All the IOS 11 Features You Need to Know About
iOS 11 was released last week, and along with that, your iPhone and iPad ( if it’s one of those models ) have a ton of new features. There are so many of them that navigating them can be quite daunting and let’s face it, a confusing task. Not sure how to learn all this? We have your back. Many of us at Lifehacker have tested the operating system and have written tons of great tutorials on some of the most exciting new things.
Here’s everything you need to know. Click a link in any section to view complete information about this feature. If you have questions about any update features that aren’t here, leave them in the comments and we’ll try to help with the answers.
Brand new control center
Aesthetically, the Control Center has seen the biggest changes in iOS 11 . Now, instead of staying in a small rectangle at the bottom of the screen, the Control Center takes up the entire page. Things like Night Shift have been carried over from your old home and you have the option to tweak a bit with it so you can quickly access some of the features on your phone that you use the most.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are harder to turn off
One odd change in iOS 11 is that disabling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in Control Center doesn’t actually turn them off. If you want to do this, you need to dig a little deeper into the iOS 11 controls. We show you how to do this in detail.
It’s easier to connect to Wi-Fi
When it comes to connecting to this Wi-Fi, the process is a little easier. Now when friends visit you, you can share your Wi-Fi password with them by simply holding your phone or tablet next to their device. The trick works with iPhones and iPads running iOS 11, as well as Macs running macOS High Sierra.
Set up emergency SOS call now
After you download iOS 11 to your iPhone, before doing anything else, you can set up Emergency SOS on your phone. The function is activated when you press the power button on the device five times in a row. When you do, your phone can call emergency services, as well as notify your contacts that you are in a situation and provide your location. It also disables TouchID on your phone, so an attacker (or anyone else) cannot access your data. This is a feature you will never want to use, but you will be happy to set it up now if you ever need it.
IPad has a new keyboard
In iOS 11, Apple added a new “Flick Keys” feature to the iPad keyboard to make it easier for you to access characters such as @, #, and $. These and other symbols now share keys with traditional letters. Swiping down on a button when you click on it converts a letter, such as D, to a character that is also on its button. In this case, you will receive $. Depending on who you are, this is either the best or worst new feature. We cover in detail how to use it, as well as how to disable it if you don’t like it.
There is now a screenshot editor
When you take a screenshot on your iPhone or iPad, iOS 11 gives you the option to launch a separate editor where you can write on the image, crop it, or add things like arrows, speech bubbles, or underlines.
Finally, do not disturb mode for driving
Everyone knows they shouldn’t look at their phone when they are driving, but that doesn’t stop us from looking at it when text messages and messages start coming in on our morning commute to work. IOS 11 adds a new Do Not Disturb mode specifically for driving, which you can set to turn on automatically when you hit the road and turn off when you finally arrive at the office.
New “smart color inversion” mode for the night
In iOS 11 settings, Apple has also added a new Smart Invert Colors option that works like a dark mode for your phone or tablet. Once activated, it inverts most of the colors in the operating system, leaving things like app icons and images in their traditional form. It’s the best of both worlds and a huge improvement over Apple’s old Invert Colors. Night Shift, an iOS feature to reduce blue light (and help you sleep), is also moving to a new location in iOS 11.