Updated: iOS 10 release date, news and features

iOS 10 release date, news, rumors and beta

Update: iOS 10 is now expected to make its debut next month at the company's WWDC keynote with new features for Siri, HomeKit and Apple Music. Here's the latest news.

Apple's iOS 10 update is the milestone software version for the iPhone and iPad, and its release date is currently one months away, according to the company's routine schedule.

Downloading the iOS 10 beta this summer and the final release a few weeks later won't end up being a big scheduling surprise, but where Apple takes the mobile operating system is still a mystery.

We're just now reporting on the first iOS 10 update rumors, including new interface and app features that haven't been pushed out to your iPhone 6S and iPad Pro 12.9 as part of iOS 9.3.

Apple is preparing the redesigned iPhone 7, according to the latest leaks, and that means the interface may take on a few surprises. Here's what we've heard and want.

iOS 10 release date

Apple is reportedly testing iOS 10 right now, meaning it's on track for another June release date at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference event, WWDC 2016.

Siri let us know that the keynote date is June 13. That's when official iOS 10 announcement will happen with an introduction by Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering.

The iOS 10 beta should be available to developers immediately, while a public beta is probably launching in July, just as it did with iOS 9. After all, last year's public beta was a big success for Apple judging from the smoother sailing of iOS 9, and it continues to be with surprise iOS 9.3 features.

If you decide to wait for the final version of iOS 10, it'll take a while longer due to additional bug testing by developers and faithful Apple fan trying out the beta. A stable version of iOS 10 should launch alongside the new iPhone 7 in September.

iOS 10 beta

The iOS 10 beta should be back given the initial rousing success of the iOS 9 beta to squash software glitches. That means you can anticipate three ways to download the operating system update once iOS 10 becomes available.

Apple Developer Program members will be the first to install iOS 10, likely in June. That requires enrolling in the official developer program and paying a fee.

Since everyone wants everything for free these days, you can wait a few weeks, typically in July, to test out iOS 10 early via the public beta. It requires jumping through some hoops on Apple's website, but registration takes no more than a few minutes of your time.

The iOS 9 beta program was more unfinished than it was buggy. I counted just a few missing features, not glitches, so it wasn't a hassle to download a year ago. And it was free and an over-the-air update, so it's a friendly middle ground if you want to try iOS 10 before most everyone else.

iOS 10 compatibility

Amazingly, iOS 9 didn't cut anyone out of the mix when the update rolled out to devices in September. The iPhone 4S and iPad 2 still work with the latest operating system update.

That may not happen again given the simple fact that iOS 10 may require more than 512MB of RAM.

We really thought both devices would be axed when the iOS 9 update became available. Because these Apple gadgets are going to be five years old by the time iOS 10 comes out, we think it's time to put the clinging-to-life 30-pin dock-equipped phone and tablet to rest.

Expect the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, and the bigger iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 6 Plus to handle iOS 10 without a hitch. Add the new iPhone SE to the phone roster, too.

Same goes for the iPad Pro 9.7 and 12.9, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2 and maybe even the original iPad mini. Also, not to be forgotten, the iPod Touch 6th gen should be fine.

Siri and voicemails

When it comes to iOS 10 features, we fully expect Apple to improve Siri simply because this happens every year. This time, Siri may become your true personal assistant by handling your voicemails.

The first big iOS 10 rumor is that Siri can tell a caller why you can't pick up the phone and even transcribe voicemail messages so you can read them on the go or in loud venues.

The Siri voicemail service is part of something called iCloud Voicemail, according to a recent report from Business Insider, and is an enhancement of the standard digital audio recorder.

Apple isn't launching a mobile network of its own, at least not yet. However, this feature, if it's a part of iOS 10, makes it one step closer to doing just that.

Apple HomeKit

Your home is about to become smarter thanks to all of your household tech coming together to live under one roof: your iOS 10 device.

Apple's Home app will transform for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV into remotes for smart bulbs, door locks, thermostats, door bells and all sorts of gadgets that fall into the Internet of Things classification.

Right now, this smart home technology is extremely scattered. It's going to take a company like Apple to bring it together.

You may recall that the developer-focused HomeKit is a year-and-a-half old, but iOS 10 is expected to make it into a front-facing feature for users with a new Apple Home app.

Apple Music redesign

Apple Music will celebrate its one-year anniversary at WWDC 2016 with a sudden facelift. Yes, the new streaming service is already in for a retooling of its user interface.

It's no surprise. There's a confusing rift between Apple Music streaming and iTunes music downloading, and that clunky design was cited as the main issue in our review.

Just don't anticipate Apple Music Connect to play a prominent role. The underutilized tab, meant to let artists share photos, videos and demo tracks with fans, didn't live up to its "connect" label, is in for a demotion.

Make 3D touch relevant

3D Touch made its debut with the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, and at first it was a little underwhelming. More apps now use it, but it could still stand to have a better reason to exist.

Control Center is exactly where this Force Touch-like technology should head next. Pressing the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on-screen button should pop up the respective settings menus in a overlay window.

Apple has done such a good job over the years by sliding opaque menus into view without requiring you to exit apps. These Control Center buttons should follow the very same principle.

There are also rumors that Apple may get rid of the home button with an on-screen button (sort of like on some Androids) that uses 3D Touch. It's not a popular theory among all, but it may happen one day.

Customizable Control Center

While 3D Touch would go nicely with Control Center, it'd also be clever to have the entire menu overlay become customizable. Right now, everything's set in stone by Apple.

Instead of forcing everyone to have the Clock icon be a shortcut to the time, why can't I make that go to the stopwatch? Why can't the calculator icon be swapped out for a gallery shortcut?

These are some of the requests we've been hearing from Apple users since Control Center made its debut in iOS 7 back in 2013. It's about time Apple put them into action.

Apple News in the forefront

There's nothing necessarily wrong with Apple News. The Flipboard-like app works well and has some of my favorite publications, but the app is too far removed. I hardly ever tap into it.

A better move would be to expand its presence in the leftmost menu. Yes, this is something that Samsung has done with its phone and tablets, but I've come to appreciate it.

Otherwise, tucking the entire Apple News interface into its own app silos it from the rest of the operating system without the pizzaz it really deserves.

Volume controls

There's nothing more annoying than turning down the volume, tapping on a YouTube video during the middle of the night and hearing it still blare out my iPhone's mono speaker.

Media controls are different from notification controls, it turns out, and there's no easy way to turn down the volume on a video without starting it up first. That's annoying.

Many Android phone manufacturers have cleverly split up the volume control into two or three groups, and it doesn't look messy with a dropdown for more options beyond the main volume.

With iOS 10, Apple needs to catch up with the times on volume controls, as the iPhone and iPad rocker doesn't exactly rock with limited and often confusing options.

Cache and orientation bugs

There are bugs and limitations to the iPhone and iPad that could be resolved with the iOS 10 update. Namely, caching and orientation flaws trip me up on a weekly basis.

I'd like to be able to minimize an app without having it reset when I open it back up later on after having opened a couple of other apps in the interm. Memory seems to be the issue.

I'd also like iOS 10 to address the iPhone 6S Plus flaw in which orientation flips too easily into landscape mode when unlocking the phone. Its size is already unwieldy enough, and oddly, this doesn't happen on the smaller iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S.

Multi-user support

Apple did a really nice job upgrading iOS 9 for its iPad line. Split Screen multitasking and better Bluetooth keyboard support made a big difference.

However, Apple still hasn't given its fanbase multi-user support. This is something that Android tablets have had for a while and it's sorely missing on Apple devices. iOS 10 could be the time to do it.

In fact, the infrastructure for multi-user login support has launched ahead of iOS 10. It turns out that iOS 9.3 includes new education features for multiple student-logins for classrooms. That's a good sign.

Given that iPad Pro just came out in the last few months, and it's way more than a personal device, a lot of businesses and artist-filled studios might buy into the supersized idea if this could happen.

iOS 10 Touch ID

Touch ID works really well. It's faster than ever on the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, and it's really accurate. Maybe not as fast at the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, but is it still too quick for its own good?

That's what I've been hearing from users of Apple's new smartphones. They habitually light up their phones with the home button, only to have their notifications vanish.

iOS 9 made notifications easier to view in the pulldown menu by sorting them in chronological order (not by group), but an easier way to wake the phone may be in order.

LG and HTC use an ingenious double tap the screen to wake method that makes the entire display a big button. That would solve this problem for Apple, and we're looking for hints of that in iOS 10 in advance of the iPhone 7 launch.

More iOS 10 updates to come

This isn't the last word on the iOS 10 update. Apple's still has one month to go before it's expected to unveil the software and three months after that to finalize everything.

That gives us ample time to hunt down official news and slightly less official leaks about the iPhone and iPad mobile operating system update.

The iOS 10 release date seems like the easy part: likely in June for the developer beta, July for the public beta and September with the iPhone 7 for the final launch.

iOS 10 features, on the other hand, remain a mystery with the exception of the solid-sounding Siri voicemail lead. There's definitely more to come ahead of WWDC 2016 on June 13.

• Top competitor: Google's Android N update

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