iOS 11.3 Preview Promises Battery Health, New Animojis and More
Apple has outlined a number of features coming to iPhone and iPad in iOS 11.3 update.
Firstly, ARKit 1.5 will be available to developers once the update lands. The new version will host many new improvements such as placing objects on walls and doors, it extends to includes circular tables. It will also be able to “to find and recognize the position of 2D images such as signs, posters, and artwork”. Apple says the camera can now show the real world in “50 percent greater resolution” and auto-focus.
Introduced with iPhone X, Animojis were a highlight of the phone’s ability to use Face ID technology to map your face onto emojis for recording messages in iMessage. iOS 11.3 will add four more Animojis: lion, bear, dragon, and skull. iMessage will also get Business Chat. The feature will let users interact with businesses and engage in making appointments or purchases right through iMessage.
Health app is being updated with the inclusion of Health Records. Participating medical institutes can keep the user informed about their “lab results, medications, conditions and more”.
But the biggest change iOS 11.3 will bring is the new battery health feature. If you’ve been following the news from earlier this month, Apple was caught under fire from iPhone users when evidences showing performance degradation overtime multiple iOS updates came to light. Apple finally admitted in a press release that the feature was introduced in iOS 10.2.1 to help phones with aging batteries to avoid random shutdowns. Despite Apple’s intentions, users did not take lightly to the fact that Apple kept them in the dark about it. However, Apple apologized for the outrage caused and promised to work on bringing a solution.
After CEO Tim Cook revealed last week that an upcoming iOS update will allow users to be informed about the health status of their phone’s battery and turn off CPU throttling if they wish to do so, iOS 11.3 preview has confirmed that the feature will make its way to all iPhones dating back to iPhone 6.
More iOS 11.3 features include support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) for emergency location sharing, Apple News’ new Video group for recommended videos, music videos in Apple Music, and the ability for developers to use HomeKit software authorization to support “existing accessories while protecting privacy and security”.
iOS 11.3 is currently available for developers, with a public beta following later. It will be available to all sometime in Spring.
About The Author
