Slashdot Mirror


Apple Announces iOS 10, watchOS 3, and new features for tvOS

Also at its annual developer conference, Apple announced major updates to its other platforms: Apple TV, iPhone and iPad, and Apple Watch. Starting with the Apple TV, the company announced that tvOS is getting a new feature called Live-Tune-In which uses Siri to allow users to simply state aloud what channel they want to watch. The company also announced a feature called Single sign-on, a cable networks feature which will let users sign-in to all their Apple TV accounts more efficiently and easily. There's a new TV Remote app for iPhone as well.

watchOS 3 comes with a range of new capabilities as well. Most importantly, it offers much faster app performance, thanks to something Apple calls Instant Launch. It does the job seven times faster than its counterpart in watchOS 2. The Verge reports about other changes: The updated interface includes Control Center, which is accessed via a swipe up from the bottom of the display. The side button has been remapped to launch the dock of recent and running apps instead of the contacts menu. Apple has also added a few new watch faces, including a Minnie Mouse version and new one that more prominently shows activity progress. Watch faces can be changed by swiping across the display. The Reminders and Find Friends apps have been redesigned, and third party apps can also now run in the dock area. The new Scribble feature lets you draw letters on the screen to type out words. It's similar to a feature recently announced for Android Wear.Coming to iPhone and iPad, they will be getting iOS 10 update later this year. One of its coolest feature lets one automatically download apps across all your devices. Apple has also improved its Continuity effort, allowing users to utilize Universal Clipboard. "Basically, snippets of text, hyperlinks, and the like that you copy on one iOS or macOS device will be available on all the others." There is another new feature called Raise to Wake, which wakes up your iPhone when it is lifted. 3D Touch feature has received some improvements, too. Siri now offers more contextual feedback, and it is likely to get even better as Apple has provided developers with SDK for Siri for the first time. The Verge reports: 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.Apple Music has been redesigned from scratch, and Apple Maps and Messages are getting some nifty features, and they are also being opened to developers.

10 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. iTunes? by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is iTunes still the most awesome piece of software ever to exist? Or did they improve it?

    1. Re:iTunes? by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Funny

      The way I understood the Keynote, in a few generations Messages will be the one to absorb systemD.

  2. Re:iOS now 10? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

    This little name change is more significant than you might think. "OS X" was always a pain in the butt to use in search requests. It was like trying to find reviews of a movie called Relentless. "MacOS" will be a breeze.

  3. You forgot the most important part: Emojis! by hsmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    Emojis for everyone! Auto replace text with Emoji, a most important feature to any Swifty Developer(TM)!

    Barf, what a fucking terrible keynote.

  4. Bleeding-edge tech! by Trashcan+Romeo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Apple Maps will let you pan and zoom while navigating! THE FUTURE IS NOW.

  5. Re:Definitely a few big improvements .... by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

    You are right. Many times I wish I could copy some text on my iPhone and paste it on my laptop. Christ. Apple fanboys are something else...

  6. Siri, your creepy friend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Siri, your creepy, obsessive friend who is always listening, digs through your stuff, and shares it all with anyone who asks.

    Just what I always wanted.

  7. Re:Definitely a few big improvements .... by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Pro version of Photos is Adobe Lightroom.

    My favorite of the new features win this announcement was Single Sign-On. You log onto your iPhone with the fingerprint reader, and have it become an amulet that you can wave to log on to websites, apps and Apple TV channels on your local network.

  8. Re:I have to speak?! by Jarik+C-Bol · · Score: 2

    The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive--you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program.

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.

    --
    I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
  9. Re:Definitely a few big improvements .... by nine-times · · Score: 2

    by this year's WWDC and the lack of any new hardware announcements, etc.

    The WWDC is the WorldWide Developers Conference. They usually don't announce new hardware in the WWDC because the audience of the conference are developers, and they're announcing the new features in their operating systems because they're about to release new developer previews and SDKs, so that developers can start working on supporting the new OS. They then often announce a bunch of new hardware in October that will actually run the new OS.