There has been an unusual amount of excitement surrounding Apple’s new iOS 9.3 update, which the company just released this past Monday. Of course iOS updates are often pretty exciting, but not the minor incremental ones. Apple will give the world its first look at iOS 10 this coming June, and that will undoubtedly generate plenty of excitement. But iOS 9.3? Really?
Really. Apple’s new update fixes some bugs and patches a severe security hole, but the big news is the new features. We already told you about all the best new features in iOS 9.3 but in this post, we’re going to focus on two in particular.
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In our earlier post on iOS 9.3’s new features we covered all of the best new additions for the iPhone and iPad. Night Shift is obviously the biggest new feature in the latest iOS build, so we don’t have to go over it again with you. There are two other features that we mentioned in that post that are a bit lesser known though, and now it’s time to change that.
We get a lot of emails here at BGR from people looking for help with their gadgets or for help finding an app to suit their needs. We wish we had the time to be everyone’s private tech support staff, but there’s simply aren’t enough hours in the day. OK, maybe we don’t really wish that.
One common question we get is from people looking for a good secure note taking application. There are several good options out there, but now the answer is simple: Apple’s Notes app.
Beginning in iOS 9.3, Apple has added protection to its Notes app that lets you lock your notes behind a password or Touch ID. Setting it up couldn’t be simpler — just go to Settings > Notes > Password and configure your password. If you have a recent iPhone or iPad, you can also toggle Touch ID to on so you can unlock the Notes app with your fingerprints.
The second feature we wanted to draw extra attention to is a change Apple made to Live Photos on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Many iPhone users who email us are also on the hunt for an app that will let them strip the animation from a Live Photo quickly and easily. This way, the image can be shared with the sound of a TV or something else blaring in the background.
Running Live Photos through an image editing app was always an option, but now there’s an easier way to do it. Open any Live Photo in the main Photos app and tap the share button. Then tap “Duplicate” and select “Duplicate as still photo.”
