Now that Google has unveiled Android P, the company’s newest version of its mobile operating system, which will be released to the public this autumn, the only remaining operating system to be updated in 2018 is Apple’s iOS.
The next version of iOS will be the twelfth release of the software that runs on the iPhone. There aren’t yet a lot of rumors of what iOS 12 will feature. Matter of fact, some sources are even saying that iOS 12 might NOT have many new features at all.
Those sources say Apple may have chosen to hold back on the biggest new features until 2019 for inclusion in iOS 13. Instead, this year Apple will use iOS 12’s release to concentrate on stability improvements.
While this would be very welcome, we’re hoping (and expecting) iOS 12 to have SOME cool new features. But just what features SHOULD those be? Here are our suggestions.
iOS 12 Wishlist: A Files App To Rival Dropbox
iOS’s Files app is the front end file navigation system for files stored in a user’s iCloud Drive. Like Dropbox, you can drag any file into a folder in the Files app and it will be available on all your Mac, iOS, and Windows PC devices–as well as accessible through any web browser.
Sounds pretty Dropbox-like already, doesn’t it? The problem is, the Files app isn’t a good enough solution yet for those who want to ditch Dropbox and solely use Apple’s cloud storage solution for all their cloud file management.
Dropbox’s iOS app still has a better feature set. I’m specifically talking about two things: first, the ability to marking a file for offline support. This means the latest version of that file is always downloaded on all your devices so you can access it even when you don’t have an Internet connection.
Second, the Dropbox app has a nice scanner function. Click the scan button and the Dropbox app lets you take a picture of a document that then gets scanned into the app as a PDF. It’s an incredibly useful tool for receipts and such–and one the Files app should adopt.
iOS 12 Wishlist: Dark Mode
With OS X Yosemite, Apple finally added Dark Mode to the operating system. This allows users to replace the white menu bar and dock with a darker version. Professionals love this because if they are editing video, photos, and doing other graphics work, the dark elements of OS X allow them to focus more on their work.
While the iPhone and iPad aren’t as big of productivity devices for professionals as the Mac (though that is changing with the iPad Pro) we still think it’d be awesome to see a dark mode on iOS 12.
iOS 12 Wishlist: Nested And Smart Folders In Mail
iOS’s Mail app gets better each year, but one thing still really bugs many users: the app shows all nested folders in your account, which means you have to do a lot of swiping to get to a folder you want. Apple should enable Mail to show/hide nested folders at will. It would make navigating the app much quicker.
Also, Smart Mailboxes have been around in macOS’s email client for almost 20 years now. But they still aren't creatable or sync-able on iOS. We’d love to see Smart Mailboxes comes to Mail in iOS 12.
iOS 12 Wishlist: Lock Any App With Face ID Or Touch ID
Any app developer can code a passcode screen into their app which locks others out of it if they don’t know your pin. This is handy because it allows you to lend your device to people and still restrict access to certain apps (like your financial apps).
But many developers don’t add passcode capabilities to their apps (nor, by extension Touch ID or Face ID support). We’d love it in iOS 12 if you could go to a new screen in the Settings app and toggle passcodes/Touch ID/Face ID login on or off for any app on your iOS device.
iOS 12 Wishlist: The Ability To Merge Apple IDs
This isn’t a feature specific to iOS 12, although it would benefit every iOS user. When Apple introduced Apple ID’s over 15 years ago they started out as membership IDs for people paying for their iTools and .Mac services. However, when the iTunes Store came into being in 2003, Apple started using Apple ID’s for that.
Then for the App Store as well. The problem is over the last 15 years many people accumulated more than one Apple ID, leading them to make some purchases under one and some purchases under another. Needless to say, having one digital ID is best and leads to a lot less confusion, so here’s hoping this year is finally the year Apple allows users to merge Apple ID’s into one.
