A few quick thoughts on iOS 10

iOS 10 is out today! (Probably around 6pm UK time.) I’ve been using beta versions for a few months and it’s a great update. Like, really great. It feels like a whole lot of polish has been added that make it such a delight to use.

The improvements to the Apple Music and Apple News apps in particular are huge. Seriously, if you’re not using Apple News yet, you should. It’s a truly great experience for staying up-to-date with what’s going on in the world that is tailored to what you’re interested in.

Also, the improvements to notifications are brilliant. You’ll find yourself not having to fully open apps nearly as often as the rich notifications allow you to interact and respond right there on the notification itself.

There’s no more Slide to Unlock though which might take a day or two to get used to! (You press and hold the Home button now.)

The widgets screen (swipe right from the lock screen or the drop-down notifications sheet) is now genuinely useful. I use it a lot to glance at News, upcoming appointments, weather, and more.

The one other thing I’ll mention is Photos. There’s loads of improvements here. A new ‘Memories’ option will bring out photos you’ve taken in the past on a daily basis. It’s a wonderful way to keep enjoying photos from years and years ago that would otherwise not see the light of day any more. And then you can now search for specific photos in lots of new interesting ways. Want to find pictures with your dog in? Just search for ‘Dog’ and it’ll find them for you. Or you could search for ‘Lake’ or ‘Bridge’ or whatever really. It’s very impressive.

Anyway, all in all, iOS 10 is definitely worth upgrading to later. Enjoy!!