Apple iOS 12.1 guide: All the new features

The Apple-uploaded iOS 12.1 user guide reveals a group Facetime feature, improved Apple Music, and grouped notification updates in the new operating system.

On October 26, with the release of the iPhone XR, Apple made the iOS 12.1 user guide available for free download on the Apple Store, giving us some insight as to the new features coming to mobile devices on October 30.

The group FaceTime feature announced earlier but not ready in time for September’s iPhone releases will land tomorrow. Users will be able to have conference calls and video calls supporting up to 32 people at once.

Unfortunately, only the iPhone 7 and more recent models can handle the feature, which will only be available in select regions. The iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus, and 6s and 6s Plus can also support these multi-person calls, but only in audio; they will be the oldest models to support the new operating system.

New features include a Do Not Disturb During Bedtime feature that prevents you from being awakened during the night by notification alerts or a brightened screen. In general, the notifications will be more under control; users will have the ability to group them and decide which ones are worth being notified about.

Additionally, Apple is answering some common iPhone complaints with the update: the automatic “beauty mode” will be removed, the bagel emoji within the collection of 70 new emojis coming to the OS is no longer plain but spread with some cream cheese, and generally, bugs have been corrected. Your memoji can be more easily duplicated with the new operating system, so your avatar can change hairstyles as often as you do without requiring you to create another one from scratch.

To bring the camera up to speed with other top device models, the depth will be adjustable in real-time within the portrait mode of the camera app, and the operating system will have dual SIM support to properly enable eSIM.

The new emojis and the ability to take true-to-life pictures will be available tomorrow, probably not long after the iPad and Mac event when the iPad iOS 12.1 user guide is expected to be published as well.