“This year shouldn’t be any different”, the report said.

A leak spotted on the eve of Apple’s WWDC event suggests that the company is preparing to revamp the way iPhone owners manage and store files on their phone.

Apple WWDC 2017: What’s the deal with this new Siri speaker? .

They’ll also be waiting to hear if Apple finally reveals its smart home hardware plans.

Facebook, Instagram and Google are pushing ahead with AR, and Snapchat AR selfie filters have become part of everyday communication. Even AppleTV and iPods are supported as well.

However, the main concentration this year, is expected to be on artificial intelligence and digital assistant Siri, after the company was not able to take over the plunge of other assistants like Amazon’s Echo and Google Assistant. If Apple introduces a new MacBook Air, we’ll have to see how drastically it will change from the previous version.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that iOS 11 would have “an updated user interface” and we could possibly see this announcement being made at the event.

Eddy Cue will probably have something to say about Apple Music.

Hours before WWDC 2017 is set to kick off, a file manager app for iOS 11 briefly appeared in Apple’s App Store.

TechRadar is in San Francisco ready for today’s WWDC keynote, where we expect to learn about iOS 11, macOS and perhaps new hardware such as the long awaited Siri speaker. We’d expect to hear more about health and fitness, notifications and watch faces.

Apple is rumoured to unveil its next-generation of iPad Pro lineup during the keynote event.

According to Foxconn insider, the new Apple project is named Project Mirrorshades and is designed with the expectation to deliver AR to a wide audience. What is more important is the operating system developments that Apple introduces during this conference and what app developers can look forward to in the iOS developing ecosystem. </s> Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2017 keynote is due to start later tonight at 10.30 pm India Standard Time, and it looks like a new feature of the upcoming iOS 11 has been revealed. According to a tweet from a Twitter user Steve T-S, with the account handle name @stroughtonsmith, there’s a Files app on the way from Apple and users will need iOS 11 to run this on their iPhones or iPads.

Steve tweeted, “Ahead of iOS 11, a ‘Files’ app placeholder entry from Apple appears on the App Store. Requires iOS 11.0 or later.” Now if you go to the App Store currently, scroll down right to the bottom to look at Apps Made by Apple, you’ll see nothing on the list. It looks like the ‘Files’ was spotted online on the App Store, before it was officially taken down.

Files app will likely function as a File manager on Apple devices which are running iOS 11, though details about this upcoming app are clear at the moment. As Steve T-S has also noted on Twitter, there are several questions around what the Files app will be capable of doing.

For starters, will it allow Zip files to open, will allow for external files from other operating systems to be accessed on iOS. If those, this could mean a big change for Apple’s iOS users, and would actually make transferring content, etc a lot more convenient on iPhones, iPads.

He’s also noting that Apple’s Files will support only 64-bit processors, which means older iPhones might not get support for this new feature in the OS.

Of course, Android users will likely mock the addition of a ‘Files’ app, given Android has long had this kind of flexibility of giving users access to the file system. Apple’s Files app will be a part of iOS 11 and likely come pre-loaded on new devices with the OS. This means Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and yes the iPhone 8 as well.

Apple is expected to make a UI change in iOS 11 as well, and could introduce a ‘dark mode’ to the OS. Apple’s in-built apps like Apple Maps, iMessage, Photos, etc could get a massive upgraded in iOS 11. We could also see more features linked to Apple iPad Pro, including support for Apple Pencil coming to Safari, Maps, etc.

Apple iOS 11’s final public version is likely to be released around September, after the iPhones have been launched.

For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App </s> Sure, Apple may have held back a handful of top-secret iOS 11 features during its big WWDC 2017 keynote on Monday. After all, the company can’t include anything obvious in its early iOS 11 builds that might pull back the curtain prematurely on iPhone 8 details. But we can’t even think about the iPhone 8 right now because Apple just unleashed a truckload of hot new iOS 11 features.

Whether or not you were following along live as Apple unveiled iOS 11 during its big WWDC 2017 keynote, you’re obviously going to want a recap of all the biggest new iOS 11 features coming to the iPhone and iPad. In this post, you’ll find everything you need to know about the most exciting new features coming in iOS 11.

iOS 11 gets a redesigned app drawer that make iMessage apps and stickers much more accessible. Messages in iCloud is another new feature that will synchronize all of you conversation history across any new device you sing into. This also means that less needs to be stored on the device, freeing up precious storage.

Apple Pay will support person-to-person payments in iOS, and it’ll be integrated into Messages as an iMessage app. Users will be able to send and receive money just like they can with Paypal or Venmo.

Apple used deep learning to give Siri a much more natural sounding voice, and there’s a new male voice option. More importantly, Siri gets a new visual interface that makes results much more easy to digest. Siri can also translate into different languages now, just like other virtual personal assistants.

SiriKit gets a ton of new features in iOS 11, offering all kinds of new APIs for third-party app integration. Siri’s contextual capabilities have been expanded as well, and a user’s (encrypted) data is now synchronized across devices.

HEVC video encoding for videos is now used in the Camera app, and JPEG capture has been updated with new tech that allows photos to take up half as much space on your iPhone or iPad.

On the iPhone 7 Plus, users also get new features like HDR, enhanced Portrait Mode quality and more.

iOS 11’s Control Center has been completely redesigned. All of the features have been squeezed onto a single page, and 3D Touch will expand each different card, giving access to more options.

Lock Screen and Notification Center have been combined, which is a nice consolidation that further simplifies the UI a bit.

Apple’s Maps app in iOS 11 gets huge enhancements for indoor mapping beginning with malls and airports, allowing users to quickly and easily navigate shopping centers and airports when traveling. Speed limits and lane guidance have been added to Maps navigation.

Do Not Disturb While Driving mode will automatically black out the user’s display while driving, and notifications will not be displayed while driving. Auto-responses will be sent to anyone who texts, and certain users can be made allowed to break through (white list).

Speaker support has been added to HomeKit, and AirPlay 2 supports multi-room configuration and playback. More than a dozen wireless speaker manufacturers will support the new protocol, as will any speakers controlled by an Apple TV.

Apple now has 27 million Apple Music subscribers, and they’ll all now have access to music history for friends who have configured their playback to be public.

A new MusicKit for developers offers Apple Music APIs that can be used to integrate with third-party apps.

Apple announced that there are now 500 million weekly visitors to the App Store who have downloaded more than 180 billion apps to date. As for new features in iOS 11, developers will appreciate that Apple will review newly submitted apps much faster than before.Phased releases will also be supported, so that updates can be released in phases.

For consumers, the App Store has been completely redesigned.

A new Today tab will help users discover new apps, and a new Games tab gives games a dedicated tab. In-app purchases can be features on their own now as well.

A new Apps tab features all apps that aren’t games, and an Updates tab shows installed apps that have available updates or have been updated recently. Finally, a Search tab offers a new dedicated search interface.

iOS 11 offers enhanced augmented reality features courtesy of ARKit, a toolkit for developers. It allows apps to use computer vision for object recognition, and virtual objects can be placed on the display that are actually context-aware.

Thanks to Apple’s massive ecosystem of iOS devices, ARKit will be the largest augmented reality platform in the world when iOS 11 is released.

UPDATE: Apple also announced new iPad-only features in iOS 11:

The apps dock on the bottom of the iPad home screen will be available if you slide up on any screen, and it can hold many more apps.

A new app switcher view can be accessed by dragging the dock up and then continuing to drag upward.

Split view is enhanced with new app pairings that allow users to open multiple apps at once.

Drag and drop support allows users to drag and drop content between apps, and also drag UI elements inside apps to enable all sorts of different functionality.

A new Files app provides an oft-requested file manager on the iPad.

Apple will release iOS 11 beta 1 for developers (and anyone else who has the beta configuration profile installed on their iOS devices) sometime this afternoon. As has been the case in years past, the first public beta will be releases sometime later this month once all of the major bugs are addressed. Then the final version of iOS 11 will be released this coming September ahead of Apple’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 7s launch. </s> iOS 11 is the next generation of Apple's operating system for iPhones and iPads. New features include sweeping new upgrades to Siri, a redesigned Control Center and App Store, and a brand-new Apple Pay feature that lets you send or receive money to your contacts via iMessage.

In addition, developers can now create apps that tap into your iOS device’s potential to create augmented reality experiences via the new ARKit. Plus, there are new productivity features for the iPad, including drag-and-drop capability and a new Mac-style Dock.

Here’s everything we know so far about iOS 11, plus a bunch of the new features that we can’t wait to try.

Editors’ note: We’ve updated this story to include a link to our full review of iOS 11.

What can iOS 11 do for you? A lot, especially if you are a serious iPad user. It's great for the iPhone, too. You can get the details in our full review of iOS 11.

What devices will iOS 11 run on?

When will iOS 11 be available?

At Apple’s iPhone X event, the company announced that iOS 11 will be available on September 19, 2017.

Yes, Apple released the first public beta on Monday, June 26—and anyone can give it a whirl (at their own risk). Here’s everything you need to know about how to safely install the iOS 11 public beta.

Just remember that this is a beta version of the new software, so make sure you backup your iOS device before venturing into this unknown territory. Better yet, we recommend installing the public beta profile on a secondary iOS device (if you have one) so that you can test it without fear that it will screw something up.

Apple continues to release public betas after the final version is released. You get betas of the iOS 11 updates before they are available to the public.

The first new thing you’ll notice about Siri in iOS 11 is her more-natural sounding voice. However, she also looks a little different: Apple has given its voice assistant a new visual interface that surfaces multiple results for your requests, as well as followup questions. In addition, Siri can now translate phrases for you, from English to Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. This feature is in beta, and Apple will add more languages in the months to come.

Siri has also become more predictive across different iOS apps. For example, if you search for “Iceland” in Safari, Siri will surface Iceland-related articles in the News app and bring up QuickType suggestions in Icelandic. Or, if you get a text message asking for money, Siri will suggest iMessage’s Apple Pay integration with the exact amount that’s been requested. Apple has also expanded SiriKit support to include more robust integrations with third-party services. You can now use Siri to add to your Evernote or pull up a QR code in WeChat, among other things.

How is Apple Pay more like Venmo?

You can use Apple Pay at certain brick-and-mortar stores (Apple says 50 percent of U.S. retailers will support Apple Pay by the end of the year), online web stores via Safari, and in certain iPhone apps. With iOS 11, you’ll be able to use Apple Pay to send or receive money from your contacts via Messages, thanks to a new iMessage app which essentially turns Apple Pay into your new Venmo or Square Cash alternative.

All the money that you receive will be collected in your Wallet app in the form of a Cash card. You can use these funds to complete other Apple Pay transactions, or you can transfer that cash over to your bank account. Apple Pay’s peer-to-peer transactions will be available in iOS 11 and watchOS 4.

Can I do more with Live Photos?

Yes! Apple has given us more editing tools for Live Photos, those moving images that you can take using an iPhone 6s and later. You can turn your Live Photos into video loops that replay over... and over... and over. The Photos app will even suggest Live Photos that would make for great loops. You can also add a “Bounce” effect so that the Live Photo plays and then rewinds, kind of like Instagram Boomerangs. There’s also a new Long Exposure effect which makes the iPhone even more like a DSLR.

Don’t Live Photos take up a lot of space?

That’s true, but thankfully Apple has addressed this issue by switching to a more space efficient encoding system. For videos, iOS 11 uses HEVC (aka H.265), which is twice as efficient as the previous H.264 format. For still photos, iOS 11 uses HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format) which Apple claims will take up only half the space.

Where will I be able to use Maps indoors?

Apple continues to improve the native Maps app in iOS 11. For the first time, you’ll be able to use Maps to navigate your way around indoor spaces. Maps in iOS 11 introduces indoor mapping so you can get detailed floor plans of certain malls and major airports, down to individual vendors on each floor.

To start off, Maps will have indoor support for malls in Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, Tokyo, and Washington D.C. Maps will also be able to show you around inside 30 major airports including JFK and London Heathrow.

How does “Do Not Disturb While Driving” work?

Another feature introduced at WWDC is iOS 11’s “Do Not Disturb While Driving” mode. Your iPhone will use Bluetooth (if connected to CarPlay or any other in-vehicle Bluetooth system) or motion sensors to figure out if you’re driving, and will automatically prevent all notifications from surfacing and causing a distraction. You can override this mode, however, or setup an automatic response to let people who text you know you’re on the road and that you’ll get back to them as soon as you arrive at your destination.

Tim Cook has spent all year talking about how excited he is for augmented reality, so it’s no surprise that Apple used this year’s WWDC keynote to show off what they’ve been working on in this emerging area. Alongside iOS 11, Apple unveiled ARKit, a new developer platform for creating iOS apps that tap into augmented reality. Apps built with ARKit will be able to use computer vision to identify surfaces and add 3D objects. These objects create dynamic shadows that are rendered in real-time.

iOS 11 will be released this fall. In the meantime, companies are posting videos of what can be done with ARKit. For example, Kabaq is showing how AR can be used by restaurants to enhance their menus. The video below demonstrates how the company uses ARKit.

This video below is a trailer for a game called ARZombi. ARKit was used so your location gets incorporated into the game.

One more video below: This one is another game, called RoVR.

Did the iPad get more macOS-type features?

You bet! There’s a new app Dock that looks a lot like the one in macOS, making it a lot easier to switch between apps. You can also press on any of these apps and drag them over to the right side of the screen to open them as a Slide Over. As always, you can lock Slide Over into Split View to use both apps simultaneously.

The Dock can be accessed from any screen and you can customize it with your favorite apps. Also, it has a dynamic section on the right side that changes to suggest recently-used apps across your Apple devices.

Yes! Apple finally answered our prayers. With iOS 11, you can drag-and-drop between the two apps in Split View, which makes it easier to transfer files, images, text, and URLs. You can drag-attach images from the Photos to Mail, or drag-copy-and-paste directions from Safari into Maps.

And how does the new Files app work?

Apple also launched Files, a new iOS app intended to make the iPad experience more like a traditional Mac. Pretty self-explanatory, Files displays your documents stored in iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and other file-storage apps.

Are there new ways to use Apple Pencil?

Yes, Apple has expanded Apple Pencil support for iPad Pro in iOS 11. Tap a PDF or screenshot with the tip of the Pencil and you’ll be able to scribble on it instantly thanks to a new feature called Instant Markup. Similarly, you can Pencil tap on the Lock screen to start writing. All your handwritten creations will be automatically saved to your Notes app, and these handwritten notes are searchable, too.

Notes also has a new built-in Document Scanner, allowing you to scan a document, sign it or mark on it with Apple Pencil, then save or share—all with just your iPad Pro. In addition, Notes and Mail now support Inline Drawing so you can add some color to your emails and notes. The text will automatically move out of the way when you start drawing, so that everything remains legible.

Control Center has been redesigned so that it’s only one panel. You can customize it with your go-to’s like Low-Power Mode and use 3D Touch to adjust more-specific controls.

App Store now mirrors the look-and-feel of Apple Music, with a new Today tab for featured games and apps.

Messages App Drawer makes it easier to access your favorite iMessage apps by swiping across the bottom of the screen, instead of having to tap back to the drawer every time you want to switch apps.

Apple Music gets more social: New profile photos indicate when one of your friends has listened to a certain albums or playlist.

QuickType Keyboard is now easier to use one-handed. Simply long-press on the emoji key to bring the keys closer to your thumb. For iPad users, you can now flick down on a specific key to type a number or punctuation mark, instead of having to switch to the symbols keyboard.

Stay tuned for more iOS 11 coverage, including hidden features, tips and tricks, and how-to’s for making the most out of your iPhone and iPad. We’ll continue to update this story as more info becomes available. </s> Apple has officially unveiled iOS 11 at WWDC 2017. Details below:

The first new feature centers around Messages…

The app drawer is now redesigned with a scrolling view. Messages also works with iCloud now so messages stay in sync including deleted messages and more. This new feature also works with macOS and still includes end-to-end encryption. Apple Pay also now works with iMessage to enable peer-to-peer payments as an iMessage app as rumored.

Siri has also improved starting with a new voice created by deep learning. The new machine learning improvements apply to both the female and male voice. Siri now supports translation in beta including translated feedback and a new visualization. Siri will now work with task management apps and more, offer contextual aware responses based on on-device learning, and more.

Apple’s Camera app is also doing better video and photo compression to optimize storage during capture without breaking sharing compatibility. Software changes include new features like a new Depth API for dual camera iPhones.

The Photos app will use machine learning to find new Memory categories like sporting events and anniversaries, and portrait orientation Memories as well as Live Photo improvements like choosing the still shoot and looping clips.

Control Center in iOS 11 has been redesigned with a single page layout for the first two panels on iOS 10. 3D Touch is used to expand panels with related controls.

The lock screen and Notification Center have also been redesigned to be a single interface.

Apple Maps has been updated with detailed floor plans for malls across a handful of cities with more to come. Airports are also supported for indoor mapping. Speed limits and lane guidance are also now available.

Do Not Disturb While Driving is a new feature that brings CarPlay-like alert muting to all iPhones based on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and more to suggest the new muting feature to make driving safer.

HomeKit is also being updated to support speakers using AirPlay 2 to support multi-room audio. Apple TV makes connected speakers AirPlay 2 compatible, and third party speaker companies will add support for AirPlay 2.

Apple Music is gaining a new MusicKit SDK for developers and includes new social features for sharing what your friends are playing recently.

Next up is the App Store. Faster app review times, expanded free trials, and a new design are incoming. Phased releases will be a new option for developers releasing apps this year.

The new App Store design will include a new Today view for discovering brand new apps with featured cards with editorial content. Games gets its own tab now with a dedicated section for gaming apps. In-app purchases can also be highlighted in this section. Apps has its own separate tab from Games with classic App Store features.

Apple is also detailing new machine learning features coming to iOS 11 for developers through CoreML. New APIs include natural language and face detection features previously only available in Apple apps.

Augmented reality features are also coming for developers through ARKit. This uses iPhone sensors to determine plane, lighting, scale estimation, and more. Apple says ARKit will make iOS the largest AR platform in the world.

App updates using ARKit will include an update to Pokémon Go as well as IKEA software for visualizing items in your environment.

Other features not detailed include a redesigned Podcasts app, HomeKit occupancy and duration triggers, and iCloud family storage plans, iCloud file sharing, and Flashlight support on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

After the 10.5-inch iPad Pro introduction, Apple is now detailing iPad iOS 11 features. The Dock is now way more expansive and includes a predictive slot, the App Switcher has been totally redesigned with Control Center and much more.

Drag and drop is also now supported between Split Screen apps. The keyboard on iOS 11 also includes swipe up support to access more characters. Files for iOS is a new app that works with iCloud Drive and other cloud-providers like Dropbox.

The new Dock is also accessible from apps with a swipe up. Drag and drop supports multi-finger selection and tons of formats including images and URLs.

Apple Pencil now has more functionality throughout iOS including Markup in Safari, editing screenshots, Instant Notes access from the lock screen, searchable handwritten text, inline drawing within typed notes, and much more. Notes also gains a new document scanner and Mail gains an inline drawing markup feature.

iOS 11 will be available in beta to developers today, public beta testers later this month, and all customers later this fall.

iOS 11 Brings Powerful New Features to iPhone & iPad This Fall Biggest Software Release Ever for iPad & New AR Experiences Among Hundreds of Updates June 05, 2017 03:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today previewed iOS 11, a major update to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, bringing new experiences and hundreds of features to iPhone® and iPad® this fall. iOS 11 is the biggest software release ever for iPad, with powerful multitasking features, the Files app and more ways to use Apple Pencil®. Augmented reality is coming to hundreds of millions of iOS devices with a new platform for developers to build apps that let users place virtual content on top of real-world scenes. CoreML™ gives developers on-device machine learning capabilities so they can easily make apps that will predict, learn and become more intelligent. Additional features include the ability to pay friends using Apple Pay®, Do Not Disturb while driving to help users stay more focused on the road, even more intelligence and a new voice for Siri® and new professional capabilities to Photos and Camera. iOS 11 is available as a developer preview today and will be a free software update for iPhone and iPad this fall. “With iOS 11, we’re delivering the biggest AR platform in the world, and it’s available today for developers to begin building AR experiences using ARKit for hundreds of millions of iPhone and iPad users,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “iOS 11 gives iPad users the powerful app functionality they need to take advantage of everything iPad is capable of, and brings hundreds of new features and incredible updates to the iOS apps iPhone and iPad users enjoy every day.” iPad Becomes Even More Powerful iOS 11 makes multitasking on iPad even more powerful with a new customizable Dock that provides quick access to frequently used apps and documents from any screen, and a redesigned app switcher makes it easier to move between pairs of active apps, used in Split View and now Slide Over. The new Files app keeps everything in one place, whether files are stored locally, in iCloud Drive® or across other providers like Box, Dropbox and more, and with Drag and Drop available across the system, moving images and text is easier than ever. Apple Pencil is more deeply integrated into iPad with support for inline drawing and a new Instant Notes feature opens Notes from the Lock Screen by simply tapping Apple Pencil on the display. AR Experiences for iPhone & iPad Apple is introducing a new platform for developers to help them bring high-quality AR experiences to iPhone and iPad using the built-in camera, powerful processors and motion sensors in iOS devices. ARKit allows developers to tap into the latest computer vision technologies to build detailed and compelling virtual content on top of real-world scenes for interactive gaming, immersive shopping experiences, industrial design and more. Siri is Even More Useful & More Natural Siri is the most popular personal assistant in the world with more than 375 million active devices accessing Siri each month across 36 countries. Using the latest advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence, new male and female voices are more natural and expressive, adjusting intonation, pitch, emphasis and tempo while speaking, and can translate English words and phrases into Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish. Siri extends beyond voice, using on-device learning to deliver more personal experiences and offers suggestions based on personal usage of Safari®, News, Mail, Messages and more. For example, as Siri learns topics or places a user is interested in while browsing Safari, they will be suggested when typing in Mail, Messages and other apps. Professional Camera & Photos Features With iOS 11, Portrait Mode images can be taken with optical image stabilization, True Tone® flash and HDR, so every shot looks even more professional. Live Photos™ are more expressive with new Loop and Bounce effects that create continuous video loops, while Long Exposure can capture time and movement. In Photos, Memory movies are optimized to play in both portrait and landscape orientation, and more memories, such as photos of pets or birthdays, are automatically created. With iOS 11, Apple introduces a new technology called High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) that reduces the file size of every photo taken with iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Pay Friends with Apple Pay Apple Pay users will be able to make and receive payments with friends and family quickly, easily and securely. They can send money and get paid right in Messages, or tell Siri to pay someone, using the credit and debit cards they already have in Wallet. When users get paid, they receive the money in their new Apple Pay Cash™ account. They can use the money instantly to send to someone, make purchases using Apple Pay in stores, apps and on the web, or transfer it from Apple Pay Cash to their bank account. Do Not Disturb While Driving iOS 11 introduces a new way to help drivers stay more focused on the road with Do Not Disturb while driving. iPhone can detect when you may be driving and automatically silence notifications to keep the screen dark. Users have the option of sending an auto reply to contacts listed in Favorites to let them know they are driving and cannot respond until they arrive at their destination. Additional iOS 11 Features — App Store® is redesigned to make discovering apps and games easier than ever before. Through in-depth features and interviews, App Store editors will uncover the stories behind iOS developers and the incredible apps and games they create. — App Store for iMessage® has a redesigned app drawer for more convenient access to apps and stickers, so it’s easier to decorate messages, share a song and more. — Control Center offers more customization, enabling quick access to frequently used controls all on one page, and a new Lock Screen delivers a more convenient way to see Notifications all in one place. — Apple Maps adds indoor maps for major airports and shopping centers around the world and lane guidance to avoid missing a turn or exit. — Home supports more categories of accessories including AirPlay® 2 speakers and more ways to automate your home with new triggers. — AirPlay 2 offers multi-room audio enabling users to easily control speakers using Control Center, the Home app or Siri. — Apple Music® offers more ways to discover music with friends. Subscribers can create a profile so their friends can follow them, listen to playlists they’ve shared and see the music they listen to most. — Apple News™ is even better at keeping readers informed and entertained with personalized top stories and suggestions from Siri, great stories curated daily by Apple News editors in the new Spotlight tab and the best videos of the day in Today View. — One-handed keyboard mode on iPhone makes typing on the go even easier and a new QuickType® keyboard on iPad delivers quick access to numbers, symbols and punctuation. iOS 11 for Developers At the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple demonstrated the power of bringing new AR experiences to iPhone and iPad and introduced additional tools to help millions of talented developers around the world bring new features and experiences to over one billion active Apple devices. — CoreML makes it easy for developers to create smarter apps with powerful machine learning that predict, learn and become more intelligent. Designed for iOS, this new framework for machine learning lets all processing happen locally on-device, using Apple’s custom silicon and tight integration of hardware and software to deliver powerful performance while maintaining user privacy. — HomeKit™ is even more accessible, with easier ways for developers and hobbyists to get started and new ways to authenticate devices using software — a great way for existing accessories to support HomeKit. — SiriKit™ gives developers the ability to integrate Siri into their apps, and with iOS 11 it expands to support more categories, including to-do lists, notes and reminders, banking for account transfers and balances and apps that display QR codes. — MusicKit allows developers to integrate Apple Music features into their apps, providing access to over 40 million songs, recommendations, featured content and recent search. Availability The developer preview of iOS 11 is available to iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta program will be available to iOS users later this month at beta.apple.com. iOS 11 will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 5s and later, all iPad Air® and iPad Pro® models, iPad 5th generation, iPad mini™ 2 and later and iPod touch® 6th generation. Person to person payments and Apple Pay Cash will be available in the US on iPhone SE, iPhone 6 and later, iPad Pro, iPad 5th generation, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3 and later and Apple Watch® this fall. For more information, visit apple.com/ios/ios11-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages. Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it. NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom (www.apple.com/newsroom), or call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042. © 2017 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad, Apple Pencil, CoreML, Apple Pay, Siri, iCloud Drive, Safari, True Tone, Live Photos, Apple Pay Cash, App Store, iMessage, AirPlay, Apple Music, Apple News, QuickType, HomeKit, SiriKit, iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad mini, iPod Touch and Apple Watch are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

[/9to5-press-release]

Apple Unveils All-New App Store Beautifully Redesigned, All-New Today, Games & Apps Tabs Packed with Original Stories & Editorial June 05, 2017 03:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today unveiled the all-new App Store®, designed from the ground up to make discovering apps and games easier than ever before. The beautifully redesigned App Store is packed with original stories and editorial, updated daily in a new Today tab, as well as new Games and Apps tabs. Compelling stories, in-depth interviews, helpful tips and collections of must-have apps and games will showcase Apple’s unique perspective and aim to inform, help and inspire customers every day. App Store customers have now downloaded more than 180 billion apps and Apple has paid out over $70 billion to developers since the store launched in 2008, making it the most vibrant software marketplace in the world.

“Together with our incredible developer community, we’ve made the App Store the best app platform in the world, and more than 500 million unique customers visit it every week,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Now, we are taking everything we’ve learned from the App Store over the past nine years and putting it into a stunning new design. Every element of the new App Store is richer, more beautiful and more engaging.”

Today

It all starts with the Today tab, a daily destination all about games, apps and app culture. Through in-depth features and interviews filled with beautiful artwork and videos, the App Store’s global team of editors will share the stories behind the apps and games that change the way we live and the developers whose ideas push and shape the world as we know it. Today will feature exclusive premieres, new releases and a fresh look at all-time favorites, as well as recommended tips and how-to guides to help customers use apps in innovative ways.

Games & Apps

Games is the most popular category on the App Store, and with the new design there will now be a dedicated home just for games. It will feature recommendations of new releases and updates, compelling videos, top charts just for games and hand-picked collections. It’s now easier than ever to navigate the over half a million games available, and find the perfect game for everyone from the casual player to the hardcore enthusiast.

Apps will also have its own tab, bringing customers everything they use, need and enjoy, from photography to money management, shopping to social networking and more. Just like the Games tab, the Apps tab will have great recommendations, videos and hand-picked collections across 24 categories, as well as its own app charts.

Updates & Search

The Updates tab will allow customers to quickly see what has changed in their favorite apps and games with the latest update, and Search has been enhanced to include the editorial content found in Today, Games and Apps. Search by name, category, developer or topic, and you’ll receive relevant results for specific apps and games, as well as editorial stories, collections and in-app purchases.

App Product Pages

The home for every app on the store is its app product page. Apple has redesigned the experience so that all developers can spotlight their apps with more engaging content, putting the most important information front and center for the customer making a download decision. Developers can submit up to three video app previews and five screenshots, which can now be localized so a customer in any country can have a customized version of the video. Accolades including Editors’ Choice and chart position will be highlighted, as will in-app purchases and customer ratings and reviews.

In-App Purchases

Apple is also making in-app purchases more discoverable on the App Store. In-app purchases will show up on an app product page and in search results, and editors can feature them in Today, Games and Apps. Customers can now start their in-app purchases on the App Store and be taken directly into a developer’s app or game to complete the purchase.

Availability

The all-new App Store will be included with iOS 11. The developer preview of iOS 11 is available to iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta program will be available to iOS users later this month at beta.apple.com. iOS 11 will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone® 5s and later, all iPad Air® and iPad Pro® models, iPad® 5th generation, iPad mini™ 2 and later and iPod touch® 6th generation. For more information, visit apple.com/ios/ios11-preview. Features are subject to change. Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom (www.apple.com/newsroom), or call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

© 2017 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, App Store, iPhone, iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad, iPad mini and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

[/9to5-press-release] </s> iOS 11, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, has start rolling out to iPhone and iPad users.

First revealed by Apple at its Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in June, the next-gen mobile device software has been redesigned to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, and includes a completely overhauled App Store.

Other new features of iOS 11 include a new version of the Siri voice assistant, Boomerang-style looping live photos, and a new "Do Not Disturb While Driving" feature.

"We’re going to take the world's best and most advanced mobile operating system and turn it up to 11," said Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi.

Here are some of the highlights of iOS 11 .

The new operating system was released to the public as a free software update on Tuesday, 19 September, a few days before the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus go on sale.

The update went live at 10am Pacific Time, which translates to 6pm here in the UK.

It is available for iPhone 5s and later, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation, iPad mini 2 and later and iPod touch 6th generation.

Apple has completely redesigned its App Store for the first time in nine years, to make it easier for iPhone and iPad users to discover new apps and games.

The new-look store has several new tabs along the bottom of the screen enabling users to filter by Games, Apps and "Today" - a daily changing selection of highlights from the App Store.

The Today tab will also include in-depth features and interviews with developers, as well as exclusive premieres, new releases tips and how-to guides.

Apple has introduced an Updates tab, allowing customers to quickly see what has changed in their favourite apps and games with the latest update.

Search has also been enhanced, allowing users to search by name, category, developer or topic, and receive relevant results for specific apps and games.

Perhaps the biggest new feature of iOS 11 is the overhauled version of its Siri voice assistant.

Apple has used machine learning to create more natural voices for both the male and female versions of Siri, adjusting intonation, pitch, emphasis and tempo while speaking.

There's also a new visual interface that offers suggestions based on personal usage of apps such as Safari, News, Mail and Messages.

Siri has been updated to better understand context and offer results that it thinks the user will be interested in.

What's more, a new translation capability will translate English words and phrases into Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish, with more options coming later on.

Apple has added detailed floor plans for shopping malls and airports within its Maps app.

At first, these will cover a small selection of world cities, including London - and Heathrow and Gatwick - with more locations to be added at a later date.

Speed limits and lane guidance have also been added to make navigating on the roads a little easier.

Do Not Disturb while driving

Building on its Do Not Disturb function, Apple has introduced a potentially life-saving Do Not Disturb While Driving feature, to ensure drivers stay focused on the road.

This works by detecting when you are driving and automatically silencing notifications to keep the screen dark.

Users also have the option of sending an auto reply to contacts listed in Favorites to let them know they are driving and cannot respond until they arrive at their destination.

Apple is introducing new Loop and Bounce effects to Live Photos, allowing users to create continuous video loops - in a similar way to Instagram's Boomerang feature.

The updated Photos app will also automatically create "memory movies" from collections of photos of pets or birthdays on your iOS device.

Apple has improved the experience of taking photos in portrait mode - bringing them into line with landscape photos with features such as optical image stabilisation, True Tone flash and HDR.

Moreover, Apple introduces a new technology called High Efficiency Image File Format that reduces the file size of every photo taken, so they take up less space on your iPhone.

Following the massive success of Niantic's Pokemon Go app last year, augmented reality has shot to the top of the agenda.

This means apps that overlay computer graphics on top of real-world images.

Apple is introducing a new platform for developers to help them bring augmented reality experiences to iPhone and iPad using the built-in camera and motion sensors.

ARKit allows developers to tap into the latest computer vision technologies to build virtual content for interactive gaming and immersive shopping experiences.

One such game - Wingnut AR - was showcased at WWDC and will be landing later in the year.

With iOS 11, Apple is integrating Apple Pay into the Messages app, allowing users to make and receive payments with friends and family instantly on their phones.

Users can send money and get paid in Messages, or tell Siri to pay someone, using the credit and debit cards they already have in Wallet.

When users get paid, they receive the money in their new Apple Pay Cash account, which they can send on to someone else, or make purchases using Apple Pay in stores, apps and on the web.

Alternatively, they can transfer it from Apple Pay Cash to their bank account.

Person-to-person payments and Apple Pay Cash will launch in the US in the autumn. The company has not yet announced plans to launch it in other countries.

iOS 11 will include a couple of features that are specific to the iPhone X, which was unveiled at Apple's special event at its new headquarters in Cupertino on September 12.

These include FaceID - a new authentication technology that can verify the user's identity by scanning their face in 3D. FaceID replaces TouchID on the iPhone X.

iOS 11 also includes support for Animoji - 3D, live rendered emoji, which track your facial expressions and create animated characters to use in iMessages. </s> We’ve been learning rather more about tomorrow’s event than Apple would like thanks to iOS 11 GM firmware leaked to us on Friday evening. Info we were able to glean from the code ranged from new wallpapers to the apparent names of this year’s iPhones.

But while 9to5Mac readers may be in for fewer surprises than most, there’s still no substitute for watching the keynote live …

Apple will be live-streaming the event from the new Steve Jobs Theater tomorrow at the following times:

From an iPhone, iPad or Mac, just head to the Apple Special Event webpage. On an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you’ll need to be using Safari on a device running iOS 9.0 or later. On a Mac, you’ll need to use Safari on a machine running macOS 10.11 or later. You can also watch it on a PC running Windows 10, where you’ll need to use the Microsoft Edge browser.

On an Apple TV, you’ll find the event in the Apple Events app. If you have a 4th generation box, you’re all set. If you have the 2nd or 3rd generation model, you’ll need to make sure it’s running software 6.2 or later.

We’ll of course also be bringing you live coverage of the event.

And if you want to catch up on everything we’ve learned from the iOS 11 GM, you can check out the stories below:
• Leaked iOS 11 GM reveals several vibrant (and OLED black) new wallpapers and more [Video]
• LTE Apple Watch with new face and red-accented digital crown
• LTE Apple Watch uses same phone number as iPhone, some carriers to offer free/cheaper trial plans
• How setting up Face ID on the iPhone 8 will work
• iPhone 8 to feature Animoji, send 3D animated emoji based off your facial expressions
• How the iPhone 8 status bar will accommodate the notch
• Firmware points to new Apple Watch case finishes: ‘Blush Gold’ aluminium and ‘Gray’ ceramic
• iOS firmware indicates Apple to announce ‘iPhone 8’, ‘iPhone 8 Plus’ and ‘iPhone X’ on Tuesday </s> NEW YORK — Curious about the iPhone 8? Here's what's coming, courtesy of Apple's introduction of its new operating system.

Apple kept news of a tenth anniversary iPhone under wraps on day one of its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif.

But Tim Cook & Co. revealed plenty about the software that will be at the new iPhone’s core when it arrives, likely in the fall. As with prior iterations of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 11 also promises new features for current iPhone models. And Apple also reserved special love for iPads that the company can only hope helps revive a sagging brand.

iOS 11 was released as a developer preview today. Here are eleven of the changes coming to iOS that caught my attention:

The faddish popularity of last summer’s Pokemon Go release gave iPhone users an early sense of what augmented reality is all about, essentially layering characters and other “fake” stuff on top of the real world.

Using a platform called ARKit, developers will be able to exploit computer vision and take advantage of what Apple maintains will be “the largest AR platform in the world,” given the vast user base of iPhones and iPads that are out there. I’m eager to see the many ways developers might do just that, in gaming, commerce and more. One thing we know: augmented reality almost always makes for a cool demo, even in its simplest form as when an Apple executive made a faux steaming cup of coffee appear on an otherwise barren tabletop.

*Pay your friends in Messenger.

 Watch out, Venmo, PayPal and Square. Apple is enabling person-to-person payments inside the Messages app, via Apple Pay and with an assist from Siri. Apple still has some explaining to do when it comes to the finer details. For example, Apple executive Craig Federighi said on stage that when you receive money from a friend it will go into an Apple Pay Cash card, of which I’d like to learn more.

At least two of the new features coming to the Maps app are potentially very handy. Apple is adding what is says are detailed floor plan maps at a variety of shopping malls and major airports. And Apple will also provide a “lane guidance” view when you take the wheel of a car.

*Do not disturb while driving

Speaking of driving, this genuine safety feature is good news for drivers too easily distracted by notifications and alerts.

When you turn on Do Not Disturb While Driving, iOS 11 will silence alert and notifications while keeping the screen dark. iOS 11 will use Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to measure that you’re moving in a car and if so, to suggest activating the feature. If it is activated, anyone sending you a message will get an automated response telling them that you’ll see their message when you get where you’re going. If the message senders want to alert you about is truly urgent, they can reply urgent in the message to permit it to get through to you.

The proof will be in the pudding. But Apple insists that through machine learning and artificial intelligence, Siri will indeed get smarter in iOS 11, and also learn more about how to please you with personal experiences and suggestions by learning what you’re doing inside the Safari, News, Mail and Messages apps. Your Siri interactions are synced across devices (and encrypted.) I don’t know how much you’ll appreciate the new, supposedly more natural-sounding male and female Siri voices.

But international travelers will likely appreciate the fact that Siri will be able to translate English words and phrases into Chinese, French, German and Spanish.

iPhone photographers ought to welcome new features coming to the Photos and Camera apps, though of course I haven't put any of these to the test yet. (And who knows what kind of camera will be built into the next iPhone?) Such features include the ability to shoot Portrait Mode pictures (currently a feature on the iPhone 7 Plus only) with optical image stabilization. iOS 11 also lets you add effects and trim the short video snippets inside Live Photos images. And a new format called High Efficiency Image File Format can reduce the file size of the pics you take on an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

New designs of any kind take getting used to but the changes to the Control Center where you can turn on Airplane mode, adjust the audio and more looks to be a positive step. Control Center packs such tools now in a single view, which you can get to with an upward swipe gesture. Meanwhile, a new lock screen also brings notifications into a unified view.

On the design front, the App Store is also getting a makeover. Highlights include a new Today view with featured app content--valuable real estate for chosen app sellers of course--as well as a dedicated Games section.

This is another feature I'll need to try. But Apple is promising easier one-handed typing, with easy access to numbers, symbols and punctuation.

Apple Music subscribers will be able to follow, contribute and listen to shared playlists with friends and create profiles so they in turn can follow you. What’s more, Apple has opened up Apple Music to developers, giving them full access to the 40 million songs in Apple’s cloud catalog. Apple noted on the WWDC stage that Nike can add exercise playlists through the catalog, or Shazam can automatically add the songs it identifies to your music collection. Meantime, while the newly-announced $349 Siri-controlled HomePod speaker isn't coming until December, the new AirPlay 2 feature in iOS 11, will let you control Apple TV and third party speakers in multiple rooms around the house, using Control Center, the Home app or Siri.

Beyond the iPhone, Apple says iOS 11 is the biggest software release ever for the iPad. Two benefits worth mentioning: drag and drop support and a new Files app, both of which would make a tablet such as the iPad Pro that much more like a Mac. </s> Apple didn’t talk about the said feature when discussing the new feature set for the next iteration of its mobile operating system but is expected to discuss the same in-depth later this week. Apple certainly wasted no time in pushing iOS 11 to the forefront at the WWDC (Apple WorldWide Developers Conference), portraying a slew of new features and capabilities that makes it the most advanced and relevant version of iOS to date. “Not just the ones on your iPad, but also those in apps, on your other iOS devices, in iCloud Drive and across other services like Box and Dropbox”, according to Apple.

In addition, now via iMessage, you can make payments.

The new iOS will be released in the fall.

The company used a JetBlue flight reservation as an example of a potential integration with a third-party mobile app. Features like these are reminiscent of Google’s Assistant, which already provides contextual answers and suggestions based on your questions and the activities you perform on your device.

Siri, Apple’s take on the artificial intelligence voice control persona, will also gain a boost in iOS 11. With iOS 11, you’ll be able to ask Siri how to say a phrase in a different language, and it’ll pump out a translation for you. Today, Siri knows English, Chinese, French, German and Italian.

While QR code is not famous in countries like the U.S., it is being widely used on many other nations.

Apple has introduced indoor mapping to its Maps app in iOS 11.

Drivers will still be able to use Apple CarPlay, of course, in cars that are equipped with it. Apple CarPlay is a auto interface specifically created to allow drivers to hear and respond to text messages using voice commands and to safely use other iPhone features while driving.it’s available from a number of automobile manufacturers, including General Motors (GM), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), BMW and Honda (HMC), and works through a computer screen in the vehicle. Apple Music in iOS 11 lets you check out what tunes are popular among your family and friends, although there is the option to keep your eclectic music taste private if you wish to.

Maps: Maps in iOS 11 will offer detail floor maps of malls and airports, as well as offer lane guidance – and speed limits – while the user is driving.

There’s quite a bit more of this going on with the software used with new iPad Pro.

Control Centre: The Control Centre in iOS 11 will see a complete overhaul in that it will be a single page affair as opposed to spanning multiple home screens in the incumbent iteration.

A couple UI changes are coming to the Control Centre as well. Nothing is eliminated from the Control Centre, but Apple strategically placed all the shortcuts in the Control Centre into differently-sized squares. Using the Settings app, users can select what is displayed in the Control Center and are able to choose from options including Low Power Mode, Notes, Text Size, Wallet, Screen Recording, Apple TV Remote controls and more.
Apple announces iOS 11 in WWDC 2017.