iOS 10 release date, news, features and beta
Update: iOS 10 is being readied with new features on Monday in beta form. Its WWDC-timed launch is likely to include new Siri smarts and tweaks to Photos, HomeKit, Apple Pay and Music.
Apple’s iOS 10 update for iPhone and iPad is the milestone software version that’s almost certainly going to launch on Monday at WWDC 2016.
Downloading the iOS 10 beta on June 13 and the final release three months later is now so routine, it’s no longer a big scheduling surprise. But where Apple takes the mobile operating system is still a mystery.
We’re just now reporting on the first iOS 10 update rumors, including new interface and app features that haven’t been pushed out to your iPhone 6S and iPad Pro 12.9 as part of iOS 9.3.
Apple is preparing the redesigned iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, according to the latest leaks, and that means the interface may take on a few surprises. Here’s what we’ve heard in the news.
iOS 10 release date
Apple is testing iOS 10 right now, meaning it’s on track for another June release date at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference event, WWDC 2016.
Siri let us know that the keynote date is Monday, June 13. That’s when official iOS 10 announcement will happen with an introduction by Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering.
The iOS 10 beta should be available to developers immediately, while a public beta is likely to launch in July, just as it did with iOS 9. After all, last year’s public beta was a big success for Apple judging from the smoother sailing of iOS 9, and it continues to be a surprise with new iOS 9.3 features.
If you decide to wait for the final version of iOS 10, it’ll take a while longer due to additional bug testing by developers and faithful Apple fans trying out the beta. A stable version of iOS 10 should launch alongside the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in September.
iOS 10 beta
The iOS 10 beta should be back given the initial rousing success of the iOS 9 beta to squash software glitches. That means you can anticipate three ways to download the operating system update once iOS 10 becomes available.
Apple Developer Program members will be the first to install iOS 10, likely in mid-June. That requires enrolling in the official developer program and paying a fee of $100 (about £69, AU$140).
Since everyone wants everything for free these days, you can wait a few weeks, typically in July, to test out iOS 10 early via the public beta. It requires jumping through some hoops on Apple’s website, but registration takes no more than a few minutes of your time.
The iOS 9 beta program was more unfinished than it was buggy. I counted just a few missing features, not glitches, so it wasn’t a hassle to download a year ago. And it was free and an over-the-air update, so it’s a friendly middle ground if you want to try iOS 10 before almost most everyone else.
iOS 10 compatibility
Amazingly, iOS 9 didn’t cut anyone out of the mix when the update rolled out to devices in September. The iPhone 4S and iPad 2 still work with the latest operating system update.
That may not happen again given the simple fact that iOS 10 may require more than 512MB of RAM.
We really thought both of these devices would be axed when the iOS 9 update became available. Because these Apple gadgets are going to be five years old by the time iOS 10 comes out, we think it’s time to put the still-clinging-to-life 30-pin dock-equipped phone and tablet to rest.
Expect the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, and the bigger iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 6 Plus to handle iOS 10 without a hitch. Add the newer iPhone SE to the phone roster, too.
Same goes for the iPad Pro 9.7 and 12.9, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2 and maybe even the original iPad mini. Also, not to be forgotten, the iPod Touch 6th gen should be fine.
Siri and voicemails
When it comes to iOS 10 features, we fully expect Apple to improve Siri simply because this happens every year. This time, Siri may become your true personal assistant by handling your voicemails.
The became the first big iOS 10 rumor: Siri can tell a caller why you can’t pick up the phone and even transcribe voicemail messages so you can read them on the go or in loud venues.
The Siri voicemail service is reportedly part of something called iCloud Voicemail, and it’s supposed to be an enhancement of the standard digital audio recorder.
Apple isn’t launching a mobile network of its own like Google’s Project Fi, at least not yet. However, this feature, if it’s a part of iOS 10, means that the company is one step closer to doing just that.
Siri third-party apps
That’s not everything we may see from Siri. Apple’s personal assistant for iOS users is likely to become entrenched in your home as a competitor to Amazon Echo and forthcoming Google Home speakers.
To do this, however, the normally-closed-off company needs to open up Siri so that more third-party apps will be able to use the capabilities. Amazon’s Alexa assistant can easily call up an Uber, for example.
The latest rumors indicate that there’s a Siri SDK that will debut at Apple’s WWDC keynote on June 13, and there’s a chance it could come with new speaker hardware (though that’s less certain).
That’s certainly going to impact iOS 10, as an enhanced Siri used by third-party apps will jumpstart the amount of things Apple users can do after saying “Hey Siri.”
Peer-to-peer Apple Pay payments
Apple Pay is continuing to expand to new countries, but what’s missing from your iPhone’s digital wallet is the ability to directly send people payments. So far it’s just between you and an NFC cash registers.
You can’t treat Apple Pay as if it were PayPal just yet, but that may change with the new iOS 10 update, according to the longest-running rumors about the operating system.
Apple is said to be challenging the popular Venmo mobile payments app with the same ability: to send money between iOS devices. You may have to pay your Android friends back with real money, though.
That’s still good news for iOS users who want Apple Pay to become more useful. Samsung Pay is poised to encroach on the Cupertino company’s territory, and new features is the best way counteract that.
Apple HomeKit
Your home is about to become smarter thanks to all of your household tech coming together to live under one roof: your iOS 10 device.
Apple’s Home app will transform for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV into remotes for smart bulbs, door locks, thermostats, door bells and all sorts of gadgets that fall into the Internet of Things classification.
Right now, this smart home technology is extremely scattered. It’s going to take a company like Apple to bring it together.
You may recall that the developer-focused HomeKit is a year-and-a-half old, but iOS 10 is expected to make it into a front-facing feature for users with a new Apple Home app.
Apple Music redesign
Apple Music will celebrate its one-year anniversary at WWDC 2016 with a sudden aging-rockstar facelift. Yes, the new streaming service is already in for a retooling of its user interface.
It’s no surprise. There’s a confusing rift between Apple Music streaming and iTunes music downloading, and that clunky design was cited as the main issue in our review.
Just don’t anticipate Apple Music Connect to play a prominent role. The underutilized tab, meant to let artists share photos, videos and demo tracks with fans, didn’t live up to its “connect” label, is in for a demotion.
Make 3D touch relevant
3D Touch made its debut with the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, and at first it was a little underwhelming. More apps now use it, but it could still stand to have a better reason to exist.
Control Center is exactly where this Force Touch-like technology should head next. Pressing the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on-screen button should pop up the respective settings menus in a overlay window.
Apple has done such a good job over the years by sliding opaque menus into view without requiring you to exit apps. These Control Center buttons should follow the very same principle.
There are also rumors that Apple may get rid of the home button with an on-screen button (sort of like on some Androids) that uses 3D Touch. It’s not a popular theory among all, but it may happen one day.
Customizable Control Center
While 3D Touch would go nicely with Control Center, it’d also be clever to have the entire menu overlay become customizable. Right now, everything’s set in stone by Apple.
Instead of forcing everyone to have the Clock icon be a shortcut to the time, why can’t I make that go to the stopwatch? Why can’t the calculator icon be swapped out for a Photos shortcut?
These are some of the requests we’ve been hearing from Apple users since Control Center made its debut in iOS 7 back in 2013. It’s about time Apple put them into action.
Apple News in the forefront
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with Apple News. The Flipboard-like app works well and has some of my favorite publications, but the app is too far removed. I hardly ever tap into it.
A better move would be to expand its presence in the leftmost menu. Yes, this is something that Samsung has done with its phone and tablets with Flipboard, but I’ve come to appreciate it.
Otherwise, tucking the entire Apple News interface into its own app silos it from the rest of the operating system without the pizzaz it really deserves.
Volume controls
There’s nothing more annoying than turning down the volume, tapping on a YouTube video during the middle of the night and hearing it still blare out my iPhone’s mono speaker.
Media controls are different from notification controls, it turns out, and there’s no easy way to turn down the volume on a video without starting it up first. That’s annoying.
Many Android phone manufacturers have cleverly split up the volume control into two or three groups, and it doesn’t look messy with a dropdown for more options beyond the main volume.
With iOS 10, Apple needs to catch up with the times on volume controls, as the iPhone and iPad rocker doesn’t exactly rock with limited and often confusing options.
Cache and orientation bugs
There are bugs and limitations to the iPhone and iPad that could be resolved with the iOS 10 update. Namely, caching and orientation flaws trip me up on a daily basis.
I’d like to be able to minimize an app without having it reset (read: Instagram) when I open it back up later on after having opened a couple of other apps in the interm. Memory seems to be the issue.
I’d also like iOS 10 to address the flaw in which screen orientation flips too easily into landscape mode when unlocking the phone. It seems to be a bigger problem on my iPhone 6S. Its size is already unwieldy enough, and oddly, this doesn’t happen on the smaller iPhone 6.
Multi-user support
Apple did a really nice job upgrading iOS 9 for its iPad line. Split Screen multitasking and better Bluetooth keyboard support made a big difference.
However, Apple still hasn’t given its fanbase multi-user support. This is something that Android tablets have had for a while and it’s sorely missing on Apple devices. iOS 10 could be the time to do it.
In fact, the infrastructure for multi-user login support has launched ahead of iOS 10. It turns out that iOS 9.3 includes new education features for multiple student-logins for classrooms. That’s a good sign.
Given that iPad Pro just came out in the last few months, and it’s way more than a personal device, a lot of businesses and artist-filled studios might buy into the supersized idea if this could happen.
Apple did introduce multi-user support for students in iOS 9.3 thanks to a new set of education features. It could easily expand the idea with iOS 10 at WWDC.
iOS 10 Touch ID
Touch ID works really well. It’s faster than ever on the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, and it’s really accurate. Maybe not as fast at the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, but is it still too quick for its own good?
That’s what I’ve been hearing from users of Apple’s new smartphones. They habitually light up their phones with the home button, only to have their notifications vanish.
iOS 9 made notifications easier to view in the pulldown menu by sorting them in chronological order (not by group), but an easier way to wake the phone may be in order.
LG and HTC use an ingenious double tap the screen to wake method that makes the entire display a big button. That would solve this problem for Apple, and we’re looking for hints of that in iOS 10 in advance of the iPhone 7 launch.
More iOS 10 updates to come
This isn’t the last word on the iOS 10 update. Apple’s still until Monday to unveil the software, and three months after that to finalize everything. What we’ve heard so far is just rumors.
That gives us a little more time to hunt down official news and slightly less official leaks about the iPhone and iPad mobile operating system update.
The iOS 10 release date seems like the easy part: likely June 13 for the developer beta, July for the public beta and September with the iPhone 7 for the final launch.
iOS 10 features, on the other hand, remain a mystery with the exception of the solid-sounding Siri voicemail lead. There’s definitely more to come ahead of Monday’s WWDC 2016 at 10:00am Pacific time.
Source: techradar.com
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Well no, I wasn't trying to debate, I'm just saying that, unfortunately, one of the biggest consequences when buying a product with outdated tech in it is… it has a rather short life.
In the case of the A6… once the A7 was announced with its 64-bit architecture, and once devices like the iPad mini 2 ended up skipping it and went straight to A7… we kind of knew that the A6 was doomed to have a short lifespan.
Personally, I'm excited about the idea of this iOS only supporting 64-bit devices. It means they can potentially do a lot more without having to cater to older legacy devices. Also, we could get some new visual tweaks to iOS 10 as well, given that we're letting go of the non-Retina iPads, so I imagine we'll see things like more apps being displayed on the home screens of the iPads (especially that 12.9 inch iPad Pro). iOS 10 will be entirely Retina-only.
…I concur. There's nothing wrong with live widgets. I used them heavily when I was with Android. And miss them from time to time. Or at least the option to have all my apps in a drawer, and only have on the main screen what I use mostly. Apple better get it right this year. I'm already researching Android devices.
they r probably afraid of getting sued by android and windows alot of the fans would say "apple copied android or windows" Yes apple would have copied android also it will stop looking like an iPhone and start to look like an android phonier windows phone
some people who care about look would say "that S just looks like last year iPhone" thats some reason why people keep buying that iPhone without S.
I agree with you, u can update ur iDevice 1 or 2 iOS almost without problem, if u upgrade to the 3rd or more dont expect the performence, even I manage to downgrade my 4s to iOS 6 and i think aside from the apps support i dont have problem with it
live tiles and screen widgets do nothing more than waste battery. Something Apple seems to never upgrade with their newest phone.
Any bets the battery won't increase and that they'll keep a 16 GB version?
shhhhh stop talking actual sense….you'll confuse the A-hole…everyone knows you shouldnt confuse an A-hole.
I have iPhone 6 which I think is has the least hardware upgrads from its Predecessor iphone 5s among that of all other iphones with their corresponding Predecessor. it is technically just an iphone 5s with bigger screen and 20 percent more powerful cpu which actually just compensate for the bigger screen resolution. both phones have only 1Gb ram. And yes they have technically the same performance. at least in my experience while I have had both of them. when iOS 10 is released i'll make sure not installing it on my out dated iphone 6 unless I want an iphone4s-ios9 experience. my advice to all apple fans never buy a non-s iphone like me or you'll be screwed.
You have to toggle the volume switch ability in the settings, which takes away the ability to use the controls for alerts or ringers. In the "on" position, you have to wait for a video to start, to manipulate the volume. With that switch "off", in the settings, you can use the controls (volume up/down switch) to manipulate media volume anywhere in the phone. But you lose the ability to quickly manipulate ringer/alert functions. Either way… It's too many steps. Now if I want to turn the ringer down halfway… I have to return to the settings and manipulate the volume there. It's not really a big deal but, it should be an option, seeing as though it's so simple.
There's an app for that…lol
Just get you an Android phone. Sounds like you're not happy with what Apple offers.
Wait what?
The iPhone 5, this year, turns 4 years old. It was released with iOS 6, not iOS 7. It was the iPhone 5S that was preloaded with iOS 7, and given that Apple still sells the A7-based iPad mini 2, the 5S will undoubtedly stick around.
Apple stopped selling the iPhone 5 once iOS 7 was released. They replaced the iPhone 5 with the plastic iPhone 5C, which was essentially the same phone, but $100 cheaper. The iPhone 5C, this year, will turn 3 years old… so I still don't know where you're getting the "less than 2 years old" figure from.
It is true that those who purchased the 5C would see only 3 operating systems, but that's on them for choosing what was essentially a one-year-old phone packaged in plastic sold at a more budget price.
That's like those who bought an iPhone 5S instead of an iPhone 6, and then complaining their phones got less lifetime support. No, you chose to get the outdated model rather than the most up-to-date one, this is the consequence.
"oddly, this doesn't happen on the smaller iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S." That's because only the Plus has landscape.
That's too many steps. Unlock Phone> Find Settings> Tap Sounds> Toggle "Change wButtons (to off position). You'd have to do this every time you wanted to have the ability to manipulate just the volume. Which in the off position, allows you to turn volume down before starting a video. Or, use the volume switches for the ringer or alerts, putting the switch in the "on" position. Put all 3 volumes in a drop or pull up drawer (Ringer, Alerts, Media). Simple…
You would be right if it were just a RAM issue, but the way Apple goes about iOS support is based on what they currently sell.
Example: iOS 6 still supported the iPhone 3GS, because at the time they unveiled it, the 3GS was still being sold. This broke the "pattern," as many expected the 3GS to be dropped… but the 3GS was unique at the time because Apple had continued to sell it as a "free" device. Anyone who bought this "free" phone would get screwed over if they found out their device was getting dropped in the fall. (The first iPad was dropped with iOS 6, as it wasn't sold anymore, despite having an A4 chip which was superior to the 3GS… but it also had a mere 256MB of RAM. The 3GS also had this, but 256MB of RAM is more tolerable on a 480×320 display than a 1024×768 one)
iOS 7 supported the iPhone 4 for this very reason as well. RIGHT before the iOS 7 unveiling, Apple quietly dropped the 4th gen iPod Touch they were currently selling to make way for a low-cost 5th gen 16GB iPod Touch that lacked the iSight camera, so that they could unveil iOS 7 and proudly be able to state that EVERY device they currently sold at the time would be supported with iOS 7.
iOS 8: Apple dropped the iPhone 4 and basically required all A5 devices and later.
iOS 9: Apple supported all the iOS 8 devices, which seemed unusual, again, breaking a "pattern." But, in 2014, Apple CONTINUED to sell the original iPad mini and the 5th gen iPod Touch… this kept the A5 chip in the lineup an extra year. So… Apple had to support them yet another year.
Having looked at all of that, let's look at the current lineup of devices.
The oldest iOS device that Apple sells is the iPad mini 2 with an A7 chip and 1GB of RAM. They stopped selling the iPhone 5C (essentially an iPhone 5), and recently stopped selling the 5S in favor of the iPhone SE. (Apple will undoubtedly still support the 5S and the iPad Air because of the iPad mini 2 sticking around)
After WWDC last year, Apple quietly discontinued the original iPad mini, leaving the iPad lineup (and iOS lineup in general) all-Retina. They later replaced the 5th gen iPod Touch with a long overdue 6th generation version with an A8 chip and 1GB of RAM. With this, they completely got rid of the A5 devices, and with the introduction of the iPhone 6S, that pushed the iPhone 5C out, and thus they've gotten rid of all the A6 devices as well.
So now the current lineup is A7 and later. They have absolutely no reason to continue supporting the 3rd and 4th iPads, nor the iPhone 5(C).
iOS 10 will support:
iPhone 5S and later
iPad Air and later
iPad mini 2 and later
iPad Pro
iPod touch 6th gen
If iOS10 requires 64-bit it'll be as simple as that. Would be pretty frustrating for someone who has a less-than-2yo iPhone 5c that was released with iOS7, meaning it only got to see 3 operating systems in its lifetime. Not that Apple hasn't shut out its own customers before, like the unfortunate buyers of $2k+ PowerMac G5's that were only supported through 2 operating systems, albeit on a longer 2 year cycle. Those people must have been ripsh*t!
That's cool. Personally I think it comes down to whether it's 64 bit only or not that will determine everything. The 5 and 5c were kind of crappy to begin with (I still have a lowly 5), so I selfishly hope to be included in iOS10 but would completely understand if Apple wants to leave us in the past for a brighter future
It's a much less bitter pill for me with the older 5 that I bought second hand than a young person who bought a colourful new 5c with 8GB of storage as their first Apple product. At least we'll have the answer in a couple of weeks.
Actually its quite simple you change the change with buttons to off and then volume is controlled with the rocker, and if you need to change your notification volume you use the mute switch on the side of the phone! Whats so complicated about that?
Is Apple ever going to remove limitations on NFC chip?
would like to see communication inbox similar to blackberry, the ability to see email and check social networks directly on lockscreen. however i doubt those two will happen.
Hate to burst your bubble, but most likely not.
Apple supported the iPhone 4S for as long as they did because they still sold the iPad mini. They no longer sell any A5 NOR A6. Unfortunately, I get the feeling they'll drop: iPad 2, 3, 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPod Touch 5th gen, iPad mini (1st gen).
This is very simple: the ios units with 512mb will no longer be supported. Iphone 4s, ipad 2 and ipad mini will stop at ios 9.
Wouldn't the requirement depend just as much on the 64-bit processor as the RAM? If that's the case, then the 5 and 5c would be cut out, but if it's just the RAM they'll be supported.
Then there's that! Lol!
I don't think it's a RAM issue. iOS 6 didn't support the 3rd generation iPod touch even though it had the same amount of RAM as the iPhone 3GS. It also didn't support the first gen iPad, despite the fact that the first gen iPad only came out two years prior. What's the similarity between these two devices? They were no longer sold by Apple.
RAM DID play a factor in the 4th gen iPod's discontinuation, because it only had 256MB of RAM vs. 512MB. It's also worth noting that the iPhone 4 was MAINLY supported with iOS 7 because Apple still sold it when it was unveiled. Apple very quickly discontinued the 4th gen iPod touch right before WWDC and replaced it with a cheaper, camera-lacking 5th gen iPod touch. So one would think it's a RAM issue, but it had more to do with the fact that they HAD to support it for those who might've purchased an iPhone 4 that same year.
It does have a bit to do with specs, but more to do with whether or not Apple is selling those devices. Right now, Apple no longer sells any devices equipped with the A5 OR A6 chip. In fact, most of their A7 devices are gone thanks to the 9.7 inch iPad Pro and the iPhone SE. They'll undoubtedly still support iPhone 5S because the iPad mini 2 is still being sold. But Apple has NO REASON to continue supporting iPhone 5(C) or the 4th gen iPad. Not a lot of people own them anymore, so pulling the plug with them would make perfect sense and would inconvenience a small amount of people.
Um… volume controls are already controllable separate from notifications, ever gone into the sounds section in the settings?
Yeah I meant "5c", the last of which was sold in 09/15 running iOS7. Thanks for the catch I've updated the post from 5 to 5c.
I'm not really interested in having a debate over what's supposed to be a geeky fun discussion.