WWDC17: Apple announces iOS 11

Apple has announced the biggest update to its iOS platform for iPhone. iOS 11 is the next major update to run on iPhones and iPads and will be officially launched later this fall. The mobile OS will bring many new features across messages, Siri, Apple Pay, Maps and more. Here are the big 11 big highlights of the iOS 11.

Control Centre: There is a major redesign to the control centre, bringing everything in one window. It is now a single page packing all the features together including slider for volume and 3D touch offering access to more features. For instance, tapping on the wireless options will show additional options including hotspot. Lock screen and notifications centre are one. The notification centre looks exactly like the lock screen when you swipe down. Swipint up shows older notifications.

iMessage: With iOS 11, there is a shortcut drawer for stickers and iMessage apps  and one need not tap multiple times to send a sticker. Conversations will be automatically synchronized with iCloud and stay in sync. If one delete a message, it goes away everywhere.

Apple Pay: Apple brings Apple Pay for person to person payments. It is intergrated right into the iMessage app for sending and receiving money that goes into the Apple Pay Cash card. This money can be transferred to your personal bank account.

ALSO READ: Will iPhone 8 cross the dreaded Rs 1 lakh price tag in India?

Siri: Used on more than 375 million iOS devices, Apple is using Deep learning and has a new visual interace for Siri. The personal assistant has a new capability of translation which will initially support Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Siri Kit can now do more - task management, take notes, do banking, or bring up a QR Code in WeChat. Siri will not only understand voices but will understand context. Apple claims that Siri will understand what you want next and can suggest topics that might interest the user. What Siri would learn will be synced across all the devices.

Camera: iOS users take 1 Trillion phones a year.  And with iOS 11, the camera app also supports HEVC (also known as h.265).  allowing to shoot better quality video with a smaller file size. Apple is also replacing JEPG capture with High Efficiency Image Format, which can still be shared with others. It will over improved image quality, improved low light performance, optical image stabilization, true tone flash and HDR; and there will be a Depth API for developers.

Photos: Photos app also getting an update as the Memories feature uses machine learning to identify sporting events, weddings, etc. Apple brings more artistic things with Live Photos. One can trim the Live Photo video and choose any part of the video as the key photo.

Maps: Apple Maps have detailed floor plans for malls of a few selected cities in the US along with airports and will built over time. There are more improvements to navigation but unfortunately, navigation is not available in India.
DoNotDistrub while driving: iOS 11 will use Bluetooth to detect when you are on the move and offer to activate DoNotDistrub while driving mode. With this mode, you will not receive any notification while driving and users to configure an auto-reply if someone texts.

App Store: It's been nine years since Apple first introduced the App Store, it has 500 million weekly visitors to app store and 180 billion downloads to apps, which does not include auto redownloads and updates. Passed 70$ billion paid to developers, of which 30 % last year alone. Majority of apps are now reviewed under 24 hours and this is partly automated and party a human process. App Store receives a compete redesigned, starting with 'Today' tab and games having a dedicate tab. In-app purchases can be put directly on the App Store, so users don't have to dig into the app to find them.

Machine Learning: Machine learning across iOS devices to extend battery, used in memories for face detection, etc. Vision API for face detection, face tracting, Natural language API - these are all built on Core ML on deep neural networks. Apple claims iPhone is 6 times faster at image recognition than the Pixel or S8, Federighi claims.

AirPlay 2: AirPlay is also receiving a major update with AirPlay 2 allowing to connect multiple speakers using WiFi and control multiple speakers using your iOS device.

AR Kit: Using the new AR Kit, iPhone will be able to indetify a tablet as a flat surface and put a virtual object on the tablet. This is powered using the demo app developers can use and play with. ARKit can do stuff like motion tracking, find planes, estimate ambient light,  estimate the proper scale for objects and more. It ties in to the cameras, motion sensors, and, the GPU and CPU.

Also watch: