These are all the cool new features coming to your iPhone and iPad

Every year, at its annual developer conference, Apple tries to outdo itself by coming up with ever more inventive updates. 

This year it’s augmented reality, Memojis and 32-person group FaceTime. But you’ve got to wonder: where will this race for tech supremacy end? iPhones that beam tunes directly into your brain? iPads that look after your kids? Basically, I’m asking how long before Black Mirror becomes a documentary?

“In iOS 12, we’re offering our users detailed information and tools to help them better understand and control the time they spend with apps and websites, how often they pick up their iPhone or iPad during the day and how they receive notifications,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, in San Jose, California, on Monday.

These are the updates you can look forward to with iOS 12…

Memojis 

Building of the success of their Animoji feature, Apple has announced new Memojis. They’re customisable and seem to work lot like Snapchat’s Bitmoji.

Multiplayer augmented reality

With iOS 12, you’ll be able to use two phones to share an augmented reality experience by displaying the same virtual objects on their screens at the same time, according to Buzzfeed.

So you can ‘explore’ things like robots, dinosaurs and Pokémon, which are superimposed onto the physical world, with your mates.

Better Do Not Disturb

There’s a new ‘Do Not Disturb during Bedtime’ mode to help people get a better night’s sleep by dimming the display and hiding all notifications on the lock screen until prompted in the morning.

Read more: 11 great iPhone hacks you probably never knew about

Group FaceTime

Apple’s letting you make group FaceTime calls with up to 32 people all at the same time. But quite frankly, who has this many friends?!

You can also go from a group chat on iMessage directly to a group video call.

Your devices will be faster

Apps will launch 40% faster on the iPhone 6 Plus with iOS 12, according to Craig Federighi.

Tools to help your screen addiction

Screen Time is a new tool for users to better understand and manage their device usage, but can be especially helpful for kids and families. Parents can access their child’s Activity Report from their own iOS devices to understand where their child spends their time and can manage and set App Limits for them.

Better notifications

To help reduce interruptions, iOS 12 gives customers more options for controlling how notifications are delivered. Instantly manage notifications to be turned off completely or delivered directly to Notification Center. Siri can also intelligently make suggestions for notifications settings, such as to quietly deliver or turn alerts off, based on which alerts are acted upon. iOS 12 also introduces Grouped Notifications, making it easier to view and manage multiple notifications at once.

Shortcuts

A new app called Shortcuts will let you preprogram a single action, or even a sequence of actions, and connect them to Siri so you can trigger them with a custom phrase, according to Buzzfeed.

For instance, you can say a phrase like “I’m going home” which will automatically start playing you fave tunes, turn on your heating at home and open Apple Maps with driving directions. 

(Images: Apple / Getty)