Apple iOS 11 for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch to roll out today

After unveiling the iOS 11 at WWDC in June this year, Apple is all set to rollout the new version of its mobile operating system today. Available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the iOS 11 is likely to release at 10 AM Pacific Time, which is 10:30 PM Indian Standard Time. However, as we had installed iOS 11 Public Beta, we were able to upgrade our devices to iOS 11 (post removing beta profile) this morning itself.

The iOS 11 will come installed on the new iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. It can also be installed on some old generation devices as well. The iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE and iPhone 5S can be updated to the latest operating system. For iPads, both he 12.9-inch iPad Pros, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation), iPad Air 2 and iPad Air will be eligible for the update. Even the iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 2 and iPod Touch (6th generation) can be updated to iOS 11.

Here are the key highlights of the iOS 11.

App Store:

The iOS 11 brings an all-new App Store, which includes Today tab that helps in discovering new apps and games with stories, how-to guides, and more. There is also a New Games tab to find new games and see what's most popular with top game charts. Dedicated Apps tab has got the top picks, dedicated app charts, and app categories.

Siri:

Apple claims that the new New Siri voice is more natural and expressive. It can translate English words and phrases into Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish (beta). Siri can also make suggestions based on the usage of Safari, News, Mail, and Messages. It even works with notes apps to create to-do lists, notes, and reminders, works with banking apps for account transfer and balances, with apps that display QR codes and support Hindi dictation.

Camera:

Software enhancements in camera app bring support for optical image stabilisation, HDR and True Tone flash in the Portrait mode on iPhone 7 Plus. Other than this, photos and videos will now take up half the space than they used to with the new HEIF and HEVC image and video formats. There is a set of nine redesigned filters optimized for natural skin tones. The camera app will now automatically identify and scan QR codes.

Photos:

The Photos app too gets many updates. For instance, Apple adds Loop, Bounce, and Long Exposure Live Photo effects to Photos. Users will be able to mute, trim, or choose a new key photo for Live Photos. Memory Movies will automatically adapt content for portrait and landscape orientation and more.

Maps:

Apple has also added Indoor maps for major airports and shopping centers but this feature is not accessible in India.

Do Not Disturb while Driving:

This is one handy feature that automatically silences notifications while driving and keeps iPhone silent and display off. There will also be an optional iMessage auto-reply to alert selected contacts when you are driving.

New features for iPad:

iOS also brings a lot many new features to iPads, giving it a complete overhaul. There is a new Dock that provides quick access to the favourite and recently used apps. It can even show the top active apps on the iPad. There are an enhanced Slide Over and Split View allowing two apps to run simultaneously on the screen. Apple also introduces drag and drop feature that works for text, images, and files between apps on iPad. Users will also be able to create a new note by tapping on Lock Screen with Apple Pencil. Apple also claims to introduce Search handwritten text, which wasn't performing smoothly in the public beta.  There is also a new Files app for browsing, searching and organizing files. It works with iCloud Drive and third party cloud file providers as well. Long pressing the file icon also shows the Recents view for quick access to recently used files across all apps and cloud services. It also supports folders and sort files by name, date, size and tags. Until now one had to switch between alphabetical keyboard and number row but with Quick Type, users can flick down on letter keys to enter numbers, symbols and punctuation marks on iPad.

Others:

There are a host of other features and improvements that include redesigned Control Center that brings all controls on one page. Control Center custom controls including accessibility, guided access, magnifier, text size, screen recording and Wallet. Apple News now includes Top Stories picked, recommendations from Siri, the best videos of the day in Today View, and great stories selected by our editors in the new Spotlight tab. The Automatic Setup signs you in to iCloud, Keychain, iTunes, App Store, iMessage, and FaceTime with your Apple ID. It even restores device settings including language, region, network, keyboard preferences, places you frequently visit, how you talk to Siri, home and health data. FaceTime lets users capture Live Photos from the other person's Mac or iPhone camera.