Everything you Need to Know About iOS 12; Features and Release

Apple has just announced the latest version of its mobile operating system—iOS 12 which is set to power millions of iPhone and iPad around the world. This major version packs a lot of new features and performance improvements which the company's senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi announced at the WWDC 2018 keynote earlier today.

iOS 12 Features

Performance Upgrade

Mr. Craig Federighi kicked off Apple's latest iOS release by announcing a boost in performance. When the iOS 12 was tested on iPhone 6 Plus smartphone which was launched way back in 2014, the results were amazing: apps opened 40% faster, the camera launched 70% faster from the lock screen, and the keyboard appeared 50% faster.

Even with a lot of background activities, the hadnset was nfill up to 2 times faster at opening apps and the share sheet. All these performance optimizations will be more noticed on older iPhone and iPad models than on newer iDevices.

Photos

The iOS 12 brings along an improved Photos app. The search function has been optimized to to show suggestions even before you start typing, highlighting important people, for example, or events you've visited. It now also sport a new tab called "For You" which will highlight photos that you've taken, and then suggest applying new effects to photos, or invite you to share an album with your friends.

Augmented Reality

The next iOS 12 new feature on highlight was the Augmented reality. Apple partnered with the Pixar team to develop a new AR file format called USDZ, which was described as an "AR quick look". It allows sharing of AR content easier, containing all data in a single file and small size. Native support for the file format will be added to Adobe's Creative Cloud.

A new app called Measure also practically shows off how iOS 12 AR feature works: The application allows you to measure the dimensions of objects – both flat and three-dimensional ones – using the camera of your iPhone. Just point the viewfinder and drag along the edges of the object. AR will work the rest!

Siri

Thanks to iOS 12, Siri now works with an accessory called Tile, which can be attached to an object you don't want to lose, such as your keys. This gadget helps you to track that objoect if it does get lost, and with the new Siri custom shortcut phrase support on iOS 12, saying "Siri, I lost my keys" can make your Tile ring.

Additionally, Siri can now also deliver action suggestions proactively. An example given at the announcement to show how this feature works was that if you're running late for a meeting, Siri will display a suggestion with a text to let the organizer know that you won't make it on time.

News and Stocks

A new sidebar and browse tab has been added on News in iOS 12 for the iPad. The former lets you quickly jump from one source to another, while the latter helps you discover new channels and topics. Furthermore, News is going to be integrated with the Stocks app to allow you look up important business news as you monitor the performance of the stocks you're interested in.

Other additions includes: a new chart, Do Not Disturb (DND) mode, grouped notifications and in-depth insight on how you use your phone with the ability to set usage limits on apps.

Animoji and Memoji

Animoji made its debut last year on the iPhone X, and right now on the iOS 12, four new characters are being added to the collection: Tiger, Koala, T-Rex, and Ghost. It also features tongue detection, but the most interesting addition is the new option to create a Memoji.

Memoji works much like Animoji, but the difference is that it's made to look like yourself instead of a character. There are several customization options to spice up your Memoji, which includes skin colors, hairstyles, accessories and more to play with. In addition, Memoji can be applied directly to a live image from an iPhone's camera, something Samsung's AR Emoji can't do.

FaceTime

Massive, massive upgrade here! With FaceTime on iOS 12, you can now video call up to 32 people at the same time, with the option for individuals to join or exit at any time. The recent FaceTime integration with Messages also lets you go from a group chat to a group video call simply by tapping a button. And in addition, Animoji or a Memoji can also be applied to ginger the conversation.

iOS 12 Release Date and Supported Devices

Starting from late September, iOS 12 will be available for any iPhone and iPad currently supporting iOS 11. The image above shows tge full list of supported iDevices, including the iPhone 5s, the iPhone SE, and the iPad Air.

Developers

Developers will have access to an early beta version of iOS 12.

Tweet