【Japan】

The Japanwait is over: Apple has finally given us our first look at iOS 13 and, yes, it has a dark mode.

The company revealed its latest iOS update onstage at WWDC in San Jose Monday. The update, which won't be available until later this year, brings new features to developers and improvements to performance.

One of the most anticipated changes of the update is the addition of a dedicated dark mode, which has been one of the most sought after features among iOS users. It was also one of Apple’s worst kept secrets, with rumorsof the feature swirling for weeks leading up to the official unveiling of iOS 13.

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With the new dark mode, you’ll be able to change everything on your phone to a dark color scheme, including Messages and Music.

But there’s much more to look forward to than just dark mode.

New and improved Maps

Apple also unveiled a new, much more detailed version of its Maps app during WWDC. The entire United States will get the new version of Maps later this year, which includes a more accurate view of the world than before and high-definition street view images.

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Users can now set favorite locations or give their friends an ETA for their arrival to a location. Apple also promised that the location tracking would protect users' privacy. On iOS 13, users can grant an app the ability to know their location just once if they want, requiring the apps to ask again the next time they want it.

Sign in with Apple

Anyone who wants to delete Facebook got good news at WWDC 2019. The company revealed a new "Sign in with Apple" feature for iOS 13. That means if you download an app that wants you to log in, you can use Face ID to do that instead of using Google or Facebook.

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One other potentially big privacy feature is the ability to hide your email address from apps that ask for it. "Hide My Email" will allow iOS 13 to generate a random, unique email address that will reroute to your actual address if you don't want to share it with apps.

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Messages App

Apple also previewed an updated Messages app, which adds the ability to choose who you share your name and photo with when you send messages. Apple really went hard on Memojis at WWDC this year, showing off new cosmetic options such as AirPods for your Memoji.

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Your phone will also generate a bunch of messaging stickers with your Memoji, in case that's something you wanted.

As an added bonus, iOS 13 will let AirPods owners respond to messages through the Messages app or any third-party alternative with speech. Siri will read incoming messages to you, too.

Siri shortcuts

Speaking of Siri, the iOS virtual assistant has a new, more detailed Shortcuts app for users who want to set up instructional strings for Siri to obey. The app will show off an itemized list of every shortcut you've made, just in case you're the kind of person who makes dozens of Siri shortcuts.

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Apple also showed off the new sound of Siri. Using neural text-to-speech technology, Siri's voice is supposed to sound more natural and less robotic than before. It still sounded pretty robotic, but it did flow from word to word slightly better than the iOS 12 version of Siri.

Photos

The Photos app got one of the bigger overhauls at WWDC this year. Photos can be edited to a higher degree of specificity now, including the ability to adjust portrait lighting in portrait mode. In addition, editing tools are coming to videos on iPhone.

Yes, that means you can finally rotate videos.

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Browsing photos also got a pretty big change in iOS 13. Photos can be sorted into days, months, and years, with specific events getting their own albums within those categories. For instance, if your birthday is in March, you'll see an album for photos from your birthday within the "months" view.

In the "years" view, iOS 13 will use the current date to curate what you see. During the onstage demonstration, the Photos app was showing photos from WWDC during the past several years, for example.

What phones will it work with?

Last year's iOS 12 update was something of a departure from previous years in that Apple primarily focused on performance enhancementsrather than cramming in a ton of new features at the risk of introducing bug unnecessarily. It also maintained the same compatibility as iOS 11, going all the way back to the iPhone 5S. That was a welcome move (and one that helped fight the perception that Apple intentionally slows down older phones).

This year, though, Apple isn't maintaining the same level of compatibility, as Apple is dropping iPhone 6 support. The following iPhones will be eligible for iOS 13: iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS.

The update is rolling out to developers now as part of Apple's developer preview. The company will launch a public beta later this summer, and the final version of iOS 13 will drop in the fall, likely at the same time as the next iPhones are unveiled.

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Topics Apple iOS