensuring that no app can silently analyze what's in your music library without you knowing it. Additionally, it makes it more difficult, if not downright impossible, for apps to potentially upload your music library to the cloud in order build a profile of your musical tastes for advertising purposes.

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Did iPhone 7’s touch-sensitive Home button just leak?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 29, 2016

Many sources are adamant that we'll have to wait until a tenth anniversary iPhone next year for a bezel-less device with an integrated Touch ID sensor and no Home button. As for the upcoming iPhone 7 revision, the most recent leak from MobiPicker suggests that the iPhone 7 might come outfitted with a touch-sensitive Home button that sits flush with the surrounding bezel, requiring users to perform tapping actions due to the absence of any moving parts.

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Code found in macOS Sierra hints at rumored OLED touch bar, Touch ID support

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Some evidence has been discovered within the code of the initial macOS Sierra beta that suggests there may be some truth to the rumors that Apple is building a MacBook Pro with a built-in OLED touch bar and Touch ID support. As noted by French site Mac Generation, there are several mysterious 'kHIDUsage_LED' references in macOS, as well as mention of support for "biometric devices."

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iOS 10 preview: Messages does stickers, apps, animations & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 20, 2016

Apple's iMessage system has officially become a chat platform in its own right as Messages in iOS 10 now supports third-party apps, stickers and more. In addition, Messages on iOS 10 brings out a number of useful improvements, including animated chat bubbles and full-screen motion backgrounds.

But we're just getting started: Messages on iOS 10 supports inline media previews, sports a redesigned built-in camera, provides downloadable stickers and apps, includes handwriting recognition, Digital Touch for your media and more.

Here's our walkthrough showing off every new feature in iOS 10 Messages.

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Netflix app now supports Picture in Picture on compatible iPads

Cody Lee ∙ June 14, 2016

Netflix on Tuesday pushed out an update for its iOS app, brining the client to version 8.7. It's a minor release, with just a few items mentioned in the change log, but there's one significant new feature that's going to really please iPad fans: Picture in Picture support.

That's right, folks with a compatible iPad can now watch Netflix in a floating, resizable window while continuing to perform tasks like checking email or browsing Safari. Netflix says you'll have to be on iOS 9.3.2 or later, and of course you'll need an iPad Air or later.

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