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iOS 9.3 Update LANDS: Here’s Everything You Need To Know
Apple’s made a TON of improvements in the latest iOS release
Michael Grothaus
12:08, 12 Jan 2016
This week Apple dropped a massive amount of software betas on developers: OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 for Macs, tvOS 9.2 for the new Apple TV’s, and watchOS 2.2 for Apple Watches. Then, of course, there was the thing everyone is really excited about: the massive iOS 9.3 update for iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads. The iOS 9.3 update is one of the biggest point (X.x) updates to iOS ever—it’s so big Apple actually made a page just dedicated to showing off it’s new features.
But don’t get too excited just yet. iOS 9.3 is a beta available only to developers right now. It’ll probably take a few months for the public release to come out. But once it does, what can you expect from it? Here’s everything you need to know.
New Night Shift mode
The biggest new feature of iOS 9.3 is no doubt Night Shift mode. The feature is designed to help iOS users sleep better by cutting down on the amount of blue light the iPhone and iPad’s screens admit. Blue light emitted from electronic devices trick the brain into thinking it’s daylight, which can keep users who use gadgets in bed at night awake.
Apple says Night Shift “uses your iOS device’s clock and geolocation to determine when it’s sunset in your location. Then it automatically shifts the colors in your display to the warmer end of the spectrum, making it easier on your eyes. In the morning, it returns the display to its regular settings.”
This is a feature users have requested for years and have previously had to jailbreak their iPhones to get.
New Quick Actions
Quick Actions allow iPhone 6s owners to force touch an icon on their home screen to bring up a contextual menu with a list of commands they can tap to quickly access a part of the app. In iOS 9.3 Apple is adding a slew of new Quick Actions to the iPhone. Included are new Quick Actions for the Settings app, including accessing Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Battery, and Wallpaper options. The Weather app gains Quick Actions for current location and saved locations. The Health app gains Quick Actions for the Medical ID or a user’s dashboard. And even the Compass app gets Quick Actions for directly opening to the compass or level tool.
Password protect notes
Another very welcome feature to iOS 9.3 is the ability to password protect individual notes inside the Notes app. This password protection can be done on a note-by-note basis. If you password protect a note you have the option of using a password or of enabling Touch ID to open the note when you press your fingerprint to the fingerprint scanner. Users can now also sort notes by Date Edited, Date Created, or Title.
A better News app
With iOS 9 Apple introduced a new News aggregation app. The app has been pretty popular among users because it allows them to see all the news that interests them in one place. With iOS 9.3 Apple is bringing a host of small improvements and tweaks to the News app for a better user experience. These include: better tailored news articles to match your interests, videos can now play right within the News feeds, iPhone users can view News in landscape mode, and now stories are updated and appear much faster in your feeds.
A revamped Health app
The Health app has received some much needed tweaks as well. Now the app will offer users links to apps that provide data to the Weight, Workouts, and Sleep cards in the app so it’s easier for users to know how to get this information. The Health app also now displays a user’s move, exercise, stand data, and goals from the Apple Watch.
New CarPlay features
Car owners are sure to like the iOS 9.3 update as well. The Apple Music CarPlay app now includes New and For You sections for better music discovery while driving and a new “Nearby” feature in Maps lets you find gas, parking, restaurants, coffee, and other points of interest with just a tap. Apple has also provided a full list of all the CarPlay-compatible cars out there. The list includes over 100 2016 and 2017 models from 22 manufacturers including Audi, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Ferrari, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Opel, Porsche, Peugeot, Seat, Škoda, Suzuki, Volkswagen and Volvo.
New features for education users
Finally, if you’re an education user or use the iPad in a classroom setting, you’re going to love the improvements coming in iOS 9.3. Those improvements include shared iPads for students, so they can share iPads between them while each student gets to user his or her unique settings, a new Classroom app that allows teachers to launch an app on all of the iPads in the classroom at the same time and peek in on what the kids are doing, a new Apple School Manager app, and improved Apple ID management features.