12 iOS 12 features Apple didn’t mention at WWDC

This story is part of WWDC 2022, CNET’s complete coverage from and about Apple’s annual developers conference.

Apple’s annual iOS update, iOS 12, will be hitting devices later this year. It’ll bring things like your standard performance improvements, new Animoji features, Memoji — since everyone has always wanted to turn themselves into an Animoji — group FaceTime, camera effects, ways to limit your screen time and many more features that Apple crammed into its two hour-long keynote presentation.

As usual, however, there were still a bunch of new features that didn’t make the keynote. Here are 12 things Apple didn’t mention onstage at WWDC.

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WWDC 2018: Best new iOS 12 features and more

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Longer Animoji

Alongside new Animoji and tongue detection (yes, that’s a thing), what Apple didn’t mention is that Animoji can now be longer. With the iOS 12 update, the 10-second Animoji limit will be increased to 30 seconds… because who doesn’t want to look at talking poop for a full 30 seconds, right?

Redesigned App Strip in Messages

A finer detail that many will be happy about is the App Strip in Messages. In iOS 12, the App Strip will take up less space as you type. No additional details about this feature were given, but less UI clutter is always appreciated.

Critical alerts

Apple announced redesigned notifications with grouped notifications, better control over notifications and improved Do Not Disturb settings. One thing it didn’t mention during the keynote, however, is what it calls critical alerts.

Critical alerts are opt-in notifications about important information, such as reports from your doctor. Even with Do Not Disturb turned on, you’ll receive notifications from these alerts.

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Limit your screen time with iOS 12

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Raw photo import

Raw-format photo support isn’t exactly new to iOS. In fact, raw was added back in iOS 10. With iOS 12, though, you’ll be able to import raw photos from your computer and camera.

Apple also says the import process for photos and videos from your professional camera will be improved, but it doesn’t elaborate on how exactly.

iPad gestures

With iOS 11, Apple changed the way navigation on the iPad works. Similar to the iPhone X ($285 at Amazon), navigation on the iPad is controlled primarily through gestures. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen reveals the App Dock. Swiping up further reveals the Control Center and the App Switcher.

In iOS 12, gestures on the iPad will be updated to better match the iPhone X. You will be able to return home by swiping anywhere on the App Dock. And the Control Center will be accessed by swiping down from the top-right corner.

Improved Portrait lighting

Apple mentioned some updates coming to the camera, such as effects. But it didn’t mention that Portrait mode is receiving some upgrades too. It says the camera “now generates a mask when it detects a person” and it will intelligently separate that person from the rest of the scene.

In addition to Portrait improvements, it’s releasing a Portrait Segmentation API that will allow third-party developers to use the separation data in their own apps.

Improved QR code reader

Rather than just showing a banner notification when you point the stock iOS camera at a QR code, Apple says that in iOS 12, the camera will now highlight QR codes to let you know it’s actually detected it. We imagine this will look a lot like the built-in document scanner.

Search passwords in Siri

Apple mentioned several improvements to Siri, such as shortcuts or Siri suggestions, in which it will learn your routines and suggest things for you, such as ordering coffee when you’re on your way to work.

What Apple didn’t mention, though, is that Siri will help you search for passwords. Currently, there isn’t any information on how this will work.

Here are the biggest iOS 12 features Apple announced at WWDC 2018

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Password reuse auditing

Apple is beefing up privacy and security in iOS 12. A security feature not announced during the keynote is password reuse auditing. Passwords that you’ve used with other accounts will be flagged so you can quickly replace them with a generated password.

Security code autofill

And those annoying two-factor authentication codes that you have to use your phone for? When those SMS messages arrive with a one-time code, the code will automatically fill in the text field where it goes. So you won’t have to memorize the code and enter it manually. iOS will do it for you.

Password sharing

Finally, you will be able to share passwords between your Apple devices with iOS 12. You will be able to share passwords between iOS devices or from an iOS device to a Mac or Apple TV ($99 at eBay).

More battery information

In iOS 12, you will be given more granular battery usage information. In Settings, you’ll be able to see your battery usage for individual apps for the last 24 hours or 10 (instead of seven) days. And tapping on one of the bars will show you the app usage for that period of time.

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