Sometimes, change is unexpected. More often than not, change sneaks in until it feels grand and inevitable. Gradually, and then suddenly. iOS users have lived through numerous tides of such changes over the past three years.
iOS 7, introduced in 2013 as a profound redesign, was a statement from a company ready to let go of its best-selling OS' legacy. It was time to move on. With iOS 8 a year later, Apple proved that it could open up to developers and trust them to extend core parts of iOS. In the process, a new programming language was born. And with last year's iOS 9, Apple put the capstone on iOS 7's design ethos with a typeface crafted in-house, and gave the iPad the attention it deserved.
You wouldn't have expected it from a device that barely accounted for 10% of the company's revenues, but iOS 9 was, first and foremost, an iPad update. After years of neglect, Apple stood by its belief in the iPad as the future of computing and revitalized it with a good dose of multitasking. Gone was the long-held dogma of the iPad as a one-app-at-a-time deal; Slide Over and Split View – products of the patient work that went into size classes – brought a higher level of efficiency. Video, too, ended its tenure as a full-screen-only feature. Even external keyboards, once first-party accessories and then seemingly forgotten in the attic of the iPad's broken promises, made a comeback.
iOS 9 melded foundational, anticipated improvements with breakthrough feature additions. The obvious advent of Apple's own typeface in contrast to radical iPad updates; the next logical step for web views and the surprising embrace of content-blocking Safari extensions. The message was clear: iOS is in constant evolution. It's a machine sustained by change – however that may happen.
It would have been reasonable to expect the tenth iteration of iOS to bring a dramatic refresh to the interface or a full Home screen makeover. It happened with another version 10 before – twice. And considering last year's iPad reboot, it would have been fair to imagine a continuation of that work in iOS 10, taking the iPad further than Split View.
There's very little of either in iOS 10, which is an iPhone release focused on people – consumers and their iPhone lifestyles; developers and a deeper trust bestowed on their apps. Like its predecessors, iOS 10 treads the line of surprising new features – some of which may appear unforeseen and reactionary – and improvements to existing functionalities.
iOS 10 is a major leap forward from iOS 9 – at least for iPhone users.
Even without a clean slate, and with a release cycle that may begin to split across platforms, iOS 10 packs deep changes and hundreds of subtle refinements. The final product is a major leap forward from iOS 9 – at least for iPhone users.
At the same time, iOS 10 is more than a collection of new features. It's the epitome of Apple's approach to web services and AI, messaging as a platform, virtual assistants, and the connected home. And as a cornucopia of big themes rather than trivial app updates, iOS 10 shows another side of Apple's strategy:
Sometimes, change is necessary.
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Supported Devices
As more features have been added to iOS over the years, its first-run setup flow has become bloated, if not downright unintuitive.
iOS 10 doesn't take any meaningful steps to simplify the setup of a new iOS device, which is mostly unchanged from iOS 9. The only notable difference is the action required to begin the setup process, which is now "press Home to open". As I'll explore later, there's a reason for this.
Where iOS 10 does break away from the old is in the system requirements needed to install the OS. Most devices from 2011 and 2012 aren't compatible with iOS 10, including:
iPhone 4S
iPad 2
iPad (3rd generation)
iPad mini
iPod touch (5th generation)
Devices supported by iOS 10.
Progress, of course, marches on, but there are other notable points in this move.
The iPad 2 – perhaps the most popular iPad model to date – supported iOS 9 (in a highly constrained fashion) despite developers clamoring for its demise. After 5 years of service, Apple is cutting ties with it in iOS 10. By leaving the A5 and A5X CPUs behind, developers are now free to create more computationally intensive iPad apps without worrying about the lack of Retina display on the iPad 2 and the performance issues of the third-generation iPad holding them back.
Look closer, and you'll also notice that Apple is dropping support for all devices with the legacy 30-pin dock connector. If a device can run iOS 10, it is equipped with a Lightning port.
In addition to Lightning, every iOS 10-eligible iPad has a Retina display, but not every device comes with a Touch ID sensor yet, let alone a 64-bit processor, Apple Pay, or background 'Hey Siri' support.
It's going to be a while until Apple can achieve its vision of 64-bit and one-tap payments across the board, but it's good to see them moving in that direction by phasing out hardware that no longer fits what iOS has grown into. iOS 10 is starting this transition today.
The Lock Screen
One of the first interactions with iOS 10 is likely going to be an accidental swipe.
For the first time since the original iPhone, Apple is changing the "Slide to Unlock" behavior of the iOS Lock screen. iOS 10 gets rid of the popular gesture altogether, bringing tighter integration with Touch ID and an overhauled Lock screen experience.
Press to Unlock
Let's back up a bit and revisit Steve Jobs' famous unveiling of the iPhone and Slide to Unlock.
At a packed Macworld in January 2007, Jobs wowed an audience of consumers and journalists by demonstrating how natural unlocking an iPhone was going to be. Apple devised an unlocking gesture that combined the security of an intentional command with the spontaneity of multitouch. In Jobs' words:
And to unlock my phone I just take my finger and slide it across.
We wanted something you couldn't do by accident in your pocket. Just slide it across...and boom.
As the iPhone evolved to accommodate stronger passcodes, a fingerprint sensor, and a UI redesign, its unlocking mechanism stayed consistent. The passcode number pad remained on the left side of the Lock screen; even on the iPad's bigger display, the architecture of the Lock screen was no different from the iPhone.
With the iPhone 6s, it became apparent that Slide to Unlock was drifting away from its original purpose. Thanks to substantial speed and accuracy improvements, the second-generation Touch ID sensor obviated the need to slide and type a passcode. However, because users were accustomed to waking an iPhone by pressing the Home button, Touch ID would register that initial click as a successful fingerprint read. The iPhone 6s' Touch ID often caused the first Home button click to unlock an iPhone, blowing past the Lock screen with no time to check notifications.
Ironically, the convenience of Touch ID became too good for the Lock screen. As I wrote in my story on the iPhone 6s Plus:
The problem, at least for my habits, is that there is useful information to be lost by unlocking an iPhone too quickly. Since Apple's move to a moderately bigger iPhone with the iPhone 5 and especially after the much taller iPhone 6 Plus, I tweaked my grip to click the Home button not only to unlock the device, but to view Lock screen notifications as well. While annoying, the aforementioned slowness of previous Touch ID sensors wasn't a deal-breaker: a failed Touch ID scan meant I could at least view notifications. When I wanted to explicitly wake my locked iPhone's screen to view notifications, I knew I could click the Home button because Touch ID wouldn't be able to register a quick (and possibly oblique) click anyway.
That's not the case with the iPhone 6s Plus, which posed a peculiar conundrum in the first days of usage. Do I prefer the ability to reliably unlock my iPhone with Touch ID in a fraction of a second, or am I bothered too much by the speed of the process as it now prevents me from viewing notifications on the Lock screen?
Apple is making two changes to the unlocking process in iOS 10 – a structural one, with a redesign of the Lock screen and its interactivity; and a behavioral one to rethink how unlocking works.
Apple hopes that you'll no longer need to click any button to wake an iPhone. iOS 10 introduces Raise to Wake, a feature that, like the Apple Watch, turns on the iPhone's display as soon as it's picked up.
Raise to Wake is based on a framework that uses sensors – such as the motion coprocessor, accelerometer, and gyroscope – to understand if a phone has been taken out of a pocket, but also if it's been picked up from a desk or if it was already in the user's hands and its elevation changed. Due to ergonomics and hardware requirements, Raise to Wake is only available on the iPhone 6s/7 generations and it's not supported on the iPad.
Apple has learned from the first iterations of watchOS: Raise to Wake on the iPhone 6s and iOS 10 is more accurate than the similar Watch feature that shipped in 2015. In my tests, Raise to Wake has worked well when taking the iPhone out of my pocket or picking it up from a flat surface; it occasionally struggled when the iPhone was already in my hands and it was tricky for the system to determine if it was being raised enough. In most everyday scenarios, Raise to Wake should wake an iPhone without having to click the Home or sleep buttons.
Raise to Wake is only one half of the new unlocking behavior in iOS 10: you'll still need to authenticate and unlock a device to leave the Lock screen. This is where the iPhone's original unlocking process is changing.
To unlock a device running iOS 10, you need to click the Home button. If the display is already on and you place your finger on the Touch ID sensor without clicking it – as you used to do in iOS 9 – that won't unlock the device. By default, iOS 10 wants you to physically press the Home button.
Bye, slide to unlock.
This alteration stems from the unbundling of fingerprint recognition and Home button click, which are now two distinct steps. Placing a finger on Touch ID authenticates without unlocking; pressing the Home button unlocks.
In Apple's view, while Raise to Wake turns on the display, authentication may be required to interact with features on the Lock screen – such as actionable notifications, widgets, or Spotlight results. With iOS 10, users can pick up an iPhone, view what's new on the Lock screen, and authenticate (if necessary1) without the risk of unlocking it.
From a design standpoint, this change is reflected in the icons and messages displayed to the user on the Lock screen. When the display turns on with Raise to Wake, a padlock icon in the status bar indicates that the user has not yet authenticated with Touch ID. At the bottom, a 'Press home to unlock' message replaces the old 'slide to unlock' one.
Locked.
With the display on and after Touch ID authentication, 'Press home to unlock' becomes 'Press home to open' and the status bar lock switches to an 'Unlocked' message.
Unlocked.
Under the hood, clicking the Home button and placing a finger on Touch ID are two separate actions. However, the wording of 'Press home to unlock' feels like Apple wants you to think of them as one. The entire message is an illusion – pressing the Home button by itself doesn't actually unlock a device – but Raise to Wake combined with the second-generation Touch ID will make you believe in it.
Touch ID Nuances
If a device doesn’t have Touch ID (or if Touch ID can’t read a fingerprint), pressing the Home button will bring up the number pad or keyboard. And, if an iPhone’s display is activated by clicking the Home button (try this with a non-Touch ID finger) and then the finger is lifted off the button, placing it on Touch ID again (without clicking it) will unlock the device.
On an iPhone 6s, one click on the Home button is all that's needed to exit the Lock screen – at least most of the time. If the iPhone's display is off because Raise to Wake didn't work (or because you manually locked it while holding it), the experience is similar to iOS 9. Clicking the Home button with a Touch ID-enabled finger will wake up the display and bypass the Lock screen.
You can revert to a pre-iOS 10 unlocking experience if you don't like the new one. First, Raise to Wake can be disabled in Settings > Display & Brightness, and your iPhone will no longer turn on when picked up. Additionally, tucked away in Settings > Accessibility > Home Button, you'll find an option called 'Rest Finger to Open'. When enabled, your iPhone will unlock through Touch ID alone, without having to press the Home button.
It takes some time to get used to the new unlocking behavior of iOS 10. The apparent unification of Home button click and Touch ID makes less sense on devices without the second-generation sensor, where one click is rarely enough and tends to bring up the passcode view for a second attempt. And, nostalgically speaking, I miss the old 'slide to unlock' message, although for reasons that are merely emotional and not related to function.
I now expect my iPhone to know when it’s time to wake up.
After three months, Raise to Wake and Press to Unlock have made the overall unlocking experience faster and more intuitive. I now expect my iPhone to know when it's time to wake up and show me the Lock screen, and I don't miss the old unlocking process. Raise to Wake eliminates the need to click a button to wake an iPhone; having to press the Home button to unlock removes the risk of accidentally leaving the Lock screen.
But it all goes back to that accidental swipe. Picture this: you've just upgraded to iOS 10, or you've bought a new iPhone with iOS 10 pre-installed, and, instinctively, you slide to unlock. What you're going to see isn't an error message, or the Lock screen bouncing back, telling you that you need to press the Home button instead. You're going to see the biggest change to the Lock screen – potentially, a better way of interacting with apps without unlocking a device at all.
Slide to unlock, and you'll meet the new Lock screen widgets.
Lock Screen Widgets
Technically, Lock screen widgets predate iOS 10. On both the iOS 8 and iOS 9 Lock screens, users could swipe down to reveal Notification Center and its Today view. However, iOS 10 adds an entirely new dimension to the Lock screen, as well as a refreshed design for widgets throughout the system.
The Lock screen's renovation in iOS 10 starts with three pages: widgets and search on the left, the Lock screen (with notifications and media controls) in the middle, and the Camera on the right. You can swipe to move across pages, as suggested by pagination controls at the bottom of the Lock screen.
The Lock screen's new horizontal hierarchy, with widgets on the left.
The leftmost page, called the Search screen, isn't completely new either. Apple took the functionality of Spotlight search and Proactive of iOS 9, mixed it up with widgets, and made it a standalone page on the iOS 10 Lock screen (and Home screen, too).
From left to right: Lock screen widgets on the Search screen; Notification Center; widgets in Notification Center.
Notably absent from iOS 10's Lock screen is the Camera launcher button. By getting rid of the tiny shortcut in the bottom right corner, Apple has made the Camera easier to launch: swiping anywhere to move between Lock screen and Camera is easier than carefully grabbing an icon from a corner. I've been taking more spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment pictures and videos thanks to iOS 10's faster Camera activation on the Lock screen.
Apple's sloppy swiping for Lock screen navigation has one caveat. If notifications are shown, swiping horizontally can either conflict with actionable buttons (swipe to the left) or open the app that sent a notification (swipe right). You'll have to remember to swipe either on the clock/date at the top or from the edge of the display; such is the trade-off of using the same gestures for page navigation and notification actions.
Where to swipe when notifications fill the Lock screen. (Tap for full size)
Three changes stand out when swiping right to open the Search screen:
There's a search field at the top, shown by default;
The clock2 stays pinned to the right3;
Widgets have a new design that favors richer, bigger content areas.
Unlike their predecessors, widgets in iOS 10 don't blend in with the dark background of Notification Center. This time, Apple opted for standalone units enclosed in light cells with an extensive use of custom interfaces, buttons, images, and dark text.
Widgets in Notification Center on iOS 9 and iOS 10.
There's a common thread between widgets and notifications (also redesigned in iOS 10): they're self-contained boxes of information, they sit on top of the wallpaper rather than meshing with it, and they display an app's icon and name in a top bar.
Notifications and widgets. Spot the trend.
The new design is more than an aesthetic preference: the makeover has also brought functional changes that will encourage users and developers to rethink the role of widgets.
A widget in iOS 10 supports two modes: collapsed and expanded. The system loads all widgets in collapsed mode by default, which is about the height of two table rows (about 110 points). All widgets compiled for iOS 10 must support collapsed mode and consider the possibility that some users will never switch to the expanded version. Apps cannot activate expanded mode on the user's behalf; switching from compact to expanded is only possible by tapping on a 'Show More' button in the top right corner of a widget.
Compact and expanded widgets.
This is no small modification, as it poses a problem for apps that have offered widgets since iOS 8. Under the new rules, apps updated for iOS 10 can't show a widget that takes up half of the display as soon as it's installed. Any widget that wants to use more vertical space for content – such as a todo list, a calendar, or even a list of workflows – will have to account for the default compact mode.
For some developers, this will mean going back to the drawing board and create two separate widget designs as they'll no longer be able to always enforce one. Others will have to explain the difference to their users. Workflow, which used to offer a widget that could dynamically expand and collapse, is updating the widget for iOS 10 with a label to request expansion upon running a workflow that needs more space.
Workflow's new iOS 10 widget.
There's one exception: legacy iOS 9 apps that haven't been updated for iOS 10. In that case, the system won't impose compact mode and it won't cut off old widgets (which keep a darker background), but there's a strong possibility that they won't look nice next to native iOS 10 ones.
The same widget in iOS 9 legacy mode and with native iOS 10 support.
I don't see how Apple could have handled this transition differently. Design updates aside, there's an argument to be made about some developers abusing Notification Center with needlessly tall and wasteful widgets in the past. Compact mode is about giving control to the users and letting them choose how they prefer to glance at information. Want to install a widget, but don't need its full UI? Use it in compact mode. Need to get more out of it? Switch to expanded.
Apple's decision to adopt compact and expanded modes in iOS 10 is a nod to developers who shipped well-designed widgets in the past, and it provides a more stable foundation going forward.
I've been able to test a few third-party iOS 10 widgets that illustrate the advantages of these changes.
PCalc, James Thomson's popular iOS calculator, has a new widget that displays a mini calculator in compact mode with numbers and basic operations split in two rows.
Despite the small touch targets, the compact interface is usable. If you want bigger buttons and a more familiar layout, you can switch to expanded mode, which looks like a small version of PCalc living inside a widget – edge-to-edge design included.
Launcher doesn't modify its widget's interface when toggling between compact and expanded, but the constraints of the smaller layout force you to prioritize actions that are most important to you.
Using compact mode for summary-style UIs will be a common trend in iOS 10. CARROT Weather is a good example: it shows a summary of current conditions when the widget is compact, but it adds forecasts for the day and week ahead when expanded.
CARROT's widget can be customized with two styles.
Even better, slots in the compact layout can be customized in the app, and you can choose to use the widget in light or dark mode.
Drafts has an innovative implementation of compact and expanded layouts, too. In compact, the widget features four buttons to create a note or start dictation. When the widget expanded, it grows taller with a list of items from the app's inbox, which can be tapped to resume editing.
In the past, developer Greg Pierce would have had to ask users to customize the widget or make it big by default; in iOS 10, they can switch between modes as needed.
Widgets' ubiquitous placement pushes them to a more visible stage; as soon as more developers adapt4, iOS 10 has the potential to take widgets to the next level.
I believe the new design will play an essential role in this.
The Design of Widgets
Apple advertises legibility and consistency as core tenets of widgets in iOS 10, and I agree: widget content and labels are easier to read than iOS 9. Standalone light cells separate widgets with further precision; I haven't found translucency with the Lock screen wallpaper to be an issue.
In addition, the light design brings deeper consistency between apps and widgets. Most iOS apps have light backgrounds and they employ color to outline content and indicate interactivity. In iOS 10, widgets are built the same way: the combination of light backgrounds, buttons, and custom interfaces is often consistent with the look of the containing app.
In this regard, widgets feel more like mini-apps available anywhere rather than smaller, less capable extras. The line between widget and full app UIs is more blurred than ever in iOS 10.
Apple's new Notes and Calendar widgets showcase this newfound cohesiveness. The Notes widget displays the same snippets of the list in the Notes app. Buttons to create new notes and checklists are also the same. The widget looks and feels like a small version of Notes available anywhere on iOS.
From app to widget.
The Calendar widget is even more indicative. Glancing at events and recognizing their associated calendar wasn't easy in iOS 9, as they only had a thin stripe of color for the calendar to which they belonged.
The Calendar widget is more contextual on iOS 10.
In iOS 10, forgoing a dark background has allowed Apple to show Calendar events as tinted blocks matching the look of the app. Discerning events and the calendars they belong to is easier and familiar.
Consistency of apps and widgets.
I wouldn't expect every app to adopt a widget design that exactly mirrors the interface users already know, but it can be done. Switching to a light design has given Apple a chance to reimagine widgets for consistency with apps and lively combinations of color, text, and icons. They are, overall, a step up from iOS 9 in both appearance and function.
The new direction also opens up a future opportunity: what is light can be more easily converted to dark. I could see a system dark mode working well for widgets.
The iPad Lock Screen
The iPad's Lock screen doesn't break any new ground, but there are some differences from the iPhone.
On the iPad, notifications are displayed on the left side of the screen when in landscape. They're aligned with the system clock, and they leave room for media controls to be displayed concurrently on the right. Dealing with notifications while controlling music playback is a task well suited for the iPad's larger display.
Unfortunately, Apple doesn't think portrait orientation should warrant the same perks. If a notification comes in while album artwork is displayed on the Lock screen, the artwork will be hidden. Apple decided against using a two-column layout in portrait, which I don't understand: they're already doing it for widgets on the iPad.
No artwork for you, Mr. Portrait.
Furthermore, if no music is playing on an iPad in landscape, having notifications aligned to the left for no apparent reason looks odd and seems...unnecessary.
The right side seems cozy.
Widgets fare a little better. Apple has kept the two-column design first introduced in the Today view of iOS 9; you can still scroll the two lists of widgets independently.
I would have appreciated the ability to further control the resizing and placement of widgets on the iPad, and the Lock screen design seems uninspired. We'll have to make the most of this bare minimum work for now.
Apple's Widgets
iOS 10 sports an increased modularity of widgets. Apple has done away with grouping multiple types of content under Siri Suggestions – most Apple apps/features have their own widget, which can be disabled from a revamped configuration screen.
Widget's new configuration screen.
Here's an overview of what's changed.
Activity
Your Activity rings from the Apple Watch, with a summary of Move, Exercise, and Stand statistics.
Calendar
A mini calendar interface. Events are displayed as colored blocks matching the calendar they belong to. You can tap on an event to open it, and expand the widget to reveal more events.
Favorites
Shortcuts to your favorite contacts with different ways to get in touch with them. New in iOS 10, you can assign iMessage as well as third-party communication apps (messaging and VoIP) to contact entries in Favorites, which will be displayed in the widget.
Mail
...yeah.
The Mail widget is the weakest of the bunch: it only displays shortcuts for VIP contacts. I would have preferred to see a preview of the unified inbox, or perhaps an option to show flagged messages.
Maps
Maps has three widgets: destinations, nearby, and transit. While the latter isn't available for my area (Rome, Italy), the other two have worked inconsistently. I've never seen a nearby recommendation in the widget, despite being around places rich in POIs. The Destinations widget usually tells me how much time it'll take me to drive home, but it doesn't proactively suggest other locations I frequently visit.
Music
The Music widget is an odd one. It displays a grid of what appears to be either recently played music or your all-time most listened albums. The widget doesn't clarify whether it's showcasing albums or individual songs; it uses album artworks with no text labels, and it plays either the most played song from an album, or an entire album starting from the first song.
A nice perk: music starts playing after tapping the widget without opening Apple Music. But it always feels like a lottery.
News
Top Stories from Apple News (shown even if you mute the channel). The widget uses image thumbnails and custom typography matching the bold font of Apple News for headlines.
The best change from iOS 9: news can be disabled by removing the widget.
Notes
A preview of your most recent notes. In compact mode, the widget only shows the last modified note. In expanded mode, you get more notes and buttons to create a new note, a checklist, snap a picture, and create a drawing.
Photos
A collection of Memories created by the new Photos app in iOS 10. Each one can be tapped to view the associated memory in Photos.
Siri App Suggestions
iOS 9's proactive Siri Suggestions are now smaller in scope and they're called Siri App Suggestions. The widget displays 4 app shortcuts (8 in expanded mode), and it doesn't suggest other types of content.
Like News, it can also be removed and be placed anywhere on the Search screen.
Tips
You'd think that the Tips widget is useless – everyone likes to make fun of Tips – but hear me out. In compact mode, the widget shows a tip's snippet; you can tap it and open the Tips app. Switch to expanded mode, though, and you'll be presented with a custom interface with an explanation of the tip and a large animation at the top to show you the tip in action.
The Tips widget looks great, and it's the most technically impressive one on iOS 10.
Up Next
The old Today Summary widget has been renamed Up Next. It displays a smaller version of your next event without the full UI of the Calendar widget. Alas, the Tomorrow Summary widget is gone from iOS 10.
Weather
Perhaps the best example of how widgets can use compact and expanded modes, Apple's Weather widget shows weather conditions for the current location when compact, and a forecast of the next six hours when expanded.
Weather is the widget I've used the most in the past three months to look up forecasts from the Lock screen in just a couple of seconds.
Slide to Glance
The move to apps as atomic units scattered across the system is everywhere in iOS 10, with widgets being the foremost example.
Noticeably absent from iOS 10's widgets is a push for more proactive recommendations. As we'll see later, Apple has shifted its Proactive initiative to run through the OS and inside apps rather than distilling it into widgets.
3D Touch is another illustrious no-show. While notifications have been overhauled to make good use of 3D Touch, pressing on a widget will result in a disappointing lack of feedback. 3D Touch would be a perfect fit for widgets – imagine previewing a full note or reading the first paragraphs of a news story from the Lock screen.
The new widget design and Search screen placement make an iPhone more useful without having to unlock it. Apple has done a good job with their built-in widgets; it's up to developers now to rethink how their apps can take advantage of them. I'm optimistic that everything will turn out better than two years ago.
I unlock my iPhone less thanks to iOS 10’s more capable Lock screen.
I unlock my iPhone less thanks to iOS 10's more capable Lock screen. Raise to Wake, Press to Open, widgets, search, and rich notifications make the entire Lock screen experience drastically superior to iOS 9.
Easier to navigate, better structured, less prone to unwanted unlocks. I wouldn't be able to go back to the old Lock screen.
Notifications
iOS 10's rethinking of apps as granular interactions doesn't stop at widgets. With a new framework that can turn incoming notifications into rich, actionable interfaces, Apple wants users to spend less time jumping between apps.
Notifications iOS 9 and 10.
Notifications in iOS 10 share the same design principles of widgets. Rather than being grouped in a list of items on top of a dark background, notifications are discrete light cells that can be pressed (with 3D Touch), pulled down (for incoming banners), or swiped and expanded into a floating card preview.
The anatomy of an expanded notification – whether an app has been updated for iOS 10 or not – has fixed elements that developers can't control. There's a header bar at the top with the icon and name of the app, and a close button on the right to dismiss the notification. Tapping the icon on the left side will open the app that sent the notification.
The standard look of a notification in iOS 10.
This is true for both iPhones with 3D Touch and devices without it; to expand a notification on an iPad or an older iPhone (or if you don't want to use 3D Touch), you can pull down an incoming notification banner or swipe a notification to the left in Notification Center and tap 'View'.5
New APIs allow developers to take different actions for notifications that have been sent to the user – including ones that have been cleared. First, notifications can be dismissed with a Clear action by swiping on them. Apps can monitor the dismiss action and stop delivering the same notification on other devices.
Additionally, developers can remove, update, and promote notifications that have already been sent. Apple's goal was to prevent Notification Center from being cluttered with old notifications that aren't relevant anymore. If developers implement this API, updating a notification with fresh content should help users see what's changed. Imagine sports scores or live-streaming apps and how they could update notifications. I'm curious to see which services will convert to this behavior instead of spamming users with multiple alerts.
Underneath the header of an expanded notification is the content developers can control, and where the most important changes to notifications are happening.
In iOS 10, notifications can have a title and a subtitle. The title is displayed in a bold font, which helps identifying the subject of a notification. In a Reminders notification, the name of a reminder will be the bold title at the top, with its note displayed as text content below it.
The default look of a notification in iOS 10. Expansion is relative to a notification's placement on screen.
Below the title and subtitle, iOS 10 shows a notification's body text content (same as iOS 9) and actionable buttons. In a welcome change from the past, developers can define more than two notification actions, displayed in a list under the notification's card.6 If an app requires a quick reply upon expanding a notification, the input field will sit above the keyboard – it's not attached to the notification like in iOS 9.
Quick replies in iOS 9 and iOS 10.
Design changes alone, though, wouldn't have sufficed to modernize notifications. To reinvent their feel and capabilities, Apple has created two new extension points for developers in iOS 10: Notification Service and Notification Content.
The Notification Service extension doesn't have an interface and runs in the background. Upon triggering a notification but just before delivering it to the user, an app can call the Notification Service extension to augment or replace its payload. This extension is meant to have a short execution time and it's not designed for long tasks. Possible use cases for Notification Service extensions could be downloading an image or media file from a URL before showing a notification, or decrypting an encrypted payload locally for messaging apps that rely on end-to-end encryption.
The Notification Service extension should come in handy given iOS 10's ability to include a media attachment (images, audio, videos, and even GIFs) in both the notification banner and the expanded notification. If they adopt it, apps like WhatsApp and Telegram could omit the "[Contact] sent you an image" standard notification and display a thumbnail in the notification banner (like iMessage does) and a full image preview in the expanded notification.
Notification Content extensions are what users are going to see the most in daily usage, and they motivate iOS 10's notification card design.
A notification in iOS 10 can show a custom view between the header and default text content. Custom views can be anything – an embedded map, a message conversation, media, a calendar view, etc. – and they're managed by the Notification Content extension. Custom views are non-interactive: they can't receive touch events7, but they can be updated in-place in response to a task performed from a notification action. Apps can hide the default content of a notification if the custom view is informative enough.
Service and Content extensions, combined with the expanded design, have turned notifications in iOS 10 into a completely new experience. Notifications are no longer just text: they are custom app UIs delivered to you with rich previews and interactions that can live on longer than a couple of seconds. Notifications in iOS 10 are mini apps in and of themselves.
Notifications in iOS 10 are mini apps in and of themselves.
When you receive an iMessage that contains a photo, the incoming notification can be expanded, either with 3D Touch or a swipe. You'll be treated to a full iMessage conversation UI, living inside the notification, with the same transcript, read receipts, and typing indicators you'd see in the Messages app.
To expand a notification, you can pull it down or press on it.
Not only can you send a reply – you can keep the iMessage interface open as you keep a conversation going from the notification. It's a fantastic way to check into a conversation without the constraints of a quick reply.
Scroll up in the transcript to view older messages.
When you're done, swipe down to dismiss the notification, and you'll be back to whatever you were doing.8
Calendar notifications follow the same concept. If an event with a location attached is coming up, the expanded notification will display the default text content at the bottom, but also a preview of the address with a Maps view at the top.
Thanks to actionable buttons, you can open directions in Maps without launching Calendar. If an upcoming event doesn't have a location, you'll see a preview of your agenda inside the notification.
I tested a version of Workflow optimized for iOS 10, which brings improved notification support with the ability to customize the content displayed in a notification card. In addition to a title, you'll be able to embed pictures, videos, GIFs, and even Maps views into a Workflow notification.
Rich notifications created with Workflow.
Pictures are displayed as thumbnails in a notification banner before expanding it; videos can be played inline within the card itself.
And if you often receive messages containing GIFs, iOS 10 will let you preview them directly from a notification.
CARROT Weather has a clever take on rich notifications in iOS 10. The daily digest and severe weather/precipitation alerts can be expanded into dynamic preview cards.
Through a Notification Content extension, the app can embed a custom interface, sounds, and even animations inside the notification card. As a result, viewing CARROT's notifications feels more like using the app rather than reading a plain text summary.
With a new framework and the flexibility granted by extensions, we're going to see a rise of interaction methods fueled primarily by notifications. Of all the places where an app can advertise its functionality on iOS (widgets, keyboards, extensions), a notification is the most direct, contextual way to reach users at an appropriate time.
A notification carries interest and, in many cases, a sense of urgency. iOS 10 transforms notifications from a passive delivery system into an active experience where users engage with an app through UIs, actions, and feedback they're already familiar with. It's a win-win for developers, who can make their apps more useful through richer notifications, and for users, who no longer have to open apps to benefit from their services.
iOS 10's notifications are a new layer on top of apps. They're going to change how we deal with them every day.
The Home Screen
The iPhone 6s brought the first significant adjustment to the iOS Home screen in years – 3D Touch quick actions. With iOS 10, Apple is cautiously expanding the Home screen beyond app shortcuts, but in ways you might not expect.
Search from the Home screen: pull down (left) or swipe right to open the new Search screen.
As in iOS 9, Spotlight search can be accessed from two locations: the Search screen on the left side of the Home screen and by pulling down on app icons. The Search screen on the left mirrors its Lock screen counterpart.
A Pale Page Dot
The Search screen (both on the Lock screen and Home screen) doesn’t have a special page indicator at the bottom – it has a standard page dot. Apple may be hinting that the page can do more than search alone, but the difference, at least visually, sticks out. A different icon would have been better.
Notification Center has gone through some deeper changes. The segmented control to switch between notifications and widgets at the top is gone, replaced by another set of page indicators. Every time you open Notification Center, iOS 10 will default to showing you notifications in chronological order under a new 'Recent' header – it doesn't remember your position in the two pages. Unfortunately, the option to group notifications by app has also been removed.
Whether by laziness or deliberate design, there's an abundance of ways to activate Spotlight search in iOS 10. Let's round them up:
Search from the Lock screen (above widgets);
Open the Search screen (left side of the Home screen) and pull down or tap the search field;
Pull down on icons on the Home screen;
Swipe down to open Notification Center and tap Search above notifications;
Swipe right on Notification Center to open widgets and find Search at the top;
Use Command-Space on an iPad with an external keyboard and Spotlight will open modally on top of whatever app you're using without going back to the Home screen;
Last, and perhaps more perplexingly, there's a hidden way to open Spotlight modally when inside apps on the iPhone 6s. When using an app, swipe down slowly from the status bar until you feel a first haptic feedback, then let go. Instead of opening notifications, the text cursor will focus in the search field. If you don't let go after the first vibration but keep swiping down, you'll open Notification Center. This method doesn't work on the Home screen – only in apps.
That's seven ways to open Spotlight search on iOS 10.
Six shades of Spotlight search on iPhone.
Being able to access search from everywhere – be it on the Home screen, the Lock screen, or when using an app – is convenient. It makes Spotlight pervasive. As Apple continues to grow their search efforts across native apps, web partnerships, and Proactive suggestions, Spotlight's omnipresence will become a valuable strategic asset.
Apple continues to be a steadfast supporter of the Home screen as a grid of icons. In a potential disappointment for those who hoped to see a major Home screen refresh this year, the biggest new feature is an extension of 3D Touch quick actions and widgets, rolled into one.
Quick actions and widgets on the Home screen.
Apps that offer a compact widget in iOS 10 can display it alongside quick actions when a user presses the app's icon. The widget is the same used in the Search screen – in fact, there's a button to install it directly from the Home screen.
iPhone Plus models can display quick actions and widgets on the landscape Home screen as well.
I'm not sure I buy into Apple's reasoning for combining widgets and quick actions – at least not yet. The glanceability of widgets finds its raison d'être on the Lock screen and inside apps; on the other hand, I associate going back to the Home screen and pressing an icon with launching, not glancing. Years of iOS usage trained me to see the Home screen as a launchpad for apps, not an information dashboard.
In three months of iOS 10 – and with plenty of glanceable/actionable widgets to test – I've only remembered to use a widget on the Home screen once (it was PCalc). It's not that having widgets alongside quick actions is bad; it's just forgettable. It's the equivalent of two neighbors being forced to live together under the same roof. Having company can be nice sometimes, but everyone would be better off at their own place.
There are other smaller 3D Touch additions to the Home screen in iOS 10. You can press on folders to bring up a Rename action, and apps inside folders that have unread badges will be listed in the folder's quick action menu.
Folders have also received a visual refresh, with a nicer background blur that shows the grid of icons in the current Home screen page.
On the iPad, Apple didn't bring any improvements to the Home screen in iOS 10, but I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that closing an iPad app no longer adjusts the icon's corner radius on the Home screen.
This relates to a deeper change happening to Home screen animations. Apple has rebuilt the entire SpringBoard animation stack with faster, interruptible animations. Along with a reduced animation curve to launch apps (what was one of the most criticized aspects of iOS 7), you can click the Home button right after tapping an app's icon and the animation will stop, going back to the Home screen in an instant.
You can try the same with a folder: tapping outside of it will cancel the animation instantly in mid-flight. The difference with iOS 9's Home screen animations is staggering.
They're not a "feature", but new animations are the best Home screen change in iOS 10.
It's fair to wonder if Apple will ever desecrate the sanctity of the Home screen and allow users to mix icons and widgets.
Anyone who's ever looked at Android will spot obvious similarities between widgets for Google's platform and what Apple has done with widgets in iOS 10. Apple still believ