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All the best new iOS 13 features Apple didn’t reveal at WWDC

Published Jun 4th, 2019 8:17AM EDT

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Apple executives took the stage in San Jose, California on Monday morning and gave the world its first look at the company’s next-generation software platforms. MacOS 10.15 Catalina is packed full of nifty new features, tvOS 13 gets a great new home screen, and watchOS 6 has all sorts of new features as well as new watch faces. You can read a full recap of all the biggest announcements right here, but it goes without saying that the star of the show during Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote was iOS 13. After last year’s iOS 12 update focused almost exclusively on fixing bugs and improving performance, the company’s new iOS 13 software shifts gears back to adding new features — and needless to say, there are far too many new features in iOS 13 for Apple to have covered them all during its keynote presentation.

We’ve already detailed the 15 best new iOS 13 features coming to your iPhone and iPad later this year, and it’s a fantastic list. Highlights include the new system-wide Dark Mode users have been clamoring for, swipe typing support on the Apple keyboard, a new secure “Sign in with Apple” feature, and new call filtering capabilities that could eliminate spam calls almost entirely. But what about all the smaller iOS 13 features that Apple didn’t have time to cover on stage at WWDC 2019?

At the end of the iOS 13 section of Apple’s WWDC keynote on Monday, senior vice president of software Craig Federighi noted that there were far too many new iOS 13 features to cover them all. As he said that, a slide flashed on the screen behind him and listed nearly 70 additional new iOS 13 features for the iPhone and iPad that hadn’t been discussed on stage. Apple news blog 9to5Mac managed to take a screen captured of the slide in question, and it wrote out all the new iOS 13 features shown on that list. Here’s the full rundown:

iOS 13 system:

  • Optimized battery charging
  • Single sign-on extension
  • Option to download large apps over cellular
  • Video downloads optimized for congestion in India
  • Wi-Fi selection in Control center
  • Enhanced QR code scanning
  • Reading goals in Apple Books
  • Low Data Mode

Audio:

  • Dolby Atmos playback
  • Bluetooth wireless splitter

FaceTime, Phone, and Messages:

  • Improved search in Messages
  • Silence unknown callers
  • FaceTime on Dual SIM
  • iMessage on dual SIM

Photos:

  • Location controls for Shared Photos
  • Search enhancements in Photos

Reminders & Notes:

  • Folder Management in Notes
  • Customize appearance of Reminders lists
  • View only collaboration in Notes
  • More powerful search in Notes
  • New Checklist Option in Notes

MDM & Business:

  • Business Chat Suggestions
  • Data separation for BYOD
  • Managed Apple IDS for business
  • Modern authentication for device enrolment

Calendar & Mail & Contacts:

  • Add attachments to events in Calendar
  • New relationship labels in Contacts
  • Block sender in Mail
  • Mute thread in Mail

Keyboard & Language:

  • Separate Emoji and Globe Keys
  • Enhanced language setup
  • Thai-English bilingual dictionary
  • Hindi and English bilingual keyboard
  • Typing predictions for Hindi
  • Typing predictions for Dutch
  • Adjustable Chinese handwriting keyboard height
  • Typing predictions for Vietnamese
  • Typing predictions for Swedish
  • Language selection per app
  • Typing predictions for Cantonese
  • Typing predictions for Arabic
  • Vietnamese English bilingual dictionary
  • Refreshed Home accessory controls
  • Weak password warnings
  • Simultaneous phone calls on Dual SIM
  • Keyboard support for all 22 official Indian languages
  • New Indian language system fonts
  • Apple News+ in UK and Australia

Siri:

  • Indian English Siri voices
  • Siri Suggestions in Apple Podcasts
  • Siri Event Suggestions from Third-party apps
  • Siri Shortcuts in Home automations
  • Conversational Siri shortcuts

CarPlay & Maps:

  • Second video stream support in CarPlay
  • CarPlay irregular screen size support
  • Hey Siri support in CarPlay
  • CarPlay adjustable screen size support
  • Do Not Disturb While Driving in CarPlay
  • Independent CarPlay app views
  • Light mode in CarPlay
  • Improved Report a problem in Maps
  • Maps Place Card enhancements

Safari:

  • Updated Safari Start Page
  • Siri suggestions in Safari
  • Enhanced anti-fingerprinting protections in Safari

As you can see, there are definitely some gems that Apple didn’t get to during the WWDC keynote. “Optimized battery charging” and “Low Data Mode” both sound quite promising, and several of our readers likely fainted when they got to “Improved search in Messages” on the list. The search function in Apple’s Messages apps in iOS and in macOS has always been horrible, so we can’t wait to see if Apple got its act together in iOS 13. Also worth noting, you won’t find mention of the new volume HUD on the list above, but Apple FINALLY fixed the little pop up that appears when you adjust the volume in iOS 13. That’s right, it doesn’t block the entire middle of the screen anymore!

Now that iOS 13 beta 1 is out (here’s how to install it on your iPhone) and people are testing on their iPhones, plenty more news about new unannounced iOS 13 features will trickle out over the coming days.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.