Just in time for the iPhone 11, Apple today released iOS 13 (with a significant update planned later this month, when iOS 13.1 arrives). You should try these improvements first:
Check out Apple Arcade
This won’t do anything to boost your productivity, but it just might be fun.
Apple surprised everyone when it soft-launched the gaming service to iOS 13 beta testers – and feedback so far seems really positive.
Don’t take my word for it: Apple is offering a free trial of its $4.99-a-month service and I think most people upgrading to iOS 13 will want to give it a try. Here’s how to unsubscribe if you don’t like it.
Learn how to Undo
iOS 13/iPad OS introduce a new way to undo text entered on your device or an action. This replaces Shake to Undo, which no one liked or used and should work in any application.
It’s new, you’ll need to learn to use it, so now’s a good time:
- Undo: Swipe right with three fingers on the screen.
- Redo: Swipe left with three fingers on the screen to redo that change.
Turn on Dark Mode
Everyone in the WWDC crowd went nuts when Apple introduced Dark mode. Once you install iOS 13, the easiest way to switch to this mode is to ask Siri to do it for you “Switch on Dark Mode” or “Switch off Dark Mode.” You’ll also find a Dark Mode button in Control Center, and can also press and hold the Brightness control to find yet another way to enable and disable the mode.
Look at your Photos
Apple has done so much work to improve Photos and its camera.
You’ll find the new Photos tab provides even better curated image libraries, pulling collections into months, days and years. Look carefully and you’ll notice how Live Photos play automatically as you scroll through your collections, and you can edit Live Photos non-destructively.
There’s lots of other features, but one I particularly like: Notice how the Photos intelligently zooms to what it thinks is the best part of the image when you are looking at large image previews? That’s built-in machine intelligence figuring out the focus of your shot.
Edit some video
Go to your Photos library and find a video you should have filmed in landscape but shot in portrait.
- Select it, tap Edit and then tap the Crop button.
- Look to the top of the screen and just beside the ellipsis button you’ll see some weird button made up of different rectangles.
- Tap this and you can change your clip between views and aspect ratios – you may need to edit your video a little more for best results.
You’ll find lots more changes in Photos and Camera, not least the ability to edit video like photographs. On your phone.
Take some photos
Now take a Portrait shot. When you do, take a look at the new Lighting intensity tool (the scrolling row underneath the portrait controls). You use this to virtually change light intensity, raise it up to smooth skin and sharpen eyes, or decrease it for a more subtle image. You can now also change the intensity of any adjustment you make on your image.
When using Portrait Mode you’ll also find a new mode called High-Key Light Mono, which takes a picture of the image subject in monochrome against a white background. This is very effective.
Peer at Apple Park
Apple’s new Look Around feature in iOS 13’s Maps lets you look at where you are going and delivers a much smoother experience than Street View. Look Around is only supported in a few parts of the U.S. at present, including the region around Apple Park – but you can look at those areas from wherever you happen to be.
To take a look at Look Around, try this:
- Search for Apple Park in Maps, tap anywhere nearby.
- Tap the binoculars icon you will see in Maps.
- A small image of the location will appear and you can look around the area.
