- iOS 12 is out today,
and if you've bought
an iPhone or iPad sometime
in the last few years,
you've probably got a popup on you phone
asking you to go and install it now.
But like every year, there's
always the same question.
Should I install the update
or is it gonna slow down my phone?
But iOS 12's a very
different update for Apple,
and instead of focusing
on bright flashy features
like a wholly new interface
or redesigned apps
or improved widgets,
Apple's instead put an emphasis
on making iOS work better
instead of just look better.
(upbeat music)
For the first time I can
remember with an iOS update
my iPhone and iPad feel faster
and more stable, not less.
I've been using this public
beta for a few months
on my iPhone and a few days
with Apple's finalized software,
and my year old iPhone X just flies now.
Apps are quicker to load,
camera launches faster,
and just most importantly
that creeping sense of lag
that tends to pop up when you
install the new iOS update
just isn't there.
Changes are even more significant
on my much older iPad Air
which was barely functional in iOS 11.
IOS 12 represents that
Apple's thinking more
about how we use our
phones instead of just
adding more ways to use them.
Or to put it another way,
instead of serving up more
bright, fun, candy-like updates,
this year Apple's serving up a big heaping
pile of vegetables.
Nowhere is that clearer
than in Screen Time,
probably the biggest addition to iOS 12.
It's a new feature that
lets you see how much
you're using your phone and
how much time you're spending
in each app.
It'll also show you other details
like how many notifications you've gotten,
how many times you've picked
up your phone in a day,
and other more granular bits
with how you use your phone.
The thing is, Screen Time
is a largely passive tool.
Sure, Apple will be able
to tell you how much time
you're spending on Facebook or Twitter,
but it's up to you to make
the decision to decide
if you're going to spend less time,
or if you're going to
use the offered tools
that will let you impose time limits
on how much time you spend in those apps.
In a similar vein, Apple's
trying to be better
about notifications in the new update.
Notifications finally
group themselves by app,
and there's also the
option to manually adjust
each notification's
setting as it comes in,
making it easy to shut off
annoying apps without having
to dig through Apple's
labyrinthy mess of menus.
IOS 12 isn't only about
performance improvements
and managing your digital life better
and more responsibly.
There's also some fun stuff here too,
like Apple's new MeMoji,
which are custom Animoji,
Apple's animated avatars
that had introduced
with the iPhone X.
Like the Animoji, the
Memoji will scan your face
and, you know, move
around like your face does
for sending messages.
You'll eventually be able
to use them in FaceTime too.
They're fun to play with,
even if they're only
going to be available in the iPhone X
and the newly announced XS and XR.
There's also new effects
for sending images
with iMessage.
It let's you add things
like text, filters,
music, stickers, and more.
The iPad has also gotten a
new gesture navigation system
that looks suspiciously like
the one Apple introduced
on the iPhone X.
That seems to indicate that
Apple's working on some kind
of bezeless iPad for the future,
but we'll have to wait and see.
Other parts of iOS aren't
really going to make
their impact known until
developers have had some time
to play around with it.
One of the things Apple's
pushing for really hard
in the new update, is its new
augmented reality AR Kit 2.
There's a lot of cool stuff
it adds like multiple users
working in augmented
reality at the same time.
But until we kind of
experiences developers
are gonna build with these tools,
it's hard to say how it'll actually work.
There's also the new series shortcuts
which will let users and
developers add their own
custom interactions and
macro sequences to Siri.
It seems like a really powerful tool.
You'll be able to set up
your own custom Siri phrases
and group actions together like automating
your whole morning routine
with a single phrase,
but a lot of it's gonna
depend on how developers
use these tools to
integrate their own apps
and we'll have to really
wait and see how useful it is
in every day life before we
make any final judgements.
If iOS 12 was just a faster,
more stable version of iOS 11,
it probably would've
been enough on its own.
The whole thing speaks to
a much more mature attitude
of Apple overall, making
sure that the foundation
is strong first before
building up new features
on top of it.
Take, for example, what should have been
one of the big standout features
from this year's update, group FaceTime,
which would have let you video chat
with up to 32 people.
Would that have been really
great to have at launch?
Yes, but the feature wasn't ready,
and Apple recognized that and delayed it
'til later this fall, which
is encouraging to see.
Or, to go back to our original analogy,
iOS 12 may not be the most
exciting software update
on the surface.
It's a plate of broccoli,
not some fresh, delicious pie
or a stack of Oreos, but
at the end of the day,
like a plate of broccoli,
it is good for you.
Thanks so much for watching.
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Bye.
