Apple today announced iOS 11.3 and previewed some of its features. The update will bring four new Animoji – lion, bear, dragon and skull for the iPhone X, ARKit 1.5 to developers to offer even more immersive AR experiences to recognize and place virtual objects on vertical surfaces like walls and doors, and more accurately map irregularly shaped surfaces like circular tables for next-generation AR apps.
It will also brings Business Chat for users to communicate directly with businesses right within Messages. It will launch in Beta with the public availability of iOS 11.3 this spring, with the support of select businesses including Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo.
Regarding the new Business Chat, Apple said:
With Business Chat, it’s easy to have a conversation with a service representative, schedule an appointment or make purchases using Apple Pay in the Messages app. Business Chat doesn’t share the user’s contact information with businesses and gives users the ability to stop chatting at any time.
As promised, the update will add new features to show battery health and recommend if a battery needs to be serviced. This feature will be available in Settings -> Battery for iPhone 6 and later. As promised, it will also be possible to disable Apple’s power management feature.
New Health Records feature will bring together hospitals, clinics and the existing Health app to make it easy for consumers to see their available medical data from multiple providers, whenever they choose. Patients from participating medical institutions will have information from various institutions organized into one view and receive regular notifications for their lab results, medications, conditions and more. Health Records data is encrypted and protected with a passcode.
Additional iOS 11.3 features
- Apple Music will soon be the home for music videos. Users can stream all the music videos they want without being interrupted by ads. They can also watch the hottest new videos, the classics or ones from their favorite artists back-to-back in new music video playlists.
- Apple News now makes it easier to stay up-to-date on the most important videos of the day with a new Video group in For You, and improved Top Stories.
- HomeKit software authentication provides a great new way for developers to add HomeKit support to existing accessories while protecting privacy and security.
- Support for Advanced Mobile Location (AML) to automatically send a user’s current location when making a call to emergency services in countries where AML is supported.
iOS 11.3 developer preview will be available starting today, followed by a public beta preview. iOS 11.3 stable update will be available for iPhone 5s and later, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation, iPad mini 2 and later and iPod touch 6th generation from spring.