Apple’s iOS 13 is Here for iPhone, Download it Now

Updated November 27, 2023

Apple has officially launched its long-awaited new iOS for iPhone. It brings many features including Dark mode for the first time to the handset. And you can download it now!

It’s official. Apple has released the iOS 13 software update for iPhone. First introduced in June, the update brings a Dark Mode to Apple’s handset for the first time. It also includes Memoji stickers, QuickPath typing, and other headline-grabbing new features. Lesser-known tools are also debuting, including those benefiting photographers, drivers, and more.

Who Can Update?

iOS 13 is the first iOS version that doesn’t support iPads. Instead, tablet users will have to wait until later this month when the first public version of iPadOS 13 arrives. The update is compatible with the recently announced iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Additionally, you can install the update on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, and iPod touch (7th generation).

Newest Features

There aren’t many headlining features on iOS 13. Despite this, there are plenty of new tools worth considering starting with Memoji stickers. These digital sticker packs are automatically created when you first create a Memoji, which were first introduced with iOS 12. These stickers are easy to use to add some flair in Messages, Mail, and third-party apps.

There’s also the heavily-anticipated Dark Mode in iOS 13. You can set the darker hue to switch on automatically each night at sunset or turn it on manually at any time. Designed to make the screen easier on your eyes, Dark Mode integrates throughout iOS. Apple’s native apps all support Dark Mode as do many of your favorite third-party apps. Others apps will follow suit in the weeks and months ahead.

Apple is also rolling out QuickPath typing, which lets you use the built-in keyboard by swiping from one letter to the next. The tools make one-hand typing much easier, especially on Apple’s Max-sized handsets.

Another new iOS 13 feature is Sign in with Apple. The feature allows you to sign in to apps and websites using your Apple ID. To get started, you tap “Sign in with Apple” in supported locations using Face ID or Touch ID, and you’re all set.

The feature is expected to compete with similar tools long offered by companies like Google and Facebook. Apple promises its solution won’t track or profile you, and the most information you’ll have to share with an app or website is your name and email address. Time will tell whether Apple’s promise lives up to the hype.

Biggest App Changes

The Maps app has been redesigned in iOS 13 to include more realistic details for roads, beaches, parks, and building. There’s also a fresh Collections tool to help you keep track of points of interests for locations. With the Maps Favorites tool, you can create a list of places you often visit for quick, one-tap navigation.

Apple has also updated the native Reminders app in iOS 13. It now includes smart lists, powerful Siri intelligence, and more.

Also Arriving

There are other features worth discovering in iOS 13, including Dark Mode-optimized wallpapers, Camera app tweaks, and better photo- and video-editing tools in the official Photos app. Apple has also improved the Reminders app, created a more personalized Health app, and much more.

What About iOS 13.1?

Apple plans on releasing iOS 13.1 just weeks after iOS 13. Currently being test by developers and members of Apple’s public beta group, iOS 13.1 includes features that were initially supposed to launch with iOS 13 but weren’t ready. Watch for this update to launch in late September or sometime in October. You shouldn’t wait for iOS 13.1 to update your iPhone. Instead, download and install iOS 13 and start using the new tools. You’ll be happy you did!

Full Change Log for iOS 13

Here is a list of everything included in the iOS 13 according to the release notes from Apple.

iOS 13 introduces a dramatic new look for iPhone with Dark Mode, new ways to browse and edit photos, and a private new way to sign in to apps and websites with just a tap. iOS 13 is faster and more responsive with optimizations across the system that improve app launch, reduce app download sizes and make Face ID even faster.
This update introduces new features and improvements to:
Dark Mode
A beautiful new dark color scheme that delivers a great viewing experience especially in low-light environments
Can be scheduled to turn on automatically at sunset, at a certain time, or turned on from Control Center
Four new system wallpapers that automatically switch appearances with Light and Dark Mode
Camera & Photos
An all-new Photos tab with a curated view of your library making it easy to find, relive, and share your photos and videos
Powerful new photo editing tools that make it easier to edit, adjust, and review photos at a glance
Video editing with over 30 new tools, including Rotate, Crop, and Enhance
The ability to increase or decrease Portrait Lighting intensity on iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
High-Key Light Mono, a new Portrait Lighting effect, for a monochromatic portrait with a white background on iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
Sign in with Apple
A private way to sign in to participating apps and websites with the Apple ID you already have
Simple account setup with only your name and email address
Hide My Email to share a unique email address that is automatically forwarded to you
Built-in two-factor authentication to protect your account
No tracking or profiling by Apple as you use your favorite apps
App Store with Arcade
Unlimited access to groundbreaking new games with one subscription, no ads or additional purchases
An all-new Arcade tab in the App Store to browse the latest games, personalized recommendations, and exclusive editorial content
Available to play across iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV
Option to download large apps over your cellular connection
Ability to view available app updates or delete apps from the Account page
Support for Arabic and Hebrew
Maps
An all-new map rolling out in the US featuring broader road coverage, improved address precision, better support for pedestrians, and more detailed land cover
Look Around to explore cities in a high-resolution, interactive 3D experience
Collections for the lists of places you love and can easily share with friends and family
Favorites for quick and easy navigation to the places you visit daily
Real-time transit, real-time flight updates and more natural spoken turn-by-turn directions
Reminders
All-new design with more powerful and intelligent ways to create and organize reminders
Quick toolbar to add dates, locations, flags, attachments and more to reminders
New smart lists—Today, Scheduled, Flagged and All—to easily keep track of upcoming reminders
Subtasks and grouped lists to organize your reminders
Siri
More natural Siri voice, particularly while speaking longer phrases
Personalized Siri Suggestions in Apple Podcasts, Safari, and Maps
Over 100,000 live radio stations from around the world available with Siri
Shortcuts app now built-in
Memoji and Messages
New Memoji customization options including new hairstyles, headwear, makeup, and piercings
Memoji sticker packs in Messages, Mail, and third‑party apps and available on all iPhone models
Your name and photo, or even Memoji, now optionally shared with your friends
Search enhancements to easily find messages with intelligent suggestions and categorization of results
CarPlay
All-new CarPlay Dashboard with your tunes, turns, and smart Siri suggestions on one screen
All-new Calendar app with a view of your day, option to drive to or dial in to meetings, and contact meeting organizers
Apple Maps redesign with Favorites, Collections, and Junction View for China
Apple Music album art to easily find your favorite song
Do Not Disturb while driving now available in CarPlay
Augmented Reality
People Occlusion for apps to place virtual objects naturally in front or behind people using iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
Motion Capture for apps to understand the body position and movement of a person so you can animate a character or interact with virtual objects using iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
Multiple face tracking for AR content on up to 3 faces at a time so you can have fun with your friends using iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
AR Quick Look to view and interact with multiple AR objects at the same time
Mail
Block sender to move all email messages from a blocked sender directly to the trash
Mute thread to stop notifications from an overly active email thread
Format bar with easy access to rich text formatting tools and attachments of all kinds
Font support for all system fonts, as well as new fonts you download from the App Store
Notes
Gallery view with your notes as visual thumbnails helping you find the note you need
Shared folders to collaborate with others giving them access to entire folders of notes
More powerful search for visual recognition of images inside your notes and text in items you’ve scanned
New checklist options to easily reorder checklist items, indent them, or move checked items to the bottom of the list automatically
Safari
Updated start page with favorites, frequently visited, most recently visited websites, and Siri suggestions
View options in the Smart Search field for quick access to text size controls, Reader view, and per‑site settings
Per‑site settings to choose Reader view, and enable content blockers, camera, microphone, and location access for individual websites
Download manager
QuickPath
Slide to type on the keyboard for easier one-handed typing when you’re on the go
Slide or tap to type interchangeably, even mid‑sentence
Alternate word options in the predictive bar
Text Editing
Scrollbar scrubbing to directly drag the scrollbar for quickly navigating long documents, web pages, and email conversations
Faster and more precise cursor navigation—just pick it up and move it to where you want
Text selection improvements for easier selection by just tapping and swiping on the text
Fonts
Custom fonts are available from the App Store for use in your favorite apps
Font management in Settings
Files
External drives supported in Files to access and manage files on a USB drive, SD card, or hard drive
SMB support to connect to a server at work or a home PC
Local storage for creating folders on the local drive and adding your favorite files
Zip and Unzip support for creating and expanding Zip files
Health
New Summary view of personalized data, including alerts, favorites, and relevant highlights from frequently used apps and devices
Highlights of health data from frequently used apps and devices showing trends over time in helpful charts and graphs
Cycle Tracking feature to log information about your menstrual cycle including flow level, symptoms, and fertility metrics
Hearing health data types for environmental audio levels from the Noise app on Apple Watch, headphone audio levels, and audiograms from hearing tests
Apple Music
Time-synced lyrics make listening more fun with perfectly timed lyrics
Over 100,000 live radio stations from around the world
Screen Time
30-day usage data to compare Screen Time numbers over the previous weeks
Combined limits to include multiple app categories, specific apps, or websites in one limit
“One more minute” option to quickly save your work or log out of a game when a Screen Time limit is met
Privacy and Security
Allow Once location permission with the option to share your locations with apps only once
Background tracking alerts now notify you when an app is using your location in the background
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enhancements help prevent apps from accessing your location without your consent
Location sharing controls give you the option to easily omit location data when sharing photos
System Experience
Wi‑Fi networks and Bluetooth accessories selection in Control Center
A redesigned, unobtrusive volume control in the upper-left corner
Full-page screenshots for web pages, Mail messages, iWork documents, and Maps
Redesigned share sheet with intelligent suggestions to share content with just a few taps
Dolby Atmos playback for a thrilling surround sound experience from content with Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, or Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks on iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
Language support
Support for 38 new keyboard languages
Predictive input in Cantonese, Dutch, Hindi (Devanagari), Hindi (Latin), Najdi Arabic, Swedish, and Vietnamese keyboards
Separate emoji and globe keys make it easier to quickly switch between languages and select emoji on iPhone X and later
Automatic language detection for dictation
Bilingual dictionary support in Thai and English and Vietnamese and English
China
A dedicated QR code mode in Camera, accessible from the Control Center, for improved QR code performance, a flashlight option, and enhanced privacy
Junction View in Maps for drivers in China to more easily navigate complex roadways
Adjustable handwriting area on the Chinese keyboard
Cantonese predictions on the Cangjie, Sucheng, Stroke, and Handwriting keyboards
India
All‑new Indian English male and female Siri voices
Support for all 22 official Indian languages with the addition of 15 new keyboard languages
Bilingual keyboard for Hindi (Latin) and English keyboard, including typing predictions
Typing predictions on the Hindi (Devanagari) keyboard
New Indian language system fonts for Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, and Odia for greater clarity and ease when reading in apps
30 new document fonts for Assamese, Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu
Contacts with hundreds of new relationship labels to help more accurately label your contacts
Voice Control
A new way to control your iOS devices, entirely with your voice
Comprehensive navigation with just your voice to open apps, search the web, tap, swipe, pinch, zoom, press the Home button and more
Accurate dictation using the Siri speech recognition engine
Rich text editing to make corrections using just your voice, or select from word and emoji suggestions
Custom words, such as legal or medical terms, to ensure Voice Control recognizes words you commonly use
Seamless transitions from text dictation to voice commands
Attention Awareness to keep Voice Control off when you turn your head away from True Depth camera on supported iPhone models
On‑device processing so your personal data is kept private
Performance
Up to 2x faster app launch*
Up to 30 percent faster Face ID unlocking on iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max**
60 percent smaller app updates on average*
Up to 50 percent smaller apps from the App Store*
Other features and improvements
Silence unknown callers to get calls from known numbers in Contacts, Mail, and Messages, while sending all other calls to voicemail
Optimized battery charging to slow the rate of battery aging by reducing the time your iPhone spends fully charged
Low Data Mode to reduce your data usage over your cellular network or specific Wi-Fi networks you select
PlayStation 4 and Xbox Wireless Controller support
Find My iPhone and Find My Friends combined into a single app with the ability to locate a missing device even if it can’t connect to a Wi-Fi or cellular network
Apple Books reading goals help make reading a daily habit
Apple News+ options to remove downloaded issues, follow a title, or browse the back catalog from the More button in the My Magazines section
Stocks app with business stories from Apple News+
Calendar supports adding attachments to events
Family sharing hotspot for your family’s devices to automatically connect to your nearby iPhone personal hotspot
Home app redesigned controls for HomeKit accessories with a combined view for ones with multiple services
*Testing conducted by Apple in May 2019 using iPhone XS supporting normal peak performance and iPad Pro (11‑inch) with iOS 12.3 and prerelease iPadOS and iOS 13, using third‑party apps repackaged in a preproduction App Store server environment; smaller app update download size based on averages from a collection of the most frequently updated apps. Performance varies based on specific configuration, content, battery health, usage, software versions, and other factors.
**Testing conducted by Apple in May 2019 using iPhone X and iPhone XS Max supporting normal peak performance, and iPad Pro (11‑inch) with iOS 12.3 and prerelease iPadOS and iOS 13, using the side or top button to wake the device. Performance varies based on specific configuration, content, battery health, usage, and other factors.
Some features may not be available for all regions, or on all Apple devices, for more information visit:
https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability and https://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new

Related Items:Apple, iOS, iPhone, Smartphones

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