Good news, your iPhone’s just got a whole lot smarter. That’s right, Apple’s slick new operating system, iOS 11, has landed; and it’s packed with loads of awesome new features that will help you do more, with less effort than you ever thought possible.
It will pick up on your listening habits and find new music you’ll love. It’ll remember the news you like and fire up fresh articles each morning. It’ll even help you type one-handed when you’re struggling with an armful of shopping. In fact, iOS 11 makes your iPhone more like a personal assistant than a smartphone.
To whet your appetite, we’ve rounded up the highlights you can expect from iOS 11. So if you’re not excited already, you will be when you feast your eyes on this.
Meet your new personal assistant
First up, Apple’s assistant, Siri, has had a major makeover – and when we say major, we mean major. Right off the bat, there are a handful of superficial changes you’ll notice, like Siri’s new expressive, natural-sounding voice. But the changes run far deeper.
Siri will now use on-device learning to discover who you are and what you like, making Apple’s AI more intuitive than ever before. It can act as your very own interpreter, translating out loud from English into other languages; or work with Apple Music to line up your favourite tunes when you make vague demands, like “play a song I love”. If you’re messaging a friend to tell them you’re running late, Siri can even work out what time you’ll get there. And the best thing is, the more you use Siri, the more it learns – and the better it gets at giving you what you want, when you want it.
One-handed typing
You know what it’s like: you’ve just grabbed a takeaway coffee and realised you’ve forgotten to reply to that urgent text. Well thanks to those clever people at Apple, you no longer have to choose between stopping to type or spilling your drink.
With iOS 11, just hold down the emoji key, select one-handed typing and your iPhone will shuffle the keyboard along so it’s just that little bit closer to your thumb. Genius. You can now send messages in super-quick time and wave goodbye to those latte-stained work shirts.