Apple has officially released the long-awaited iOS 11.3 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch today. The update includes several major features as well as bug fixes and performance improvements. Read more below to find out what’s new in the update.
iOS 11.3 – A new hope
First of all, Apple is introducing four new Animoji characters in iOS 11.3, lion, bear, dragon, and skull. Business Chat supports in iOS 11.3 – new ways to field customer support sessions. And surprisingly, AirPlay 2 and Messages on iCloud wasn’t on the list of release note.
More importantly, Apple has added a new “Battery Health” feature that’s designed to provide iOS users with more information about their batteries. This feature will tells you the maximum capacity of your battery and whether or not it is operating at peak capacity. Once the battery has degraded, power management feature will be automatically turned on to prevent from unexpected shutdown, in exchange your devices will become slower, but now with iOS 11.3, you can disable it.
Besides that, iOS 10.3 is also including ARKit 1.5, which now will be recognize and place virtual objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors, more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces like circular tables as well. In addition, the view of the “real world” will now be in 1080p HD, that is up from 720p currently.
Other new features include a new section in Apple News displays the top videos, support for Advanced Mobile Location for more accurate location when placing an emergency call in a supported country, more information about app size in the Updates page for the App Store app. Down below are the release notes:
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.Â
Augmented RealityÂ
– ARKit 1.5 allows developers to place digital objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors in addition to horizontal surfacesÂ
– Adds support for detecting and incorporating images like movie posters or artwork into AR experiencesÂ
– Supports a higher resolution real world camera view when using AR experiencesÂ
iPhone Battery Health (Beta)Â
– Displays information on iPhone maximum battery capacity and peak performance capabilityÂ
– Indicates if the performance management feature that dynamically manages maximum performance to prevent unexpected shutdowns is on and includes the option to disable itÂ
– Recommends if a battery needs to be replacedÂ
iPad charge managementÂ
– 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 cartsÂ
AnimojiÂ
– Introduces four new Animoji on iPhone X: lion, bear, dragon and skullÂ
PrivacyÂ
– 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 protectedÂ
Business Chat (Beta) – US onlyÂ
– Communicate with companies to easily ask questions, schedule appointments, and make purchases inside the built-in Messages app on iPhone and iPadÂ
Health Records (Beta) – US onlyÂ
– Access health records and view lab results, immunizations, and more in a consolidated timeline in the Health appÂ
Apple MusicÂ
– Features a new music video experience, including an updated Music Videos section with exclusive video playlistsÂ
– Find friends that have similar tastes using updated suggestions in Apple Music that reveal genres people enjoy and mutual friends that follow themÂ
NewsÂ
– Top Stories now always appear first in For YouÂ
– Watch Top Videos curated by News editorsÂ
App StoreÂ
– Adds ability to sort customer reviews on product pages by Most Helpful, Most Favorable, Most Critical, or Most RecentÂ
– Improves Updates tab information with app version and file sizeÂ
SafariÂ
– Helps protect privacy by only AutoFilling usernames and passwords after selecting them in a web form fieldÂ
– Includes warnings in the Smart Search Field when interacting with password or credit card forms on non-encrypted web pagesÂ
– AutoFill for usernames and passwords is now available in web views within appsÂ
– Articles shared to Mail from Safari are now formatted using Reader mode by default when Reader is availableÂ
– Folders in Favorites now show icons for the bookmarks contained withinÂ
KeyboardsÂ
– Adds two new Shuangpin keyboard layoutsÂ
– Adds support for connected hardware keyboards using the Turkish F keyboard layoutÂ
– Improves Chinese and Japanese keyboards for better reachability on 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch devicesÂ
– Enables switching back to the keyboard after dictation with just one tapÂ
– 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 pointÂ
– Fixes an issue that could cause the Thai keyboard to incorrectly switch to the numeric layout when in landscape modeÂ
AccessibilityÂ
– App Store adds accessibility support for bold and large text for display customizationÂ
– Smart Invert adds support for images on the web and in Mail messagesÂ
– Improves RTT experience and adds RTT support for T-MobileÂ
– Improves app switching on iPad for VoiceOver and Switch Control usersÂ
– Addresses an issue where VoiceOver incorrectly described Bluetooth status and badge iconsÂ
– Fixes an issue where end call button might not be presented in the Phone app when using VoiceOverÂ
– Fixes an issue where in-app app rating was not accessible with VoiceOverÂ
– Resolves an issue when using Live Listen that could distort audio playbackÂ
Other improvements and fixesÂ
– Introduces support for the AML standard which provides more accurate location data to emergency responders when SOS is triggered (in supported countries)Â
– Adds support for software authentication as a new way for developers to create and enable HomeKit compatible accessoriesÂ
– Podcasts now plays episodes with a single tap, and you can tap Details to learn more about each episodeÂ
– Improves search performance for users with long notes in ContactsÂ
– Improves performance of Handoff and Universal Clipboard when both devices are on the same Wi-Fi networkÂ
– Fixes an issue that could prevent incoming calls from waking the displayÂ
– Addresses an issue that could delay or prevent playback of Visual VoicemailÂ
– Resolves an issue that prevented opening a web link in MessagesÂ
– Fixes an issue that could prevent users from returning to Mail after previewing a message attachmentÂ
– Fixes an issue that could cause Mail notifications to reappear on the Lock screen after they had been clearedÂ
– Resolves an issue that could cause time and notifications to disappear from the Lock ScreenÂ
– Resolves an issue that prevented parents from using Face ID to approve Ask to Buy requestsÂ
– Fixes an issue in Weather where current weather conditions may not have been updatedÂ
– Fixes an issue where contacts may not sync with a car’s phone book when connected over BluetoothÂ
– Addresses an issue that could prevent audio apps from playing in cars when the app was in the background
