Apple’s latest iOS update brings major upgrades to the iPhone and iPad. Beyond typical bug fixes and security patches, iOS 11.3 adds new features that users will want halfway through its life cycle. Here’s why you will want to update your iPhone and/or iPad. Keep in mind you will want to be on WiFi to download the large file and also connect your device to a charger. It will not update if it doesn’t have enough power.
Let’s get into the new features.
Battery
The most important feature added to iOS is the ability to track the health of your battery. This was a major issue that Apple handled by quietly throttling performance of iPhones with aging batteries. That led to a major public outcry, followed by an apology by Apple and a promise to fix worn out batteries on certain iPhones for just $29. Once you update your iPhone to iOS 11.3, you can check the health of your battery by opening Settings, clicking on Battery followed by Battery Health. This feature lets you know exactly how much capacity your battery can hold and will let you know if it can or cannot support peak performance capability.
New Animojis
A fun update also comes to Apple’s popular Animojis. iPhone X owners now have access to a green and yellow dragon, a deadly looking skull, a brown bear, and a lion.
Health
Another major update is to Apple’s Health app that comes with your iPhone. The update adds the ability to track your immunizations, lab results, and other health records from your hospital care. Your health network or hospital must support Apple Health to take advantage of this new tracking feature.
Johns Hopkins Medicine, UC San Diego Health, Geisinger Health System, UNC Health Care, Rush University Medical Center, OhioHealth, Cerner Healthe Clinic, Cedars-Sinai and Penn Medicine were among the first to make the Health Records beta feature available to patients. The Health Records data is encrypted and protected with a passcode.
Privacy Icon
In an age where you don’t know what access you’re giving away when you sign up for services, Apple is leading in letting you know when you are being asked for your personal information. The Privacy icon will appear whenever an Apple app or feature asks for your personal information. If this Privacy icon does not appear, then you should strongly consider not entering your personal information into an app.
Business Chat (US only)
iOS 11.3 adds the ability to chat and make purchases directly to certain companies directly through iMessage. This gives you quick access to customer service to places like Wells Fargo, Newegg, Hilton, Lowe’s, Apple, and more. You can ask typical customer service questions or you can even make purchases based on suggestions using Apple Pay. This is one cool feature that will take some time to get used to for many.
Additional iOS 11.3 Features:
- Apple Music will soon be the home for music videos. Users can stream all the music videos they want without being interrupted by ads. They can also watch the hottest new videos, the classics or ones from their favorite artists back-to-back in new music video playlists.
- Apple News now makes it easier to stay up-to-date on the most important videos of the day with a new Video group in For You, and improved Top Stories.
- HomeKit software authentication provides a great new way for developers to add HomeKit support to existing accessories while protecting privacy and security.
- Support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) to automatically send a user’s current location when making a call to emergency services in countries where AML is supported.
You can learn more about the entire 11.3 update at Apple.com.