After months of beta testing, iOS 12 and watchOS 5 are finally ready for public consumption.
Apple today released iOS 12 and watchOS 5 to the public. Both are major updates for their respective platforms, and you can get them over the air right now. iOS 12 can be downloaded by going into Settings > General > Software Update, and it's available on these devices:
- iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 5s
- 12.9-iunch iPad Pro 2nd generation, 12.9-inch iPad Pro 1st generation, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad 6th generation, iPad 5th generation, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2
- iPod touch 6th generation
The update to iOS 12 brings with it new features like grouped notifications (shown in the image below), which will group together message threads and notification topics to help clean up your lock screen. There are four new Animoji, too — a koala, a tiger, a ghost, and a T-Rex — as well as a Memoji feature that'll let you create your own Animoji.
Apple has also included an improved version of Do Not Disturb in iOS 12 that'll let you set DND to last until the end of an event or until you leave a particular location. Screen Time will show you how much you've been using your phone and how much time you've spend in particular apps, and it'll let you set app limits so that you can only spend a certain amount of time in an app on a single day. Finally, Siri Shortcuts will let you create custom shortcuts in third-party apps that you can launch using Siri and your voice.
Also of note is that iOS 12 brings with it improved performance. Apple says that swiping to the Camera is up to 70 percent faster and the keyboard will display up to 50 percent faster. Plus, the apps will launch up to 2x faster under heavy workload. And even older devices will get better with iOS 12, as Apple says that its performance improvements extend all the way back to the iPhone 5s and iPad Air.
watchOS 5 is also launching today, and you can download it by going into the Watch app on your iPhone and selecting General and then Software Update. The update to watchOS 5 is available to the Apple Watch Series 1, Apple Watch Series 2, and Apple Watch Series 3, meaning owners of the original Apple Watch are left out.
The update to watchOS 5 brings new workout features like Activity Competitions with your friends, an all-new yoga workout, and automatic workout detection that'll help your Apple Watch sense that you're working out and alert you to start the Workout app. You can also sync your podcasts to your Apple Watch in watchOS 5 using apple Podcasts, and a Walkie-Talkie app will let you quickly communicate with your friends that also have an Apple Watch.
Once you get the update to iOS 12 or watchOS 5, be sure to share your first impression with us!