Apple officially holds WWDC 2018 and with it there is definitely an announcement of the new
version of iOS, exactly iOS 12. In terms of the appearance of this version it is still the same as before, but a number of new features that it carries are interesting to highlight. Here are some of the latest features of iOS 12 along with a brief explanation.
More responsive performance
Compared to iOS 11, iOS 12 is believed to be far more responsive, even for devices that are old enough though. For your information, iOS 12 compatibility is exactly the same as iOS 11, which means that the device as old as the iPhone 5S can still receive updates when it is released in September or October. In testing using the iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 12, Apple said that the Camera application can be opened 70% faster, the keyboard appears 50% faster, and typing is also claimed to be more responsive. Apple did not forget to add that overall the application loading on iOS 12 can be doubled faster.
ARKit 2
Continuing the footsteps of ARKit 1.5 released with iOS 11.3, ARKit 2 continues to perfect the augmented reality experience that iOS 12. users can enjoy. Most importantly, AR content on iOS 12 can be enjoyed multiplayer, more or less similar to that presented by ARCore 1.2 on Android.
Then what is no less unique is the new AR file format called usdz which is the result of collaboration between Apple and Pixar. Thanks to usdz, AR content can basically be accessed directly from various applications such as Safari, Messages, Mail and News. Still around AR, iOS 12 also presents a new default application called Measure, which functions to measure the dimensions of various real objects around the user. Before this actually there have been several similar applications in the App Store from third party developers, but at least for simple measurements we can rely on this default application only.
Messages and FaceTime
Updates to these two applications are actually more funny than functional. Especially on the iPhone X, there are a number of new Animoji characters, along with options to create their own characters that Apple calls Memoji. Furthermore, Animoji can now also imitate the movements of users who stick their tongues. What might be more important is FaceTime, because in iOS 12, finally comes the Group FaceTime feature, aka group video calling. As many as 32 people can join in one FaceTime Group conversation, and of course this feature integrates with group conversations on iMessage.
Photos
The Photos application on iOS 12 brings a new tab labeled "For You" which combines Memories with iCloud Shared Albums. The search feature is also claimed to be smarter in Photos for iOS 12, and what is no less interesting is the sharing suggestion feature, which is very useful for exchanging collections of photos taken during activities with friends or family.
Grouped Notifications
After all this time, Apple finally fixes one of the weaknesses of iOS compared to Android, which is related to notifications. In iOS 12, notifications will now be grouped based on applications and topics, so users will no longer be greeted by a row of notifications that seem to have no end below. Also very useful is the ease of managing how notifications from each application will be displayed, whether it feels unnecessary and is better turned off completely, or displayed in the Notification Center without interrupting user activity.
Do Not Disturb and Screen Time
Regarding this interruption apparently got a large portion in iOS 12. Simply put, Apple wants consumers not to exceed the limits of gadget usage, and this they try to realize through the refinement of the Do Not Disturb feature and a new feature called Screen Time on iOS 12.
Do Not Disturb now has a mode specifically for sleep hours, where notifications that enter as long as it will be completely hidden, and will only be displayed in the morning. The hope is, users who wake up in the middle of the night then reflexively check the clock on their cellphones and then continue to open Instagram after seeing the number of incoming notifications, but can go back to sleep again.
Screen Time on the other hand will provide an overview of device usage in the hands of each user; how many times have we opened the cellphone every hour, and so on. From there we can choose to limit ourselves, such as limiting the use of the Instagram application to only one hour a day. The impression is like regulating the use of gadgets by children, but in reality some of us really need restrictions like this if we want to stay focused and productive. Of course the features presented by Screen Time can also be applied as parental control features for children.
Siri Shortcuts
Siri also gets an interesting update on iOS 12, where he can communicate with all third party applications, with the developer note already providing support. So with one voice command phrase from the user, Siri can instruct the application to do something on demand. This phrase can be made by ourselves, and the instructions are not limited to one. Everything can be arranged via a new default application called Shortcuts, which utilizes the drag-and-drop interface to make it easier for us to mix such serial instructions for Siri and various applications.
Improved application design and improvements to CarPlay
iOS 12 brings a new look to News and iBooks, which apparently changed its name to Apple Books. The Voice Memos application has also been enhanced in appearance, and for the first time, is available for iPad users. Likewise for the Stocks application that is now present on the iPad. For CarPlay, Apple seems to hear a lot of complaints from users. During this time, the car dashboard can only display navigation from Apple Maps if using CarPlay. Who also wants to use Apple Maps that is so inferior to Google Maps or Waze? Fortunately, CarPlay on iOS 12 has finally supported third-party navigation applications.
