iOS 12: Speed, Stability, and Screen Time Awareness

WWDC 2018 June 4, 2018 September 17, 2018[94] iOS12 iOS 12 was a major change from previous releases that were loaded up with new features and flashiness, instead focusing on performance, stability, and digital wellbeing — particularly for older devices.

Apple ensured that iOS 12 worked on every iPhone model getting an iOS 11 update — all the way back to the five-year-old (original) iPad Air and iPhone 5S. More Than Just Software Optimization[edit]The third-party-developed software tools that you highlighted, are much more helpful than them may appear. This focus on optimization rather then obsolescence has undoubtedly allowed the life of millions of iPhones and iPads to endure far beyond it could have had Apple not maintain forward compatibility for as long as they did.

Many thanks to this improved efficiency, the browser is now essentially a lot better on older gadgets as properly.

iOS 12 improved the performance of all devices overall, but more so on older hardware:

The fastest options broached by Apple were promising 70% faster swipe-to-camera, 50% faster keyboard display, and 2x faster app launches (under load).

In practice, this came to mean faster load times across many aging devices; indeed, people reported substantially improved speed on iPhone 6 and even iPhone 5s.

This emphasis at speed and assurance largely worked to rebuild confidence after the performance throttling nonsense of iOS 10 and iOS 11.

Screen Time: The Story of Digital Wellbeing

In introducing Screen Time, we opened with the headline that the new feature would allow iOS users to monitor their device usage as a first step in being able to better manage it.

One could also track the time consuming apps, categories or websites.

With the introduction of the App Limits & Downtime features users were able to set daily usage limits, or some hours when only specific apps would be available.

It integrates seamlessly with the Family Sharing feature so parents can control things like how much time their kids are spending on devices, restrict what types of apps they access, and set other restrictions right from their own devices.

Screen Time was Apple’s first significant system-level tool as part of its efforts on smartphone addiction and digital mindfulness.

What we can see is; grouped notifications & do not disturb improvements –

A most-needed update that finally came with iOS 12 were grouped notifications.

Messages were grouped by app, thread or other context to give users fewer notifications and to better manage their alerts.

Similarly, a revamped Do Not Disturb mode allows notifications to be automatically muted during events or at night (or until the user leave a specified location).

Notifications were able to come through the Notification Center without making any sounds or an appearance on the Lock Screen.

The changes enabled users to better control interruptions and the overflow of notifications.

FaceTime & Messages: Memoji and Group Calls

Group FaceTime (delayed from the prior release of iOS 12.0 as well as later released via an update with iOS 12.

One of these was Memoji—their name for personalized animated avatars made using the TrueDepth camera on iPhone X and newer— from Apple.

Animal-based animated emojis were added, along with tongue and wink detection for the iPhone X model.

The biggest platform in terms of new features turned out to be Messages with its camera effects, stickers and other fun filters baked right into iMessage.

These were an attempt to help conversations be more expressive and interactive, especially for younger audiences.

ARKit 2 and Augmented Reality

And Apple also doubled down on AR with ARKit 2, featuring:

Multi-user interactions (shared experiences), enabling several users to use the AR environment.

Long-lasting AR experiences that could persist virtual objects between sessions.

Object detection and tracking visual enhancement for increased accuracy and real feeling

An airy new stock Measure app that utilized AR to merge the iPhone into a digital measuring tape.

That was good news for Apple, whose ambitions in augmented reality are even more explicit.

Siri Shortcuts: Automation for Everyone

With iOS 12, users gained the ability to use Siri Shortcuts — some basic automation and voice-triggered workflows.

Shortcuts app allowed users to create multi-step custom actions with Workflow acquisition.

Or Siri would recommend those proactive Shortcuts based on user behaviour—reordering coffee or playing a playlist at standard hour of operation for example.

You could assign shortcuts to voice commands, making basic scripting available to everyone.

Although not as versatile as entire automation suites, it was a way to give every user access to personal productivity and convenience.

Photos & Search: Smarter Memories

Photos app was more intelligent with以下内容：

A new For You tab that brings together your favourite content via Memories, shared albums and new intelligent suggestions.

More advanced search, by which users can look for people, places, events and even objects in their images.

Suggested better sharing that included suggestions for photos to be shared with the people who showed up in them.

Those changes leveraged Apple’s on-device machine learning (so data stayed private) and mainly improved usability

Other Notable Features

Stocks and Voice Memos got a redesign, and apps like this came over from the iPhone.

Apple also included the capability to use third-party navigation apps with CarPlay, such as Google Maps and Waze.

As announced, iBooks was given a new name — Apple Books — and it has received a relatively small update with new store browsing and reading interface.

Security Code AutoFill for SMS-based two-factor authentication codes Passwords AutoFill with third-party password manager Extensions

iOS 12. x Updates: Continuous Refinement

IOS 12.1 — Adds Group FaceTime, dual-SIM support for iPhone XS/XS Max/XR, and more than 70 new emojis.

iOS 12.2, to support Apple News+, new Animoji and bug fixes

The new Apple TV appMay 6, 2019iOS 12.3: Launches it ( with Apple TV Channels)

iOS 12.4 — iPhone migration tools, Apple Card (U.S.)

iOS 12.5 (later 12.5.1–12.5.7): Published for older machines (e.g., the iPhone 6, 5s) to provide COVID-19 introduction updates and fixes;

In Summary

iOS 12 was a back-to-basics release that focused on getting things running smoothly again and, for the most part, helped to restore confidence in the system after iOS 11 fiasco. Things like Screen Time, Siri Shortcuts and Grouped Notifications are pretty big updates to iOS — along with a significant speed boost across the board and even broader AR support — all of which made it an update that was good for both new and old hardware. This was a foundational change that focused on UX, privacy and reliability to the detriment of pizzazz, for which it paid off.