As of yesterday, Apple have been pushing the new iOS and Watch OS to devices with all new features for phones, tablets and Apple Watch.
iOS 12 Improvements
For those who own older devices, iOS 12 is a pretty important update as it promises stability and a speed boost for older hardware, including the iPad Mini range and older iPhones. According to Apple “Camera launches up to 70 percent faster, the keyboard appears up to 50 percent faster and typing is more responsive*”
Siri has had a boost, too, with a much faster startup and more links to actually give you the content that you’re looking for. In a crowded AI space, it’s important for Apple to keep up, especially now that Alexa is on iPhone.
New Animoji animals are available for iPhone X (and XS when it launches) alongside a brand new MeMoji. that lets you create an avatar that looks like you (or not). I rarely use these, but I had a go at creating a MeMoji and was fairly impressed with the results. Texting pictures now gives you a much more streamlined interface with more support for picture types and texts are now kept in order with a decent timeline and Sharing Suggestions for photos based on who is in your conversation group.
Screen Time is a brand new feature that helps you and your family understand and make the most of the time spent on devices, useful for the current younger generation that seem to spend all day on their device.
Augmented Reality apps can now provide shared experiences and object detection, opening the feature up to new experiences.
Devices that run iOS 12
If you have any of the below devices, you’re in luck as iOS 12 will install on all of these and even provide a speed boost to the older hardware.
• iPhone XS, XS Max and iPhone XR
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
• iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
• iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
• iPhone SE
• iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
• iPhone 5s
• 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• 9.7-inch iPad (2018)
• Fifth-Generation iPad
• iPad Air and iPad Air 2
• iPad mini 2, 3 and 4
• Sixth-Generation iPod Touch
Watch OS 5
The new Watch OS, which works on all Apple Watches, doubles down on fitness. It opens up competition between users with a new ‘Competitions’ feature that lets you complete to earn points from closing the rings that show you when you’ve completed goals.
A Workout feature has, finally, been added to the watch, something users have been begging for. It lets you start a workout with full tracking and you can even turn it on in the middle of a workout where it will add past data from when you started.
Steps Per Minute is added to the list of trackable activities for runners, as well as an alarm to keep you on track.
The big news from the Apple Event was the demonstration of Walkie-Talkie mode, which makes its way on to Apple Watch with the new update. It works on both Wifi and Cellular and is just like a push button CB radio, it’s very Dick Tracey! Podcasts also make their way from the show to the watch, so now you can listen straight from your watch with Bluetooth headphones.
The Siri Watch Face has had an upgrade and now allows third party apps to create complications for the watch face. When Apple Watch Series 4 launches there will be the ability to add even more complications but, sadly, older Watches will stick to the usual 4.
One note on Watch OS 5, it does take up to 3 hours to install, so prepare to leave your phone and watch around for that amount of time while it updates.
