New real-world features we'd like to see for iOS 13
It's that time of year again when Apple gives folks a sneak peek at new features for the iPhone and iPad. The company does it every June at the Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) a forum to hype up app makers on new tools they could use in their apps.
We'll be in attendance Monday morning in San Jose, as usual, to keep you up on the latest on what's expected to be called iOS 13, the software that runs the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The event starts at 10 a.m. PT and will be live-streamed at Apple.com. (Pro tip: you can watch, but only via the Safari browser on your computer, iPhone or iPad.)
What's cool about the iOS updates is that they are designed to sell new iPhones, but also to upgrade more recent iPhone and iPad models with new free software, turning them effectively into new devices.
As always, we have plenty of ideas, helped by our friends in social media, about new features we'd like to see in iOS 13. And we're not shy about sharing them with you.
But before we do, can you name your favorite new feature from last year's iOS 12 upgrade, beyond the general performance speedup and bug fixes? I'm guessing the answer is no, so let me give you a quick general refresher. The highlights were the ability to make group video chats on FaceTime, the ScreenTime feature that tracks how many minutes or hours you've been spending on your device and improved photo search tools.
With that said, here are some of the real world enhancements we'd really like to see in the upgrade.
You can forget about even better speed and performance as later iPhones are doing great there. (And besides, you know Apple will tell you iOS and the new devices are faster and more powerful, so that's a given.)
But here's what I want:
—Better battery management. I don't need the extra power but could really make do with extra juice. If there is any software trick out there to give me an all-day battery, please, enlighten us Apple.
—Cancel subscription tools that aren't hidden. The rising gravy train has ended for Apple with iPhone sales, and the company is trying to make up the difference by focusing on Services, more ways to get you to subscribe to music, news, cloud storage and the like. That's fine, but since it's so easy to get in and subscribe, how about one really simple way to find the button to UNSUBSCRIBE? That's a software upgrade users would really welcome. For instance, if you want to stop subscribing to Apple Music, you need, by my estimation, eight clicks hidden in settings to stop subscribing. I have a novel idea: How about one consumer-friendly click?
—Better delete tools when you're out of room. We've all gotten the nag message that our phones have run out of room. So now what? Delete every photo and video, one by one? Hunt and peck to find the downloaded podcasts and kill them? How about a stronger management tool, similar to a hard drive hierarchy, that lets us find the media and see the progress as we delete?
(c)2019 U.S. Today
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
