News, release dates, and rumours about iOS 11

Next month Apple will be showing off iOS 11, the next major update to hit your iPhones and iPads.

iOS 11 is rumoured to bring a host of improvements and new features, from a smart Siri to power saving improvements, and the fabled 'Dark Mode'. Maybe Apple has a big surprise up its sleeve as well, considering it's the iPhone's 10th Anniversary this year.

Release Date: Announced 5th June, 2017. Released September 2017.
Price: Free!
Key features: Smarter Siri, Sleep Tracking, Battery Saving, Dark Mode, Apple Pay.

Smarter Siri

2017 has undoubtedly been the year of the smart assistant, with Amazon, Google and Samsung all making big advances in this area. Apple is playing catch up here, so we're expecting Siri to get a big update in iOS 11.

FaceTime updates

Apple's video chat app FaceTime could be due an update, bringing it more in-line with Google Hangouts and WhatsApp. The upgrades include a rumoured group chat function, allowing more than two people to join a call, and a voice only mode, for when you're on the toilet, or forgot to put your makeup on.

UI and app freshen up

iOS hasn't received a major UI update since iOS 7 back in 2013. So it wouldn't be crazy to expect a few design changes.

Low power mode tweaks

Apple's low power mode could receive a tweak, with more customisations options and a intelligent setting, which learns your habit and switches to power saving automatically. 

Send money to friends with Apple Pay

Sending money to your mates is set to become a lot easier (if they have an iPhone that is), with this rumoured update to Apple Pay. Peer-to-peer payment will let you send cash directly from your digital wallet to a contact.

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iOS 10.3.2 beta 5 has also been released for public beta testers

Apple released fifth beta of an upcoming iOS 10.3.2 update to developers on 27 april, just a few days after releasing the fourth iOS 10.3.2 beta and a little over a month after introducing iOS 10.3, which included features like a new Find My AirPods feature and Apple File System. Apple also released a minor iOS 10.3.1 update in early April, which focused on security improvements. 

Registered developers can download the fifth iOS 10.3.2 beta from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed. 

Apple doesn't provide detailed release notes for its beta updates, so we don't yet know what features, improvements, or bug fixes might be coming in iOS 10.3.2. 

As a minor 10.x.x update, we can expect iOS 10.3.2 to offer bug fixes and performance improvements rather than outward-facing features. No notable changes were found in the first four betas.

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Apple iOS 10.3.1

In 2 months apple has issue 7 beta testing iOS 10.3, but 7 days later apple has issued 10.3.1. It is dedicated to bug fixes and security patches.

Who Is iOS 10.3.1 For?

iOs 10.3.1 works on all iOS 10 compatible devices. You can manually trigger the update to iOS 10.3.1 by going to Settings > General > Software Update, but you should be notified automatically.

iOS 10.3.1 has one of the smallest file sizes in recent iOS history coming in at well under 30MB

Jailbreakers, you know the drill: iOS 10.3.1 will break any jailbroken devices. So if you’re passionate about the additional control jailbreaking provides, you’ll have to stay away.

Elsewhere Apple’s official Support Communities website has isolated reports of upgraders suffering Touch ID failures, emails not downloading and that iOS 10.3.1 doesn’t address the 5GHz WiFi bug some users have been experiencing for some time now. But nothing has significant traction at this point.

What Do You Get?

Apple iOS 10.3.1 is a ‘minor point upgrade’ which means no new features. In fact Apple didn’t even include its customary release notes with this upgrade, only going so far as to say: “iOS 10.3.1 includes bug fixes and improves the security of your iPhone or iPad.”

More information can be read from Apple’s iOS 10.3.1 security page, however, which explains a fix for a serious WiFi exploit which could enable a hacker to take control of your phone by executing arbitrary code.

In addition to this AppleInsider notes that iOS 10.3 was pulled shortly after release for iPhone 5 and iPhone 5C handsets, and did not reappear. But given iOS 10.3.1 works well on both devices it appears that whatever the problem was has been addressed. Don’t expect iOS support to continue much longer for these 32-bit iPhones though, as iOS is moving towards a 64-bit only future.

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iOS 10.3 update could result in you losing all of your data if you do not perform a back up

As iOS 10.3 is promising to deliver you new updates, but one update can devastate users who don't back up their data and files to cloud. Because it is replacing 29 year old file system known as HFS+ with its new file system.

Your iOS update will automatically convert to the new Apple File System (APFS), but if something goes wrong during the process, your old files could disappear for good because the two file systems are not compatible.

But you will be able to get old version of iOS, this will require you to reformat your drive, which will delete all of your files on your device, hence the need for the backup.

So before updating your device backup your data and files to cloud. Follow these simple steps to backup.

BACK UP WITH ICLOUD

1. Connect your device to a Wi-Fi network.

2. Goto Settings, goto iCloud.

3. Then goto Backup, and make sure that iCloud Backup is turned on.

4. Press Back Up Now.

You can also backup with ITUNES, just follow these simple steps

HOW TO BACK UP WITH ITUNES

1. Open iTunes and connect your device to your computer.

2. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod when it appears in iTunes.

3. Now press Back Up

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Siri’s Not Even the Best iPhone Assistant Anymore

APPLE’S SIRI MAY not be the most capable voice assistant, or the most beloved. In the race to dominate the next generation of interfaces, though, Siri had one key advantage: a cushy home on hundreds of millions of iPhones. Now, however, Amazon has snuck Alexa onto iOS—making this look more and more like a blowout.

What makes Alexa on iOS so intriguing isn’t just that it’s there, but where. There was already an Alexa app, a rudimentary utility that let users fiddle with the settings on their Amazon Echoes. And there have been a handful of third-party paid apps that brought some Alexa voice functionality to the iPhone. Now, though, Alexa will live inside the main iOS Amazon app, one of the most popular downloads in the entire App Store.

That puts iPhone and iPad owners just two taps away—one to open the Amazon app, the next to activate the microphone—from a voice assistant that doesn’t just rival Siri, but surpasses it in significant ways. Alexa’s popularity should already be giving Apple fits. Now it’s coming from inside the phone.

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iOS 10.3 tells you when it's time to delete an app

It is safe to say we all have a few apps installed on our iOS devices that haven't received an update in a very long time. These apps can be problematic, as they slow down your device or clash with the latest version of iOS.

When apps aren't updated to keep up with the core changes to iOS, they are often buggy and don't work as expected. In some situations, such as the app installed on my iPhone (see screenshot below), I don't have a choice. If I want to update the software on my speaker, I need to use the outdated app. In other instances, such as a Twitter or email app, the App Store is full of alternatives that are kept current.

Starting with iOS 10.3, there's a quick way to see which apps installed on your iOS device have all but been abandoned.

On your iOS device open Settings > General > About > Applications. You may have to wait for the About screen to finish loading device storage and counting photos before Applications turns into a button. You will know it's selectable thanks to the ">" next to the number of apps you have installed.

A list of apps that are outdated and could potentially slow down or run into issues on your device will show up. Tap on each app to check for updates.

If no update is available, or the app is no longer available, Apple directs you to contact the developer.

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iOS 11 Screenshot Alert - Rumoured update causes mass panic from iPhone owners

The US technology giant has already revealed its yearly developers conference will take place in San Jose from June 5th.

Little is know about what Apple has in store but there's likely to be plenty of exciting new iPhone, iPad and Mac features revealed during the keynote.

However, one possible update doesn't appear to have gone down well with many Apple users.

A rumoured Screenshot Alert has appeared on the web with many iPhone fans seemingly angered by the idea.

It's thought Screenshot Alert could tell users when a friend or colleague has taken a picture of an iMessage chat.

Since the rumour appeared, Twitter has gone into meltdown with some iPhone fans threatening to quit the platform if Screenshot Alert becomes a reality.

One user posted a message on social media saying: "If iOS 11 really goes ahead with screenshot alerts than i'm officially DONE iphones."

And another Apple fan added: "If iOS 11 going to have screenshot notifications for iMessage i'm switching to Android."

There's no official word if Apple will introduce this feature in its next operating system but some services, including Snapchat, already offer alerts.

Last year a similar rumour about Instagram sent users into a frenzy.

Panic began after reports emerged that users would be notified when a screen shot was taken of any of their photos. 

The new notifications were thought to have been added during an update in November 2016.

However, Instagram quickly confirmed that the notifications are only sent if a screen shot is taken of a disappearing photo or video, sent directly to another user.

Other Instagram users will still not be notified if a person simply takes a screen shot of a photo on their profile or of an Instagram Story.

During last year's developer conference Apple announced iOS 10 which included a host of improvements.

iOS 10 rolled-out last September with changes to Messages, Maps and Apple Music all included in the update.

Apple is also set to release a new version of iOS 10 which will launch in the coming weeks.

iOS 10.3 will include a new Find my AirPods feature for tracking down Apple's new headphones and updates to Siri.

In iOS 10.3, Siri now gets cricket scores and stats for Indian Premier League and International Cricket Council

This means you can ask questions such as "What are the 2016 IPL rankings?" or "When is the next Cricket match?" and get a response.

Other new features coming in iOS 10.3 include new app animations which now have more rounded edges when they open and close.

And a new iCloud section gives iPhone and iPad users a graphical view of how storage is being used.

Maps also gets a refresh and now includes an option to 3D Touch on the weather icon which will then show local forecasts for your area.

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