Apple previews iOS 13

San Jose, California — Apple today previewed iOS 13, introducing a dramatic new look for iPhone with Dark Mode and new ways to browse and edit photos, sign in to apps and websites, and navigate the world with an all-new map. iOS 13 is faster and more responsive with optimisations across the system that improve app launch, reduce app download sizes and make Face ID even faster. 

“iOS 13 brings new capabilities to the apps you use every day, with rich updates to Photos and Maps, and privacy-protecting features like Sign In with Apple, all while delivering faster performance,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We’re excited for customers to experience what’s coming to iPhone this fall and can’t wait for them to see how great everything looks in Dark Mode.”

iPhone has a beautiful new look with Dark Mode, a new dark colour scheme that works system-wide and across all native apps to deliver a great viewing experience, especially in low-light environments. Dark Mode is available to third-party app developers for integration into their own apps and can be scheduled to turn on automatically at sunset or at a certain time.

Using on-device machine learning, Photos curates the entire library to highlight the best images, automatically hiding clutter and similar photos to showcase significant events from the past day, month or year. Photos and videos are intelligently organised, making it easier to browse, discover and relive favourite memories, with auto play videos to bring the library to life.

Photo editing is more comprehensive and intuitive with new tools that are easier to apply, adjust and review at a glance. With just a swipe, effects can be increased or decreased to create the perfect look, providing photographers with more creative possibilities and control over their images. And in iOS 13, most photo editing tools are now available for video editing, making it possible to rotate, crop or apply filters right within the Photos app.

With iOS 13, Portrait Lighting adjustments can be made right in the Camera app to virtually move the light closer to sharpen eyes and brighten and smooth facial features, or push the light farther away to create a subtle, refined look. A new High-Key Mono effect creates a beautiful, monochromatic look for Portrait mode photos.

Apple is introducing a new, more private way to simply and quickly sign into apps and websites. Instead of using a social account or filling out forms, verifying email addresses or choosing passwords, customers can simply use their Apple ID to authenticate and Apple will protect users’ privacy by providing developers with a unique random ID. Even in cases where developers choose to ask for a name and email address, users have the option to keep their email address private and share a unique random email address instead. Sign In with Apple makes it easy for users to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID and has two-factor authentication built in for an added layer of security. Apple does not use Sign In with Apple to profile users or their activity in apps.

Apple Maps helps millions of people navigate and explore the world, all while protecting user privacy. After driving 4 million miles to rebuild the basemap from the ground up, Apple is delivering a new Maps experience with broader road coverage, better pedestrian data, more precise addresses and more detailed landcover. The new map is available now in select cities and states, and will roll out across the US by the end of 2019 and to more countries in 2020.

Powered by the new basemap and high-resolution 3D photography, a new Look Around feature delivers beautiful street-level imagery of a city with smooth and seamless transitions. iOS 13 brings additional new features to the Maps app, including Collections to easily share favourite restaurants, travel destinations or places to shop with friends, and Favourites for navigating to frequent destinations, such as home, work, the gym or school, with a simple tap from the launch screen.

• Reminders has a new look and offers intelligent ways to create and edit reminders, with more ways to organise and keep track of them. The quick toolbar makes it easier to add times, dates, locations and flags, or add attachments. With deeper integration with Messages, it’s easy to tag someone in a reminder so that it surfaces when the user messages with that person.

• Messages can automatically share a user’s name and photo, or customised Memoji or Animoji, to easily identify who is in the Messages thread. Memoji are automatically made into sticker packs built into the iOS keyboard, so they can be used in Messages, Mail and other apps. Memoji also feature new hairstyles, headwear, makeup, piercings and accessories. 

• Siri has a new, more natural voice, and Siri Shortcuts now supports Suggested Automations that provide personalised routines for things like heading to work or going to the gym.

• CarPlay gets its biggest update ever with a new Dashboard to view music, maps and more in a single view, a new Calendar app and Siri support for third-party navigation and audio apps.

• HomePod can distinguish voices from anyone in the home to deliver personal requests, including messages, music and more. Live radio gives Siri access to over 100,000 radio stations from iHeartRadio, radio.com and TuneIn, and a new sleep timer turns off music after a set amount of time. Handoff enables users to easily move music, podcasts or a phone call to HomePod when they arrive home.

• With AirPods, Siri can read incoming messages as soon as they arrive, from Messages or any SiriKit-enabled messaging app. A new audio sharing feature makes it easy to watch a movie or share a song with a friend by simply bringing a second pair close to iPhone or iPad.

• Voice Control provides a powerful new experience that enables users to operate their iPhone, iPad or Mac entirely by their voice. Using the latest Siri speech recognition technology, Voice Control gets even more accurate text transcription and editing.¹

• Notes has a new Gallery View, more powerful collaboration with shared folders, new search tools and checklist options.

• QuickPath brings easy one-hand typing to the iOS keyboard by continuously swiping through the letters of a word.²

• Text Editing is enhanced, making scrolling documents, moving the cursor and selecting text faster and more accurate.

• Files app introduces the ability to share folders with iCloud Drive and access files from external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives.

• Health offers ways to monitor hearing health and brings new ways to track, visualise and predict a woman’s menstrual cycle.

• Location Services controls give users more choices for how they share location data with apps, including a new one-time location option and more information on when apps are using location in the background.

• Performance improvements make the entire system more responsive with faster Face ID unlock, and a new way to package iPhone apps on the App Store that reduces app download sizes by up to 50 per cent, makes app updates over 60 percent smaller and results in apps launching up to twice as fast.