The Apple AirTag is our pick for the best Bluetooth tracker for iPhone users and there’s some good news if you’ve been waiting for a solid deal before picking up a few of them. A four-pack of AirTags is currently on sale. You can snap up the bundle for $80. That’s a discount of $19 and it’s just $5 or so more than the lowest price we’ve ever seen for the four-pack.
One great thing about AirTags is that they’re integrated into Apple’s ecosystem right off the bat. It works with the Find My app on Apple devices, so you don’t need to download an additional app. Just pair it with your iPhone (a very straightforward process) and you’re good to go.
AirTags can tap into a vast network of connected devices thanks to the large number of iPhones that are out in the wild. So if you misplace an item that has an AirTag attached, all it takes is for someone with an iPhone to be close by and it will pop up in Find My. Also, once you move around 1,200 feet away from an AirTag, you’ll likely receive a left-behind alert, just to make sure you didn’t accidentally leave something behind. (You can turn off these alerts for certain trackers and set up exceptions for them at locations like your home and office.)
If you have an iPhone with an ultra-wide band (UWB) chip — an iPhone 11 or later, but not SE models — it can point you in the right direction of an AirTag with directional arrows and a distance meter when you’re within 25 feet. This is handy if you struggle to hear the chirp of an AirTag (it has the quietest ring of any tracker we’ve tested) or the disc is obscured from view.
The AirTag is fairly rugged thanks to its IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. It has a replaceable battery too, unlike some rival trackers.
On the downside, the audible ring only lasts for seven seconds when you press the play button, so you might miss it. There’s no built-in attachment point, so if you want to put an AirTag on your keys, for instance, you’ll need to buy an accessory.
The Apple Pencil Pro is currently on sale for $119 on Amazon, or $10 lower than its original price. While that's not a massive discount, it's the first time the new iPad accessory has gone on sale since it came out in mid-May. If you've been looking to get the model as soon as possible, this is a great chance to at least get it at a lower price than usual. The Apple Pencil Pro comes equipped with a sensor that can recognize squeezes, which can bring up tool palettes, activate shortcuts and do other actions. A haptic engine then delivers tangible feedback to serve as confirmation for each gesture and action you perform. You can also change the orientation of the shaped pen and brush tool by rotating the barrel of the stylus.
The Apple Pencil lineup can be a bit confusing, seeing as you now have four models to choose from that work with different iPad models. Apple's Pencil Pro works with latest iPads, namely the 11- and 13-inch iPad Air (M2), and the 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro (M4), so it's the one to get if you're also buying one of the company's newest tablets. To note, the new stylus retains the second-gen Pencil's shape and matte finish, though it's a bit lighter. And it still pairs and charges magnetically with compatible iPads. In addition, the new Apple Pencil works with the company's Find My network. If it's not attached to an iPad, and you misplace it, you can simply log into Apple's Find My and track it down.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-new-apple-pencil-pro-is-on-sale-for-the-first-time-since-launch-113052630.html?src=rss
When I’m traveling, a portable mouse is a must. However, I’ve never really felt the same way about keyboards, because most portable options are still too big or are saddled with some major compromises in the name of lightness. But with the Keys-To-Go 2, Logitech has managed to create a super sleek typing accessory that disappears into your bag and can be paired with almost any device you can think of.
Design and features
Those who like traveling light can always opt for something like an iPad Pro or Surface Pro, which can be paired with their own dedicated detachable keyboards. The issue is that those devices aren’t really much smaller or lighter than an equivalent laptop. But with the Keys-To-Go 2 measuring just 7.8 ounces and a third of an inch at its thickest point, you get a truly pint-sized companion that’s perfect for pairing with smaller devices like an iPad Mini or my personal favorite, a foldable phone.
Obviously, a keyboard this thin doesn’t have a ton of space for fancy switches. But Logitech somehow found enough room for 1.1mm of key travel. When combined with rubber domes beneath the keys, you end up with a typing experience that’s not that far off from what you get on a modern MacBook. Granted, actuation is a bit softer and spongier, but on something this small, it’s understandable.
I also appreciate that despite its size, the Keys-To-Go 2 still features a full row of productivity shortcuts for stuff like volume, brightness, play/pause and even Logitech’s signature emoji key. That last one feels right at home when you're using the keyboard with a phone or tablet. You even get three Easy-Switch keys that allow you to change the keyboard’s Bluetooth connection between up to three devices with a single touch.
The Keys-To-Go 2 is available in three colors: lilac (seen here), pale gray and graphite.
Photo by Sam Rutherford
Speaking of connected devices, the Keys-To-Go 2 works with practically any gadget you might want to bring on a trip. It supports Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, iPadOS and even ChromeOS. Plus, there are two different layouts to choose from: a universal arrangement for all OSes (which is what I tested) and one that’s tailored for Apple devices. Finally, there’s a built-in cover that protects the keycaps while on the go, which also flips around 360 degrees to provide a slight angle for improved ergonomics when typing.
However, I wish Logitech had included some kind of onboard kickstand for propping up whatever device the keyboard is connected to. When I had a chance to talk to some of Logitech’s designers, they said they learned from customer surveys that most people who need a kickstand already have one attached to the case of their phone or tablet, which would make putting one on the Keys-To-Go 2 redundant. But as someone who loathes cases and doesn’t want to deal with a ton of addons, I think putting a stand in the keyboard would still be valuable.
Battery life
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Logitech claims the Keys-To-Go 2 offers up to 36 months of battery life, but real-world numbers will vary greatly depending on how much you use it. That’s because that figure is based on the expectation that you only use the keyboard for two hours a day, which isn’t a lot but makes sense for something that probably isn’t your primary work machine.
The potentially bigger issue is that the Keys-To-Go 2 relies on a pair of disposable coin-cell batteries instead of a rechargeable power pack. Furthermore, to access the batteries, you need to remove two Torx screws, which could be an issue if the keyboard dies while you’re traveling. In a perfect world, the Keys-To-Go 2 would also support charging via USB-C. But given its dimensions, finding room for any port may have been exceedingly difficult.
Wrap-up
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Now I admit, the Keys-To-Go 2 is a rather niche device. Its replaceable batteries and lack of ports for charging or wired connectivity means it can’t really be your primary workhorse. And its thinness means typing isn’t as comfortable as on a traditional desktop alternative. But at the same time, Logitech’s latest travel accessory excels at being a lightweight travel companion. It’s super thin, super light and has a nifty cover to keep it protected while in transit. It works with multiple devices and OSes, and while relying on coin cells isn’t ideal, its battery life is long enough to make replacing them a relatively infrequent hassle. With two layouts (Apple and universal), multi-device connectivity and a price tag of just $80, the Keys-To-Go 2 feels like it’s hitting a Goldilocks zone for frequent travelers looking for something that’s just right for their next trip.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-keys-to-go-2-review-a-super-slim-travel-companion-for-almost-any-gadget-070150717.html?src=rss
Just how thin can a Macbook Pro get? We may soon find out. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s mission to make its thinnest product ever won’t stop at the iPad Pro — the company also has plans for a skinnier Macbook Pro, Apple Watch and, as The Information also reported last month, iPhone. According to Gurman, Apple is on the cusp of ushering in “a new class of Apple devices that should be the thinnest and lightest products in their categories across the whole tech industry.” Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also shared his belief that the new Apple Watch Series 10 will get a thinner chassis than its predecessor — plus a larger screen (45mm and 49mm, compared to 41mm and 45mm).
Adding further fuel to the earlier iPhone rumors, Gurman says he too has been told the slimmed-down iPhone could come as early as 2025 with the introduction of the iPhone 17 line. There’s no timeline yet on the rest of the products named in the report. The upcoming thin iPhone is expected to be pricier than the current iPhone Pro Max, and have a screen sized somewhere between that of the Pro Max and the standard iPhone.
Update, June 17 2024, 5:26AM ET: This article has been updated to include analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's insight on the Apple Watch Series 10.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-reportedly-has-plans-for-a-thinner-iphone-macbook-pro-and-apple-watch-171137550.html?src=rss
The Google Pixel Tablet with charging speaker dock is $130 off right now via Woot. This is a discount of 26 percent and a record low for the tablet. That's a pretty good deal for a device that’s still under a year old.
It’s worth re-emphasizing that this sale is for the tablet and the charging speaker dock. It’s the latter accessory that was largely responsible for the positive review we gave the tablet last year. The dock lets the tablet double as a smart display. It charges the tablet quickly and provides a sturdy base for touch gestures. The speakers are also much louder than one would expect, given the size. The combination of a useful dashboard, an easy-to-read interface and impressive audio make it one heck of a smart display.
We were a bit cooler on the tablet itself, though it's perfectly serviceable. The nano-ceramic coating and glass-like backing makes it feel more expensive than it actually is and the low weight, at just over one pound, ensures you won’t cramp up while streaming the latest hit TV show. It is, however, slightly heavier than the iPad Air.
There’s also a neat little kickstand-hanger combo that lets you place the tablet just about anywhere. This is useful, for instance, when following a recipe in the kitchen. You can just hang it right on a cabinet knob. The 2,560 x 1,600 LCD panel isn’t as vibrant as a modern OLED, but it gets the job done.
The Pixel Tablet is the first of Google’s tablets to be a Chromecast receiver, so you can control it from your phone. This comes in especially handy when watching streaming apps, though it only works when docked.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-google-pixel-tablet-with-charging-speaker-dock-is-130-off-right-now-165101833.html?src=rss
It might be too late to get a big tech gift to ship in time for Father's Day, but if you're looking to upgrade your own setup, you can still take advantage of a few sales that are still kicking ahead of the weekend. The 13- and 15-inch versions of Apple's latest MacBook Air are each down to all-time lows, for instance, as are both versions of the newest MacBook Pro. Beats' new Solo 4 headphones are $70 off, too, while Solo Stove has a sale on some of our favorite smokeless fire pits. Several other gadgets we recommend are also on sale, including Amazon's Echo Buds, the Backbone One mobile game controller and Lenovo's IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-macbook-air-m3-hits-a-new-low-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-160638174.html?src=rss
Apple is slowly turning the iPhone into a fairly capable satellite communications device. It first rolled out Emergency SOS via Satellite on the iPhone 14 lineup. While you were previously limited to relying on the spacecraft for communications only when dialing emergency services, in iOS 18 this capability will apply to all situations where you're away from cellular or Wi-Fi coverage. I got to check out the updated experience at Apple Park, here's how it will work with iMessage or SMS messages.
When you’ve been disconnected from cellular or Wi-Fi for some time, an alert will appear to say you’ll need to hop on satellite communications to send messages. Tapping this notification brings up the new connection assistant, which contains all your satellite-powered tools, like Find My, roadside assistance and emergency SOS.
You can start a chat from this page or just go to the Messages app, where a prompt will appear in the Dynamic Island to instruct you on how to find an overhead satellite. You can also go to the Satellite option in Settings or in the Control Center to get set up when cellular or Wi-Fi signals aren’t available.
The connection experience here isn’t much different from before — you’ll be told what direction to point your iPhone, as well as suggestions to avoid obstructions. Once you’re linked, an indicator in the dynamic island shows a green check mark and it’ll continue to change colors and shapes if your connection begins to weaken.
To prevent networks getting congested with promotional SMS messages, Apple has made it so the person that’s off grid is the one who can initiate SMS chats over satellite. That is, except for people who are listed as your emergency contacts or your iCloud family members. Their messages will still come through when you’re on a satellite connection. Regardless of whether you’re using iMessage or SMS, you’ll only be able to send texts, emojis or tapback reactions. Compressing these into packages small enough to convey over satellite is already challenging, not to mention images and video.
In my demo on an iPhone that was tweaked so it couldn’t connect to Wi-Fi or cellular, I watched an Apple rep connect to an available satellite via the Dynamic Island’s interface, then send a text to another person. On the sender’s phone, the words “iMessage. Satellite” appeared above the blue bubble, and the same showed up on the recipient’s phone over the gray bubble. Read receipts aren’t supported over satellite, so I only saw the “delivered” and “sent” status labels under the bubbles.
It’s nice to see both SMS and iMessage supported over satellite, even if only the latter is end-to-end encrypted. Apple’s decision to include SMS is thoughtful, and though I’d like RCS to be covered as well, that platform’s messages are too large or complicated to compress effectively. They are, after all, going to satellite infrastructure over 800 miles away from Earth, and targeting spacecraft that are moving at 15,000 miles per hour.
The company still hasn’t shared details on the pricing for satellite connectivity and related features after its free trial is over, but for now, those with an iPhone 14 and newer will be able to use these features for free. Apple’s provision here is a little confusing at the moment, but basically you get two years of free satellite service from the time you purchase your new iPhone, and in November 2023 the company added another year to its free trial. In theory that’s a window of a total of three years, though it might depend on when you bought your iPhone, since Apple didn’t initially offer a two-year period.
iOS 18 is expected to come to iPhones this fall, and we'll undoubtedly find out more about Messages via Satellite before then. We'll update this article with more information as and when we get it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-messages-via-satellite-will-work-on-ios-18-and-how-much-it-will-cost-130020976.html?src=rss
You folks out there who have been waiting for a good deal before picking up Amazon’s Kindle Scribe, the company’s first Kindle with stylus support, now may be your time. The device has dropped to an all-time low price of $240. That’s 29 percent off the regular price for the base model with the Basic Pen and 16 GB of storage. In addition, there’s an option you can plump for that includes three months of Kindle Unlimited. That bundle costs the same price, but remember to cancel Kindle Unlimited before the three months are up if you don't want to keep using it (the service typically costs $12 per month).
One important thing to bear in mind here is that Amazon Prime Day is slated to take place in July. That mega sale always includes steep discounts on Amazon’s own products. While $240 is the best offer we’ve seen for the Kindle Scribe, there’s the possibility that the price will drop even lower for a couple of days in July.
That said, a discount of $100 is nothing to sniff at for our pick for the best e-reader E Ink tablet around. The 10.2-inch touchscreen has auto-adjusting front lights to make it easy to use in a variety of lighting conditions. The stylus and tablet combine to deliver a low-latency writing experience, which makes writing on the device by hand feel more natural. You can create multiple notebooks too, adding pages as you see fit.
The Kindle Scribe's battery can power the device for months between charges as E Ink screens are incredibly efficient. You can, of course, read e-books from Amazon and Amazon Unlimited. You can also listen to audiobooks thanks to Audible and Bluetooth support.
On the downside, we found it somewhat frustrating that it's not possible to write notes in the margins of most books. For the time being, that function is limited to a selection that's made up of journals and puzzle books such as crosswords and sudoku ones. In fiction and non-fiction books, you'll need to hold the stylus against the screen to highlight a word or phrase and add notes there. If that's not an issue for you, we reckon you can't go too far wrong with the Kindle Scribe.
There was so much Apple had to cram into its WWDC 2024 keynote that some features were left out of the spotlight. Here at the company's campus, I've had the chance to speak with various executives, as well as get deeper dives into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, Apple Intelligence, watchOS 11 and more. In these sessions, I've been able to learn more about how specific things work, like what steps exactly do you take to customize your iPhone's home screen and control center. I also got to see some other updates that weren't even briefly mentioned during the keynote, like new support for hiking routes in Apple Maps and what training load insights look like on watchOS 11. Of all the unmentioned features I've come to discover, here are my favorites.
Maps: Create and share custom routes
I've always been a Google Maps girl, in part because that app had superior information compared to Apple Maps in its early years. These days, I stick to Google Maps because it has all my saved places and history. When I found out that iOS 18 would bring updates to Apple Maps, particularly to do with hiking and routes, I was intrigued.
Basically, in iOS 18, when you go into search in Maps, you'll see a new option under "Find Nearby" called hikes. It'll show you recommended hikes, and you can filter by the type of hike (loop, for example) and specify a length. You'll find options in the vicinity and tapping into one will show you a topographical view with the elevation details, how challenging it should be as well as estimated duration. You can tap to save each route and store it for offline reference later and add notes too. There's a new Library view and you'll find it in your profile in Maps.
You'll also be able to create new routes in Maps by tapping anywhere to start defining your route. You can keep tapping to add waypoints, which will cause the trail to continue to connect them, then hit a "Close loop" button to finish your trail. These routes can be shared, though it's not yet clear if you can share it to, say, your friend or driver to have them take your preferred path to your destination.
Apple
The hikes that Apple will serve up in Maps are created by its own team, which is working with US National Parks, so they'll only be available for the 63 national parks in the country to begin with. In other words, it's not porting information from AllTrails, for example. In a press release, Apple said thousands of hikes will be available to browse at launch.
As a city dweller who only sometimes hikes, my excitement is less about hiking and more about the potential of sharing my custom routes to show people how they should walk to my building or favorite restaurant from the train station. It's a compelling feature, and arguably a reason I'd choose Apple Maps versus Google's.
Calendar integration with Reminders
Frankly, the Maps update might be my favorite out of everything that wasn't shown off during the WWDC 2024 keynote by a huge margin. But some of the new tools coming to Calendar tickle my fancy too. Specifically, the new integration with reminders makes it easier to not just schedule your tasks right into your daybook, but also check them off from the Calendar app. You can soon move reminders around by long pressing and dragging them, so that note to call your mom can be placed on a slot at 5pm on Wednesday, instead of sitting in your Reminders app. In addition, Calendar is getting new views that better detail your level of activity each day in a month, similar to how the Fitness app shows your daily rings progress quickly in the monthly view.
Tapback insights showing who exactly responded with what emoji
This isn't one that wasn't mentioned at all during the keynote, but there are details about how Tapback works that weren't described at yesterday's show. If you're like me, you might not even have remembered that Tapback refers to those reactions you can send in Messages by double tapping on a blue or gray bubble. With iOS 18, you'll get more options than the limited selection of heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, "Haha," exclamation points and question mark. They're also going to show up in full color with the update, instead of the existing (boring) gray.
What I found out later on, though, is that when you double tap a message that already has reactions attached, a new balloon appears at the top of your screen showing who has responded with which emoji. This should make it easier to lurk in a group chat, but also could double as an unofficial polling tool by asking your friends to react with specific emojis to indicate different answers. That should make Messages a bit more like Slack, and I wish Whatsapp and Telegram would take note.
Others: Math Notes in iPhone, updates to Journal and Safari
There are quite a lot of features coming to iOS 18 that didn't get much love on the WWDC stage, like the Journal app's new widget for the home screen, which shows prompts for reflection and lets you create new entries. Journal also has a new insights view that displays your writing streaks and other historical data, plus a new tool that lets you add your state of mind to each entry from within the app.
Meanwhile, Safari is getting a new "Highlights" button in the search (or URL) bar, and tapping it will show a machine-learning-generated summary of the webpage you're on. Tapping into this brings up a panel with more information like navigation directions to a restaurant mentioned on the page, for example, or a phone number to call up a business. You can also quickly launch the reader view from this pane.
I wasn't super enthusiastic about either of those, largely because I don't use the Journal app much and I don't need Safari summarizing a webpage for me. But there are some other buried updates that I really wanted to shout out. For example, Math Notes for iPad and with Apple Pencil certainly got a lot of time, but it wasn't till I looked at Apple's iOS 18 press release that I found out the iPhone's Notes app is also getting a version of it. According to the screenshot Apple included, it looks like you can tally up and split expenses between a group of friends by writing a list of expenses and how much each item cost, then add the names of each expense to a formula with plus and equal signs, then get that divided by the number of people in your group. Not quite Splitwise, but I could see this becoming more powerful over time.
I was also intrigued by some of the Smart Script features on iPadOS 18, especially when I realized that you can just move your handwritten words around by dragging your handwritten words further away from each other, and the rest of your scrawled text moves in tandem. This is hard to describe, and I'll have to wait till I can try it for myself to show you an animated example. But it was impressive, even if it's not extremely useful.
Finally, the Passwords app and other privacy updates got a shout out during the keynote, but I learned more about how things like accessory setup and contacts sharing with apps work. Apple is releasing a new accessory setup kit so that device makers can adopt a pairing interface similar to how you'd connect your AirPods or Apple Watch to your iPhone. If developers don't use this approach, the new Bluetooth connection interface will be clearer about what other devices are on your network and what you're actually granting access to when you let an app see other devices on your network. Though it wasn't entirely skipped during the keynote, the Passwords app is something that makes me happy, since I'm absolutely sick of having to dig through settings to get codes for apps which I use my iPhone's authenticator to unlock.
There are plenty of features that were talked about that I'm excited by and learned more about the workings of, including the new dynamic clock style in the Photos face in watchOS 11, pinned collections in the redesigned Photos app and iPadOS mirroring for easier remote tech support. Oh, and that Airplay feature that'll let you send money to friends by holding your phones together? Yes! Being able to pause and adjust your Activity rings in watchOS and that Training Load insight? Hallelujah!
And though I can see the appeal of locked and hidden apps, I'm not sure I'd find much use for that and it would probably exacerbate my already prone-to-suspicion nature.
I'm also a little wary of things like Genmoji and Image Playground, which are both Apple Intelligence features that won't hit all iOS 18 devices. There will be metadata information indicating when images were generated by Apple's AI, and guardrails in place to prevent the creation of abusive and exploitative content.
Clearly, there are plenty of updates coming to Apple's phones, tablets, laptops and wearables later this year, and I can't wait to try them out. The public beta should be ready around the end of summer this year, which is when most people (who are willing to risk an unstable platform) can check them out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/my-favorite-ios-18-ipados-18-and-watchos-11-features-that-flew-under-the-radar-at-wwdc-2024-113044069.html?src=rss
There was so much Apple had to cram into its WWDC 2024 keynote that some features were left out of the spotlight. Here at the company's campus, I've had the chance to speak with various executives, as well as get deeper dives into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, Apple Intelligence, watchOS 11 and more. In these sessions, I've been able to learn more about how specific things work, like what steps exactly do you take to customize your iPhone's home screen and control center. I also got to see some other updates that weren't even briefly mentioned during the keynote, like new support for hiking routes in Apple Maps and what training load insights look like on watchOS 11. Of all the unmentioned features I've come to discover, here are my favorites.
Maps: Create and share custom routes
I've always been a Google Maps girl, in part because that app had superior information compared to Apple Maps in its early years. These days, I stick to Google Maps because it has all my saved places and history. When I found out that iOS 18 would bring updates to Apple Maps, particularly to do with hiking and routes, I was intrigued.
Basically, in iOS 18, when you go into search in Maps, you'll see a new option under "Find Nearby" called hikes. It'll show you recommended hikes, and you can filter by the type of hike (loop, for example) and specify a length. You'll find options in the vicinity and tapping into one will show you a topographical view with the elevation details, how challenging it should be as well as estimated duration. You can tap to save each route and store it for offline reference later and add notes too. There's a new Library view and you'll find it in your profile in Maps.
You'll also be able to create new routes in Maps by tapping anywhere to start defining your route. You can keep tapping to add waypoints, which will cause the trail to continue to connect them, then hit a "Close loop" button to finish your trail. These routes can be shared, though it's not yet clear if you can share it to, say, your friend or driver to have them take your preferred path to your destination.
Apple
The hikes that Apple will serve up in Maps are created by its own team, which is working with US National Parks, so they'll only be available for the 63 national parks in the country to begin with. In other words, it's not porting information from AllTrails, for example. In a press release, Apple said thousands of hikes will be available to browse at launch.
As a city dweller who only sometimes hikes, my excitement is less about hiking and more about the potential of sharing my custom routes to show people how they should walk to my building or favorite restaurant from the train station. It's a compelling feature, and arguably a reason I'd choose Apple Maps versus Google's.
Calendar integration with Reminders
Frankly, the Maps update might be my favorite out of everything that wasn't shown off during the WWDC 2024 keynote by a huge margin. But some of the new tools coming to Calendar tickle my fancy too. Specifically, the new integration with reminders makes it easier to not just schedule your tasks right into your daybook, but also check them off from the Calendar app. You can soon move reminders around by long pressing and dragging them, so that note to call your mom can be placed on a slot at 5pm on Wednesday, instead of sitting in your Reminders app. In addition, Calendar is getting new views that better detail your level of activity each day in a month, similar to how the Fitness app shows your daily rings progress quickly in the monthly view.
Tapback insights showing who exactly responded with what emoji
This isn't one that wasn't mentioned at all during the keynote, but there are details about how Tapback works that weren't described at yesterday's show. If you're like me, you might not even have remembered that Tapback refers to those reactions you can send in Messages by double tapping on a blue or gray bubble. With iOS 18, you'll get more options than the limited selection of heart, thumbs up, thumbs down, "Haha," exclamation points and question mark. They're also going to show up in full color with the update, instead of the existing (boring) gray.
What I found out later on, though, is that when you double tap a message that already has reactions attached, a new balloon appears at the top of your screen showing who has responded with which emoji. This should make it easier to lurk in a group chat, but also could double as an unofficial polling tool by asking your friends to react with specific emojis to indicate different answers. That should make Messages a bit more like Slack, and I wish Whatsapp and Telegram would take note.
Others: Math Notes in iPhone, updates to Journal and Safari
There are quite a lot of features coming to iOS 18 that didn't get much love on the WWDC stage, like the Journal app's new widget for the home screen, which shows prompts for reflection and lets you create new entries. Journal also has a new insights view that displays your writing streaks and other historical data, plus a new tool that lets you add your state of mind to each entry from within the app.
Meanwhile, Safari is getting a new "Highlights" button in the search (or URL) bar, and tapping it will show a machine-learning-generated summary of the webpage you're on. Tapping into this brings up a panel with more information like navigation directions to a restaurant mentioned on the page, for example, or a phone number to call up a business. You can also quickly launch the reader view from this pane.
I wasn't super enthusiastic about either of those, largely because I don't use the Journal app much and I don't need Safari summarizing a webpage for me. But there are some other buried updates that I really wanted to shout out. For example, Math Notes for iPad and with Apple Pencil certainly got a lot of time, but it wasn't till I looked at Apple's iOS 18 press release that I found out the iPhone's Notes app is also getting a version of it. According to the screenshot Apple included, it looks like you can tally up and split expenses between a group of friends by writing a list of expenses and how much each item cost, then add the names of each expense to a formula with plus and equal signs, then get that divided by the number of people in your group. Not quite Splitwise, but I could see this becoming more powerful over time.
I was also intrigued by some of the Smart Script features on iPadOS 18, especially when I realized that you can just move your handwritten words around by dragging your handwritten words further away from each other, and the rest of your scrawled text moves in tandem. This is hard to describe, and I'll have to wait till I can try it for myself to show you an animated example. But it was impressive, even if it's not extremely useful.
Finally, the Passwords app and other privacy updates got a shout out during the keynote, but I learned more about how things like accessory setup and contacts sharing with apps work. Apple is releasing a new accessory setup kit so that device makers can adopt a pairing interface similar to how you'd connect your AirPods or Apple Watch to your iPhone. If developers don't use this approach, the new Bluetooth connection interface will be clearer about what other devices are on your network and what you're actually granting access to when you let an app see other devices on your network. Though it wasn't entirely skipped during the keynote, the Passwords app is something that makes me happy, since I'm absolutely sick of having to dig through settings to get codes for apps which I use my iPhone's authenticator to unlock.
There are plenty of features that were talked about that I'm excited by and learned more about the workings of, including the new dynamic clock style in the Photos face in watchOS 11, pinned collections in the redesigned Photos app and iPadOS mirroring for easier remote tech support. Oh, and that Airplay feature that'll let you send money to friends by holding your phones together? Yes! Being able to pause and adjust your Activity rings in watchOS and that Training Load insight? Hallelujah!
And though I can see the appeal of locked and hidden apps, I'm not sure I'd find much use for that and it would probably exacerbate my already prone-to-suspicion nature.
I'm also a little wary of things like Genmoji and Image Playground, which are both Apple Intelligence features that won't hit all iOS 18 devices. There will be metadata information indicating when images were generated by Apple's AI, and guardrails in place to prevent the creation of abusive and exploitative content.
Clearly, there are plenty of updates coming to Apple's phones, tablets, laptops and wearables later this year, and I can't wait to try them out. The public beta should be ready around the end of summer this year, which is when most people (who are willing to risk an unstable platform) can check them out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/my-favorite-ios-18-ipados-18-and-watchos-11-features-that-flew-under-the-radar-at-wwdc-2024-113044069.html?src=rss