The Next-Generation Operating System For Apple Watch

Apple says this isn’t just another annual update, as it brings more than the usual performance improvements. There are also new FaceTime features, tools to reduce distractions, a new notification method, improved privacy and more. If your device runs iOS, you’ll want to know what to expect in iOS.

Operating system for apple watch

Redesigned notifications

Apple completely redesigned the appearance of notifications in iOS. The notification panel is more modern and allows you to categorize notifications according to your priority. Apple also introduced a brand-new Notification Summary feature that collects and delivers non-urgent notifications.

Focus tool

It filters notifications and apps based on what the user wants to focus on. There are built-in suggestions for user content, such as their working hours and sleep timings. Users can create their own focus plans to display limited notifications and pages on the home screen.

Spotlight

iOS now brings faster and improved Spotlight search. It can now search for photos by location, people, scenes or objects. This means users can now search for photos of handwritten recipes and phone numbers. Apple says Spotlight now displays refined results for actors, musicians, TV shows, movies and more. Users can also use Spotlight to search for web images.

FaceTime

With the new surround sound feature, voices in a FaceTime call sound like they’re coming from where the person is on the screen. Users can now also blur the background and focus on themselves using FaceTime portrait mode. Apple also introduced a new grid view so that more faces can be seen when using Group FaceTime. SharePlay allows users to share experiences during FaceTime calls, including media such as Apple Music tracks, TV shows or movies. Media plays in sync for all participants, and there are shared playback controls so anyone in a SharePlay session can play, pause, or skip content. SharePlay also gives users the ability to share their screen and view apps together in a FaceTime call. SharePlay extends to iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, so users can watch shows or movies on a bigger screen while connected via FaceTime.

New privacy features

Siri requests are now processed exclusively on iPhones with on-device speech recognition. Mail privacy prevents senders from knowing whether an email has been opened. The new App Privacy Report feature provides insight into how apps use the access users have granted them, showing how location, photos, camera, microphone and contacts have been accessed and which domains have been contacted over the past seven days.

Safari

The controls have moved to the bottom of the screen so users can easily operate them with one hand. Apple also introduced a new compact tab bar that floats at the bottom of the screen so users can easily switch between tabs. Safari is also getting a customizable start page and mobile web extensions for the first time.

Conclusion

It is in early beta and is currently available to registered developers. Apple says the public beta will be available this July. After the initial release, users can expect several updates to the iOS public beta until the full version is ready.