The Coolest Features in iOS 11

The Coolest Features in iOS 11

- Chloe Albanesius

Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June with six key announcements: One was its newest mobile operating system, iOS 11. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, promised “hundreds of new features and incredible updates” for existing iOS apps. The company released a beta version of iOS 11 to developers at the conference and promised a public beta in July for those who like to tinker with new software. Everyone else will get iOS 11 in the fall, which is likely when new iPhones will be released.

With hundreds of new features, not everything can be a winner. A new look for the App Store? Meh. Revamped Control Center? Better than before, but it looks a bit cramped. But several things caught our eye and will likely improve the iOS experience come September. Here are the features we’re most looking forward to trying out.

AUGMENTED REALITY

Though some of its biggest rivals have embraced virtual and augmented reality, including Microsoft’s HoloLens and Samsung’s Gear VR, Apple has mostly observed from the sidelines. Last fall, Tim Cook said AR was “incredibly interesting,” but that’s all we’ve heard from Cupertino on the matter, even as millions of Pokémon fans ran around the country last summer catching AR creatures on their iPhones.