iOS 9 may only have been available for around six months as a consumer product, but attention is already turning to the next operating system from Apple, iOS 10. This major software release will probably first see the light of day at the World Wide Developers Conference in June, as has become standard Apple practice, so the unveiling of this major software release is only a couple of months away.
So here ValueWalk documents all of the latest rumors and possible features regarding this major operating system.
iOS 10 – Release date
Aside from the June unveiling, consumers are likely to gain access to iOS 10 in either late August or early September, ahead of the release of the iPhone 7. Developers will be able to download the operating system immediately after it is unveiled in California.
The latest report on the subject suggests that the only possible window available for the World Wide Developers Conference in 2016 will be the week commencing June 13. At least, this is the case if Apple wishes once more to host the conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco where the event has taken place since 2007. This particular week is the only one available for Apple at this location, so this date can be pretty confidently pencilled into the diaries of Apple fans all over the world.
New features
Apple is renowned for playing its cards extremely close to its chest with any software or hardware releases, so new features included in this operating system are not officially known at the time of writing. Thankfully, when dealing with a company of the size of Apple, which is such a massive interest to billions of people worldwide, the number of leaks and rumors that emerge are quite substantial.
So we already have a good idea regarding the new features that could be included in the iOS 10 operating system, and central to these murmurings have been the suggestion that a new ‘Rootless’ security system is going to make the operating system impossible to jailbreak. Indeed, it has already been reported that the latest version of iOS will be the last possible release that can be jailbroken. Whether or not this actually turns out to be accurate remains to be seen, as obviously hackers and crackers are extremely resourceful.
Home
Additionally, iOS 10 is expected to introduce a brand new application which Apple refers to as Home. As may be evident from the title of this software, the Home app will enable users to incorporate the existing work that Apple has been doing on HomeKit, enabling tech fans to take control of all their smart home appliances from one central hub.
It is quite evident that smart technology will become increasingly important and prominent in the future, and as usual Apple is attempting to get in on the ground floor with this system. Home has already been compared to the existing Health app; the system which enables users to encompass all health-related data collected by fitness gadgets into one useful piece of software.
iCloud
Reports have also indicated that Apple is working on an iCloud voicemail system, with the new software tapping into the functionality of Siri to deliver an extremely intelligent experience. According to leaks from close to the Apple corporation, the new voicemail software will have the ability to talk directly to callers and transcribe voicemail messages directly into text. Pretty nifty if it comes off.
Find My Friends
Rumors also suggest that Apple will update the Find My Friends app, making it considerably more feature-packed and more of a mainstream piece of software. Apple has already filed a patent which describes a system that has the capabilities of detecting where your friends are located, whether they are available to talk at any given time, and the status of their phone.
Hiding apps
And the most recent rumor to surface with regard to iOS 10 is that it will be possible to hide Apple apps on iPhone or iPad. Apple recently added the keys ‘isFirstParty’ and ‘isFirstPartyHideableApp’ to iTunes metadata, which suggests that this particular change is likely to surface when iOS 10 is released.
Apple CEO Tim Cook had already mentioned that this update could be a part of the iOS 10 operating system. Indeed, Apple has reportedly been working on this upgrade for at least eight months, as Cook spoke publicly on the issue back in September last year. At that time, Cook told BuzzFeed News that the corporation was working at enabling users to remove unwanted apps, which would in turn enable devices to run much more smoothly.
Cook had indicated that this in fact was more complex to implement than might be apparent, with apps linked to code buried deep within the iPhone. But the CEO has stated that engineers were working on providing this functionality, and the rumor mill believes that it will indeed surface when iOS 10 is released.
This feature has already been implemented to a certain extent, as the Apple Configurator 2.2 beta; a release available to business and education users, which enabled several apps such as Stocks, Reminders, and Tips to be hidden on iOS 9.3.
Step forward
It must be said ahead of the release of this operating system that iOS 10 seems to benefit from a large amount of new functionality, and more unique content than Apple has included in recent versions of the OS. Other whispers have pointed to improved 3D Touch capabilities, while TouchID security for Notes, updates to the Apple News app and CarPlay, and new Education tools are also expected.
Compatibility
The bad news for some existing Apple users is that a new operating system means compatibility problems. As is the wont of any major software manufacturer, Apple begins to abandon support for major devices as it releases new version of iOS, and thus its release will signal the end of support for the likes of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. But any device later than this should be compatible with iOS 10 at launch.
