Apple iOS 10 preview: iPhone 7’s software will look very different
With some significant changes and the ability to delete Apple Apps, iOS 10 is a big upgrade from iOS 9
iPad-specific features
Most of iOS 10’s big new features are focused on iPhone users, but iPad users, particularly those with either of the new iPad Pro models, also get a few improvements, aimed mainly at making them even more effective laptop replacements.
The first and by far the biggest change is the introduction of a split-screen Safari view, which enables you to have two different tabs open side-by-side. With iOS 9 you could place two apps side-by-side, but you couldn’t do it with the same app, for example, to view two different websites side-by-side in Safari.
It’s very easy to open Safari’s split-screen view: you can either long-press a link and choose the split-screen option, or you can drag a tab to the right. Once open, you can drag tabs between each Safari window; to close down the mode, just drag all your tabs into one window; you can also long-press a link and choose to open it on the other side of your split.
Intelligently, if you put a different app side-by-side, Safari folds quickly into half of the screen space, combining all open tabs into one window, and when you get rid of the other split-screen app, Safari switches back to the split-screen mode you had it in. This is one of the best features in iOS 10, making cloud-based work far easier, particularly if the cloud services you work with don’t currently have dedicated app versions.
Three-pane Mail and Notes
If you have the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro, iOS 10 adds a three-pane layout for both the Notes and Mail apps. It’s more useful in Mail, where you can see your accounts and folders, the message list and message preview, or your message list, preview and reply window all on one screen. When you create a new mail or reply to one, you can drag the message into a split-screen side-by-side view, so you can browse through your messages while composing a new one.
Verdict
Apple put a lot of iPad work into iOS 9, so it would have been understandable if iOS 10 had offered a more of a minor update. And in many respects, that’s exactly what the new version delivers, especially when it come to the iPad features. Although there are plenty of new features here, it isn’t quite the full-bore, belt and braces overhaul I was expecting given Apple’s bombastic claims.
However, iOS 10 is a big update. It’s just that it’s big in unexpected ways. In fact, it could be one of the most important updates in the iOS’ history. That’s not because it looks different or the apps have been upgraded, or that there are hundreds of new features, but because across the board, it grants wider access to developers, encouraging app producers to build in Siri support, Maps integrations, Messages features and more.
So yes, iOS 10 is smarter, cleaner and that bit easier to use, but it’s the groundwork it lays for the future development of the iPhone that’s key here, and that will ensure the iPhone continues to improve long after iOS 10’s initial release.