iCreate - UK (2019-08)

T

here are numerous smaller

tweaks within iOS 13 that

you may not be aware of, but

together they will add up to a smoother

and more natural experience. For

example, simple things like moving the

visual volume change indicator from

the centre of the screen will stop that

millisecond of annoyance when you

cannot see what you need to on the

screen of your iOS device.

Health and home

A Cycle Tracking feature for checking

menstrual health has now been

incorporated into the Health app, and the

ability for HomeKit to be added to routers

from the likes of Linksys brings with it

a more streamlined approach to your

automated home. Apple Pencil latency

has been greatly improved from 20ms

down to 9ms, which has already been

demonstrated to be noticeable from the

first use and, alongside the new Pencil

tool palette, offers a more natural writing

and drawing experience than on any other

consumer product.

And then there’s...

The enhancements keep on coming with

reading goals in Books, the option to mute

threads and block senders in Mail, the

tools to select which Wi-Fi network you

connect to in Control Centre, enhanced

QR code scanning through your Camera

app and much more.

As always with a new iOS, it takes a

while to fully explore and notice all of the

more intricate changes, but you’ll soon

wonder how you ever managed to cope

without them.

The little

changes

Maps has been improved in

every single substantial area

Reminders has always been

basic, but not so in iOS 13

More powerful editing and quicker

browsing hugely enhance Photos

A better Maps

experience

Reminders has

grown up

Photo app

enhancements

M

aps has had its critics since it

was first released and Apple

has improved it massively in

iOS 13. The basemap has been completely

rebuilt through four million miles of driving,

yes really, and over time we will all see these

improvements whenever we travel by foot,

public transport or when driving. You can

use it exactly as you did previously, but

without changing your methods you will get

to experience a vastly improved navigation

setup that will easily rival the

big players in this market.

Only some US cities are

supported currently, but the

improvements will eventually

cometousall.

T

he visual changes in Reminders

are stark and there is no doubt

that the app has been upgraded

to offer a look that presents much more

information in one screen. You can

now tag people from Messages so that

you know who you need to deal with at

all times and the quick toolbar at the top

makes creating new reminders as easy

as can be. You can do so using locations,

flags, date and times, and the ability to add

attachments takes

the solution from

basic to almost

complete in one

iOS release. It

is quite possible

that the new

Reminders will be

enough to stop

you looking at

any third-party

app solutions and

that it will replace

a few solutions

you already have

loaded on your

iOS devices.

T

he improvements in

the Photos app stand

out immediately with

much smarter curation to

highlight important events

and to hide similar photos

that would otherwise crowd

the experience. Auto-play

videos add to the vibrancy

and you can then take

everything further with new

editing tools that rival some of

the very best third-party photo

editing apps. Even better, and

in many ways unique, these

tools work in your videos as

well, meaning that you can

customise all of your creations

when mobile. Finally, you can

adjust the portrait lighting in

the Camera app as you snap

a special moment.

iOS 13 hands-on