Apple's mobile operating system is one of the cornerstones of
its business, and it's some of the most-used software in the world. iOS 11 was
announced at WWDC on 5 June 2017 alongside the release of developer beta. A
public beta will be available by the end of June, with general availability
arriving in the Autumn.
Here we round up all of the latest news about Apple's newest
mobile OS and break down its key features.
iOS 11 latest news
09/08/2017: The
fifth beta of Apple's iOS 11 platform has been released to developers willing
to pay $99 a year to access the first iterations of its new operating system.
If you're in the public beta test group for iOS 11, you'll
be able to force your iPhone or iPad to update to the latest version in the
next few days via its settings menu, although there's normally a short wait
while the company tests it won't completely brick devices.
As you should expect from any update not officially released
in the public domain, iOS 11 beta 5 isn't the final iteration that will be
freely available to all iPhone and iPad owners when it's publicly released in
September. This means you'll need to be prepared for crashes, freezes and other
bugs and TechCrunch has recommended you don't install it on a device you use as
your main phone for this reason.
The iOS 11 beta 5
doesn't add much but some bug fixes to the previous test version. Despite
'Messages in the Cloud' rumoured to debut in this version, it has now been
delayed as Apple attempts to finesse its performance. "Users can continue
to receive and store messages on each device and they can continue to backup
and restore messages using iCloud backup," the release notes explained.
27/06/2017: Apple
has launched the public beta of its latest iOS 11. The software is now out and
ready to download for users.
The operating system was unveiled earlier this month at its
annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Developers have already had
access to earlier builds for testing and software development, but today marked
the first time the general public can use the software to test out its new
features and give any feedback on bugs.
iOS 11 is compatible with iPhone 5S and above, iPad 5th
generation and above and iPod Touch 6th generation devices.
As with the iOS 10 public beta, users will need to enrol
once again for the new beta programme to download and install iOS 11. To do
this, head to beta.apple.com and register your device. Then sign up using your
Apple ID. Once that is done, Apple then asks users to accept an agreement
before going into the public beta programme.
Users can click on 'enrol your device' and select iOS 11.
Users will then have to install a configuration profile and restart their
device. Once that is done, users can head into Settings and Software Update and
follow the instructions to download and install iOS 11.
Before installing any beta software, it is always a good idea
to make a backup of the device in iTunes as well as importing any photos into
Photos.
If you want to go back to iOS 10, simply connect the iOS
device to a Mac and open up iTunes to restore a previous version of the
software from any backup made prior to updating.
15/06/2017: Apple
has finally lifted the lid on iOS 11, announcing a slew of new features,
improvements to the Siri assistant and a redesigned App Store across both
iPhone and iPad.
The forthcoming OS update promises significant upgrades to
the Siri smart assistant, which will now pool together learning from each owned
Apple device, increasing the speed and accuracy of recommendations. That
collective learning was demonstrated onstage at the WWDC San Jose event,
showing Siri accurately recognising 'Reykjavik' as an associated word to the
search term 'Iceland', which was then used as a suggested word in a message.
Siri, which is now used on 375 million devices, will now
feature more realistic female and male voices, and be able to deliver more
expressive speech patterns across a number of different languages. Translation
support was also added. Initially, Siri will be able to translate English into
French, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Italian, although this will be expanded
upon in the coming months.
Other notable improvements include added functionality to
Apple Pay, allowing you to transfer payments directly to another person -
including through an integration with Messages - and a new 'Do Not Disturb
While Driving' mode, which filters out unnecessary messages and replies with an
automated response.
iPad users are also getting a brand new App Dock and App
Switcher UI, making it easier to multitask across apps, as well as a sorely
needed Drag-and-Drop feature allowing for content to be seamlessly shared
between open apps. As predicted, the Files app will also be making its way to
iPad, with added support from third-party cloud storage providers including Box
and Dropbox.
The App Store has also received a face-lift, which centres
on the use of tabs for apps and games. This visibly makes the store a far more
engaging experience - user reviews are placed front and centre, while developer
interviews and stories help give the user an idea of how the app was made.
iMessage data will now be synced across Apple devices using
end-to-end encryption, and the app drawer has also been updated to make it
easier to add apps and stickers into messages.
Apple has also made improvements to way photos are taken and
stored on your device. HEVC coding will now feature as standard for video
content on iOS 11, while photos will now use Apple's own High-Efficiency Image
File (HEIF) format. These new formats promise to halve the size of every photo
and video taken on the iPhone 7, drastically reducing the amount of device and
cloud storage used.
Developers were also treated to a live demo of Apple's new
'ARKit', a tool that allows for the creation of AR apps using cameras and
sensors built into current iPhone 7 models. The impressive toolkit promises to
be simple to use, enabling developers to create similar experiences to the
recent Pokemon Go craze.
Apple also announced a machine learning developer kit known
as 'Core ML', a suite of AI driven tools that will help developers build apps
that can learn and predict. Impressively, the kit uses a framework that is
powered locally on an iOS device, rather than through a cloud service.
Other announcements
include:
- A revamped control centre that packs all functions into a single pane
- Simplified notifications centre that is accessible from the lock screen
- Improvements to the Navigation app for speeds and lane guidance
- HomeKit will now support speakers and AirPlay 2 protocol
Added social functions to Apple Music, which will now
display what your friends are listening to
iOS 11 is available in developer preview today, with a
public beta programme going live by the end of the month. The OS will be
available for free for users on iPhone 5s and upwards, as well as all iPad Air
and iPad Pro models, fifth-generation iPads and iPad Mini 2 and later
iOS 11 availability
The update will be freely available on the following
devices: iPhone 5s and upwards, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models,
fifth-generation iPads and iPad Mini 2 and later.
iOS 11 features
Apple will release more details about what new features the
iOS 11 will come with next week but here are some it might announce.
Siri upgrade
Apple has improved its signature AI voice assistant for
2017's range of devices, making its male and female voices more expressive and
natural, enabling them to adjust intonation and pitch as well as emphasis and
tempo.
It's now able to translate English words and phrases into
Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and can offer more
personalisation based on use of Apple's Safari, News, Messaging and Mail apps,
suggesting topics you search for on Safari when you're typing an email, for
instance.
ARKit
A big new feature for iOS 11 is the inclusion of augmented
reality, with iPad and iPhone developers encouraged to use their built-in
camera and motion sensors with the new ARKit to layer virtual elements on top
of the real world for a different take on apps and games.
Camera improvements
Apple's upgraded Portrait Mode to take pictures with optical
image stabilisation, True Tone flash and HDR, to make them better-looking than
ever. While Memory movies can now play in both landscape and portrait modes,
Apple is conscious of your storage space, so uses High-Efficiency Image File
Format to halve the size of every photo you take on iPhone 7 and 7 Plus (and
presumably on the iPhone 8, too).
Apple Pay
person-to-person payments
Apple Pay gets ever more convenient with iOS 11, now
allowing you to not only pay over the counter with contactless technology, but
pay friends simply by sending an iPhone-to-iPhone text using Messages. If voice
is more your bag, you can use Siri to pay someone with the debit or credit
cards you have stored in Wallet. Recipients can transfer the money from their
Apple Pay Cash account into their bank account, or use it to buy things using
Apple Pay.
Disable Touch ID
Apple has added a feature in the public beta of iOS 11 that
allows users to bypass the Touch ID fingerprint scanner in order to make an
call to the emergency services. By tapping the Touch ID button five times on a
compatible iPhone, iOS 11 will bring up the option to dial emergency services
without the need to enter a password to make the call.
The idea is the new feature is to ensure that iPhones can
still be useful in situations where the user might be in danger or if they are
having difficulty dialling the emergency services, or if they are unconscious
and someone else needs to use their smartphone to make a emergency call.
Furthermore, the five rapid taps disable Touch ID and revert
into requiring a password to be tapped in to the handset in order to activate
it; a useful feature in situations where the user may be forced to unlock their
phone using Touch ID, for example by authorities seeking to make people unlock
their phones with their fingerprint in order to access their data.
The fingerprint scanner will then be disabled until the user
puts in their password which will then switch Touch ID back on. Essentially,
the additional feature adds another privacy option into the security suite of
iOS 11
