iOS updates are like candy to me—I see one and I need to have it. So when I saw that little notifications in my settings app, I was overjoyed. According to bgr.com, "Just 24 hours in, an estimated 15 percent of Apple’s enormous user base had already upgraded. 48 hours after iOS 10’s release, an impressive 20 percent of iOS users worldwide had upgraded," so I wasn't alone in my excitement.
1. New Unlock Feature
"Swipe to Unlock" no longer appears on your phone when you wake it up. It now reads, "Press home to unlock." Apple finally realized that most of us use the Touch ID anyways so why not make it easier. Now you just have to wake up your phone and press the home button with one of your registered fingers. Don't worry if your Touch ID is faulty or someone else is trying to get into your phone—the "enter Passcode" screen will still appear. Now when you swipe to the right you, get a page of customizable widgets where you can place the weather, calendar and many other apps. Also, when you swipe the other way, you get direct access to the camera—no more fumbling your phone trying to swipe up.
2. You Can Finally Delete Unwanted Apps
I'm not going to lie, this is one of my top favorite additions to the update. It is finally possible to delete many of the apps on your phone that you don't use. Such apps like stocks, compass, and newsstand. I also don't have an Apple Watch so the watch app was just taking up space. Now my phone contains only the apps I actually use.
3. New iMessage Options
The rumors around the iMessage upgrades have been circulating for awhile, and I'm happy to say that most of them were true. It is now possible to search for gifs and images to use in conversation. There is now a handwriting option, if you want to add your own personal touch using your own handwriting. There is also a 3D touch option, which I'm still not 100 percent sure what to do with, but you can supposedly send "heartbeats" and "kisses." Also, emojis are now two times bigger and there are so many more to choose from. You can even send your texts with different "intensities" and edit how they appear when someone opens the message.
4. Bedtime Feature
"You may not go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. But the goal of the Bedtime feature (inside the Clock) app on the iPhone is to get you to try," wrote one USA Today review. My sleep schedule is so erratic that I'm not sure how much this feature will actually help me, but it is really cool. It tracks within the health app so that you can see how much sleep you are really getting throughout the week.
5. Updated Siri
USA Today describes the updates as, "Siri itself now gets chummy with third party app developers..." An engadget reviewer stated that he "was able to book Uber and Lyft cars, as well as send cash to a friend using Venmo, with only voice commands." I have never really been a big Siri user, but maybe with all the upgrades she will finally become useful to me.
Learn more about iOS10 and everything new and updated through Apple's website here. And have fun exploring all the new iMessage options! Have fun annoying your friends when you start to only respond in GIFS (I know that'll be me in a few days).
