With the release of the highly anticipated iOS 10 update for Apple products comes the confusing couple of weeks of trying to figure out all of the changes. Have no fear, here are the top 10 biggest changes and hacks that come with the new update!
1. Say Goodbye to Slide to Unlock
Probably the most immediate change you’ll notice is that you no longer “Slide to Unlock”. This is a huge change for iPhone users who are used to the iconic Slide to Unlock. Instead of sliding, you will be prompted to “Press Home to Open”. If you don’t want to have to press the home button, which can be annoying, there’s a way to change the settings to let you just rely on the Touch ID. Go to Settings->General->Accessibility->Home Button. From there, make sure your Home Button is set to Default, and turn “Rest Finger to Open” on. Now, you won’t have to annoyingly press the home button!
2. New Notifications
The next thing I noticed is that you can no longer easily swipe up on notifications to get rid of them. Not to mention, they look a whole lot different! Now, to get rid of notifications that pop up on the top of your screen, you have to hold down on the notification and then swipe up. It’s going to take a while to get used to, but eventually it’s helpful because it prevents you from accidentally swiping up on a notification and getting rid of it.
3. In-Notification Replying
In previous versions of iOS, you are able to swipe down on a notification to reply to while it was still as a notification. This is a quick way to reply to a text without having to make the effort to go to the Messages app. In iOS 10, you swipe down normally; however, now a window pops up that shows the last few messages of the conversation. This is convenient, because now you can have context for the conversation in case a few hours go by in between replies, and you have forgotten what the converstion was about.. Also, this prevents you from accidentally cutting someone off by replying while they’re still typing.
4. Control Center
When you scroll up to bring up your Control Center, you might be confused where your volume level is. No worries, swipe to the left and you will find the music section where you can change the volume of your music. Not to mention, the control center got a fresh new design!
5. You Can Finally Delete Apple Apps
One of the most exciting changes is that you can finally delete those pesky Apple apps that take up so much space. Thank you, Apple!
6. Some Apps Get a Fresh New Look
A few apps, such as Music and Maps, have been renovated to show a simplistic, beautiful design. I find Maps to be easier to use and navigate after the renovation.
7. People in Your Photos
The newly designed photos app functions more like a social network. Now, it’s easier than ever to filter photos by locations, dates, and the people in them.
First, click on a photo that features you and some friends. Click Details, then under People, click on one of your friends. From here, you can see all the other pictures on your camera roll that feature your friend. If you keep scrolling down, it’ll show you a map of the different locations you went with this person, along with Related Memories, which is something we’ll talk about in the next tip!
8. Memories
Also in your camera roll, there is now something called Memories. Normally, it’ll show pictures from a specific date where you took a lot of photos. At the top, there will be a short video compiling all of your pictures. Here, you are able to change the font and music that go along with the video. I think this is such a cute idea to remember trips and fun times with your friends! You can share these adorable videos with your friends as well.
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9. Texting Just Got a Whole Lot More Complex
While there are too many new features within the Messages app to show, I’ll explain how you can explore them. First of all, there are so many cool things you can do to a text message now. Type in your message, then hold down the blue arrow on the right. This should bring up the menu you see in the first picture. From here, you can choose the amount of emphasis you want to give your text. You can also send a text using invisible ink, which sends a blurry text that the person can only read if they tap it. Click on Screen, and you can manipulate the screen when you send a text. Here, I show an example using Fireworks. But, there’s an option for balloons, lasers, confetti, and shooting stars. This is a unique way to customize messages!
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10. Handwritten Messages
There are two ways to do handwritten messages on iOS 10. For the first method, you click the little icon on the bottom left that shows a heart with two fingers over it. Now, you can choose a color and write whatever you want! After sending it, the person will be able to see the line moving to form whatever word you write! In the second method, pictured below, you tilt your phone so you’re holding it in landscape mode. The screen should change to show a blank white page. Here, you can write in pretty black ink. Each method is a fun way to personalize any message!
There are an abundance of new features to check out with iOS 10, but hopefully now you can better understand the changes that can be confusing at first, so you can spend more time exploring the fun new messaging system!