iOS 11: 5 new features you need to be excited about

Apple, at the keynote event of its annual developers conference on June 5, unveiled the iOS 11. The 11th major release from Apple's mobile OS family will look to better the successes of its predecessor, which, according to CEO Tim Cook, enjoys the support of more than 96 per cent of its user base.

It is also being touted as the biggest software release ever for iPad.

The OS, which will power devices like the iPhone, iPad and the iPod for now, is in the Developer Beta Preview stage and will be available later this year as a free software update for iPhone 5s and later, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation, iPad mini 2 and later and the iPod touch 6th generation.

Here's are five major features that the iOS 11 will bring with it.

Hello Siri

Apple's virtual assistant Siri has been given a makeover with iOS 11. Apple claims that with iOS 11, Siri will be smarter than before. Backed by improvements in machine learning and artificial intelligence, Siri will now be able to use new male and female voices that adjust pitch and tempo while speaking to provide the user a more natural experience. 

Siri will also be able to translate English words and phrases into different languages.

ARKit

WWDC 2017 *expansion* saw Apple follow the growing trend of making Augmented/ Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technology-related announcements. With Google and Microsoft already making their moves, Tim Cook's team has also jumped into the fray to conquer this next frontier in the tech industry.

However, unlike its competition, Apple is not taking the additional hardware route but has rather planned a highly optimised OS to bring about an AR revolution. 

Instead of showing off an app, Apple showed the ARKit — the company's set of tools for developers to add augmented reality elements to new or existing apps.

The platform is being claimed by Apple as the "largest AR platform in the world" and is similar to Facebook's take on the technology, which hopes to use the high-end specs available on mobile phones to help make AR mainstream.

The new iMessagae

iOS 11 brings along with it a revamped iMessage application. The new version will bring nifty additions like synchronising messages across devices, and also feature a new toolbar for emoji and stickers within iMessage. Another functionality added to the iMessage app is the addition of Apple Pay as an app to iMessage.

With this, users can now make payments directly fro the iMessage app.

Updates to the Camera and Photos app 

The camera software in iOS 11 has also been reworked to improve its performance. The new camera app will use the new HEVC format compression for captured videos and pictures to offer the same image quality at almost half the size on the user's device.

Apple also announced that Portrait Mode on in the new app will be able to take use HDR mode and OIS to render images with better exposure and colours. Both of these additions should make Portrait Mode work much better in low-light conditions. 

The Photos App will also gain the functionality to create memory movies based on the photos of your friends. 

UI changes to the control centre

The company is also making changes to the UI, with the Control Centre being given a sleek and much cleaner look. The design will see all elements fitting on a single page with slider and key functions. 

It will also use 3D Touch to access more specific controls.

Also read - iPhone 8 may release faster, but will cost a bomb