iOS 11: A New Foundation for iPad and Augmented Reality

Announced on June 5, 2017 at WWDC 2017 & was to be available in late Sept. of that year_NEARLY FOUR YEARS AGO — iOS 11 was released four months later on September 19, 2017. It heralded a fundamental change for the iPad, one that could shape its productivity mojo well into the future, and it extended some machine learning trickery, AR smarts and UI efficiency improvements to every iOS device too.

Then again, iOS 11 was notoriously problematic at launch, resulting in more bugs and performance problems as well as massive battery drain for some users — particularly those with older devices. It was also the version that forsook support for 32-bit apps — and thus iPhone 5, 5c, and prior models.

iPad: A Productivity Powerhouse

While iOS 11 turned your iPad into more of a workhorse:

Dock — a macOS-like dock that would give you access to apps and recent files from anywhere on the system something, thus improving the multitasking flow.

Drag and Drop: This was system-wide, allowing users to drag text, images and files between apps via a range of multitouch gestures.

Multitasking: iPad users can quickly switch between apps, and more easily multitask with the new App Switcher alongside Slide Over and Split View technologies.

Files: A new app that allows users to browse files that are stored locally on your device, as well as files associated with apps and third-party cloud services like Dropbox and Google Drive

These updates took the iPad a big step more detailed to laptop area instead of previewing 2019′ s launch of iPadOS.

Control Center: Unified and Customizable

Redesigned Control Center in iOS 11

Quick settings merged into one page

The design could be customized by the user to add or remove control buttons like screen recording, low power mode, and Apple TV remote.

It introduced 3D Touch, and long press support which allowed for more individual control over settings.

It was one of the most immediate and palpable design shifts in iOS history.

Augmented Reality and ARKit

ARKit was announced by Apple in June of 2017 as part of the release of iOS 11, which allows for augmented reality experiences based on the camera and sensors built into your iPhone and iPad:

Developers could build AR apps and games that include precise motion tracking, plane detection, and lighting estimation.

AR applications in the past contained games, educational tools, interior design utilities and immersive shopping experiences.

It heralded what became Apple’s first foray into consumer-grade AR — priming the pump for more ambitious AR features later down line and devices like the long-rumored Apple Vision Pro.

Siri: Smarter and More Natural

Improved Siri Personal and More intelligent on iOS 11

Both Siri, for males and females, got a more human-like voice.

At the time, Siri was able to translate English to Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish

Siri also know to offer contextual suggestions, on-device learning and copy across devices syncic preferences and behavior all over the place icloudentities.

That groundwork may have helped lead to the deeper machine learning integration present in iOS 12 and beyond, which has further improved Siri’s relevance.

Photos & Camera: Live Photos & HEIF Format

Improved photo and video quality and efficiency on iPhones (Apple)

New HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format) and HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) image formats for less storage use with the same quality.

New video editing options for Live Photos, including Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure

New portrait lighting effects (iPhone 7 Plus and later) with improved Portrait mode flexibility

These enhancements enable users to have fewer footprints and use modern media tools with greater flexibility.

App Store: A Complete Redesign

App Store(iOS 12):- The store was completely redone with a better focus on editorial content and discovering:

The update added a “Today” tab for daily app picks, and advice on using the App Store by Apple developers themselves.

App and game sections were separated

Increased visibility for reviews and ratings.

This redesign of the search system brought app discovery back to life and gave developers one more place to compete for visibility.

Other Notable Features

Do Not Disturb While Driving, automatically put notifications white while driving based on motion or Bluetooth detection.

Indoor Maps: Apple Maps now includes the ability to provide indoor navigation at certain airports and shopping malls.

One-Handed Keyboard: Helped facilitate typing on the iPhone 6S Plus and iPhones with larger screens.

Emergency SOS: Turning on and being able to call the police using a rapid—even unintentional—5 clicks of the side button.

Screen Recording — Allows users to record their iPhone or iPad screen directly from Control Center.

iOS 11. 1.x Upgrade Bug Fixes x Showcases delivered features

IOS 11.1: More than 70 new emoji, Reachability Improvements, Return of the 3D Touch App Switcher

iOS 11.2: Introduces Apple Pay Cash (p-p payments inside iMessage) for the US

Battery Health (due to performance throttling issue), Business Chat, Health Records, ARKit 1.5 introduced in iOS 11.3

iOS 11.4 (Messages in iCloud, AirPlay 2 for multi-room audio)

Criticism and Legacy

Although iOS 11 brought many great things to the table, complications like poor performance, battery drain, crashes, and stability issues were a huge turn-off — particularly on older devices. In response, Apple refocused iOS 12 on performance and stability.

In Summary

The groundwork for Apple’s platforms (future) was laid with iOS 11. From taking virtual reality mainstream with its high-end Windows headsets for PC to introducing ARKit on iOS, Apples making a big push right now. It radically changed the way we use iPads and turns them into real computer alternative for many users, the App Store got major improvements, they brought Control Center back as an again customisable system interface element. While the production process was chaotic, it foreshadowed the focus on productivity and AR, and automation that would come to define iOS development in the years ahead. Tools