JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Maybe you just got a brand-new iPhone 11 or you upgraded your older phone with the new operating system. Either way, Consumer Reports says there are lots of new features with Apple's latest iOS, everything from fun new emojis to important privacy controls.
Apple’s latest operating system offers a bunch of new ways to communicate with customizable memoji -- that’s an animated emoji that you can personalize to look like you with braces, piercings, hairstyles and lots more.
And, new camera features give you more control over both the position and intensity of the lighting, producing excellent quality pictures based on Consumer Reports' extensive lab testing.
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But it’s not all fun and improved photos. Apple has also added important new privacy and security features in iOS 13 -- designed to give you more control over the information you share.
Take Apple’s new sign-on service, which lets you sign in to different apps through Apple, instead of creating new logins and passwords.
Another useful new feature: iOS 13 also offers randomly generated email addresses.
“Now what this will let you do is sign up for mailing lists or provide an email address to a website that isn’t necessarily your email. But it will forward to your email. So, if you ever get sick of hearing from that app or website, you can just delete it or move on,” explained Consumer Reports Tech Editor Bree Fowler.
Also, if you don’t like the idea of apps tracking your every move, the new iOS offers location tracking limits.
“This will grant an app one-time access to your location. If that app wants to know where you are again, it’s going have to ask you again,” Fowler said.
So, don’t be surprised if you see privacy messages from Apple popping up more often.
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While some Apple users are enjoying the new features this software update has to offer, others have some complaints, including issues such as dropped calls and a shorter battery life.