iOS 13 Brings Big Performance Improvements And A Dark Mode

Apple has finally unveiled iOS 13 at the WWDC 2019 keynote in San Francisco today. Dark mode has been one of the most talked about new features for the next iteration of Apple’s mobile platform. The company officially confirmed today that iOS 13 does indeed include a system-wide dark mode. Apple has also made significant performance improvements to the OS which will provide a better user experience.

Apple’s senior VP of software engineering Craig Federighi revealed during the keynote that users will notice that Face ID unlocks are 30 percent faster on iOS 13. Apple is changing how apps are packaged as well. It promises 50 percent smaller downloads and 60 percent smaller updates.

The company did spend considerable time talking about the new dark mode in iOS 13. It applies the dark theme to the entire OS, this includes the keyboard and widgets. The video for dark mode also revealed that there’s also a swipe-able keyboard in iOS 13, something that has been present on Android for years.

Many of the native iOS apps have been updated as well. Reminders is perhaps the one with the most improvements. The app has been redone entirely with new filtering options for better sorting and a completely new visual look. AI integration is present as well, with Reminders automatically suggesting what you’d like to be reminded about as you type.

Some of the other app improvements include new desktop formatting for Apple Mail, per-website preferences in Safari, and a new gallery view in Notes to look at all notes at once. Apple Maps has been overhauled as well with comprehensive map data and a new mode that’s not unlike Google Street View.

Apple has also added some new privacy-related features. There’s a new “Sign in with Apple” feature which will let users log into services using Face ID without revealing any personal information to services. Developers will be able to integrate this feature into their apps and services. It will also be possible to create new, primate email addresses for the Apple account on a per-app basis which forward to the primary email so that apps don’t get access to the user’s real email.

The camera app gets new portrait lighting effects which allow users to increase the intensity of light. The photo editing interface has been improved as well and iOS finally has the ability to rotate videos. iOS 13 will be out later this year.