12 New Features in iOS 11 That Will Make You Want to Update Now

The estimated reading time for this post is 9 minutes

This week Apple released iOS 11, the update to its mobile operating system for iPhone and iPad. This update is packed with features that may make your current device feel like a new one.

Apple gave us a sneak preview of iOS 11 in June at their WWDC developer’s conference. We learned what was coming in September and now it’s here for you to download to your iPhone and iPad.

To learn more about WWDC, see The Apple News You Need to Know from WWDC 2017.

Availability

iOS 11 is free to download now and is available for:

iPhones

• iPhone X (arriving November 3)
• iPhone 8/8 Plus
• iPhone 7/7 Plus
• iPhone 6S/6S Plus
• iPhone 6/6 Plus
• iPhone SE
• iPhone 5S

iPad

• 2017 iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
• 2017 iPad Pro (10.5-inch)
• 2017 iPad (9.7-inch)
• iPad Pro (9.7-inch)
• iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
• iPad mini 4
• iPad mini 3
• iPad mini 2
• iPad Air 2
• iPad Air

iPod Touch

• 6th generation

Warning: You Will Lose Your Older Apps in iOS 11

You may be excited to download iOS 11 right now, but be careful.

As predicted, older apps have become obsolete in iOS 11. If you try to open an older app, you will see this warning sign:

So if you have any older apps you need, do not yet update to iOS 11.

For more information, see Why Your Favorite iPhone Apps May Not Work in a Month.

New Features in iOS 11

iOS 11 has dozens of new helpful features. These are some of the ones you may find most useful.

Control Your Control Center

Control Center has always been a handy hub to help you control your iPhone or iPad with fewer swipes and taps. By swiping up from the bottom of your screen, you can open Control Center to get quick access to controls such as volume and brightness without having to hunt through apps.

=> Learn more about Control Center at 13 Super Shortcuts for Your iPhone – in Control Center.

Now Control Center is even handier in iOS 11. You have more control of what you want to include in Control Center.

By going to Settings => Control Center = > Customize Controls you can add or delete controls from Control Center. There you will see all of the items you can put in, and take out, of Control Center.

That’s right, unlike ever before, you now get to customize which controls are at the ready in Control Center.

You can choose from the standard controls, such as camera and calculator, or add some new ones, such as Magnifier, Apple TV remote and alarm.

You can even add some of the new features in iOS 11 to Control Center, such as Do Not Disturb While Driving and Screen Recording. (More on those new features below.)

Control Center is now all on one page. You can see what music or audio is playing on Control Center without having to swipe to a new page as with iOS 10.

The volume and brightness controls also have wider slider buttons to make them easier to control.

Be sure to check out the new Control Center and customize it with your favorite controls. You will be saving yourself plenty of swipes later on!

Do Not Disturb While Driving

Do Not Disturb While Driving is a feature that may save lives. With this feature, Apple addresses the often fatal issue of distracted driving.

This feature silences notifications. Your screen stays dark with Do Not Disturb While Driving is turned on. Though if you have Bluetooth in your car, your phone calls will not be silenced.

You can opt to have an automatic reply message sent to someone who is trying to reach you, that you are driving and will get back to them when you arrive. Or any other message you want to send in an automatic reply. You can also choose a group of people who will get this message, such as Favorites or Recents.

You can also allow people to mark a notification as “urgent” so they can get through to you in an emergency.

To turn on Do Not Disturb While Driving, go to Settings => Do Not Disturb => Activate. You can choose whether to activate manually, automatically, or when connected to your car’s Bluetooth.

This feature lets you focus better on the road ahead of you. The good news is that you don’t need to turn it on every time you get in the car.

When you enable Do Not Disturb While Driving, you can choose to have it turn on automatically. If your iPhone detects that you’re in a moving vehicle, it will turn on Do Not Disturb While Driving so you can travel in peace.

This works best when the phone is connected to Bluetooth in a car because then the iPhone assumes you are in a car and are the driver. If there isn’t a Bluetooth connection in the car, the iPhone will guess whether you’re driving.

If you’re in a car and not driving, but the feature turns on, you can turn it off manually.

Screen Recording

Screen Recording is a nifty feature that lets you record what’s going on on your iPhone or iPad. When you add Screen Recording to Control Center, you can swipe up to open Control Center, then tap the button with a solid circle inside an outline of a circle.

You’ll see a countdown of three seconds. That will give you time to get to the screen you want to record.

A red bar will appear at the top of the screen while it’s recording. That way someone cannot secretly record your screen. Tap the red bar when you want to end the recording.

The video will appear in your Photos app.

This is good news for people who write a personal technology blog, such as The Wonder of Tech, and want to show people how features work on the iPhone or iPad…

Editing Screenshots

Now when you take a screenshot, you will have the option to edit it right away. After you take a screenshot by pressing the power button and home button at the same time, a thumbnail version of the screenshot will appear in the lower left corner of the screen.

Tap on the screenshot thumbnail to edit the image.

After you’re finished, tap “Done”. You have the option to save and share the image.

Files

With iPhone and iPad you have better control of your files. Your devices will behave more like computers where you can see your files, and drag and drop them where you need them to be.

iOS 11 adds a Files app to your device. By using the Files app you can see your files in the Cloud without having to switch apps. The Files app lets you control files from iCloud and third-party file services such as Google Drive and Dropbox.

Emergency SOS

With Emergency SOS, you can press the power button five times to call Emergency Services. This way you can call Emergency Services even if you’re in a place where you don’t know the phone number for Emergency Services (911 in the US, 999 in the UK, etc.).

In Settings => Emergency SOS, you have the choice of having the phone call be made immediately or not.

According to the Toronto Police Department, Emergency SOS works well. Or maybe too well…

New iOS Operating System 911 feature
Please DO NOT try it out~Toronto Police receiving many test calls that tie up our 911 lines #iOS11 ^sk pic.twitter.com/hlFUCwGi8e

— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) September 20, 2017

If you don’t have Auto Call turned on, then an Emergency screen will appear when you press the power button five times.

From that screen you can call Emergency Services and your emergency contacts (from the Health app). Your health information is also available to emergency responders from that screen (again, from the Health app).

=> Don’t miss ICE: How the Apple Health App May Save Your Life

If you press Cancel, you will disable Face ID and Touch ID. Then a passcode must be entered to unlock your phone.  This way you cannot be forced to unlock your phone by using your finger or your face.

Sharing Wi-Fi Passwords

Have you ever been over to a friend’s house and wanted to log into their Wi-Fi network? They may have no clue what their password is or they may have a password that’s 75 characters long and you type it in wrong about a dozen times before you can connect.

With iOS 11, logging into a friend’s Wi-Fi network can be much easier. Just hold your iPhone or iPad close to a device or Mac that’s signed into Wi-Fi. If that person has you in their Contacts list, they will be asked if they want to let you sign into the network. If they agree, then you will be logged in.

Siri Translations

Siri is smarter now, and can translate phrases into different languages. You can ask Siri to translate English phrases into French, German, Italian, Mandarin and Spanish. (Sorry, translations into English don’t work.)

Siri will speak the translated phrase, so you can learn how to pronounce the phrase. It will also show you the written translation.

Apple Maps Shows Insides of Malls and Airports

Apple Maps has been improved too, to show the insides of malls and airports. Not all malls or airports are included in this so make sure the place you’re visiting is covered by Apple Maps before you head there.

Getting Rid of Apps

iOS 11 helps guide you towards getting rid of apps you rarely use. You can have your iPhone or iPad automatically delete apps you haven’t used in a while.

Go to Settings => iTunes & App Store => Offload Unused Apps.

 

Welcome to automatic free space on your phone!

If you change your mind, you can re-download the app from iTunes (if it’s still available there) and your data from the app will be restored.

One-Handed Keyboard

Apple is making it easier to type one-handed with a new keyboard layout. Go to Settings => General => Keyboard => One Handed Keyboard. Choose either Off, Left or Right.

If you’ve turned it on, then you can use it by pressing the globe button. The keyboard will be compacted and moved to the left or right. Tap the arrow on the side to return to the full-sized keyboard.

Scanning Documents

You can now scan documents into the Notes app where you can sign them and send them back.  No need to print them out anymore, plus you can have a signed copy saved in Notes.

To scan a document, open the Notes app and tap on the plus sign + in a note. You’ll be given a choice of scanning a document. After you’ve scanned the document, you can sign it in the Notes app, then share it if you’d like.

Your Thoughts

Have you downloaded iOS 11 yet? What are your favorite features of iOS 11? Are you waiting to download iOS 11 because you will have some apps that won’t work with it?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

---

Voice of America Learning English

If you’re learning English and a fan of tech, check out my personal technology column at Voice of America Learning English. This week’s article is: Apple’s New iPhones, Watches and More.