Yesterday Apple officially released the latest update to its mobile operating system, iOS 11.3. The new update brings with it many new features and updates, but the one that was probably most anticipated was the new iPhone Battery Health app that was promised after Apple was busted slowing down iPhones.
In your performance management, you will be able to easily check if your iPhone is being throttled or not. After this update, if you own an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, iPhone 7 or 7 Plus there is a good chance that the phone is already being throttled. From your performance screen, you can choose to disable this throttling or not. But, if you do, you may experience early shutdowns of your device because of poor battery life.
One thing you should know. If your iPhone experiences an unexpected shutdown, it will turn on the performance throttling when it is restarted. So if something happens, you may need to check your performance again to make sure throttling hasn’t been turned back on without your knowledge.
Of course, there is more to this update than the new Battery Health app. You can check out the full release notes below:
iOS 11.3 introduces new features including ARKit 1.5 with support for more immersive augmented reality experiences, iPhone Battery Health (Beta), new Animoji for iPhone X users, and more. This update also includes stability improvements and bug fixes.
Augmented Reality
– ARKit 1.5 allows developers to place digital objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors in addition to horizontal surfaces
– Adds support for detecting and incorporating images like movie posters or artwork into AR experiences
– Supports a higher resolution real world camera view when using AR experiences
iPhone Battery Health (Beta)
– Displays information on iPhone maximum battery capacity and peak performance capability
– Indicates if the performance management feature that dynamically manages maximum performance to prevent unexpected shutdowns is on and includes the option to disable it
– Recommends if a battery needs to be replaced
iPad charge management
– Maintains battery health when iPad is connected to power for prolonged periods of time, such as when it is used in kiosks, point of sale systems, or stored in charging carts
Animoji
– Introduces four new Animoji on iPhone X: lion, bear, dragon and skull
Privacy
– When an Apple feature asks to use your personal information, an icon now appears along with a link to detailed information explaining how your data will be used and protected
Business Chat (Beta) – US only
– Communicate with companies to easily ask questions, schedule appointments, and make purchases inside the built-in Messages app on iPhone and iPad
Health Records (Beta) – US only
– Access health records and view lab results, immunizations, and more in a consolidated timeline in the Health app
Apple Music
– Features a new music video experience, including an updated Music Videos section with exclusive video playlists
– Find friends that have similar tastes using updated suggestions in Apple Music that reveal genres people enjoy and mutual friends that follow them
News
– Top Stories now always appear first in For You
– Watch Top Videos curated by News editors
App Store
– Adds ability to sort customer reviews on product pages by Most Helpful, Most Favorable, Most Critical, or Most Recent
– Improves Updates tab information with app version and file size
Safari
– Helps protect privacy by only AutoFilling usernames and passwords after selecting them in a web form field
– Includes warnings in the Smart Search Field when interacting with password or credit card forms on non-encrypted web pages
– AutoFill for usernames and passwords is now available in web views within apps
– Articles shared to Mail from Safari are now formatted using Reader mode by default when Reader is available
– Folders in Favorites now show icons for the bookmarks contained within
Keyboards
– Adds two new Shuangpin keyboard layouts
– Adds support for connected hardware keyboards using the Turkish F keyboard layout
– Improves Chinese and Japanese keyboards for better reachability on 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch devices
– Enables switching back to the keyboard after dictation with just one tap
– Addresses an issue where auto-correct could incorrectly capitalize some words
– Fixes an issue on iPad Pro that prevented the iPad Smart Keyboard from working after connecting to a captive Wi-Fi access point
– Fixes an issue that could cause the Thai keyboard to incorrectly switch to the numeric layout when in landscape mode
Accessibility
– App Store adds accessibility support for bold and large text for display customization
– Smart Invert adds support for images on the web and in Mail messages
– Improves RTT experience and adds RTT support for T-Mobile
– Improves app switching on iPad for VoiceOver and Switch Control users
– Addresses an issue where VoiceOver incorrectly described Bluetooth status and badge icons
– Fixes an issue where end call button might not be presented in the Phone app when using VoiceOver
– Fixes an issue where in-app app rating was not accessible with VoiceOver
– Resolves an issue when using Live Listen that could distort audio playback
Other improvements and fixes
– Introduces support for the AML standard which provides more accurate location data to emergency responders when SOS is triggered (in supported countries)
– Adds support for software authentication as a new way for developers to create and enable HomeKit compatible accessories
– Podcasts now plays episodes with a single tap, and you can tap Details to learn more about each episode
– Improves search performance for users with long notes in Contacts
– Improves performance of Handoff and Universal Clipboard when both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network
– Fixes an issue that could prevent incoming calls from waking the display
– Addresses an issue that could delay or prevent playback of Visual Voicemail
– Resolves an issue that prevented opening a web link in Messages
– Fixes an issue that could prevent users from returning to Mail after previewing a message attachment
– Fixes an issue that could cause Mail notifications to reappear on the Lock screen after they had been cleared
– Resolves an issue that could cause time and notifications to disappear from the Lock Screen
– Resolves an issue that prevented parents from using Face ID to approve Ask to Buy requests
– Fixes an issue in Weather where current weather conditions may not have been updated
– Fixes an issue where contacts may not sync with a car’s phone book when connected over Bluetooth
– Addresses an issue that could prevent audio apps from playing in cars when the app was in the background
This new update for iOS does bring with it many new features, but many of them are being overshadowed by the new Battery Health app. With this app, you can monitor the health of your iPhone battery and find out if your iPhone is being throttled or not. If it is, you can easily disable the throttling, which is a must needed addition to iOS since the recent revelation of iPhone throttling.
What do you think? Is this too little too late for Apple or are you glad to see them include this new feature along with a host of other bug fixes and new additions in iOS? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below.
