Apple iOS 11 - definition

Glossary

iOS 11.0

iOS 11 was introduced during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5, 2017 and was released to the public on September 19, 2017 and is the current version of iOS.

Control Center redesign bringing all controls together on one page plus gains support for 3D Touch, while the Lock screen and Notification Center are combined. While iOS 11 introduces a completely redesigned App Store while support for Augmented Reality apps is provided through ARKIt.

Apple Pay Cash introduced in the US.

Alongside the new iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X Apple introduced Studio Lighting into the Camera app.

Later releases introduced support for the Apple HomePod and the iPhone Battery Health (beta) feature.

Later iOS 11 beta's have introduced AirPlay 2, Apple's next-generation robust multi-room device streaming protocol. Also supporting the Apple HomePod while providing HomePod stereo pairing functionality. Read our AirPlay 2 first impressions here.

Version History

iOS 11.0 - 11.0.3

iOS 11.1 - 11.1.2

iOS 11.2 - 11.2.1

iOS 11.3

iOS 11.4 beta (developing)

iOS 11 Features

App Store

  • • All-new App Store designed for discovering great apps and games everyday
  • • New Today tab helps you discover new apps and games with stories, how-to guides, and more
  • • New Games tab to find new games and see what's most popular with top game charts
  • • Dedicated Apps tab with top picks, dedicated app charts, and app categories
  • • App pages include more video previews, Editors' Choice badges, easier access to user ratings, and information about in-app purchases

Siri

  • • New Siri voice is more natural and expressive
  • • Translate English words and phrases into Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish (beta)
  • • Siri suggestions based on your usage of Safari, News, Mail, and Messages
  • • Works with notes apps to create to-do lists, notes and reminders
  • • Works with banking apps for account transfer and balances
  • • Works with apps that display QR codes
  • • Hindi and Shanghainese dictation

Camera

  • • Portrait mode now supports optical image stabilization, HDR and True Tone flash
  • • Photos and videos will take up half the space with the new HEIF and HEVC image and video formats
  • • Redesigned set of nine filters optimized for natural skin tones
  • • Automatically identify and scan QR codes

Photos

  • • Loop, Bounce, and Long Exposure Live Photo effects
  • • Mute, trim, or choose a new key photo for Live Photos
  • • Memory Movies automatically adapt content for portrait and landscape orientation
  • • More than a dozen new memory types including pets, babies, weddings, and sporting events
  • • People album is more accurate and stays up to date across devices with iCloud Photo Library
  • • Animated GIF support

Maps

  • • Indoor maps for major airports and shopping centers
  • • Lane guidance and speed limit information with Turn-by-turn directions
  • • One-handed zoom with double tap and swipe
  • • Interact with Flyover by moving your device

Do Not Disturb while Driving

  • • Automatically silences notifications while driving and keeps iPhone silent and display off
  • • Optional iMessage auto reply to alert selected contacts that you're driving

New features designed for iPad

  • An all new Dock provides quick access to your favorite and recently used apps and can even be shown on top of active apps
  • • Dock resizes so you can add all of your favorite apps
  • • Recently used and Continuity apps are available on the right
  • Enhanced Slide Over and Split View
  • • Apps can be easily started in Slide Over and Split View from the Dock
  • • Slide Over and background apps now run simultaneously
  • • Apps in Slide Over and Split View can now be placed on the left side of the screen
  • Drag and drop
  • • Move text, images, and files between apps on iPad
  • • Multi-Touch to move multiple items at the same time
  • • Spring-loading to move content between apps
  • Markup
  • • Markup works across documents, PDFs, webpages, photos and more
  • • Instant markup anything in iOS - just place Apple Pencil on what you want to mark
  • • Create a PDF and markup anything that can be printed
  • Notes
  • • Instantly create a new note by tapping on Lock Screen with Apple Pencil
  • • Inline drawing available by simply placing Apple Pencil in body of a note
  • • Search handwritten text
  • • Document scanner autocorrects for skewing and uses image filters to remove shadows
  • • Table support to organize and display information
  • • Pin important notes to the top of the list
  • Files
  • • All-new Files app to browse, search and organize files
  • • Works with iCloud Drive and 3rd party cloud file providers
  • • Recents view for quick access to recently used files across all apps and cloud services
  • • Create folders and sort files by name, date, size and tags

QuickType

  • • Flick down on letter keys to enter numbers, symbols and punctuation marks on iPad
  • • One-handed keyboard support on iPhone
  • • New keyboards for Armenian, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Georgian, Irish, Kannada, Malayalam, Maori, Odia, Swahili, and Welsh
  • • English input on the 10-key Pinyin keyboard
  • • English input on the Japanese Romaji keyboard

HomeKit

  • • New accessory types including AirPlay 2 speakers, sprinklers and faucets
  • • Expanded occupancy, time and accessory based triggers
  • • QR code and tap to pair accessory setup support

Augmented Reality

  • • Augmented reality technologies that apps from the App Store can use to deliver content on top of real-world scenes for interactive gaming, immersive shopping experiences, industrial design and more

Machine Learning

  • • Core machine learning technologies that apps from the App Store can use to deliver intelligent features with machine learning data processed on device for high performance and user privacy

Other features and improvements

  • • Control Center redesign brings all controls on one page
  • • Control Center custom controls including accessibility, guided access, magnifier, text size, screen recording and Wallet
  • • Apple Music now helps you discover music with friends. Create a profile so friends can listen to playlists you've shared and see the music you listen to most
  • • Apple News now includes Top Stories picked just for you, recommendations from Siri, the best videos of the day in Today View, and great stories selected by our editors in the new Spotlight tab
  • • Apple Podcasts has an all-new design. Use Listen Now to easily play new episodes or continue where you left off. Shows can now also contain seasons, trailers and bonus episodes.
  • • Automatic Setup signs you in to iCloud, Keychain, iTunes, App Store, iMessage, and FaceTime with your Apple ID
  • • Automatic Setup restores device settings including language, region, network, keyboard preferences, places you frequently visit, how you talk to Siri, home and health data
  • • Easily share access to your Wi-Fi networks
  • • Storage optimization notifications and free up space in Settings for apps like Photos, Messages, and more
  • • Emergency SOS calls emergency services based on your current location and automatically notifies emergency contacts, shares your location, and displays your Medical ID
  • • FaceTime lets you capture Live Photos from the other person's Mac or iPhone camera
  • • Easily check Flight status in Spotlight and Safari
  • • Definitions, conversions and math support in Safari
  • • Russian and English bilingual dictionary
  • • Portuguese and English bilingual dictionary
  • • Arabic system font support

Accessibility

  • • VoiceOver descriptions support for images
  • • VoiceOver tables and lists support in PDFs
  • • Type to Siri support for basic search queries
  • • Spoken and braille caption support for videos
  • • Dynamic Type increases text and app UI to larger sizes
  • • Redesigned Invert Colors make media content easier to view
  • • Highlight Colors improvements in Speak Selection and Speak Screen
  • • Switch Control typing can scan and type whole words at a time

iOS 11.1 Features

iOS 11.1 introduces over 70 new emoji and includes bug fixes and improvements.

Emoji

  • • Over 70 new emoji characters including new food types, animals, mythical creatures, clothing options, more expressive smiley faces, gender-neutral characters and more

Other improvements and fixes

  • • Adds back support for accessing the app switcher by pressing on edge of display with 3D Touch

iOS 11.2 Features

iOS 11.2 introduces Apple Pay Cash to send, request, and receive money from friends and family with Apple Pay. This update also includes bug fixes and improvements.

Apple Pay Cash (US Only)

  • • Send, request, and receive money from friends and family with Apple Pay in Messages or by asking Siri

Other improvements and fixes

  • • Adds support for faster wireless charging on iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X with compatible third-party accessories
  • • Introduces three new Live wallpapers for iPhone X
  • • Improves video camera stabilization
  • • Adds support in Podcasts to automatically advance to the next episode from the same show
  • • Adds support in HealthKit for downhill snow sports distance as a data type

iOS 11.3 Features

iOS 11.3 introduces new features including ARKit 1.5 with support for more immersive augmented reality experiences, iPhone Battery Health (Beta), new Animoji for iPhone X users, and more. This update also includes stability improvements and bug fixes.

Augmented Reality

  • • ARKit 1.5 allows developers to place digital objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors in addition to horizontal surfaces
  • • Adds support for detecting and incorporating images like movie posters or artwork into AR experiences
  • • Supports a higher resolution real world camera view when using AR experiences

iPhone Battery Health (Beta)

  • • Displays information on iPhone maximum battery capacity and peak performance capability
  • • Indicates if the performance management feature that dynamically manages maximum performance to prevent unexpected shutdowns is on and includes the option to disable it
  • • Recommends if a battery needs to be replaced

iPad charge management

  • • Maintains battery health when iPad is connected to power for prolonged periods of time, such as when it is used in kiosks, point of sale systems, or stored in charging carts

Animoji

  • • Introduces four new Animoji on iPhone X: lion, bear, dragon and skull

Privacy

  • • When an Apple feature asks to use your personal information, an icon now appears along with a link to detailed information explaining how your data will be used and protected

Business Chat (Beta) - US only

  • • Communicate with companies to easily ask questions, schedule appointments, and make purchases inside the built-in Messages app on iPhone and iPad

Health Records (Beta) - US only

  • • Access health records and view lab results, immunizations, and more in a consolidated timeline in the Health app

Apple Music

  • • Features a new music video experience, including an updated Music Videos section with exclusive video playlists
  • • Find friends that have similar tastes using updated suggestions in Apple Music that reveal genres people enjoy and mutual friends that follow them

News

  • • Top Stories now always appear first in For You
  • • Watch Top Videos curated by News editors

App Store

  • • Adds ability to sort customer reviews on product pages by Most Helpful, Most Favorable, Most Critical, or Most Recent
  • • Improves Updates tab information with app version and file size

Safari

  • • Helps protect privacy by only AutoFilling usernames and passwords after selecting them in a web form field
  • • Includes warnings in the Smart Search Field when interacting with password or credit card forms on non-encrypted web pages
  • • AutoFill for usernames and passwords is now available in web views within apps
  • • Articles shared to Mail from Safari are now formatted using Reader mode by default when Reader is available
  • • Folders in Favorites now show icons for the bookmarks contained within

Keyboards

  • • Adds two new Shuangpin keyboard layouts
  • • Adds support for connected hardware keyboards using the Turkish F keyboard layout
  • • Improves Chinese and Japanese keyboards for better reachability on on 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch devices
  • • Enables switching back to the keyboard after dictation with just one tap
  • • Addresses an issue where auto-correct could incorrectly capitalize some words
  • • Fixes an issue on iPad Pro that prevented the iPad Smart Keyboard from working after connecting to a captive Wi-Fi access point
  • • Fixes an issue that could cause the Thai keyboard to incorrectly switch to the numeric layout when in landscape mode

Accessibility

  • • App Store adds accessibility support for bold and large text for display customization
  • • Smart Invert adds support for images on the web and in Mail messages

Other improvements

  • • Introduces support for the AML standard which provides more accurate location data to emergency responders when SOS is triggered (in supported countries)
  • • Adds support for software authentication as a new way for developers to create and enable HomeKit compatible accessories
  • • Podcasts now plays episodes with a single tap, and you can tap Details to learn more about each episode