iPhone software lands tomorrow, just a few days ahead of the new iPhone 7’s on sale date on Friday.
Based on previous iOS launches, the update is expected to be available at around 6pm BST /Nigerian time (1pm ET).
First unveiled at the tech firm’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) in June, the update is said to be Apple’s biggest iOS overhaul yet and is packed with new features.
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will ship with iOS 10 pre-installed, but it can also be downloaded for free to use on older Apple devices.
Speaking at the launch of the new handsets, Apple CEO Tim Cook described iOS 10 as ‘the world’s most advanced mobile operating system’.
WILL IOS 10 WORK ON YOUR PHONE?
The new software is only designed to work on relatively recent models, so owners must have an iPhone 5 or newer to download the update.
What’s more, the update won’t work on the oldest iPads – iOS 10 users must have an iPad 4th generation, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad Pro 9.7-inch or any subsequent models for the update to work.
The new software will also work on the iPod touch 6th generation, but not on any older iPod models.
PREPARE YOUR PHONE FOR THE UPDATE
Before installing any major software update, it’s always a good idea for users to back up their device.
Users can either create a backup of their phone on their computer using iTunes, or backup their data on iCloud.
If the iOS 10 causes any problems, users can then restore their phone using the backup.
In order to install the update, users will need to know their Apple ID login details.
WHAT NEW FEATURES DOES IOS 10 HAVE?
Apple has completely overhauled its messages app as part of iOS 10 to add new multimedia features such as stickers, animations and a predictive emoji keyboard.
Users will also be able to send handwritten notes that animate at the other end as if they’re being written with ink on paper.
See some of new iOS 10’s top features below:
TOP 10 iOS 10 FEATURES
– A new “Raise to wake” feature will, as the name suggests, wake the phone’s lock screen when it’s lifted to give you an overview of notifications and updates. The new notifications look significantly different and, with the use of a 3D Touch, you can respond to and interact with the app sending them immediately. This is very much in line with what Google’s been doing with Android.
-Apple is opening up Siri to developers. Now you’ll be able to ask things like “send a WeChat to Nancy saying I’ll be five minutes late.” That brings up an interface to interact with WeChat directly. Supported apps already include Slack, WeChat, and WhatsApp for communication, as well as Uber, Didi in China, Runtastic, Runkeeper, MapMyRun, and Skype (among others) for VoIP calls.
– Siri now has more contextual awareness. It makes intelligent suggestions based on your current location, calendar availability, contact information, recent addresses, and more. It’s Siri growing more and more into the role of an AI or a bot. And yes, it’s based on deep learning just like Google’s rival system is.
– Also based on deep learning is a major update to the Photos app that adds new object and scene detection for powerful search and sorting on your device. All the AI is local to the device, Apple is keen to stress. The phone will cluster together photos that are most relevant at any moment — trips, photos of the last weekend or last year. It can then automatically edit together highlight reels of particular trips or events. It’s just like HTC’s Zoe photos. This is part of a new tab at the bottom of Photos called Memories, which shows you highlights and people, a map of locations, and related memories.
–Apple Maps is getting an all-new design in iOS. Eddy Cue says the new Maps is “a lot more proactive.” Rather like Siri and Photos already are: a lot more predictive stuff being introduced. Maps will offer nearby restaurant suggestions and its redesigned look is extending to navigation: the UI is cleaner and includes traffic information. If there’s a lot of traffic ahead, Maps will proactively offer you an alternative route and note how much time it would save. It’s part of Apple CarPlay, naturally, and will also channel turn-by-turn directions right into your car’s instrument cluster if you want it. Maps, like Siri, is being opened up to developers, who can now make use of its extensions. That will allow you to book and pay for a restaurant, book and pay for a Uber ride, and then track your ride, all without leaving the Maps app.
–Apple Music is also getting in on the refresh fun with “a redesign from the ground up.” Eddy Cue says the new, simpler interface makes the music king, implicitly acknowledging that the old UI was a tiny bit convoluted. That being said, the tabs at the bottom appear unchanged: Library, For You, Browse, Radio, Search. Lyrics are also being added in the new version of Music.
–Apple News, like Music, launched last year and is getting a big update in iOS 10. The all-new News interface design has some visual affinities with the new Music, showing that Apple is working on a cohesive look across its new apps, with bold, all-caps sans serif titles. Apple News is also getting breaking news notifications and subscriptions in iOS 10. In-app subscriptions are a major new feature for the OS even beyond Apple’s own apps.
– Apple Home is the first major all-new app today. It builds on Apple’s HomeKit infrastructure to let you manage and control all your connected and compatible accessories around the home. HomeKit is now also built right into Apple’s swipe-up Control Center, so it can be accessed even from your iPhone’s lock screen. The Apple Watch will also include built-in home control support as well.
–The Phone app on the iPhone is also evolving, In iOS 10, it will have voicemail transcriptions so that you can see what messages have been received without having to listen to them. Additionally, the app can now detect when an unknown caller is potentially phone spam and will label those calls as such.
-Messages is the most frequently used app on iOS. It’s getting rich links in the new iOS version, allowing things like videos to play right in line inside the message. Emoji have been made three times bigger and, much to the crowd’s delight, Apple is going to highlight “emojifiable” words, which you’ll be able to just tap and automatically turn into emoji. Just like Google’s Allo, iOS 10 will allow you to say things using larger or smaller type. Messages is also getting bubble effects, which are just cute animations when displaying messages. Apple Music is integrated into Messages — can play a track right in line. And just like Maps and Siri, Messages are being opened up to developers with iMessage apps.
Among the laundry list of smaller updates:
Live Photos are now performed with digital image stabilization and can be edited, while Safari on iPad is adding a new split-screen option in iOS 10. RAW photo editing is also part of the next version update. Apple closed off its presentation by underscoring its emphasis on security with its use of end-to-end encryption “by default” on all its messaging apps. The company also does all the deep learning stuff about the user directly on the device, not creating profiles in the cloud.
Probably the most-requested new addition in iOS 10 went unmentioned during Apple’s keynote presentation: stock apps will be made removable. Company CEO Tim Cook had previously suggested that Apple would look to allow users to uninstall its default apps — things like Mail, Calendar, Weather, and Stocks — and the next iteration of iOS will indeed give users that extra control and freedom to choose.
Who is excited?
I’ve been using it more than two weeks now.
Some consider it as a flop
It is a flop. They ruined it trying to copy android