Come Monday, iOS 13 beta is going to introduce changes to your iPhone and iPad, and according to Apple leaks we’ve seen today, it’s going to be a very big update.
iOS 13 Dark Mode is going to be the highlight everyone talks about simply because it’s long overdue. A fresh home screen redesign and new wallpaper are two others. That’s only the beginning of what we think Apple has planned.
The expected iOS 13 features list may give iPad such broad new power it’ll actually feel like a computer, like Apple’s marketing team always claims. Things like stackable app windows, mouse support and becoming a Mac’s second screen are all rumored.
We also expect Apple to launch iOS 12.4 Monday with the Apple Card, but iOS 13 news will overshadow everything else, except maybe a possible Mac Pro 2019 tease.
Here’s every potential iOS 13 feature and change ahead of the beta.
iOS 13 developer beta: The first iOS 13 beta will likely arrive at the WWDC keynote, but it’s going to be restricted to paid Apple developers. You should probably wait for the public beta, which is always more stable.
iOS 13 public beta: This is Apple’s way of testing features on a larger scale, and that may happen toward the end of June – last year the iOS public beta release date was June 25. It’s typically a more refined version of the iOS developer beta, although it can still be rough and never includes all of the features implemented in the final version of the software.
iOS 13 golden master: This will be the final version of the iOS 13 software one week early, meant for developers and public beta testers. At this point it’s very stable and gives app makers seven days to adapt to the final software.
The official iOS 13 release date: We’ll get the new iOS 13 software in its final, stable form about one week after the next iPhone launch event, what we’re calling iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Max and iPhone 11 XR at the moment. The date? Probably mid-September last year it was September 17.
iOS 13 compatibility list
iOS 13 may shed support the oldest still-supported devices: iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini 2
Compatibility would then go as far back as iPhone 6, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPad Air 2
The A8 chipset, in the newly launched iPad Touch 7th gen, might be the base line for most devices (iPad mini 3 excluded)
One rumor says iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPad Air 2, and even the iPhone SE will be axed from the iOS 13 compatibility list, but we think that’s a stretch
Apple just gave us a very strong hint of which devices with be iOS 13 compatible and which will not when it launched a new iPod Touch 7th generation earlier this week.
The working theory has been that the iOS 13 compatibility list will shed the iPhone 5S, iPad Air and iPad mini 2, the oldest devices that are compatible with the last iOS update. If true, iOS 13 would still work with iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Air 2.
New features coming in iOS 13
What can you expect from iOS 13? We’re hopeful that, when it comes to new features, 13 will be a lucky number for iPhone and iPad owners.
Reports indicate that a number of planned features were pushed back from the iOS 12 update to iOS 13. This was so that the firm could implement the stability improvements and bug fixes that were the priority for iOS 12.
In fairly general terms, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has discussed some expected features of what he calls ‘Yukon’, the codename for the 2019 update. He says Files will get a revamp, and there will tabs in apps, two screens of the same app side by side, and updates related to the Apple Pencil.
Most intriguingly, Gurman points to a redesign of the home screen, focused on the iPad. This ties in with an earlier prediction by Axios that “a refresh of the home screen” had been pushed back to 2019.
Here are some more details of the features we’re expecting and hoping for in iOS 13.
Dark Mode
It is official, thanks to screenshots obtained by 9to5Mac – iOS 13 will introduce a Dark Mode for the first time on iPhone.
Citing “people familiar with the development of the operating system”, 9to5Mac says our long nightmare of not having an iPhone Dark Mode is almost over.
The site says you’ll be able to turn on Dark Mode ‘in the Settings app or with an option in Control Center’. A feature that still isn’t universal on Android, it could see Apple integrate it smartly into iOS in one fell swoop.
A standardised undo gesture
Dark Mode is the Holy Grail, but 9to5Mac’s sources don’t stop there. We should also expect a new standardised undo gesture in iOS 13, they say – one that no longer involves physically shaking the device.
The gesture starts, the site predicts, as a three-finger tap on the keyboard area; once you’ve instigated this, “sliding left and right allows the user to undo and redo actions interactively”.
Use your iPad as a second Mac screen
Bloomberg’s May 2019 report points to a new user-friendly option that lets you use your iDevice as a second Mac screen. The site adds that you’ll get “the ability to draw with an Apple Pencil, expand the viewing area, and get Mac notifications”.
No more volume popup
Max Weinbach, a usually Android-focused writer, says Apple is going to remove what he calls the volume HUD (or head-up display, meaning a visualisation which is superimposed over something you were already looking at). He refers to this as Apple “finally fixing their software”, which is quite contentious.
Take a holiday from your alarm
Here’s a simple concept from our wishlist. We’ve seen no evidence that this is coming, but it amazes us that it wasn’t added to iOS a long time ago. (It’s not in vanilla Android either, although a simplified version is available in some custom UIs, such as Xiaomi’s MIUI.)
When an iPhone owner takes time off work, the natural thing is to change the wake and sleep times in Bedtime (or turn it off entirely) so you can have a lie-in. But when you go back to work two weeks later, it’s easy to forget that you need to turn the alarm on again.
What we propose is the option to turn off (or ‘snooze’) Bedtime for a specified period, with a start and stop date. In MIUI you can turn off an alarm for one day and it will come back on again the day after, but for this to apply to holidays you really need to allow longer snoozes of at least a week.
Siri improvements
Siri got some important updates in iOS 12, most notably the new appearance of Siri shortcuts. But after apparently expanding its Siri team (according to a Fortune report there were 161 openings relating to Siri in April) and hiring Google’s former AI boss, we think still more improvements are on the way.
A patent application, for example, indicates that a future update to Siri could offer users a way of personalising the response to a call that can’t be taken.
Currently if the phone rings you can choose to answer or reject it, but in the future it may be possible to automatically send a text message to the caller, explaining the reason for the call being declined. The patent application details an “Intelligent Digital Assistant for Declining an Incoming Call”.
If the user had CarPlay integration in their car, they would be able to see multiple message options, including the details of their location if they were driving home, as shown in the image below.
Snoozing notifications
Bloomberg thinks that there will be new features for snoozing notifications in the next version of iOS.
We hope that there will be more options. Currently we are limited to 5 minutes, an hour, or tomorrow, but how about the option to remind us in a week, or on a particular day or time.
Improved Emoji search
Jeremy Burge, the creator of World Emoji Day, has called for Apple to improve emoji search. In his blog he explains how bad it is currently.
If you were trying to search for the emoji shown below left, for example, and you typed plate or knife into the emoji search bar, you wouldn’t see it as an option, even though it clearly contains those things. You specifically need to search for fork or dinner.
Multiple user accounts
The iPhone might be overwhelmingly a personal device but many iPads are not; some performing a second duty as child pacifier, others being shared with house guests or used by multiple members of staff in retail. And iOS users have been asking for user accounts for years.
New Messages features
A Bloomberg report refers to improvements to Apple’s social features that are designed to “more effectively connect users with their contacts”. Apple wants to offer a means to consolidate communications between users into single panels. For example, two friends could be able to see all text messages, e-mails, and social network interactions between each other in a single window, according to Bloomberg’s source.
We’d like to see support for read receipts in group iMessages – a feature available in WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Smart Wi-Fi
The P9 is one of a number of Huawei phones to offer a feature called Wi-Fi+ (or Wi-Fi+ 2.0). This encompasses a number of elements, such as the prioritisation of stronger connections, but the one we like best is its ability to automatically turn Wi-Fi on or off depending on your location. It remembers the location of known networks and activates in order to join them, but when you leave the area it turns Wi-Fi off to save battery.
Given the iPhones’ recent difficulty competing on battery life with the top-end Android devices, something along these lines would be a fine addition to iOS 13.
Ability to change video resolution in-app
All currently available iPhones can record video in full 4K resolution at 30fps, as well as the standard 1080p at 60fps or 30fps. The only issue we have is that there is no easy way to change between the resolutions from within the Camera app, and we have to exit the app, head to Settings > Camera to be able to change it.
Certain situations, such as filming in low light, require a lower frame rate (fewer frames = more light captured) and changing it manually takes around 10-15 seconds, which isn’t ideal. We would love a way to quickly change the resolution and frame rate, possibly by tapping an icon in the Camera app. It’s a simple change to make and would be largely appreciated by those that like to capture video on their iPhones.
While we’re on the subject of photography, it would be nice if Apple allowed us to take and store photos in RAW format.
View Favourites in Contacts app
Another fairly simple change we’d like to see made in iOS 13 is the ability to view and edit the list of favourites, currently only found in the Phone app. It makes sense to be able to access your favourite contacts from within the Contacts app, and we’re not quite sure why Apple hasn’t yet added this functionality. Sometimes we want easy access to our contacts for other reasons, not just for calling!
Contact Availability Status
Apple has filed a patent that could be summarised as a system that detects where your friends are, and whether they’re available and the operating status of their iPhone (such as silent or Airplane mode), and presents that information in the Contacts app.
The patent shows that Apple is considering a new feature that would enable iPhone users to view at a glance whether their contacts are available for a conversation, and where they are.
The abstract of the patent reads:
“A command is received at an operating system of a first mobile phone for displaying the contact information of a remote user having a mobile phone number of a second mobile phone. In response to the command, a request is transmitted to a remote server from the first mobile phone over a cellular network requesting an operating status of the second mobile phone.
“The operating status of the second mobile phone is received from the remote server over the cellular network. The operating status of the second mobile phone is displayed on a display of the first mobile phone as a part of contact information of the remote user associated with the second mobile phone, where the operating status includes current locality of the second mobile phone.”
Which sounds complicated, but can be further summarised as a system that detects where your friends are, and whether they’re available and the operating status of their iPhone (such as silent or Airplane mode), and presents that information in the Contacts app. If you’re thinking that has the whiff of surveillance about it – well, it does, but only to the same extent as Find My Friends, and it would presumably be optional for both parties.
Finger-detecting dynamic keyboard
Apple has been granted a patent covering dynamic keyboard positioning on touchscreens, whereby the individual keys are placed in response to the detected position of the user’s fingertips.
Swipe keyboard
Bloomberg (citing “people familiar with the plans”) reports that Apple is testing a new keyboard configuration for iOS 13. This will, the site claims, allow users “to swipe across letters on the keyboard in one motion to type out words”. It sounds a lot like SwiftKey, but would be a great option to have as standard.
Slide to unlock
Does that sound familiar? It should, because it was the way we unlocked iPhones and iPads in iOS 9 and every previous version of iOS and iPhone OS.
Merging of macOS and iOS
Will iOS 13 have mouse support? We sincerely doubt it. But the merger of macOS and iOS is likely to move a little closer with this year’s software updates.
You might for example be able to run macOS apps on the iPad and vice versa when it launches in the autumn. At least that’s Apple’s plan, according to reports from Axios and others.
Back in December 2017 Bloomberg wrote that Apple plans to combine iPhone, iPad and Mac apps as part of a secret project codenamed ‘Marzipan’.
Bloomberg’s sources said: “Developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it’s running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac.”
However, a report from Daring Fireball at the end of April 2018 predicted instead that this project will be held back until 2019. John Gruber, basing his comments on “a few things, from first- and second-hand sources. Mostly second-hand, to be honest”, said he is “nearly certain this project is not debuting at WWDC 2018 in June, and [doubts] that 2018 was on the table in December. It’s a 2019 thing, for macOS 10.15 and iOS 13.”
In any case, Apple CEO Tim Cook has quashed the rumours that Apple is planing to unify macOS with iOS, restating his belief that mobile devices and computers should remain separate with their own operating systems.
Just remember, the final version of iOS 13, likely in September with an iPhone 11 launch event, could include additional hardware-specific features, adding to the change list.
