Camera and photos

The Portrait camera mode as a new lighting effect called High-Key Mono and new editing features let you change the intensity of the light, which helps smooth skin and brighten eyes. This mimics moving lights around in a studio.

The image-editing feature in Photos has a new design and swipe-based controls. Happily, most of the settings used for stills can now be used to edit videos too. It adds filters and even a way to rotate video. The Photo library removes duplicate images and concentrates on what Apple calls your best shots. These are organized by day, month, or year, and displayed in a new album view.

The Photos app, in general, is getting a whole lot more powerful. Live Photos and videos will now auto-play in the new Photos tab, and in that tab, you’ll be able to see the location, event or holiday, and so on. There’s even a new birthday mode, that allows you to see the photos of someone on their birthday. If you take a lot of screen recordings, they’ll now all be grouped in one place — so you don’t have to scroll through the Photos app to find all your screen recordings.

Sign in with Apple

There’s a new fast and easy way to sign in to apps and services without the tracking associated with social logins. It’s called Sign in with Apple, and it authenticates sign-ins using your Apple ID, without revealing any personal information. The new service works with FaceID and TouchID, and has a two-factor authentication system. If the app you’re signing in to needs an email verification, Apple will create a random email address that forwards to your actual email, keeping your real details private. It will operate across all Apple’s platforms, from iOS to the web.

Apple Maps

Apple Maps has been rebuilt from the ground up, with considerable alterations, including the addition of roads, beaches, buildings, and other areas, as well as heightened detail. There is a new Favorites feature on the main screen, plus a Collections menu to organize Favorites and plan trips. Look Around is a Google Streetview-style feature that allows you to see a location ahead of visits. Labels allow you to find out more about specific locations shown in Look Around. Apple stressed that it’s a private and secure service. The new Apple Maps will have the entire U.S. covered by the end of 2019, with other countries to follow.

Other smaller features include the ability to easily share your ETA with friends and family, improved Siri navigation, the ability to see up-to-date information about flights, and real-time public transportation updates.

CarPlay

Apple CarPlay is getting a revised interface too. You’ll now get a main screen called the CarPlay Dashboard, that will give you access to music or podcast playback controls, as well as see basic Maps information and control some HomeKit devices like garage door openers. It should help make CarPlay much easier to use at a glance.

CarPlay is getting a few other features as well, like a new Calendar app that shows you a quick view of the day while you’re traveling. Apple Music is better-designed to make it easier to discover music, and Apple Maps is a little more detailed in CarPlay too. CarPlay will likely get better integration with cars with irregular displays too — as CarPlay now supports displays other than rectangular ones.

Reminders

Redesigned for iOS 13, Reminders has a toolbar to add in dates, times, and attachments, plus its integration with the Messages app has been improved, allowing the two apps to communicate together. This means relevant reminders will show up when you message the associated person.

Siri is getting integrated with Reminders too — you’ll now be able to type longer sentences, and Siri will offer relevant suggestions related to what you type. Siri will suggest reminders too — so when you’re chatting with someone in Messages, Siri will make suggestions to remind you of things it thinks you need to be reminded of.

Swipe typing

Apple will add swipe typing to iOS 13, which was demonstrated during the introduction of its new Dark Mode.

Health App

All the functions available in the new Watch OS health app will be available on the iPhone. Watch OS has added activity trends and menstrual cycle tracking to the Apple Watch. The main app has also been redesigned with a new Summary view to show notifications, plus a Highlights section that shows fitness and health data over time. Machine learning is used to display those which are most relevant to you. It’s stored on the phone, or encrypted securely in iCloud, and you can opt to choose whether to share any information at all with other parties.