{"id":28182,"date":"2018-09-26T09:26:38","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T13:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/?p=28182"},"modified":"2018-09-26T09:27:10","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T13:27:10","slug":"top-features-of-ios-12-to-take-advantage-of-right-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/top-features-of-ios-12-to-take-advantage-of-right-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Features of iOS 12 to Take Advantage of Right Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feeling left behind because you don\u2019t have the latest iPhone or iPad? Don\u2019t, because Apple has a present for you in the form of iOS 12. The new operating system promises to increase performance, particularly for older devices as far back as the iPhone 5s and iPad Air.<\/p>\n

But iOS 12 offers more than just a speed boost. Apart from adding fripperies like new animoji, text effects, and camera effects in Messages and FaceTime, iOS 12 helps you use your device less. That\u2019s important, as it becomes increasingly obvious that many people spend more time than they\u2019d like on addictive social media apps, games, and cat videos.<\/p>\n

Screen Time<\/h3>\n

The marquee feature for helping you control device usage is Screen Time. Found in the Settings app, Screen Time reports on how much time you spend using different apps, how often you pick up your device, and how many notifications interrupt you. You can check it anytime and get weekly reports, and use this information to help you reduce undesirable usage.<\/p>\n

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Screen Time has two helpful options, Downtime and App Limits. With Downtime, you can specify a time period when you can only receive phone calls and use specific apps you set in Always Allowed. App Limits let you set how long you may use certain categories of apps. You can ignore the limit, extending it for 15 minutes or for the rest of the day, but that\u2019s cheating, right?<\/p>\n

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Even better, you can set Downtime and App Limits for a child\u2019s iPhone or iPad, ensuring that they can\u2019t play games after bedtime or text their friends during dinner.<\/p>\n

Notification Management<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s easy to become overwhelmed with notifications, especially if you have chatty friends in messaging apps. iOS 12 can reduce the impact of non-stop notifications. On the Lock screen, iOS 12 now groups message threads and multiple notifications from the same app. Tapping a group expands it so you can see the details.<\/p>\n

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Plus, with a feature called Instant Tuning, you can change notification settings for an app right from a notification. Swipe left on a notification and tap Manage. Instant Tuning also lets you send notifications to Notification Center silently so they don\u2019t interrupt you but are available later.<\/p>\n

Do Not Disturb<\/h3>\n

\"\"In the \u201cit\u2019s about time\u201d department, iOS 12 beefs up Do Not Disturb so it works more the way people do. When you bring up Control Center and force-touch the Do Not Disturb button, it expands to let you turn on Do Not Disturb for 1 hour, for the rest of the day, or until you leave your current location. The beauty of these new options is that they disable Do Not Disturb automatically so you don\u2019t have to remember\u2014and potentially miss important notifications. Plus, a new Bedtime option in Settings > Do Not Disturb dims the display and silences overnight notifications until you unlock your device in the morning.<\/p>\n

Siri Shortcuts<\/h3>\n

Another new feature, Siri Shortcuts, aims to help you use your device more effectively. As Siri learns your routines, it will start suggesting shortcuts for common actions, either on the Lock screen or when you pull down on the Home screen to search. You can see its suggestions in Settings > Siri & Search > All Shortcuts, and for those that seem useful, record a custom phrase that will invoke the shortcut. Plus, a new Shortcuts app lets you create more complex shortcuts that can run multiple steps at once.<\/p>\n

Smaller Changes<\/h3>\n

Those may be the most significant changes in iOS 12, but they\u2019re far from the only ones. Here\u2019s a sampling of other refinements you\u2019ll notice:<\/p>\n