Annually around this time, Apple and Google announce updates to the operating systems that power iPhones and Android phones with new design tweaks and features.
On Monday, Apple unveiled iOS 16, the next version of its iPhone operating system including new features like a redesigned lock screen and the ability to edit text messages.
For Google, it introduced Android 13 last month, which features a streamlined wallet app for storing credit cards and important documents like vaccine records. Both companies announced that they were improving their apps for sending text messages.
Apple and Google often accompany these software updates with high-sounding language and promises. “Today we’re going to push our platforms further than ever,” Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said.
The most noteworthy updates to look for in these devices include Apple’s iOS 16 introduction of a customizable lock screen. According to Apple, there will be a change to the first thing anyone sees when using an iPhone– the lock screen.
Prior to now, people could modify only the wallpaper on their lock screens. However, with iOS 16, iPhone users can customize the lock screen by choosing from different fonts and colors for the clock.
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Also, users will be able to pin widgets which are shortcuts to applications like the phone’s calendar and fitness data tracker, to the lock screen. Experts say these customizations will help users tailor their phones to their lifestyles since the new software will let an iPhone user create a number of custom lock screens for different scenarios.
For example, a lock screen dedicated to work could show a wallpaper of an office building and contain a calendar widget with one’s next meeting appointment. A lock screen for personal time could show a wallpaper of a dog and an exercise widget.
This will enable users to switch among lock screens to better accommodate their needs throughout the day.
Reports show that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of mobile purchases as many people shifted toward contactless digital payments to avoid touching cash.
For over five years, Apple has offered services around electronic payments with its Wallet software for iPhones, which lets people make credit card purchases and carry important documents like boarding passes and health data.
Google, in a bid to market its mobile payments technology, took the opportunity last month to delve itself further into payments with Android 13. In the same month, Google renamed its digital payments app Google Wallet.
The company simplified the technology by adding a shortcut to the wallet into the Android lock screen. It also plans to expand the software beyond credit cards, to include documents like boarding passes, movie tickets and Covid-19 vaccination proof.
Also, both companies are expanding their messaging apps. When a text message is sent from an Android phone, it shows up as a green bubble on the recipient’s screen, with pictures and videos often divided.
This is because a green bubble message is sent through the phone carrier’s network, which automatically degrades the quality of the image. Contrastingly, blue bubble messages sent between iPhone users go through iMessage, Apple’s proprietary messaging service, which maintains a high-quality look for photos and videos.
With Android 13, Google will create a blue bubble experience of its own. The company is building into its messaging app a technology called Rich Communication Services, which can send high-resolution images and large files.
It will also give users the opportunity to create group conversations, like most modern messaging apps. Similarly, Apple is making changes to iMessage tol enable iPhone users edit or recall messages after they are sent.
On user privacy, Apple and Google said they were offering more protections to user data in their next operating systems.
Apple, which has long allowed iPhone users to give family members and loved ones permanent access to their location data, said it would provide deeper controls for such data sharing should an intimate relationship end.
“The new software feature, Safety Check, will let people quickly review and revoke access to such data so that they can protect their information from abusers.”
Similarly, Google would give users more control over what data was shared with third-party apps.
In the next version of Android, users will also be able to give apps access to just certain photos instead of their entire camera roll, a measure of protection against malicious apps that disguise themselves as photo-editing software.
