iOS 10 - Best New Features

iOS 10 is now available for anyone with an iPhone 5 or above and comes with lots of cool new features that are free for everyone.

Here are the best new features from the iOS update:

1) Lots of new changes to iMessages

iMessages just got a lot more fun and is probably the first thing you will want to play with.

 Here’s a list of the best iMessage updates:

• Send message in your own handwriting.
• Send GIFs.
• New emoji’s.
• Send full screen animations such as balloons, confetti and fireworks.
• Send messages and photos that are hidden by invisible ink, then swipe to reveal the message.
• Send one of six quick responses to let people know what you are thinking (likes Facebook reactions).
• Send animated fireballs, kisses, heartbeats and more as well as draw over video messages.
• Tap to replace words with emoji’s.

Bear in mind that not all the new features will work for those who haven’t downloaded iOS 10 yet.

2) Apple Maps update

Apple Maps didn’t get off to a great start but they have made some rather significant improvements over the past few years.

Now Apple Maps will allow you to live search during your journeys for the best restaurants, coffee shops, etc as well as allowing you to schedule stop offs and by using the search bar brings up a range of suggestions where your phone thinks you might be going.

3) Apple Music redesign

Apple Music has had a much needed redesign and is a lot less confusing now. Apple have now scrapped the old layout and replaced it with a new and much easier to use design.

4) Deleting Apps

Apple has finally let us delete some of the apps that the majority of us have found pointless such as the Stocks app, Podcasts, Tips, etc.

However, disappointingly some of the apps are still unmovable like the Health app.

5) A smarter Siri

Other apps can now access the power of Siri enabling Siri to talk to third party apps and the apps talk back. For example, if you need a lift into town, you can ask Siri to ask Uber for a taxi ride. You can also ask Siri to send someone money and they will sort that out for you too.

And we can expect to see more and more apps updating to support Siri in the near future.

6. Track your sleep

Apple has now incorporated a sleep tracking app into their Clock app. The Bedtime feature aims to get users in and out of bed at appropriate times and sends alerts to remind you not to stay up to late so it has never been easier to track your sleep!  

7. Useful notification

Apple now lets you view photos, videos and respond to message directly from your notifications. When the notification pops up you can now hard or long press to interact with the notification and for the apps that are made for iOS 10, you will be able to see a miniature version of them pop up as you view them.

The best app to see this on at the moment is the Messages app once someone sends you a message but you will likely see a lot more apps supporting this feature really soon.

If you haven’t downloaded iOS 10 yet, you can easily do this by going to Settings > General > Software Updates and click download iOS 10 but be sure to back up your iPhone before doing this.