 Apple iOS 11 Review

Introduction

Apple Release iOS 11 Today. This is the biggest iOS update to date and will improve the way we use our devices. This update to iOS 11 is available on Tuesday 19th September 2018. To download the latest software follow the prompts on your iOS device or navigate to Settings > General > Software Update. In this blog post I will be summarising some of the keyupdades before getting to use the software myself and review it later this month.

Siri-Integrated Translation

Siri can now integrate translation capabilities directly within the interface. It also allows you to play the translated words/sentences aloud. There are limited languages to begin with however Apple did say that they are expanding language support in the future.

Apple Music

Apple Music has had an update in iOS 11 to include ‘Friends Are Listening To’. This makes your Apple Music library more interactive amongst your friends to get tailored suggestions based on what others like. I am looking forward to seeing this feature and getting to share even more of my Apple Music preferences with others. I create new Apple Music playlists every month which you can find by clicking here.

Apple Pay

FINALLY! I love this iOS 11 feature and it is a strong contender for my favourite of the software update. You can now send money via Apple Pay though messages to one-another. This means it will be a lot easier to send and receive money for meals, purchases, owed money etc. right within your iMessages. It uses a card where money can be stored or withdrawn directly to your bank. I can’t wait to try this out when the update is available.

Augmented Reality / AR Kit

A really cool feature of iOS 11 is the availability of augmented reality. App developers have been able to create new software using Apple’s AR Kit since WWDC earlier this year. A cool feature I saw earlier this week was IKEA’s AR application called Place (video below). This will allow you to use augmented reality to place furniture from the store within your home using your iPhone to see how it fits / looks. I can’t wait to give this a go as soon as I can get my hands on iOS 11. To find out more about IKEA’s app, visit the App Store.

Do Not Disturb (When Driving)

Do Not Disturb is a great feature of the iPhone. I can safely say it has saved the phone a number of times. I like to have down time from notifications on my iPhone and DND is always on when I go to sleep. There are very few people who are allowed to contact me (in my favourites) when my phone is on Do Not Disturb and their phone calls and texts come through regardless. Do Not Disturb is getting an overhaul to detect when you are in a car. The iPhone will detect your motion and ask if you are travelling as a passenger (in which case you can override it) or it will automatically switch on Do Not Disturb when you are driving. This will mean the iPhone screen will be totally blank for the time you are driving your car and it will even let others know that you’re driving for you.

Animated GIFs

You can now use iOS 11 and Live Photos to create animated GIFs right within the operating system to share however you like. I’m looking forward to seeing how this works and sending some via iMessage.

Files

This is another update I’m really looking forward to. Files, an updated version of iCloud Drive. This will make it a lot easier (especially on iPad) to organise my digital files which I now fully store in the cloud. I am preparing a blog post on how I manage my digital files and use iCloud Drive on a daily basis. Keep your eyes peeled for that one in coming weeks!

iOS 11 Dock / Split Screen

The new dock on iOS 11 will make the iPad a lot easier to use and manage applications simultaneously. There is a split-screen feature which will make it more easy to drag and drop apps into place for use side-by-side. The dock is something I’ve been looking forward to since being announced in WWDC back in June so I’m looking forward to using it!

New App Store

The new and improved App Store will be released as part of iOS 11. This has a totally new look and an updated ‘Today’ page where you can view the latest updates and new applications available on the store. I like Apple’s new look for Apple Music and other elements within iOS so I think this App Store update should be great.

Improved Navigation

There is now improved navigation within Maps to show different levels of buildings and airports in particular. This way you’ll be able to find things using your iPhone whilst at the airport such as security, stores, restaurants and gates. There are a number of airports being released at launch with more being added in the near future.

Summary

That’s just a quick update with some key features to watch out for today when iOS 11 is released. To reiterate again, the update can be found in Settings > General > Software Update. Please let me know what you think of these new updates in iOS 11. Follow me on social media @glenconbeer everywhere to hear what I think of the new software later this month when I review it.

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

~ Glen Conbeer.