"iOS 11 sets a new standard for the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. Your apps can now become more intelligent using the power of machine learning with Core ML. You can create incredible augmented reality experiences with ARKit. And you can deliver a more unified and immersive user experience with new multitasking features, including drag and drop for iPad, the new Files app, new camera APIs, new SiriKit domains, Apple Music integration, and more." ~ Apple Inc.

Journey of iOS

Apple's Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world in 2007. In the years that followed, the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch have literally redefined the entire world of mobile computing. During the original iPhone announcement, Apple proclaimed that it ran on the same Unix core as Mac OS X and that it used many of the same tools. However, it was evident from the start that while there may be some shared elements between OS X and this new phone OS, it will soon require an operating system for its requirements. When the original iPhone launched, the operating system was called "iPhone OS" which changed to iOS with the release of iOS 4 in the June month of 2010. It is intriguing to know that when the original iPhone was introduced, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian, and even BlackBerry were all much ahead of it with a wide and deep array of features which Apple didn’t provide. It was actually well behind the competition when it came to a strict feature-by-feature comparison; for example, the iPhone didn't support 3G, multitasking, 3rd party apps, MMS, tethering, Exchange push email, voice dialing, editing Office documents, copy or paste text etc. Even you couldn't attach arbitrary files to emails, and it didn't have a customizable home screen, it hid the file system from users.

Yet, all of those missing features hardly mattered and people lapped up the iPhone almost instantly because instead of competing on specs, Apple focused on getting the core experience right. It focused on speed, consistency between apps, and making a few features radically better than anything else that was available in 2007. The culture of innovation has made Apple into a technology giant and to develop a ‘cult’ following among people. Following its tradition, Apple introduced the next-generation version of iOS on June 5, 2017, at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on stage, the update takes the best and most advanced operating system and turns it up to 11.

What's new in iOS 11

iOS 11 has a lot to offer to both- the iPhone and the iPad. These features are all quite simple and focus on productivity, but they're a key to making the device more powerful and useful.

New features

iOS for iPhone X features an all-screen Super Retina display for absolutely delightful app experiences and Face ID secures the device to unlock, authenticate, and pay with ease and confidence. The TrueDepth camera works with ARKit, and the A11 Bionic chip is designed for Core ML and Metal 2.

iPad-exclusive features in iOS 11 make it more capable than ever before, allowing access to your favorite and most frequently used apps or files quickly and easily from any screen. For iPad, Apple has introduced a host of new features like -

Features common to both iPad and iPhone

Apple is introducing new APIs mainly CoreML and ARKit for better app and gaming experience. CoreML provides machine learning tools to developers, while ARKit lets developers build complex and richly detailed augmented reality features into their apps. Let us explore these two features in detail to understand what they are capable of.

CoreML

Core ML delivers blazingly fast performance with easy integration of machine learning models enabling you to build apps with intelligent new features using just a few lines of code. It lets developers integrate a broad variety of machine learning model types into any app. In addition to supporting extensive deep learning with over 30 layer types, it also supports standard models such as tree ensembles, SVMs, and generalized linear models. Because it’s built on top of low-level technologies like Metal and Accelerate, Core ML seamlessly takes advantage of the CPU and GPU to provide maximum performance and efficiency. It is possible to run machine learning models on the device so data doesn't need to leave the device to be analyzed.

Supported features include face tracking, face detection, landmarks, text detection, rectangle detection, bar code detection, object tracking, and image registration.

ARKit

iOS 11 introduces ARKit, a new framework that allows developers to easily create unparalleled augmented reality experiences for iPhone and iPad. By blending digital objects and information with the environment around you, ARKit takes apps beyond the screen, freeing them to interact with the real world in entirely new ways. ARKit comes handy in the following apps and features

Other than the features listed above, the iOS 11 has some more fancy surprises up its sleeves. It makes the need for saving passwords for WiFi network obsolete. So, now if you need a WiFi password for a given network, all that is needed is to find someone who is already using the network and hold the device near theirs. The password will be transferred instantly. iOS11 allows customization of a new device way easier by allowing import of all your settings, preferences, and iCloud Keychain passwords from the old one by holding it close to an iOS device you already own

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