What you need to know about the new iOS 10

When Apple released the new iOS 10 for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch back in June, CEO Tim Cook called it the biggest release ever for people who use iOS. Apple has already released beta versions of its new update for the past few weeks for the public and developers. Here are some exciting features that they have reported so far -

More Storage

With the release of iPhone 7 in September, Apple is finally replacing its 16GB model for good. Considering that users now prefer to view heavy video files and high resolution images, the new feature comes as a welcome relief. There are a lot of 16GB devices that are still in circulation but there is good news for iOS10 users. The new upgrade has a setting that allows users to automatically delete songs from their devices that haven't been played in a while.

Upgraded Messages

Testers report that message formats have gone through some serious overhauls. Some of these interesting features include bubble effects, background animations, Digital Touch and rich links. There is also a predictive emoji functionality that can suggest emojis to replace words.

Delete Stock Apps

Before iOS10 you couldn't uninstall apps that come pre-installed with an Apple device. Users rarely use most of these applications, so the fact that they can’t be removed is particularly annoying. With the new iOS10, users can finally uninstall almost every built in iOS apps like Weather, Find My Friends, FaceTime, Calendar and Compass.

Siri SDK

It's now possible to integrate Siri into third party apps thanks to Siri SDK in iOS 10. The new addition makes this virtual assistant more useful than ever before. The platform is also available for over six different kinds of functionalities like photo search, messaging, VoIP calls and payments. For example, users can use commands like Call Mom with Skype and others with the OS.

Siri is limited to a few applications since it prioritizes user privacy but developers do plan to expand it in the future.

Redesigns

App redesigns are an anticipated part of any OS and iOS10 has plenty to boast about. For example, Apple Music and Map now have cleaner interfaces which are now easier to navigate. Content discovery is easier on Apple Music thanks to a functionality that focuses on lyrics and Maps now offers a more enhanced experience with integrated third party apps and proactive suggestions.

Home Screen Updates

Updates to the home screen are not that obvious. It basically looks the same, that is, until you expand app. 3D Touch abilities are new. Besides apps, there are a lot of other ways you can use this feature on the new OS. Other additions include more animations as the screen is swiped right and a search section that is now in the form of a widgets panel.

These are only some of the features that have beta testers excited about iOS 10. The first beta for iOS 10 was released in June with eight released to developers so far and seven to the public.

 

[Dhruv Bindhani]

The information you've provided about iOS 10 is a great summary of its key features as reported by beta testers around June 2016, when Apple first announced and released developer and public betas. Tim Cook's statement about it being the "biggest release ever for people who use iOS" certainly aligns with the significant changes introduced.

Here's a breakdown of the features you've listed, with a note on their historical context from the perspective of June 2025:

• More Storage:
  
  • Original Report: Apple was set to replace the 16GB iPhone model with the iPhone 7, and iOS 10 would introduce a feature to automatically delete unplayed songs.
  • Historical Context (June 2025): This was indeed a welcome change. The 16GB model became increasingly insufficient as media consumption grew. The automatic song deletion feature was a precursor to more advanced storage optimization techniques introduced in later iOS versions, though users still largely manage music manually or rely on streaming services. Apple has long since phased out 16GB storage tiers, with base models now typically starting at 128GB or 256GB.
• Upgraded Messages:
  
  • Original Report: Significant overhauls including bubble effects, background animations, Digital Touch, rich links, and predictive emoji.
  • Historical Context (June 2025): These features revolutionized iMessage, making conversations far more dynamic and expressive. Bubble effects, screen effects, Digital Touch (which originated from Apple Watch), and rich link previews (showing thumbnails of shared URLs) became standard and highly popular features, heavily influencing other messaging apps. Predictive emoji functionality was also a hit, greatly speeding up emoji input.
• Delete Stock Apps:
  
  • Original Report: Users could finally uninstall almost every pre-installed iOS app like Weather, Find My Friends, FaceTime, Calendar, and Compass.
  • Historical Context (June 2025): This was a major and highly requested change! Before iOS 10, these apps were truly "stuck" on the device, often cluttering home screens for users who preferred third-party alternatives. The ability to remove them, even if they only freed up minimal storage (as Apple built them to be very space-efficient), was a huge win for user control and personalization. While you don't truly "delete" them from the system (they remain available for re-download from the App Store), it was a significant step towards decluttering.
• Siri SDK:
  
  • Original Report: Siri could be integrated into third-party apps for functionalities like photo search, messaging, VoIP calls, and payments, with examples like "Call Mom with Skype." Privacy concerns were noted as a limiting factor, but expansion was planned.
  • Historical Context (June 2025): The SiriKit SDK was a game-changer. It allowed Siri to extend its capabilities beyond Apple's own apps, making it far more useful. This laid the groundwork for how we interact with Siri for many tasks today, from ordering food to sending messages via non-Apple apps. While Siri's capabilities have expanded significantly since iOS 10, it still operates within defined domains to maintain user privacy and system stability.
• Redesigns (Apple Music and Maps):
  
  • Original Report: Apple Music and Maps received cleaner interfaces, easier navigation, content discovery (lyrics in Music), and enhanced experiences with third-party app integration and proactive suggestions in Maps.
  • Historical Context (June 2025): Both apps indeed received significant visual and functional overhauls. Apple Music's redesign aimed to simplify a somewhat cluttered interface, making it more intuitive, and the focus on lyrics was a strong user-centric addition. Maps' integration with third-party services like ride-sharing (Uber/Lyft) and restaurant reservations (OpenTable) was a major step towards making it a more comprehensive planning tool, moving beyond just navigation. Proactive suggestions also enhanced its utility.
• Home Screen Updates:
  
  • Original Report: Subtle changes to the Home Screen, visible upon expanding apps, new 3D Touch abilities beyond apps, more animations when swiping right, and a search section transforming into a widgets panel.
  • Historical Context (June 2025): iOS 10 indeed brought a significant overhaul to the lock screen and the left-most "Today View" screen, which became the primary location for widgets. 3D Touch (later replaced by Haptic Touch for most users) gained new utility with enriched contextual menus and mini-widgets directly from app icons. The dedicated widgets panel provided quick access to glanceable information without opening apps, a feature that has continued to evolve and be refined in subsequent iOS versions, most notably with the introduction of Home Screen widgets in iOS 14.

In summary, the features highlighted in your text were indeed pivotal for iOS 10. They marked a significant evolution for Apple's mobile operating system, focusing on greater personalization, improved user experience, and opening up core functionalities to third-party developers, laying much of the groundwork for the iOS we use today.