Dark mode is easy to enable on macOS. Soon iOS too!
iOS 13 is set to bring a number of features that users have wanted for some time. In fact, iOS 12 was supposed to be a large iOS update. However, due to the overwhelming problems of iOS 11, Apple decided to focus on improving stability and eliminating bugs for the update instead. The result was a new version of iOS that didn’t feel very new, but was much more reliable.
Because of this, we knew Apple would release many new features in iOS 13. One of the rumored features was a new home screen. iOS hasn’t changed its home screen interface in a meaningful way in a decade. Introducing app folders was the last meaningful update.
Developer and 9to5Mac contributor Guilherme Rambo has become well known for combing through iOS version betas to find secrets about upcoming Apple hardware. Perhaps it was this work that lead to someone contacting him with juicy iOS 13 details. 9to5Mac is reporting a number of new features users desperately want are coming to the next version of iOS. These will include dark mode, a new volume user interface, better multitasking, app windows, and more.
In This Article:
Dark Mode
Dark mode is incredibly popular on macOS. I keep it constantly enabled, and many other Mac users do as well. The darkened window borders, backgrounds, and applications are easier on the eyes. For people who stare at screens all day for their job, it saves them a great deal of eye strain. It can also help improve your sleep by allowing your body to naturally adjust to night, producing melatonin to help you sleep.
Your smartphone is likely the last screen you look at before bed. It’s only natural that it would adjust accordingly. However, since iOS 12 wasn’t the update it was supposed to be, it didn’t get dark mode at the same time as macOS. iOS 13 is finally going to bring the feature. This will allow developers to quickly make dark versions of their apps and change the color of the title bar to better suit a dark screen.
Finally, Apple’s going to give your eyes a break.
New Volume UI
Finally!
We don’t yet know what this will look like. However, some app developers have tried to hide it by placing the volume level indicator in the status bar when the volume is changed. This would be Apple’s best option.
Font Management
Previously, if you wanted to add new fonts, you had to jump through a lot of hoops. It involves loading a profile onto your device just to load them. This is especially frustrating for design professionals, who have to work with custom fonts regularly. iOS 13 will bring easier font management, making it as easy as downloading the font, as it is on macOS.
Improved Mail App
The Mail app is decent, but not great. You likely are nowhere near “Inbox zero,” that is, an empty inbox, ready for new messages. You probably have many unread emails that you’ve just come to ignore. Maybe you used Google’s Inbox to help clean that up, but the company has canceled Inbox, and your inbox is likely filling up.
Apple will make their app smarter. They’ll automatically categorize incoming messages, labeling them as marketing emails, purchases, travel, unimportant, and other categories. This will help you sort your emails faster, ensuring your inbox is just the emails that require your immediate attention.
Select More Items
Selecting multiple items on iOS is a bit of a pain. You often have to press edit, or, for some apps, the share button, then tap each item. iOS 13 will bring a macOS-like dragging gesture. Users will be able to tap with two fingers and drag, selecting multiple items.
When iOS first came out, people theorized that macOS would become more like iOS. It seems the latter is true as well.
App Collaboration
In Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, you can easily bring other Apple users in to collaborate on a project. As long as they have the iWork apps and an Apple ID, it’s easy to make any document you’re working on a shared document between collaborators. Apple’s looking to improve this feature, as well as create an API for other developers to take advantage of. Soon, many iOS apps will enable users to share all kinds of information with each other, collaborating across apps. Soon, any work you do on your iOS devices could become work you can do with your teammates, without needing to share documents back and forth.
iPad Multitasking and Windows
An example of PanelKit in Pixure. Soon, all iPad apps will have this.
The iPad is just too big to be locked into the awful multitasking interface Apple is currently using. New versions of iOS have somehow made split screen multitasking less intuitive. With iOS 13, Apple’s looking to make their features more intuitive and more powerful.
iPad apps will be able to have multiple windows, including windows that can be dragged around or locked to a portion of the screen. It’ll apparently look similar to the open-source PanelKit API.
iPad Undo Gesture
Currently, on the iPhone, to undo a mistake, you shake your device. This works for the iPhone, but it’s awkward on the iPad. That’s why Apple added a dedicated undo key. But do you know what’s even easier than that? A gesture!
This will apparently start with a three finger tap on the keyboard, and then sliding left or right to undo/redo. Apple will give users a tutorial on this new keyboard feature when they first upgrade to iOS 13.
iPad Desktop Browser
When iOS couldn’t run Flash, and many websites used Flash, it was important for even the iPad to register as a mobile device on the web. However, the times have changed. Flash is all but extinct, and the iPad’s large screen doesn’t work well for mobile views. With iOS 13, your iPad will tell websites it wants the desktop browser automatically. This way, you won’t get an iPhone website on your iPad, you’ll get either the tablet or desktop version, depending on the size of your display.
Viability?
Guilherme Rambo of 9to5Mac has been accurate with his predictions in the past, though these were usually pulled from beta versions of iOS. Where did these predictions come from? He doesn’t say. We’re going off his reputation and the reputation of 9to5Mac, both of which are pretty good. I frequently use 9to5Mac as a source here.
The rumors also don’t sound farfetched. Nothing here sounds out of the realm of possibilities. In fact, as far as rumors go, they’re all quite tame. I think it’s reasonable to believe we’re going to get all of these features in iOS 13.
Apple will reveal iOS 13 during WWDC this June. It’ll be released to developers and tested before a September release to the public.
Sources:
- Malcolm Owen, AppleInsider
- Guilherme Rambo, 9to5Mac