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With the recent announcement of the new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus along with the impressive iPhone X, comes a new operating system (OS) – iOS 11! A huge update in many arenas that we think will be pivotal to mobile innovation. I’ve been lucky enough to have an opportunity to experiment with iOS 11 beta since June and am pretty excited about some of the new frameworks and features that it has to offer. So I thought I would share my top 4 pivotal OS updates in iOS 11.
1. ARKit
What it is: Apple is positioning itself to be a leader in the Augmented Reality space with its new framework ARKit. ARKit utilizes camera scene capture, advanced scene processing and motion tracking to add 2D and 3D elements to the user’s camera live view.
Why it’s cool: With the release of this powerhouse framework, the iPhone will immediately become the market-leader in delivering powerful, handheld, mobile AR experiences to its users. With beta in-hand, it’s quite apparent that the tracking is phenomenal, and judging by user-reactions, it is widely believed that Apple’s version of AR has already surpassed Google Tango’s AR (and perhaps Google’s latest answer to AR – ARCore which we are just starting to check-out).
What to watch for: Many developers and agencies have been tinkering with this new tech for months and are already working on Apps utilizing ARKit that will likely be available upon open release of the new OS…. so open up the floodgates, Apple. Some cool applications include a Tesla customizer, 3-D version of menu items and our very own taco ordering experience (contact us for a live demo). Also, the new iPhone features a new camera with an enhanced ability to sense depth.
P.S. for more info on all the hardware features of the new iPhone X and what we think about it, check out our post here!
The power in AR will come with purpose-driven applications, not fad-y one-off demos. There are powerful ways to use this tech and I urge brands and agencies to ask themselves if it’s enhancing the experience or not, to have AR involved.
2. Computer Vision with CoreML
What is does: There is a lot of power in this framework so we will just touch on one aspect, Vision. Computer-vision machine learning is like a computer with eyes! Features include, face tracking, face detection, scene classification, text detection, rectangle detection, barcode detection including QR, object tracking, and image registration.
Why it matters: With the camera as the gateway, we now have a more powerful visual search engine to recognize labels, faces, text and more; that’s the power of vision analysis. It will also map landmarks or faces more accurately; allowing for better person-identifying, emotion-reading and advanced AR tracking (Making those selfie filters look EVEN better).
What to watch for: More iOS Apps this fall utilizing more robust text, facial and product scanning and recognition.
3. ApplePay in iMessage
What it does: You can now pay someone in iMessage via Apple Pay!
Why it’s cool: This is a move to overtake user base and kill services like Venmo and square cash. After setting up credit or debit cards in Apple Pay, users will be able to transfer money peer-to-peer by accessing the App drawer in iMessage – which will make it a seamless experience. One potential adoption hurdle is that when you receive the payment it will be in the balance of a virtual Apple Pay card, which we hope would work like a Venmo balance that can be transferred to a bank account, although, it might remain in this Apple ‘bank’ until you use it, as Apple is likely wanting to hook people on the use of Apple Pay.
What to watch for: Apple Pay in iMessage this fall (it’s not included in the beta iOS 11) and even more Apps that connect directly with iMessage. The iMessage App Store already lets you download stickers and install games or Apps for you to use and play, directly within a conversation. Some useful iMessage Apps we like are realtor.com, opentable and emoji poll.
4. High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Support
What it does: Video with double the data compression.
Why it’s cool: H.265 will usher in the regular use of 4K in streaming video. H.264 (or AVC) is the gold standard and many hope H.265 will become as widely adopted as its predecessor, Apple (including Safari) supporting this codec is a big step in that direction. That means faster more beautiful video, especially on mobile, including units we produce like vertical video or 360 video, where some users may experience lagging.
What to watch for: Faster video streaming and greater detail in streaming video. More confidence when it comes to 360 video and 3D video… yay!
What are you favorite updates with the new iOS 11? Let us know on Twitter! Now curious about the hardware? Check out our post on the new iPhones here!
