It’s the time of year for smartphone fans to rejoice – the next evolution of iPhone has arrived. Not the next iPhone model, but the next iOS has been announced with all its new features – iOS 13 is officially here to stay (… until the next update, at least).
For those of you who don’t know, iOS is Apple’s Operating System for its mobile devices. You know when there’s an update available on your iPhone and it keeps nagging you to install it? That means your device is able to upgrade to the next version of iOS. This is convenient because each iteration of iOS brings new features, allowing you to reap the benefits of modern technology. These updates include a range of features, from security and privacy updates to a few new emojis.
iOS 6 vs iOS 7 – Can you believe your iPhone used to look like this? (Source)
It’s important to recognise these updates in case there are any aspects that could affect you and your kids. This is why we’re guiding you through the recently announced features.
A public beta will launch in July, with the update actually releasing to the public in September. Here’s a quick look at some of the many new features that might affect you:
Long-awaited by Apple fans and customers, Apple is finally releasing a Dark Mode for its iPhone models. It’s already been available on individual websites and platforms such as YouTube and Twitter, but now it’s taking over the entire device.
You might be thinking – what’s Dark Mode, and why would this affect me? Basically, this changes the colour scheme on your device from white to black. This is beneficial for everyone, and not just because of the stylish new makeover. Dark Mode is important as it lessens the amount of brightness directed at your eyes, particularly at night. This is significant as artificial light coming from screens can damage your eyes. As well as this, it can disrupt your body clock and alter your sleeping patterns.
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Thankfully, iOS 13 is assisting us in preventing this. Dark Mode will allow your phone to take the plunge into darkness, with our eyes thanking us in the long run for some much needed dimness.
The Photos app is also having a major overhaul. This mainly lies in the ability to edit videos and photos to your heart’s delight. If you or your kids are creative, this is sure to make you happy.
The photos app now curates photos into highlights more fluidly, organising them with ease. Say goodbye to scrolling past the 50 photos you took yesterday to get to some older ones – similar photos are now hidden to maximise the presentation of the library.
Gone are the days of having to pay for video editing programs and apps. With iOS 13 backing you up, you’ll be able to use a majority of the photo-editing tools – but on videos as well. This is a big step forward, since the only feature for editing videos on the app currently includes cropping its length. With iOS 13, you’ll be able to apply filters, crop and rotate your videos instead of downloading an external editing app from the app store.
Introducing Apple’s newest privacy feature: Sign in with Apple.
What is it? Basically, it encourages users to sign in to their accounts and websites with this new feature. It doesn’t require you to input your email addresses when signing into different apps and websites anymore. To sign in, users can instead use use Face ID or Touch ID to sign into their accounts.
While this sounds unnecessary, it’s actually quite a secure way to sign in to your accounts and can help increase your online privacy, which we’ve already explained the importance of on social media. When signing in to these accounts you can even choose to hide your email address. Instead, Apple will produce a fake email address that forwards to your real email, meaning the website you make an account on won’t know your real email. This can be convenient for when your kids make accounts for different apps and websites.
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If you have an iPhone X or more recent model, you’ll know what a Memoji is. For those who don’t, it’s an emoji you can make to cover your face in the camera that animates with your facial movements. With iOS 13, Memoji lovers will now be able to send their Memojis on the Messages app. You’ll also be able to use them as stickers on the keyboard, meaning you’ll be able to send your Memoji in emails, messages and other communications apps.
Something Android users have had for quite a while now, Apple is introducing the ability to let us trace a word on the keyboard to spell it out. This is very beneficial for users who need to type one-handed. Continuously swiping through the letters of a word to spell it out is certainly easier than jabbing the keyboard with your thumbs, after all.
The days of Siri stringing together sentences with jarring words and phrases are long gone. With Siri’s new audio update, our little AI companion will now have a smoother, more natural sounding voice. Of course, we’ll still miss the patchy, robotic audio. Siri will also be able to read messages to you through your headphones, making a smoother voice all the more necessary.
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Apple’s new maps update makes the app look prettier, with a new visual display. It rebuilt the entire basemap from scratch, aiming to have better coverage, precise addresses and better pedestrian data. It’ll be available in Australia some time next year.
Get ready, because reminders are getting social. With new ways to organise your reminders available, you can now tag people in your reminders, sharing it with them each time you message them.
There you have it – the next step for Apple, and by extension, iPhone. With all these new features comes new rules in place for privacy online. FamilyEye is a great way to help contain the world wide web and keep your kids safe while waiting for some of the new features to be released. It enables features that allow you to protect your kids online, such as web monitoring, blocking inappropriate sites and apps, tracking and camera controls. You can try it free for a month here.
If you’re looking for the right SIM plan to match your apple device, check out our Mobile Plans here.
