Today was Apple’s big WWDC keynote. This is always the company’s chance to show off its newest advances in technology and software innovation—this year was no different. With iOS 10, Apple doesn’t have one standout feature, but instead a plethora of updates that seek to improve the user experience of iOS across the board.
Here are the 10 new things from iOS 10 that you need to know about:
1. You Can Finally Delete Those Unwanted Apple Apps
This is something we’ve been wanting for ages—and we’re finally getting it. We all know how annoying it’s been to not be able to uninstall or hide apps like Newsstand or Stocks. Strangely enough, this wasn’t something that was actually announced at the keynote, but is a really useful feature that is new to iOS 10.
2. Third Party Apps Now Have Access to Siri
With the interest garnered by products like the Amazon Echo, a Siri SDK has now been released to third party developers. In the past, Siri has been able to work with third party apps few and far between. We’ll have to wait and see what developers do with access to this technology, but it’s bound to make Siri more useful.
3. Update to Maps, Photos, and Notifications
This is a bit more general, but with iOS 10 we’re getting updates to some of Apple’s most historically lackluster apps: Maps and Photos. Along with a visual update, Maps is getting what it’s calling “extensions”, which lets services like OpenTable and Uber plug right into the app. Photos is getting an update with something called “memories,” which brings images together that were shot in a similar location in the same way that the proprietary Android Photos app does.
Lastly, we’re getting a slight update to Notifications in that they now automatically pop up when you pick up your phone. You can also use a long press now via 3D Touch to get a preview of the actual app that the notification will open in.
4. The Introduction of the Home App
HomeKit was announced a few years ago, but until now it hasn’t had an official home. With the new app “Home,” you’ll have access to all of your smart home devices in one app. This one probably won’t be a huge gamechanger, but for smart home nerds it’s a nice touch.
5. Voicemail Transcription
This one came from left field, but within the “Phone” app, you can now get textual transcriptions of your voicemails as if it was a text message.
6. Game Center is Gone
The experiment that was Game Center is officially dead. Okay—so the actual service itself isn’t dead, but you won’t be seeing the app in iOS 10. You’ll still be able to get to leaderboards and online matchmaking from within games that support Game Center, but there is no longer a central hub for all your gaming stats and connections. It’s a particularly interesting move for Apple, considering it just now brought Game Center support to the Apple Watch.
7. iMessage Becomes a Platform
Similar to Apple Maps, iMessage is now becoming more of a platform of its own. After the success of what Facebook has done with Facebook Messenger, Apple is now playing catch up by bringing third party apps to iMessage so that you can send all those delightful animated stickers now—and maybe even send cash over a message.
The other big update to iMessage is support rich links, which means a URL in a message will now grab images and headlines from the website and things like YouTube links will be playable from within iMessage. The fact that we’re just now getting this is sort of crazy, but it’s better late than never, right?
8. New Apple TV remote app
This is another fairly small one, but we are finally getting an update to the Apple TV remote app in iOS 10. Although the Siri Remote is still the best way to navigate around on a new Apple TV, the Apple TV remote app can work as a second controller for games, as well as for when you lose your remote beneath the couch cushions.
9. A New Lock Screen That Includes Widgets
Widgets—those darn things that Android users love and Apple users never knew they needed. Apple dipped their toe into the widget game in iOS 8 by bringing them to the “Today” view in Notification Center, though it never really took off. Apple is finally bringing widgets to iOS in a big way with a redesigned lock screen that shows you bits of information from your apps and gives you things like app suggestions.
10. Apple Music Has Been Completely Redesigned
It seems a little bit early for a complete redesign of a new app like Apple Music, but boy did it need it. Apple has moved around some of the navigation of Apple Music, most notably by hiding the “Connect” page, and introducing a redesigned “Library” tab that gives you quick access to things like playlists you’ve made and music you’ve downloaded.