Apple seems to be pushing out the iOS 10 updates at breakneck speed. The Cupertino company released the iOS 10.2 only recently. Now noted leaker Sonny Dickson has learned from his sources that the first beta of iOS 10.3 would be seeded to developers on January 10th. In a series of tweets over the weekend, Dickson said the upcoming iOS version would have a new feature called Theater Mode.
Theater Mode to get its own icon in iOS 10.3
In an interaction with 9to5Mac, Dickson added that the source of information has been fairly reliable in the past. The new Theater Mode will have its own unique popcorn-shaped icon in the Control Center. It is still unclear what the Theater Mode is all about. Some speculate that it could be similar to the Do Not Disturb feature already present on the iOS, which mutes all kinds of alerts when enabled.
iOS 10.3 beta 1 is scheduled to seed on January 10th.
— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) December 30, 2016
Back in 2012, Apple was granted the patent for a Theater Mode. The technology uses GPS coordinates and cellular triangulation to see if you are in a movie theater. If you happen to be in a theater, it automatically sets the device to a silent mode, according to the 2012 patent. Others speculate that the feature may have something to do with movie playback, offering optimized video viewing mode.
iOS 10.3 to feature a new Theatre mode – will include a new popcorn-shaped Control Center icon.
— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) December 30, 2016
Theater Mode could be Apple’s Dark Mode
Sonny Dickson believes that the Theater Mode is basically an enhanced “Dark Mode” that has been long-rumored. He also revealed that the iOS 10.3 is internally code-named “Erie.” Apple is yet to add a system-wide Dark Mode in the iOS. We have already seen a few Dark Mode concepts in the past. The Dark Mode would make it easier on the eye than the bright white design.
Though Apple is looking to aggressively push the iOS 10.3 first beta to developers, customers would be more interested in the iOS 10.2.1. The current version has several bugs that need to be fixed. A text message bug would cause the iMessage app to crash upon receiving malicious texts. If you were one of the victims, here’s how to fix the bug.
Apple expected to fix the ‘30% bug’ this month
Another bug, first reported by Gordon Kelly of Forbes, causes the iPhone 5 to iPhone 6S Plus devices to shut down abruptly with ‘30% battery left.’ Even the Chinese government and the iPod creator Tony Fadell have complained about the ‘30% bug.’ Apple hasn’t yet publicly acknowledged it to be a widespread issue. The company is expected to fix the bug with iOS 10.2.1 later this month.
The iOS 10.3 will be the eighth update to Apple’s mobile operating system in just four months. If the company maintains the same pace of releases, there will be about two dozen iOS 10 updates before the iOS 11 debuts later this year, says Forbes.
