Apple Begins Public Roll Out of iOS 10.1

• iPod touch 6th generation

There’s plenty new in iOS 10.1 like tweaks made to Messages, added support in Maps, and improvements to Apple Watch compatibility, however by far the biggest highlight of the latest software is Portrait mode for the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual-camera system. This allows users to focus solely on one subject in a picture and blur everything else out, therefore creating a bokeh-style effect. You can read more about this new feature below.

The most notable discovery within the iOS 10.1 beta is the fact that Apple built in the highly anticipated Portrait depth-of-field feature first demoed at the company’s September 7th event. The feature is exclusive to the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual-camera system which allows it to use advanced bokeh effects to focus on a subject found within a photo. By blurring the entire background of the picture and focusing solely on the subject of your choice, you’ll be granted with a very unique photo that can be assisted by the optical zoom capabilities of the telephoto lens found on the 7 Plus in order to get the picture you want. We know this feature is mainly software related (hence it showing up in iOS 10.1 and not 10.0.1), so improvements down the road should help the feature to become better and more powerful over time.

Full release notes for iOS 10.1 can be found below.

Camera and Photos

• Introduces Portrait Camera for iPhone 7 Plus that creates a depth effect that keeps your subject sharp while creating a beautifully blurred background (beta)
• People names in the Photos app are saved in iCloud backups
• Improved the display of wide color gamut photos in the grid views of the Photos app
• Fixes an issue where opening the Camera app would show a blurred or flashing screen for some users
• Fixes an issue that caused Photos to quit for some users when turning on iCloud Photo Library

Maps

• Transit support for every major train, subway, ferry, and national bus line, as well as local bus systems for Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya
• Sign-based transit navigation including layouts of all underground structures and walkways that connect large transit stations
• Transit fare comparison when viewing alternative transit routes

Messages

• New option to replay bubble and full screen effects
• Messages effects can play with Reduce Motion enabled
• Fixes an issue that could lead to contact names appearing incorrectly in Messages
• Addresses an issue where Messages could open to a white screen
• Addresses an issue that could prevent the report junk option from displaying with unknown senders
• Fixes an issue where videos captured and sent in the Messages app could be missing audio

Apple Watch

• Adds distance and average pace to workout summaries in the Activity app for outdoor wheelchair run pace and outdoor wheelchair walk pace
• Fixes issues that may have prevented Music playlists from syncing to Apple Watch
• Addresses an issue that was preventing invitations and data to appear in Activity Sharing
• Fixes an issue that was allowing Activity Sharing to update over cellular when manually disabled
• Resolves an issue that was causing some third-party apps to crash when inputting text

Other improvements and fixes

• Improves Bluetooth connectivity with 3rd party accessories
• Improves AirPlay Mirroring performance when waking a device from sleep
• Fixes an issue where playback would not work for iTunes purchased content when the “Show iTunes Purchases” setting is turned off
• Fixes an issue where certain selfie apps and face filters used with the FaceTime HD Camera on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus did not display a live preview
• Fixes an issue in Health where individual strokes are converted to separate characters when using the Chinese handwriting keyboard
• Improves performance of sharing websites from Safari to Messages
• Fixes an issue in Safari that caused web previews in tab view to not display correctly
• Fixes an issue that caused certain Mail messages to be reformatted with very small text
• Fixes an issue that caused some HTML email to be formatted incorrectly
• Fixes an issue that in some cases caused the search field to disappear in Mail
• Fixes an issue that could prevent Today View Widgets from updating when launched
• Fixes an issue where Weather widget sometimes failed to load data
• Fixes an issue on iPhone 7 where Home Button click settings would not appear in search results
• Fixes an issue that prevented spam alert extensions from blocking calls
• Resolves an issue that could prevent alarm sounds from going off
• Fixes an issue where audio playback via Bluetooth would cause the Taptic engine to stop providing feedback for some users
• Resolves an issue preventing some users from restoring from iCloud Backup

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

https://support.apple.com/HT201222

To install iOS 10.1 on your device, head over to Settings > General > Software Update and you should see a listing for iOS 10.1 with a likely hefty size. Just tap “Download and install” and you’ll be good to go. I do recommend jumping on a Wi-Fi network first alongside plugging in your device beforehand as a) you don’t want data overcharges on your bill and b) you don’t want your phone or tablet to die during the installation process.