We’re only about four weeks away from WWDC and, somewhat bizarrely, rumors regarding what iOS 12 may bring to the table have been few and far in between. While it’s entirely possible that Apple has gotten a lot better at keeping upcoming iOS features sealed behind lock and key, the lack of iOS 12 rumors can also be attributed to a relatively recent shakeup in iOS 12’s feature set.
According to reports that first surfaced earlier this year, Apple a few months ago decided to push back a number of its more ambitious iOS 12 features to iOS 13. The underlying reason for the shift reportedly stems from a number of high-profile iOS bugs and system performance issues that Apple had to deal with in 2017. Consequently, Apple with iOS 12 will primarily focus on improving system stability as part of a broader effort to make the iOS experience more reliable.
One of the more intriguing features Apple pushed back to iOS 13, according to a January report from Axios, was a redesigned home screen along with “improvements to core apps like mail [and] updates to the picture-taking, photo editing and sharing experiences.”
In light of that, a series of recent tweets from Mark Gurman provides us with a little bit more insight into what iOS 13 may mean for iPhone and iPad users.
According to Gurman, iOS 13 will introduce a revamped Files app along with in-app tabs similar to what already exists on macOS. Interestingly, Gurman adds that the intriguing home screen redesign will impact the iPhone user experience but will primarily be made in the interest of improving the iPad user experience.
“iOS 13 ‘Yukon’ will have a big iPad-focused feature upgrade as well,” Gurman notes, “including an updated Files app. some other things in the works are tabs in apps like in MacOS, same app side by side, Apple Pencil stuff. The home screen redesign is iPad focused.”
A redesigned home screen on the iPad would be neat, but we would obviously rather see the iPhone get a big visual refresh for the first time since iOS 7.
As for other iOS 13 rumors we’ve seen floating around, there are rumblings that Apple in 2019 will roll out support for cross-platform apps that can run on iOS and macOS.
Until then, we’ll have to make do with iOS 12, an update that, again, we know remarkably little about. Set to debut at WWDC on June 4, the rumors surrounding iOS 12 suggest we’ll see new Animojis along with enhanced health and augmented reality features, improved parental controls, and more.
From what we can gather thus far, WWDC 2018 doesn’t seem to be terribly exciting, but Apple every now and again does manage to surprise us.
