Apple iOS 10 preview

What's better than the latest iOS 9.3 update? A free shipping container of Krispy Kremes? A puppy that does the washing up? How about iOS 10?

With Apple's WWDC 2016 knees-up done and dusted, and a preview of iOS 10 one of the main attractions, we now know a heck of a lot more about the iPhone's next big platform update than we did. Let's dive in and see what's coming.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

That bloody Stocks app. No one we know has ever used it, but it still insists on clinging to our home screens like a stubborn wart, refusing to die or disappear.

Thankfully however, iOS 10 will finally let you hide Apple's own default apps, making for a more clutter-free user experince. You won't be able to completely "delete" them off your device - they need to be there for authentication purposes, apparently - but you won't have them stinking up your home screens any longer.

ENDLESS EMOJI

Apple’s previously staid Messenger app is getting its biggest overhaul in years – and the focus looks to be on making it more fun.

During the company’s WWDC presentation, emoji played a big part. Not only will they display in a bigger format than they currently do, but you’ll be able to swap out individual words for emoji with a couple of taps (iOS will recognise the word “taco” for instance, and let you swiftly replace it with the taco emoji).

The fun won’t stop with smileys. You’ll be able to send messages of congratulation that result in the recipients screen filling with balloons or clouds of confetti, or hide the contents of a message under “Invisible Ink” that needs to be wiped off the recipient’s touchscreen with a swipe. You’ll also be able to send hand-written notes and sketches, and preview videos and web links from inside the app.

On a related note, iOS 10 is giving the keyboard a brain boost by integrating Siri’s deep learning skills. That means QuickType autofills and corrections will be more relevant to the context, and you’ll get auto reply options that use information such as your location or calendar contents.

THE LOCK SCREEN GETS SOME LOVIN’

WWDC confirmed that iOS 10 will bring a few welcome changes to the lock screen too. You’ll now be able to use “raise to wake”, which means you’ll only need to pick up your iPhone or iPad to see the lock screen and view the clock or any notifications.

3D Touch is being given a clever new job here too: you’ll be able to interact with selected notifications and pop-ups without having to unlock the screen. Just give the relevant notification a hard press and you’ll be able to delve into its contents, whether it’s a text message or a pop-up to say your Uber has arrived.

Another thing previewed at WWDC was a reworked Apple Music, with the (in our opinion) messy old layout replaced by something much cleaner and simpler. Creaking social layer Music Connect looks to have been quietly axed (it will be missed… NOT) and Apple has taken a leaf out of Spotify’s book by giving each user a regularly updated personalised playlist. Apple’s doing it every day rather than every week – although that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be better at magically tapping into your music tastes as Discover Weekly.

PHOTOS GETS A GOOGLE-STYLE BRAIN BOOST

Apple is set to inject a lot more AI-based stuff into the Photos app with iOS 10, with deep machine learning recognising faces, places, objects and events and using these things to categorise and tag your stills and videos. That means you’ll be able to find things quicker, and Photos will also automatically create little vignettes, collections and movies in a tab called Memories.

Yes, you’re probably thinking that sounds a lot like the features Google Photos has been offering for some time, but Apple’s implementation has one key difference: all the computation is done on your actual device, not in the cloud. The true implications of that difference (will it be slower/faster than Google Photos, for instance?) won’t be clear until launch, but in theory it could be a better way of doing things.

HAS MAPS FINALLY FOUND ITS WAY?

Apple’s Maps app has a chequered past. In its current form it’s a decent, usable mapping service, but its disastrous introduction means it’s lagging way behind Google Maps in terms of public perception. iOS 10 looks set to deliver a sizeable boost to Maps’ functionality, however.

At WWDC, Apple showed us how it's opening Maps up to developers, letting you book an Uber or make an OpenTable reservation without having to leave the app, and getting cleverer suggestions based on what it knows about you (gleaning stuff from your calendar, for instance).

The navigation is also getting richer, with traffic levels appearing in the route, while reroutes to avoid that – or to buy food or petrol – will give you more info on the extra time you’ll need.

Will that be enough to overtake Google Maps? Probably not, but it seems to be getting closer.