As expected, Apple unveiled the latest version of iOS at WWDC last month – and while it's still a couple of months away from general release, we've been going hands-on with a preview version.
As usual, there are tons of new features large and small heading to your iPhone or iPad in the new update. Here's our pick of the most innovative and interesting – as well as when you can expect to take it for a spin yourself.
iMessage
One of the biggest changes you’ll see is in iMessage, which has been completely overhauled to include a raft of new features, which promise to make messaging more fun than ever.
There’s no doubt that the popularity of apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat has influenced some of the changes here, but that’s no bad thing – and it’s the users that benefit.
In addition to practical additions, like previewing links you’re going to send, and the ability to use the camera from within the app, there’s loads of new animations and effects for you to muck about with.
Sticker packs
Much like the stickers in Facebook Messenger, you can now brighten up your messages with stickers. There are currently only four packs available – our favourite is the Classic Mac – but expect there to be many more once the update is officially released.
Effects
You can now add all number of visual effects to your messages, like invisible ink that requires the recipient to swipe across the message to reveal the contents, or the ability to send a message that arrives with an attention-grabbing slam to ensure it gets noticed. You can even go one step further and have your message arrive to lasers, fireworks or a shower of confetti!
Handwriting and 'digital touch'
If you want to make your message a bit more personal, then you’ll love these! Taking a cue from the Apple Watch,you can now send handwritten messages, doodles and even a heartbeat from within the iMessage app.
Emoji replacement
If you’re a serial emoji user, then life’s going to get easier thanks to the new emoji replacement feature.
This can scan your messages and automatically suggest emoji replacements for words – while if you're feeling particularly taciturn, you can also opt to send super-sized emojis on their own, with no accompanying text .
Photos
The other big change you’ll notice is in the Photos app, which is getting a long overdue overhaul.
It’s not changed much in recent years, and it’s never been particularly easy to search through your gallery to find a particular picture. But that looks set to change, thanks to the new 'Memories' tab, which will dynamically sort your pictures using things like date, GPS location and facial recognition – allowing you to search through them much more easily.
It doesn’t seem quite as good at this as Google Photos yet, but it’s still a huge improvement – and longtime iOS users should be delighted with the improved functionality.
Another nice addition is that you can automatically create a video slideshow of your memories, with music and all – perfect when you’ve got a captive audience for those holiday snaps!
Lock Screen
The Lock screen has also been updated – and you can now have a lot more information displayed there if you want it.
You can now have things like the weather or your favourite contacts displayed by default – great if there’s certain things you find yourself constantly unlocking your phone to check. If you’ve got an 6S, then you can also use 3D Touch to interact with your notifications to get even more information.
On the subject of unlocking, there’s also been a slightly controversial change in that 'Slide to unlock' has been removed – and instead you tap the Home button to unlock the phone.
This is apparently in response to complaints from some users that the Touch ID sensor unlocks the phone 'too quickly' – but certainly in our office, the general consensus is that we prefer it the old way.
The best of the rest
In addition to these major changes, there are some other nice additions, including an expanded and improved Control Centre, the ability to automatically remember where you parked your car and – finally – the ability to remove Apple’s default apps from the Home screen. The days of having to create a folder called 'Apple' to hide all the stuff you don’t want are finally over!
On the whole, then, iOS 10 is looking like a really solid update from Apple, with several long-overdue features finally making their way to the platform.
Having said that, we’re definitely undecided on the new unlock mechanism – but if it does indeed change for good, I’m sure we’ll get used to it!
We can expect to see iOS 10 released in September, just before the likely release of the new iPhone – so thankfully, you've not got long to wait before you'll be able to spam your friends with balloons and fireworks!
We're definitely looking forward to the full release of iOS 10 – and if you've already had a play with the beta, we'd love to hear your thoughts! Share them with us and our readers in the comments below.