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ios 12

Every time a new iOS is released, we all want to know what it’s going to do to make our lives more exciting or easier.  But iOS 12 feels different.  Maybe it’s because of all the garbage we had thrown at us from iOS 11?  Or maybe we are just craving something different.  I know I am.  I love change, especially when it comes to technology.  Which is why I am going to tell you all about the great new settings that you’re going to find in iOS.

ios 12 app notification page redesign

App Notification Page Redesign

Along with the new way to manage notifications from the lock screen, the detailed app pages in the Notification section has been redesigned as well.  You will now see three options for how a notification shows up.  Either through the Lock Screen, Notification Center or Banners.  Apple has changed the Cover Sheet idea and has gone back to Notification Center.

ios 12

Bed Time Feature in DND

If you’re like me, then you love your sleep.  Maybe more than you love your family.  (Normally, I’d insert the word “jokes” in here, but I can’t.) If you do love sleep this much, you have likely been using the scheduling feature in Do Not Disturb.  But now, you’ll find a new toggle underneath called “Bedtime Mode”.  You should definitely enable this. This feature turns the Lock screen fully dark and doesn’t allow any kind of notification to show up on the Lock screen.  Your phone won’t light up and you won’t be able to see any notification until you disable DND or until the morning.  I’m interested to see how this feature interacts with an Apple Watch, but I am hopeful that watchOS 5 will align with this feature.

ios 12 screen time

Screen Time

I’m not really sure how I feel about this, other than Apple has given you a way to monitor what you’re doing.  I think though, they’re a bit behind the times when it comes to this particular feature.  The other side to that is the feature is great, and I am happy to see that they’ve finally included it in their iOS.  This is an entirely new section and can be found in Settings.  This is right below the DND section and constitutes a lot of other digital wellness features that Apple has also introduced in iOS 12.  The main aim of this section is to tell you how exactly you’re using your device, how much time you’re spending in apps and how many time you’re picking up your iPhone and in what context.

I think this is great for someone who is self-aware, as its going to give them the opportunity to identify where their problem areas are.  For me?  Instagram.  Hands down.  I think that’s the only app, I really use that provides me with any kind of distraction.

ios 12 face id

Secondary Face for Face ID

There is a new feature in the FaceID section that is supposed to be a way for you to add a different look to FaceID.  If your appearance has changed a bit, or you need to change it temporarily, you can create a new scan.  This kind of sounds suspect to me.  I mean, I’ve admittedly lost a lot of weight over the last few months, and I’m sure it’s visible in my face.  I also change my hair color from time to time.  But neither of these things provide such a drastic change to my appearance that FaceID wouldn’t be able to recognize me.  I know that there are issues with unlocking the iPhone using FaceID, so maybe Apple should work on that before creating the ability to have a second face in this setting.

ios 12 new battery stats chart

New Battery Statistics Chart

Last, but certainly not least, Apple is giving you the opportunity to understand your battery usage over the last 24 hours and the past 7 days.  I think this is a great new feature, and honestly, like screen time, should have been around for a long time.  These are features that everyone should have a better understanding of.  So why is it such a big ordeal to find this stuff out?  Well, that’s Apple for you.  Don’t get me wrong – there are a lot of things I love about Apple, but the one thing they need to do is start listening to their consumers more to gain a better understanding of what people want when it comes to their technology.

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