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Welcome to our preview of iOS 10, the newly introduced version of Apple’s mobile operating system for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. This preview will represent our first impressions of the OS, based on Apple’s showcase of the new features at WWDC 2016, and some try out time with the developer preview beta version of iOS 10. The final versions are expected to launch in the autumn, as Apple will release final version for public.

Apple majorly outlined 10 key features that have been changed, added or redesigned. These features are believed to be amazing for users and will surely grab attention.

Messages

This got the most stage time at the event – which is fair enough, given that (as Apple pointed out) the most-used app on iOS.

Most of the changes are visual and provides amazing user experience, lots of them involve emoji. Emoji are now displayed at three times the size in Messages (much bigger than earlier), and will be suggested (where appropriate) by QuickType’s predictive text. And if you’re partway through typing a message and open the emoji keyboard, iOS will scan the text for any word and will give you emoji equivalent to the word typed, and turn them gold; you can just tap the ones you want to be ’emojified’.

There are more other visual effects you can apply to your messages, and again, new feature here is ‘Invisible ink’, which scrambled the text or image in your iMessage until the recipient swipes across it (just like we scratch a code)- nice for delivering pleasant surprises.

There is also the ability to enable or disable read receipts, where you can change this as per contact or group. As another feature, users can now also send low quality images through the Messages app as for some users data is limited and they must find this feature of great use.

Recently, Apple also replaced a few old emojis, such as the revolver pistol with a water gun and also updated a lot of their previous emojis. We like this and are expecting more changes to this section.

Deleting preinstalled apps

Apple didn’t mention this in the keynote speech, presumably because it represents something of a climb-down in response to long-term consistent complaints from users. But it’s big news as Apple is finally letting us remove Stocks, Tips and various other preinstalled apps from our iPads and iPhones.

Technically only the user data is deleted, as the app remains hidden on the device, but it only takes up less amount of space. But it’s still a biggie for users as it not only saves storage from filling but also users will no longer be frustrated of these apps.

Phone app

The Phone app has received some more love in iOS 10. You’ve now got the ability to have voicemail transcriptions, directly from Apple’s phone app. This new feature converts speech into text, without users intervene. It isn’t totally great, but a useful feature nevertheless.

Music

The Apple Music app has received an fabulous update, where it has had a visual redesign and now has lyrics. Interestingly now with iOS 10 you can continue listening to your music while taking Live Photos. We some-how like the additions to the Music app, but also feel that Apple could still add more new things to the app.

Siri

Siri is now available to third-party developers, as non-apple apps can use Siri. This change really opens up the platform and allows a large number of apps to be controlled by voice, so users don’t have type more to control most of the apps.

We like the approach by Apple in being more open-source and freedom to use Siri.

Images

RAW images can now be taken on iOS devices, with Apple announcing the support for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE or 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and newer devices. The feature is great for those who want full resolution and amazing clear images from their iPhones and iPads.

The size of these images will be big, but nevertheless, the feature is a great inclusion by Apple. Note: RAW images will only be available on the rear-facing camera. Speaking of which, Live Photos now have image stabilisation.

The Photos app in iOS 10 has also received an update, artificial intelligence inclusion. Apple announced that the Photos app will be able to draw together photos and videos by place, people and time where it will automatically create a highlight reel.

Home

This is a brand-new app: a hub from where you have the ability to control all of your HomeKit-compatible smart-home appliances.

If you open up Home, you’ll see all your HomeKit-compatible accessories, no matter which company makes them, and users can easily control them all from single hub. Most of these will have 3D Touch shortcuts: you can force-tap and slide on a dimmer app, to adjust light levels.

There’s also a nice feature called Scenes, it collects frequently used settings for various devices under a single button – so you could press the ‘Good night’ button to turn down the lights, turn down the thermostat, lock the door and so on.

QuickType

Earlier in this article we mentioned predictive emojis in the Messages section, but QuickType is getting cleverer in other ways too. Consider someone asks for a friend contact details and this amazing feature of iOS will show contact suggestion, also if someone asks about your current location then this will also show up current location details in the suggestions.

iOS keyboard

The default iOS keyboard has undergone a few changes in the beta versions, with Apple reverting changes made in the first betas, to the latest ones. As it stands, the iOS keyboard sounds have changed (as you type), with the space, return and backspace keys having a slightly different sound from the default keys.

This change could be seen by some as positive and new, but others are missing the old, stock sounds. We hope Apple will finally give us the option in the final public release in September (to be expected).

Unlocking

As a minor, but legacy feature many will see a change in, is the Slide to Unlock feature has been replaced with a ‘Rest Finger to Unlock’ option, whih is found within the Accessibility settings.

OUR VERDICT

It’s too early to say whether iOS 10 will be a groundbreaker or a placeholder: the developer preview is still buggy in some aspects, as it has every right to be at this early stage in development, and some features haven’t yet been implemented. But great changes and we love a lot of what we’ve seen so far in beta versions.

Raise To Wake is a great idea, even if we’ve not got it work yet – iOS 10 is only installed on 5 and 5s-generation iPhones in the Macworld offices, which may be the cause of the problem. The ability to at least hide preinstalled apps is long overdue, and much more appreciated. The changes in Messages would be easy to mock but they are entirely optional and are actually a lot of fun anyway. And there are so many smart, useful changes throughout the rest of the OS that we simply couldn’t cover them all here.

Some features do remain a mystery to us also, and we’ll need to test them later in development before we know if they’re going to do the trick; and the widespread opening up of 1st-party functions to 3rd-party development – Siri and Messages, notably – will live or die depending on the enthusiasm and innovation of Apple’s software partners… but they’ve never failed the company before as they only brings joy to the brand.

For the time being, then, all we can say is that this is a highly promising update, and we look forward to testing and trying each successive iteration as we get closer to launch. Autumn can’t come quickly enough.