Press "Enter" to skip to content

Apple releases iOS 10, brings changes to iPhone

Each fall, Apple releases new software and typically a new phone. This fall was no exception.

In conjunction with the introduction of the iPhone 7, Apple released the iOS 10 software update. The update — available Sept. 13 — includes changes in messaging, design and function of many of the iPhone’s built-in apps.

According to a news release from Apple, the update focuses on messages, a new Home app, an all-new Photos application, Music and News, and opens Siri, Maps, Phone and Messages to developers.

“iOS 10 is our biggest release ever, with delightful new ways to express yourself in,” Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said. “iOS 10 adds Siri intelligence into QuickType and Photos, automates your home with the new Home app and opens up Siri, Maps, Phone and Messages to developers while increasing security and privacy with powerful technologies like Differential Privacy.”

According to Oklahoma Christian University’s chief technology officer, John Hermes, many people critiqued Apple for not coming out with anything new or innovative.

“It’s the little things that matter a lot of times and I think they’ve done a great job about those little touches and providing more opportunity for developers to develop for the phone as well,” Hermes said. “The ability for more and more people to make money by developing apps and features for the iPhone, I think, is one of the biggest opportunities for technology people.”

Sophomore Kristen Gentzler said she thinks the best part of the new update is being able to delete the apps she never uses on her iPhone.

“It allows me to free up space on my phone to fill it with apps I am actually interested in,” Gentzler said. “All of the excessive apps is one thing that always bothered me about the iPhone, and I’m glad that now I have the option to delete them and personalize my phone more than I could before.”

Gentzler also said she enjoys the new features of the messaging app and how it changes the way she communicates with her friends.

“When I text my friends, there are stickers and new emojis I can include in my messages that make texting really interesting,” Gentzler said. “Now, when I’m texting something really exciting, I don’t have to type in all caps. I can just add one of the effects for emphasis.”

Hermes said his favorite feature is the new ‘rise to wake’ function — only available on generation 6s and later — that turns on your phone screen when you pick it up.

“It seems to know the difference between picking it up off your desk and it moving around in your pocket and things like that,” Hermes said. “I haven’t had any battery issues or anything like that, which you might expect.”

Hermes also said he thinks the biggest changes with iOS 10 is the addition of the iPhone to utilize Siri with other developer’s apps.

“They get a little criticism because their iOS can’t go on another device and they’re kind of locked in proprietary,” Hermes said. “But the good thing about that is that they control from start to finish. So, if there’s a problem, there’s only one person to blame, and that’s Apple.”

 

As for the future of the iPhone, Hermes said he thinks there is a chance for the home button to be removed.

“They’re starting to do more of those things with just gestures and movement of the phone,” Hermes said. “I think it will be interesting to see what the future phones will look like.”

During the first few days following the release, individuals experienced issues with “bricking” after updating. According to Oklahoma Christian professor of computer science David North, this problem is happening mostly with iPhones connected to Verizon.

“Every company that releases new software do as much testing as they can,” North said. “They try really hard and it’s a lot of work to make sure the software is going to work well. However, we’ve all been sort of trained and we know that the very first release of something that’s pretty new is likely to have some issues.”

North said users should wait about a week until updating to allow Apple to fix the initial bugs.

“For Apple, because of the popularity of their devices, you know pretty quickly if there’s a serious problem,” North said. “Everybody is always very anxious to get the new feature and functions and see how it works. So I’ll let everybody else be the guinea pigs. After a week or so, you can be pretty confident if it’s going to impact you or not.”

Email this to someonePrint this pageShare on Facebook0Tweet about this on TwitterShare on LinkedIn0

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *