Michael Grothaus 08/06/2018 - 2:20pm

There are TONS of hidden features inside Apple's new iOS 12 update

This week at the Worldwide Developers Conference Apple unveiled a ton of new software. A big focus of the keynote was showing off the new features in iOS 12–and there are some biggies from the improved Siri to group FaceTime calls to customizable Memoji to the Screen Time digital health tools.

Yet with all the of the major new features, Apple, as usual, has baked in a ton of minor enhancements that, when taken as a whole, make iOS 12 greater than the sum of its major-feature parts. And as usual, Apple neglected to show off what any of these minor, hidden features were. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best hidden features coming in iOS 12.

Multiple Faces in Face ID

The iPhone X can now register two individual faces for Face ID. This means two completely separate people can now unlock the same iPhone. Many suspect this feature was added because Face ID is coming to iPad–which many families share.

iPhone X App Switcher

iPhone X users no longer need to tap and hold on an app window in the app switcher to force close an up with an up swipe. Now simply enter the app switcher and swipe up on any app window to close it.

Face ID Rescanning

Before if the iPhone X failed to register your face to unlock it, you would need to press the power button twice to bring up the Face ID authentication again. Now in iOS 12 you can simply swipe up on the bottom of the lock screen to try Face ID again.

More Markup Colors

The Markup color pallet now offers tons of new available colors when editing PDFs, screenshots, and photos.

Screen Time Widget

Screen Time is a big feature in iOS 12 that tracks how often we use our iPhones and even how much time we are spending in individual apps. Besides being a dedicated app in iOS 12, the app also gets a handle lock screen widget.

Automatic Updates

This is a really nice feature. Now when there is an iOS update, you can set your iPhone to automatically download it in the background on Wi-Fi.

New iPad Gestures

iOS 12 brings iPhone X gestures to the iPad. Specifically, you can now swipe down on the top right of the iPad to bring up Control Center and swipe down on the top left of the iPad to bring up Notification Center.

Third-party Password Manager Support

Now when you are entering login credentials in an app or website, the QuickType toolbar above your keyboard will show you suggestions for your password from third-party password managers now.

Siri Voices

Besides the new programmable features of Siri, Apple has also secretly added four new voices for Siri: Irish and South African in both male and female.

Better Siri

Siri can now also provide information about famous people, food, and motorsports. The digital assistant can now also look up passwords for you as well as search for memories in Photos.

Better Podcast Controls

The Podcasts app now lets you set customizable durations for skipping forward and backward in a podcast. You can now set the forward and backward button to skip in 10 to 60-second increments.

We’ll keep adding to this list and more new features are discovered!