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CUPERTINO, California — Currently every yearour smartphones become a reminder to always be ready for change.
This is because Apple and Google have announced updates to the operating systems that power our iPhones and Android phones. Soon, the software that runs the devices will have design tweaks and new features—new things to learn.
Apple announced on Monday iOS 16, the next version of the iPhone operating system. It will include new features like a redesigned lock screen and the ability to edit text messages. Last month, Google introduced Android 13includes a wallet application developed to store important documents and credit cards such as vaccination records. Both companies said they developed their apps for sending text messages.
The new iPhone and Android operating systems will come to our phones as free updates this fall.
Apple and Google often accompany these software updates with loud language and promises. “Today we will push our platforms further than ever before,” Apple CEO Timothy D. Cook said in a pre-recorded video for the event announcing the new software.
But in reality, most of the changes—especially the ability to retroactively edit a text—are incremental improvements that feel like they happened a long time ago. Here are the most notable updates to look for.
Apple overhauls iPhone lock screen
Apple said it made a change to the lock screen, which is the first thing anyone sees when using an iPhone.
In the past, people could only change the wallpaper on their lock screen. But with iOS 16, iPhone users can customize the lock screen by choosing from different fonts and colors for the clock. People will also be able to pin “widgets”, which are shortcuts to apps like the phone’s calendar and fitness data tracker, to the lock screen.
These customizations can help us adapt our phones to our lifestyles. Imagine if the new software would allow an iPhone user to create a set of custom lock screens for different scenarios.
For example, a lock screen dedicated to work might show your office building wallpaper and include a calendar widget with your next meeting appointment. It can show a lock screen for personal time, a wallpaper of your dog, and a workout widget. The idea is that people will be able to switch between lock screens throughout the day to better meet their needs.
Google’s Wallet app catches up with Apple
While many people are turning to contactless digital payments to avoid touching cash, the pandemic has accelerated the use of mobile purchases. For more than five years, Apple has made a strong offer for electronic payments with its Wallet software for iPhones, which allows people to purchase credit cards and carry important documents such as boarding passes and health data.
Struggling to market its mobile payment technology, Google took the opportunity to do more research on payments with Android 13 last month. The Google Pay system has been in serious use for years. delayed Apple’s payment system because very few Android users understood how to use the technology.
Last month, Google renamed its digital payments app google wallet. The company has simplified the technology by adding a wallet shortcut to the Android lock screen. It also plans to expand the software beyond credit cards to include documents such as boarding passes, movie tickets, and proof of Covid-19 vaccine.
Google and Apple expand messaging apps
Anyone who texts over the phone is familiar with the digital divide between the green balloon and the blue balloon.
When a text message is sent from an Android phone, it appears on the recipient’s screen as a green bubble with images and videos often pixelated and distorted. This is because a green balloon message is sent through the telephone operator’s network, which automatically lowers the quality of the image.
In contrast, blue balloon messages sent between iPhone users go through iMessage, Apple’s proprietary messaging service, which provides a high-quality view for photos and videos.
With Android 13, Google is trying to create a blue bubble experience of its own. The company is adding a technology to the messaging app called: Rich Communication Servicescapable of sending high resolution images and large files. It will also allow people to create group chats, like most modern messaging apps.
Meanwhile, Apple is making changes to iMessage so iPhone users can edit or recall messages after they’ve been sent. Backward message editing, which would save us from weird autocorrect typos or accidental pocket texts, has been a feature people have wanted for years.
Both companies increase user privacy
These days, no software update is complete unless a Big Tech company declares it cares about our privacy. This is because technology companies want users to feel safe, especially when sharing personal data. European regulators and others collapsed on the subject.
Naturally, Apple and Google have said that they offer greater protection to user data in later operating systems.
Apple, which lets long-time iPhone users give family members and romantic partners permanent access to location dataHe said it would provide deeper controls for this type of data sharing should a close relationship go awry. The new software feature, Security Checkup, will allow individuals to quickly review such data and revoke access so they can protect their information from abusers.
Google said it will give users more control over what data is shared with third-party apps. In the next version of Android, people will also be able to grant apps access to only certain photos instead of entire camera rolls – a safeguard against malicious apps disguising themselves as photo editing software.
As a result
If many of these tweaks feel lagging, it’s because they are. Just like smartphone hardware upgrades increasingThe software is also on its way to getting better – but in a remarkable way.
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