Apple introduced the newest version of its iOS operating system, iOS 12, on June 4 at the keynote event of the Worldwide Developers Conference.With iOS 12, Apple doubled down on performance, working from top to bottom to make iPhones and iPads faster and more responsive. Apple has made improvements on devices both old and new, and iOS 12 has been designed to run on all devices able to run iOS 11.
iOS 12 is designed to make your iPhone and iPad experience even faster, more responsive, and more delightful.
With Apple’s performance improvements, apps launch faster, the keyboard appears faster, and the Camera is quicker to open. Apple has also optimized the system when it’s under load, making iOS devices faster when you need performance the most. So lets talk about the new features which is coming with iOS 12.
Performance
- Faster and more responsive
The things you do every day are faster than ever — across more devices. iOS has been overhauled for improved performance on devices as far back as iPhone 5s and iPad Air.
- Smoother animations
Animations are smoother across the system. So when you do things like bring up Control Center, swipe while multitasking, or scroll in apps, it’s more fluid and responsive.
- Up to 40% faster app launch
Apps launch faster in day-to-day use. And when you’re pushing your iOS device to the limit, multitasking between lots of apps, they launch up to 2x faster.*
- Up to 50% faster keyboard display
The keyboard appears faster and typing is more responsive.
- Up to 70% faster swipe to Camera
Swiping to Camera from the Lock screen happens faster so you never miss a moment.
- Up to 2x faster Share sheet display under load
The Share sheet appears faster than ever, especially if you have a lot of sharing extensions installed.
FaceTime
- Group FaceTime
Make FaceTime calls with up to 32 participants simultaneously.
- FaceTime audio and video
Answer incoming Group FaceTime calls with video or audio on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, or join with audio on Apple Watch and HomePod.
- Join anytime
Join or add people to Group FaceTime at any time.
- Focus View in Group FaceTime
During Group FaceTime, the speaker will automatically be front and center. Or with Focus View, you can double-tap the person you’d like to see.
- Ringless notification
Group FaceTime uses a silent notification that participants can tap to join.
- Messages integration
Start Group FaceTime right from a group Messages conversation. See and join active calls from the conversation list or in the conversation itself.
- Animoji
Use FaceTime with your friends and family as your favorite Animoji or Memoji.
- Filters
Transform your look using built-in filters, like classic black and white, comic book, and watercolor.
- Text effects
Add text effects like speech bubbles and emoji to your photos or videos.
- Shapes
Jazz up your photos and videos with shapes like stars, hearts, and arrows.
- iMessage sticker packs
Download sticker packs from the App Store for iMessage to enhance your photos and videos. Stickers track the movement of your face and move with you.
- Private end-to-end encryption
FaceTime is encrypted end to end for both one-to-one and group calls, so your conversations remain private and viewable only by the participants.
Messages
- Memoji
Create an all-new kind of Animoji that fits your personality and mood.
- Memoji Maker
A new tool for you to select and adjust nearly endless customization options to make your Memoji.
- New Animoji
Try four new Animoji: T. rex, ghost, koala, and tiger.
- Tongue and wink detection
Improved face tracking now recognizes when you stick out your tongue or wink.
- Longer Animoji
Now you can record clips of up to 30 seconds.
- Camera effects
Use the camera in Messages to capture photos and enhance them in new ways using built-in effects and third-party sticker packs.
- Filters
Transform your look using built-in filters, like classic black and white, comic book, and watercolor.
- Text effects
Add text effects like speech bubbles and emoji to your photos or videos.
- Shapes
Jazz up your photos and videos with shapes like stars, hearts, and arrows.
- iMessage sticker packs
Download sticker packs from the App Store for iMessage to enhance your photos and videos inside Messages. Stickers track the movement of your face and move with you.
- Photos iMessage app
Get photo suggestions based on who you’re messaging with, what you’re talking about, and where you’ve taken photos together.
- Redesigned App Strip
The redesigned App Strip has a new look that takes up less space when you type. So you can see more of your content and always get to your favorite iMessage apps.
Screen Time
- Screen Time
New tools empower you to understand and make choices about how much time you spend using apps and websites.
- Activity reports
Get reports weekly or check Today View anytime to see app usage, notifications, and device pickups.
- For kids
Use your family’s Apple IDs to set up Screen Time for your kids to keep an eye on how much time they spend on apps and websites. They can request more time for you to approve.
- App limits
Set the amount of time you and your kids can spend each day on specific apps and websites.
- Downtime
Set a specific time, like bedtime, when apps and notifications are blocked. You can choose which apps are on and off limits.
- Always allowed
Create exceptions for apps you’d like your kids to have access to even during Downtime, such as Messages or education apps.
Notifications
- Grouped notifications
Message threads and notification topics are grouped together, so it’s easier to see what’s important with just a glance at your iPhone or iPad.
- Instant Tuning
Control your notification settings the moment you receive an alert, without having to leave what you’re doing.
- Deliver quietly
Within Instant Tuning, you can choose to have notifications delivered silently to Notification Center by default so you’re not interrupted by alerts.
- Siri notification suggestions
Get suggestions based on how you interact with your notifications, such as which app notifications to deliver prominently and which ones to send to Notification Center.
- Critical alerts
A new type of opt-in alert for important information, like reports from a healthcare provider, which you’ll receive even during Do Not Disturb.
Do Not Disturb
- Do Not Disturb During Bedtime
Dim your display and silence overnight notifications until you unlock your iPhone in the morning.
- New Do Not Disturb options
Set Do Not Disturb to end automatically in an hour, at the end of the day, when you leave a certain location, or at the end of a meeting on your calendar.
Augmented Reality
- Persistent and multiuser experiences
AR experiences can now be shared across time and fixed to real-world locations, so you can create a piece of AR art that can be viewed later in the same place by someone else.
- 3D object recognition
ARKit 2 recognizes objects and how your device is oriented to them, and can use that information to incorporate objects into AR experiences.
- Face tracking
Face tracking now sees where you’re looking and can detect whether you’re sticking out your tongue or winking.
- Scene reflection
AR is even more lifelike, enabling virtual objects to reflect the real-world scene in your camera.
- USDZ file format
A new format that helps 3D creators to create rich content and animations optimized for mobile devices.
- AR Quick Look
View AR experiences in the apps you use every day, including Files, Mail, Messages, and Safari.
- Measure app
Use your iPhone or iPad camera to measure objects and surfaces both vertically and horizontally as well as automatically detect dimensions of rectangular objects.
Photos
- For You tab
A single destination for your Memories, Shared Album activity, and the best moments in your library. New Featured Photos and Effect Suggestions intelligently show you your best photos and propose effects to make them even better.
- Sharing suggestions
Photos understands when you’ve done something meaningful, like taking a trip or attending an event, and will suggest sharing the photos with the people who are in them. And if you receive photos from someone else, your device will look for photos in your library from the same event and suggest sharing photos back.
- Intelligent search suggestions
Smart suggestions help you find photos even before you finish typing by suggesting events, people, places, and relative dates.
- Places search
Search for photos based on the places or businesses where you were when you took them, whether it’s a general category, like “Japanese restaurant,” or a specific place, like “Jacques Torres Chocolate.”
- Event search
Search for photos from events you’ve attended, like the Aspen Ideas Festival.
- Multiple keyword search
Now you can combine keywords in searches, like “surfing” and “vacation,” for even better results.
- Improved import
It’s easier than ever to import photos and videos from your professional camera on the go.
- RAW editing support
You can now edit your RAW images in Photos on iPhone and iPad models with an A9 chip or later.
- Redesigned Albums tab
Find existing and shared albums more quickly and efficiently.
Camera
- Improved Portrait Lighting
Portrait mode photos are better than ever. Camera now generates a mask when it detects a person and intelligently and elegantly separates the person from the scene.
- Portrait Segmentation API
A new API for third-party developers allows for the separation of layers in a photo, such as separating the background from the foreground.
- Improved QR code reader
Camera now highlights QR codes in the frame, making them easier to scan.
Siri
- Siri suggestions
A quicker way to do the things you do most often. As Siri learns your routines, you’ll get suggested shortcuts for just what you need, at just the right time, on the Lock screen or in search.
- Add to Siri
Add shortcuts to Siri to run them with your voice on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or HomePod.
- New Shortcuts app
Create or customize your own shortcuts to run multiple steps at once. Get started with examples from the gallery and personalize with steps from across your apps.
- Shortcuts API
App developers can work with Siri to run shortcuts via a new SiriKit API.
- Motorsports
Get live standings, schedules, rosters, and stats for NASCAR and other racing series.
- Translation
Translate phrases into many more languages, with support for over 40 language pairs.
- Celebrity facts
Check facts about celebrities, such as “Where was Amy Adams born?”
- Food knowledge
Ask Siri questions about food and get answers from the USDA database, including calories, vitamins, and how healthy a food is overall. For example, ask “How much caffeine in coffee?” or “How healthy is fish?”
- Photos Memories search
Use Siri to quickly pull up photos and memories based on people, places, events, time, and keywords of objects and scenes in the photos.
- Passwords
Siri can help you search for any password.
Privacy and Security
- Enhanced tracking prevention
Improvements prevent Share buttons and comment widgets on web pages from tracking you without your permission in Safari. Safari also prevents advertisers from collecting your device’s unique settings, so they can’t retarget ads to you across the web.
- Automatic strong passwords
Automatically create, autofill, and store strong passwords in Safari and iOS apps. Passwords are stored in iCloud Keychain and are available on all your Apple devices. And if you ever need to access your passwords, just ask Siri.
- Password reuse auditing
Passwords that have been reused will be flagged in the passwords list, so you can quickly navigate to the app or website and replace it with an automatically generated strong password.
- Security code AutoFill
SMS one-time passcodes will appear automatically as AutoFill suggestions, so you never have to worry about quickly memorizing them or typing them again.
- Password sharing
Easily share and receive passwords from nearby iOS devices, from an iOS device to a Mac, and from an iOS device to Apple TV.
- Password Manager API
Access passwords stored in third-party password managers directly from the QuickType bar in apps and in Safari (requires third-party adoption).
App Updates
- Apple Books
The Apple Books app has been completely redesigned to make it easier for you to discover, read, and listen to your favorite books. Access your current book or start a new one in the Reading Now tab, visit the new bookstore to browse and buy, and organize your library with more flexible collections.
- Stocks
The redesigned Stocks app keeps you more informed about the market. View prices at a glance in the customizable watch list. Tap any ticker to see key details and an interactive chart. Learn about what’s driving the market with business stories from Apple News. And for the first time ever, Stocks is available on iPad as well as iPhone.
- News
It’s now easier to navigate your news feed. Swipe down to jump to your favorite topics and channels on iPhone or tap the sidebar on iPad.
- Voice Memos
Voice Memos has been redesigned and is available on iPad. It’s even easier to capture your personal reminders, edit class lectures, or share family moments. And with iCloud, you can record on your iPhone or iPad and harness the power of your Mac to do even more.
