Apple introduces iOS 10: revolution were waiting!
iOS 10 is the tenth major release of the iOS operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 9. It was announced at the company’s WWDC 2016 keynote on June 13, 2016,[2] and was released on September 13, 2016.[3]
iOS 10 incorporates changes to 3D Touch, the lock screen, and the addition of “widget” support. There are new features to some applications: Messages has additional emojis and third-party apps can extend functionality in iMessage, Maps has a redesigned interface and additional third-party functions, the Home app manages “HomeKit” enabled accessories, Photos has algorithmic search and categorisation of media known as “Memories”, Siri is compatible with third-party app-specific requests, such as starting workouts apps, sending IMs, requesting the Lyft or Uber apps or to use payment functions.
As of September 28, 2016, approximately two weeks after its initial release, iOS 10 was claimed to be installed on 48% of compatible iOS devices.
iOS 10 was introduced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address on June 13, 2016.[2] The first beta release was made available to registered developers following the keynote.[5] Apple released the first public beta release on July 7, 2016.[6]iOS 10 was released publicly on September 13, 2016.[3]
iOS 10.0.2 was released on September 23, 2016, as the first update to iOS 10. The update contains bug fixes, specifically fixing a bug that temporarily disabled the headphone controls on the Lightning EarPods that ship with the iPhone 7, fixing a bug preventing app extensions from being enabled, and fixing an unexpected crash of the Photos application when activating iCloud Photo Library.[7]
Changes[edit]
System features[edit]
Lock screen[edit]
The “slide to unlock” mechanism on the lock screen has been removed in favor of pressing the home button.[8] Similar to the feature on the Apple Watch, “Raise to Wake” wakes up the device when the user lifts it. This function requires a device with an M9 motion coprocessor,[9] such as iPhone 6S and iPhone SE. The “Today” view of Notification Center has been relocated to the left side, which is accessible by swiping from the left to right. Swiping from right to left opens the camera app.[10]
Home screen[edit]
Certain default applications included with iOS devices can be hidden from the home screen and ‘re-downloaded’ from the App Store.[10][11] This feature was first hinted at during an interview in September 2015 in which Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple was “looking at” allowing customers to remove unused stock apps.[12] Supported applications can show a widget when interacting with their icon using 3D Touch.
Notification Center[edit]
Notifications can expand to display more information and all unread notifications can be cleared at once, using 3D Touch. The “Today” view widgets are shown on the leftmost page of the home screen as well as in Notification Center.
Control Center[edit]
Control Center has been split into three pages: one for general settings, such as quick toggles for airplane mode and orientation lock, one for audio controls and one for controlling HomeKit (internet of things) appliances.[13] 3D Touch capabilities have been added to several toggles.[10]
Other changes[edit]
Several sound effects have been replaced. For instance, for locking and unlocking the device and for individual key presses of the keyboard. QuickType virtual keyboards, which provide word-completion capabilities, can predict answers to questions and suggests relevant information based on location, calendar availability or contacts.
Application features[edit]
Messages[edit]
The Messages app incorporates its own App Store, which lets users download third-party iMessage apps that can be accessed within iMessage conversations. Users can use them to send stickers, play games or send rich content, such as media previews, to recipients.[14]
The application has been updated to include many visual effects. Chat bubbles, for example, can be sent with a “loud” or “gentle” animation that the recipient sees upon receiving. “Invisible ink” effect obscures the message until the recipient swipes across it. Full-screen effects like balloons, confetti or fireworks can be sent. There is also support for interactions similar to the Apple Watch, such as sending quick sketches and recording and sending the user’s heartbeat.[8][10][15]
Maps[edit]
Maps has been redesigned and updated with additional features, including scanning calendar events for locations, learning from a user’s typical actions, and a redesigned driving view.[16] A marker can be automatically placed to indicate the user’s parked car.[17]
Users can add third-party extensions to the Maps app, which enables additional functionality, such as a restaurant-booking extension can help the user reserve a table from inside the Maps application.[18]
Photos[edit]
Apple added deep learning capabilities for sorting and search,[19] designed for a “Memories” feature that can automatically recognize and compile related photos and create short, shareable musical videos,[20] and local facial recognition functionality was added to group pictures by people.[21]
Home[edit]
Home is a new application that allows users to manage appliances compatible with HomeKit, Apple’s API for home automation. In the app, a user can turn on lights, unlock doors, and perform several other actions.[22] A “Scenes” panel allows many devices to be controlled at once to fit a mood or setting. Geo-fencing activates scheduled sequences following the user’s location.[8]
News[edit]
News, taking cues from the Music layout, has been redesigned to incorporate bold headings and a newspaper-esque layout in the redesigned “For You” tab, making it easier to find and read stories. News also features support for subscriptions and provides notifications for breaking news.
Music[edit]
The Music application has been redesigned, with an emphasis placed on usability. The “For You” section has been reorganized, with a playlist offering daily music recommendations. The “New” tab has been renamed “Browse”. A new tab for music that has been downloaded called “Downloaded Music” has been added.[22] Lyrics will also be viewable for songs in-app in iOS 10.[23] The “Search” tab will include recent and trending searches.[24]
Phone[edit]
The Phone application can transcribe received visual voicemails. Siri can announce the name and phone number of incoming calls.[25] The system can mark suspected spam callers on the call screen upon incoming calls. VoIP calls provided by third-party applications can be integrated with the system-wide call screen, similar to regular phone calls.[10]
Developer APIs[edit]
iOS 10 gives third-party developers access to APIs to three major iOS system apps and services: Siri, iMessage, and Maps. Developers can:
- Turn certain activities into Siri voice commands, allowing users to speak voice queries into the Siri personal assistant and Siri returning results from the respective applications. Apps that can integrate with Siri are limited to: sending messages, starting calls, sending and requesting payments, search for photos and videos, orderingtaxicab or ride-sharing services, and managing workouts.[10][16]
- Add dedicated apps to the iMessage App Store, that lets users add unique sticker packs, share rich content, or interact with certain app functions entirely within an iMessage conversation.[14]
- Add extensions to Apple Maps, so apps with specific functionality useful in a map, such as a restaurant-booking application, can integrate with the mapping service to handle app functionality directly in the Maps application.[18]
iOS 10 now allows third-party apps to capture RAW image format pictures.[26]
Removed functionality[edit]
- Native support for the VPN protocol PPTP was removed. Apple recommends alternatives which it considers to be more secure.[27]
- iOS 10 restricts a workaround that some developers used to probe or read certain hardware information pertaining to the device’s battery, such as the number of battery cycles, the charging voltage, the input/output current and the real charge. Apple’s I/O Kit framework is considered private by Apple and it rejected apps that used it. The workaround was still able to retrieve some of this information without using I/O Kit. On iOS 10, apps that use this workaround either crash or show wrong information.[28]
Problems[edit]
The initial public release of iOS 10 on September 13, 2016 saw many iPhones and iPads temporarily disabled, or “bricked” by the over-the-air update, requiring bricked devices to be connected to a Mac or PC with iTunes in order to retry the update or restore the device to factory settings. Apple fixed the issue quickly, and released a statement: “We experienced a brief issue with the software update process, affecting a small number of users during the first hour of availability. The problem was quickly resolved and we apologize to those customers.”[29]
It was discovered in late September 2016 that password-protected local iPhone backups to iTunes on Mac or PC on iOS 10 had weaker security than in iOS 9. Russian software firm ElcomSoft, which develops phone breaker tools, discovered that the iOS 10 backup process skips several security checks, making it “approximately 2,500 times” faster to try passwords, enabling 6 million password tries per second compared to the 2,400 password tries per second for the same process ElcomSoft has used on iOS 9. The firm states the impact of the security issue is “severe”.[30] Apple released a statement: “We’re aware of an issue that affects the encryption strength for backups of devices on iOS 10 when backing up to iTunes on the Mac or PC. We are addressing this issue in an upcoming security update. This does not affect iCloud backups. We recommend users ensure their Mac or PC are protected with strong passwords and can only be accessed by authorized users. Additional security is also available with FileVault whole disk encryption.
