Apple’s iOS 11 update is out today, for free, for your iPhone and iPad. In the free system update that adds AR Kit support. This means developers can now release apps into the store, to run on iOS 11 devices that Augment Reality to by layering content on top of the live camera feed, while tracking the phone’s movements and representing the digital content as if its actually sitting or hovering in the real world.
We’ve seen some pretty amazing examples of developers releasing previews of what they’re working on, during the many, many iOS 11 betas. Now the software is out for the public, those apps can be downloaded through the App Store.
The update seems to be different in size for different users, ranging from 1.86GB, right up to 2.04GB and many users (mostly on 16GB devices) complaining they don’t have enough storage for the update to work. If this is the scenario you find yourself in, you’re likely going to have to move photos off the device, or delete your biggest game to free up enough space, its annoying and probably makes you regret not getting the larger storage, but given Apple’s premium on storage upgrades, it is understandable why many don’t.
In terms of other big changes to the platform, Apple are overhauling the UI with changes like the new Dock for iPad. It’s now available from any screen, just swipe up to open and switch apps easily. Like Windows 10, the iPad also gets Split View, allowing you to use 2 applications at once. This makes the iPad more productive, opening up the ability to do things like drag and drop a photo from Photos (left) to the mail app (right).
Siri also gets a much needing improvement with iOS 11. It now learns from you and anticipates what you want and proactively makes suggestions before you ask. In an effort to relax customers about privacy, Apple ensures the feature is encrypted end-to-end, so your personal information remains private.
Apple have also added a Do Not Disturb mode while driving. Once enabled (optional) it’ll automatically reply to people who try to contact you. This is a feature Nokia and others had years ago, but iOS users can now enjoy it.
The list of supported devices for iOS are below.
iPhone
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 5s
iPad
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro
2nd generation - 12.9-inch iPad Pro
1st generation - 10.5-inch iPad Pro
- 9.7-inch iPad Pro
- iPad Air 2
- iPad Air
- iPad
5th generation - iPad mini 4
- iPad mini 3
- iPad mini 2
iPod
- iPod touch
6th generation
Check out more information on iOS 11 at Apple.
