Apple iOS 11 features: App Store redesign, Control Center, File app and more

Apple iOS 11 is here for iPhone, iPad: Features a redesigned Control Centre, App Store, AR apps and a lot more.

Apple iOS 11 has started rolling for users with iPhones, iPads and this is one of its biggest iOS updates in years. It brings many new software features and improvements for both iPhone and iPad users. Some of these new features include a redesigned App Store, Control Centre, support for more Augmented Reality (AR) apps along with improvements for iPads. Here’s a quick look at some top iOS 11 features:

Redesigned App Store

Apple has made some noteworthy changes to App Store, which help users find games and apps for iOS and iPad alongside related stories, how-to guides, etc. Sadly the Wishlist feature has now been removed. But App Store now has a more editorial look to it, with focus on content around the app as well.

There is now a Today Tab, dedicate tab for Games, one for Apps. The latter will offer top picks, customized app charts along with different categories for users. Users can now benefit from more video previews, Editors’ Choice badges, and easier access to ratings on the App Store. Information
related to In-app purchases will also be accessible in the Apps, Games Tab. The Games Tab also includes a Parents’ Guide to Itunes section.

Users can find details about In-App purchases, etc by scrolling right down to the button of the tab page. For details on your app purchases, which are on the iOS device or even those apps you might have deleted, one will see their profile picture on the top right corner of the app Store. Just tap on the profile picture, and hit on purchased option. Here, the entire list of apps you’ve purchased, downloaded will be visible.

Control Center

Apple has redesigned the Control Center in order to bring all controls on one page. Control Center’s new custom controls now include accessibility, guided access, magnifier, text size, screen recording and Wallet. Users can to go to Settings>Control Centre and more options to this as well.

Apple App Store has been totally redesigned on the iOS 11 update.

Improved Siri

Apple has also come up with several improvements to its Siri voice assistant. The new iOS 11 update is aimed at making Siri more natural and expressive than ever before. Both iPhone and iPad users will now be able to translate English words and phrases into some other languages like French, German, Chinese, Italian or Spanish (beta). Siri can also offer suggestions based on how users interact with other Apple services like Safari, Mail, News, and Messages.

Also read: Apple iOS 11 for iPhones, iPads now out: How to download, install, file size, etc

Further, Siri has finally become smart enough to create to-do lists, notes, and reminders in notes apps. It can also handle banking transactions and check balances with banking apps installed on your iPhone or iPad. Siri is now compatible with apps that show QR codes. Now that Siri also supports Hindi dictation, it can type Hindi words using its speech-to-text abilities.

Camera app in iOS 11

As demonstrated during the latest iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X launch, it brings support for Portrait mode to work in conjunction with some camera features like optical image stabilisation, HDR and True Tone flash. Interestingly, all photos and videos will now take up half the space by means of a new form of compression, thanks to new HEIF and HEVC image and video formats.

iOS 11 brings nine new filters that are optimised specifically for natural skin tones. The native camera app can now detect and scan QR codes, eliminating the need for installing third-party apps.

Camera app now has effects for Live photos on iOS 11.

Photos in iOS 11

Live photos now support a different set of features and effects like Loop, Bounce, etc. Live photos also let users mute, trim or replace a key photo. The Photos app can now automatically adapt content to work with portrait and landscape mode based on different Memory Movies, which also supports specific types such as pets, babies, weddings, etc depending on the category. Support for animated GIFs has also been added.

Apple Maps

With iOS 11, there’s also added support for indoor maps when it comes to major airports and shopping centres. Maps will now show information with regards to lane guidance, speed limit, and turn-by-turn directions. If users want to zoom in, all they need to do is double tap and swipe. Interaction with Flyover is possible by simply moving your device in a different direction.

However, most of this is not relevant for the Indian market.

Apple Maps now has a DND feature in iOS 11.

Do Not Disturb while driving

One of the useful addition to iOS 11 has to be Do Not Disturb while driving. Once activated, it will detect that user is driving and enable DND mode automatically. Once DND is enabled, all the notifications will be disabled so nothing will distract users.

Apple iPad: Exclusive features in iOS 11

iOS 11 brings support for an all-new Dock that enables quick access to favourite and recently used apps. The Dock can also be resized so that users will be able to add their favourite apps. It is worth mentioning that users can move text, images, and files between apps on iPad now with the new Files app.

iOS 11 brings a Files app to both the iPhone and iPad.

Markup now works across documents, PDFs, web pages, photos and more. As a result, users can create a PDF and markup anything that can be printed. Users can create notes quickly by tapping on lock screen with Apple Pencil and pin important ones to the top. iOS 11 brings an all-new Files app on iPad to let users search through different files and data stored on iPad.

QuickType is another feature for iPad. All users need to do is flick down on letter keys to enter numbers, symbols and punctuation marks. There’s also one-handed keyboard support on iPhone.

File App

Just like Android, iOS finally has dedicated app for managing files on the system. The Files app will support Third-party services like Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc, and of course files from iCloud. Files is part of both iPhone and iPad.

Apple iOS 11 puts a special focus on Augmented Reality apps.

Apple iOS 11 and Augmented Reality

Augmented reality apps on App Store will gain some more focus.  With ARKit being rolled out for developers, AR-ready apps will grow. iOS 11 puts a big focus on augmented reality. The experience with these AR apps and games will be more interactive and immersive for users.