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IOS Operating Systems Safari Software Upgrades Apple Technology

iOS 13 To Feature Dark Mode and Interface Updates, Report Says (9to5mac.com) 97

9to5Mac has learned of several new features expected to be included in iOS 13. From the report: Dark Mode: There will be a system-wide Dark Mode that can be enabled in Settings, including a high contrast version, similar to what's already available on macOS. Speaking of macOS, iPad apps that run on the Mac using Marzipan will finally take advantage of the Dark Mode support on both systems.
Multitasking: There are many changes coming to iPad with iOS 13, including the ability for apps to have multiple windows. Each window will also be able to contain sheets that are initially attached to a portion of the screen, but can be detached with a drag gesture, becoming a card that can be moved around freely, similar to what an open-source project called "PanelKit" could do. These cards can also be stacked on top of each other, and use a depth effect to indicate which cards are on top and which are on the bottom. Cards can be flung away to dismiss them.
Undo gesture: With iOS 13, Apple is introducing a new standard undo gesture for text input on the iPad. The gesture starts as a three-finger tap on the keyboard area, sliding left and right allows the user to undo and redo actions interactively.
Safari improvements: Safari on iOS 13 for the iPad will automatically ask for a desktop version of websites when necessary, preventing a common issue where websites will render their iPhone version even when running on an iPad with a big screen. YouTube is notorious for this behavior, forcing users to rely on a 'Request Desktop Site' button.
Font management: Font management is getting a major upgrade on iOS 13. It will not be necessary to install a profile to get new fonts into the system anymore. Instead there will be a new font management panel in Settings. A new standard font picker component will be available for developers and the system will notify the user when they open a document that has missing fonts.
Smarter Mail: The upgraded Mail app will be able to organize messages into categories such as marketing, purchases, travel, "not important" and more, with the categories being searchable. Users will also be able to add messages to a "read later" queue similar to third-party email apps. Improved multiple item selection: The focus on productivity on iOS continues with the inclusion of new gestures to allow for the selection of multiple items in table views and collection views, which make up for most of the user interfaces found in apps that list large amounts of data. Users will be able to drag with multiple fingers on a list or collection of items to draw a selection, similar to clicking and dragging in Finder on the Mac.
New Volume HUD and other changes: Other features to come with iOS 13 include a redesigned Reminders app, which is also coming to the Mac, a new volume HUD, better "Hey Siri" rejection for common mistaken noises such as laughter and crying babies, better multilingual support for keyboards and dictation, and expanded in-app printing controls.
Apple is expected to officially unveil the next major iPhone and iPad OS at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 3rd.
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iOS 13 To Feature Dark Mode and Interface Updates, Report Says

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  • by Anonymous Coward

    It's telling, when the key changes are purely cosmetic and little tweaks that usually came standard in every UI before.
    (Windows 3.x had color schemes. I bet the Xerox Alto did too.)

    • by raymorris ( 2726007 ) on Monday April 15, 2019 @09:00PM (#58442706) Journal

      The list also made me think of Windows 3.1, and 1980s Mac.

      Separate windows, putting mail in folders. Does it come with a Prodigy or AOL disc?

    • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      Personally I wish we could just go back to that. XFCE still allows it. Everything thing else is now slapped with some chrome. You could DO dark mode in Windows 3.11 if you set your own custom colors.

      I don't understand why almost every desktop decided it was a great idea to take this stuff away; only to bring it back as 'feature' that still isn't as flexible a decade later.

      I still argue to this day in terms of UI elements, basic behavior, etc. Windows 3.11 + Norton Desktop 3.0 was probably the best user e

      • Because we live in an era where UX designers strive to have total control over how the UI looks.
        No, you can't have multicolor icons because that actually makes distinguishing them easy and it ruins the look of our design. Better have monochrome icons.
        Borders make buttons look bad so you'll have borderless buttons and you'll have to randomly click texts to find out whether they're buttons or just text labels.
        Don't make us make two different UIs and so you'll have to use a mess designed for touchscreens w
    • They finally finished copying all the multitasking features that Palm's webOS introduced [wikipedia.org] a decade ago.

  • You're playing ketchup!

  • by ugen ( 93902 ) on Monday April 15, 2019 @09:42PM (#58442788)

    Not the "smarter" mail please :( I am on the current iOS and the damn mail is so smart, I can't simply see individual messages - it insists on folding all previous replies into a single concoction (so that if you want to delete one - it kills them all).
    And photos - they are so "smart" there is no longer a simple chronological set. Instead it's trying to come up with its very own groupings that, while making no sense to me, cannot be easily turned off.

    When will "smarter" crap stop? Please give me simple applications that do nothing unless *I SPECIFICALLY ASK THEM TO*!!!!

    • Your life, you’re living it wrong. Instead organise your life around the smartness of these apps, not the other way around.
      (Jokes aside, there is an application that demands you do exactly that, and it’s not an Apple product. It’s called SAP)
      • by swilver ( 617741 )

        I thought that described Apple very accurately, our way is the best so we make it the only way.

    • by radarskiy ( 2874255 ) on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @07:19AM (#58443736)

      " I can't simply see individual messages - it insists on folding all previous replies into a single concoction"

      If you don't want threading, don't turn on threading. Settings -> Mail -> Organize by Thread -> Off

      " no longer a simple chronological set."

      Since I can't find anything that prevents iOS from showing my pictures in chronological order in the Photos tab, I can't offer any suggestion on how to re-enable it. It's already doing what you want.

      "Please give me simple applications that do nothing unless *I SPECIFICALLY ASK THEM TO*!!!!"

      Stop turning on the settings that do the things you don't want.

      • by ugen ( 93902 )

        I am pretty certain that I did not *enable* threading. In that you are being disingenuous. Apple chose the *default* to turn on threads, without asking me.

        That said, thank you - turned off threads. Looks much better. Still can't find a way to turn off the arbitrary grouping (and mandatory face recognition) in the photos. Clearly Apple gives me, the user, the option to shut it off, does it not?

    • Please give me simple applications that do nothing unless *I SPECIFICALLY ASK THEM TO*!!!!

      Thinking for yourself? What is this, 90s computing?

  • TLS 1.3 (Score:4, Interesting)

    by goosesensor ( 1431303 ) on Monday April 15, 2019 @11:14PM (#58442938)
    Would be great if they could also add support for TLS 1.3 IMAP mail accounts.....
  • gesture overload (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    the ios interface has reached gesture overload, which is obvious with the new buttonless ipad pro with no bezel - to control the device requires looking up, memorizing, and using a bewildering number of fine motor control gestures which are not intuitive - apple is making ipads almost impossible to use

    • by green1 ( 322787 )
      Nothing new here. Apple has always had horribly unintuitive interfaces. It's been one of their biggest weaknesses for ages.

      Apple has one strength, and only one. They are positively amazing at marketing. They constantly take products that are years behind their competitors in feature set, more difficult to learn to use, and cost twice as much, and get people to line up around the block to buy.

      Any other company would kill for that kind of marketing ability.
    • I never understood why the swipe motion to switch apps goes into the wrong direction. Even after 10 years of iPad using I always swipe in the wrong direction first.

  • by ironicsky ( 569792 ) on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @07:07AM (#58443698) Homepage Journal

    I miss the days when Apple was an innovator.

    First widely successful music player? Apple
    First widely successful smart phone? Apple
    First small footprint TV streaming device for laptops and smart phones? Apple

    Hell, go back to the 80's, first widely successful computer platform? Apple.

    Without Steve Jobs, apple lost its innovation. Even near the end for Steve, his focus obviously shifted and his level of Innovation went down.

    Now, Apple is playing catch up to Android, their Macs aren't innovative, maybe except for the touch bar, and the laser mapping face unlock.

    My first two smart phones were iPhone 4 and 4s. My fiance has an iPhone X, and I see absolutely no reason to ever go back. The experience on my Pixel 3 is much, much better.

    • by DarkOx ( 621550 ) on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @07:24AM (#58443748) Journal

      See i would make the argument Apple is not an innovator or at least has not been since the Apple II. What they have been exceptionally good at is
      1) Polishing and integration
      2) Timing the market, they are never the first market with any tech; but they have been historically great at get a product out the door just as an idea is taking off.
      2a) They do this just in time to learn from others mistakes
      2b) They do this early enough that their product is still often many peoples first encounter with a given tech.
      2c) They have accelerated to identifying the critical features and branding them.
      3) They have been good identifying their missteps and correcting course; ie native apps on iPhone.

      However (3) is only in the second Jobsian era - certainly they stuck with Power way to long, They failed at paying the technical debt in MacOS way to long. While Microsoft brought out modern platfoms with real memory protection etc and Linux brought the best of Unix to the desktop; Apple was busy making jigsaw puzzle icons or somethings. Those things nearly destroyed what is now one of the world largest companies at least in terms of capitalization. That is pretty amazing when you think about it. They literally in went from bankruptcy death watch at the end of the 90s to commanding wealth that is the envy of many nations. Quite remarkable. We shall if Tim Cook can screw it up they way Scully did.

    • >Hell, go back to the 80's, first widely successful computer platform? Apple.

      That would actually be the TRS-80 Model 1 that proceeded the Apple II. Some would even argue that it was the Commodore PET but the Model 1 raudly outsold the PET because of the Radio Shack Retail network. By the very early 80's Commodore 64's were selling at K-Mart (which is where I bought mine) for $300 while Apple IIs were in the $900 and up price range and only available at select computer stores thus making the Commodore 6
    • by green1 ( 322787 )
      They never were a tech innovator, only a marketing one.

      I note your examples are "first widely successful" and never "first to do X" or "best", because they never have been. You've always been able to buy a competing product that does more, and costs less.

      They've been successful because they're great at convincing people to buy inferior products for more money, not because they make the best product.

      This release is exactly on brand for them. Add a bunch of features the competition has had for years, talk up
      • They never were a tech innovator, only a marketing one. I note your examples are "first widely successful" and never "first to do X" or "best", because they never have been. You've always been able to buy a competing product that does more, and costs less. They've been successful because they're great at convincing people to buy inferior products for more money, not because they make the best product. This release is exactly on brand for them. Add a bunch of features the competition has had for years, talk up the innovation, nothing more.

        Bollocks!! You sound like one of those angry disgruntled artists who got together with his angry disgruntled artist friends at a conference in a run down resort at a no longer frequented beach in California where you concocted a declaration stating that the only true art is art that does not sell. I was around when the iPod first came out, I remember the competition. The music players that I could buy over the counter within a 500 km radius of where I lived were nothing to phone home about. You could fit 2-

        • by green1 ( 322787 )
          The iPod UI was horrible, it relied on already knowing how to use it. It included several completely unlabelled controls, and no indication of how to use them.

          As for capacity. The Nomad had a larger capacity than the first iPod, even though it came out a year earlier. It also labelled all it's controls, so was much easier to learn to use with a better UI.

          But Apple had better marketing, and you bought the marketing hook, line, and sinker. Your post even admits that you didn't buy the iPod because it was bett
          • The iPod UI was horrible, it relied on already knowing how to use it. It included several completely unlabelled controls, and no indication of how to use them.
            Yes, you said in another post apple products where never intuitive. However you must be somehow handicapt in that area. Most things were super intuitive, e.g. the iPod we talk about. How youcan not grasp how it works by simply looking at it 2 seconds is beyond me.
            However I agree that e.g. Numbers and Pages are a nightmare to use.

      • They've been successful because they're great at convincing people to buy inferior products for more money, not because they make the best product.

        Sorry, in your Apple hate you are simply an idiot.
        Why don't you read a bit about Apples history?

        E.g. printing, colour management, having MacOS and a Unix like environment (MPW) and A/Ux (the Apple unix) in parallel on the same machine. Multiple monitors, with different colour depths, and resolutions and DPI. MacApp the first "PC" object oriented framework, C++ a

  • Does this mean we'll be able to set the relative volumes without having to guess as to which application is being considered in the "foreground"? Trying to adjust the turn by turn volume while you have music playing is extremely annoying.
  • What does it mean when the biggest feature the tech world covets is Dark Mode. The leading title is "Dark Mode" and probably "new emojis" oooh. Tech is dead because people expect so little.

    iOS is missing a basic "HUD" There no longer exists way to see the day's schedule, or reminders, or todo lists. Everything is a pop-up task on the home screen that goes away once you unlock the screen. I like to pick up my device and see a continual list of "things coming up that you haven't done yet" Apple st

  • by Rick Zeman ( 15628 ) on Tuesday April 16, 2019 @11:25AM (#58444836)

    "Undo gesture: With iOS 13, Apple is introducing a new standard undo gesture for text input on the iPad. The gesture starts as a three-finger tap on the keyboard area, sliding left and right allows the user to undo and redo actions interactively."

    Whoever came up with "shake to undo" should be condemned to use Android for the rest of their life as it's one of the two most un-Apple-like GUI misdesigns in recent history (the other being MacOS Safari in full-screen mode and the jumping clo

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