Every iOS iteration brings with it many new features. Many are small, incremental, and often rather boring additions that are only mentioned in the release notes. Every once in a while however we get something really cool and useful. Like 3D touch for example – It changed the way we interact with our devices and you probably use it all the time without even thinking about it.
This article is made to celebrate those little things that went into iOS 10, and just how much nicer they make our lives. Some of the features here are obvious on first glance, but some may surprise you.
how to slide to unlock ios 10
We all know about slide to unlock, but it got a facelift in IOS 8. Now you can actually see your lock screen wallpaper behind the text, and slide up to unlock. No more surprises by just seeing blackness as your trusty old passcode may not be what you thought it was.
Control Center in iOS 10 can be fully customized to your heart’s content, just go into settings – control center – custom controls. How this wasn’t an option before is beyond me. You can add or remove quick launch buttons, change the background color and even add 3D touch to shortcuts.
The redesigned lock screen
not only nicer to look at, but also much more useful. You can now see your widgets just by swiping left on the lock screen. This is a great way of taking a quick glance at something without unlocking your phone completely.
You are probably already aware of this one, but if you don’t have it enabled yet – 3D touch your lock screen wallpaper to take a picture of the intruder. This is such a great way of easily taking pictures, as you may even miss some important clues if it takes any longer than two seconds.
Raise to wake –
just like on the Apple Watch and newer iPhones, you can wake your screen by simply raising your device in the air. This is incredibly convenient if your phone sits on a table and you get notifications all day long.
You can automatically encrypt everything that goes into iCloud with no opt-in prompt whatsoever. Do this under Settings – cloud – documents and data. In iOS 10 you can also use iCloud drive if you prefer that over the old file system, go into settings – iCloud – storage and tap on “show all” files to see your iCloud drive files.
Widgets on the lock screen –
Up until now you could only use the stock widgets or notification center. In iOS 10 you can finally add third party widgets to your lock screen, which is great if you want to quickly check your agenda for the day, or see what song is playing. This works on both the lock screen and the home screen. Note that only some apps can be added to the widget picker, but all apps that you normally use should allow it.
The new Control Center
The redesigned control center is such an improvement over the old one, and it’s mostly because of the 3D touch. It makes everything so much more accessible and the gesture to dismiss all notifications feels a lot better now.
Mute calls – place your palm on the screen while you’re picking up a call to immediately mute its ringer. Handy if you’re in the library catching up on your favorite series before you go to sleep.
Conclusion
I know many of these things are so obvious it’s difficult to call them new or noteworthy, but I’m talking about how they make our lives easier. They are either automated for us, or handle repetitive tasks so we can focus on doing more important stuff with our time.
iOS 10 is still in beta, but it’s definitely looking like the best update to iOS yet. The features are mostly nice and under-the-hood improvements that make our iPhones feel more modern.
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