iOS 12 was released  Monday September 17, 2018.  This is the newest update for Apple Products, and with a new update comes many new features such as: Automatic Do Not Disturb, Grouped Notifications, Screen Time, Effects in Messages and FaceTime, and more. The biggest new feature of iOS 12 is Group FaceTiming.

These features seem very appealing, I cannot lie. The Screen Time feature allows you to limit how much time you spend on your phone, and the App Limit feature allows you to have a set amount of time you are on a particular app. These features can really help you control how much you are on your phone in a day, as well as help parents with a family Apple ID change the Screen Time for kids.

Another feature of this new update is Grouped Notifications. This is exciting for me because I get tired of notifications from the same app being spread out across my Notification Center. Now, because of this feature I won’t have this problem. It helps a lot with organization and it is just convenient for many people who have the same frustrations as me.

The most exciting new feature is Group FaceTime. Everyone has been requesting and waiting for this for a long time. It will be ready later this Fall. You can be on FaceTime with up to 32 people at a time. Also, you can automatically have a Group FaceTime through group text messages. I cannot wait to try this feature out myself!

I understand that most people are hesitant to update their phones, because they believe if they do their phones will slow down and act up. After Apple consumers with older Apple products updated their phones, they started to act up. The battery won’t charge all of the way, or it dies ten times faster. The internet is as slow as a snail, and it really upsets the owners of these products. It discourages people to update their phones.

I updated my phone and I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love the grouped notification and the do not disturb feature. This makes things organized and simple. It also makes it easier to ignore people. The effects that are on FaceTime and Messages really confuse me. I don’t know how they work and I don’t think many people will use these features. But the biggest issue I have with this update is that the Read Receipts only show up after double texting. This happened when iOS 11 came out, and I couldn’t figure out why. Little things like this is frustrating for us as consumers. The updates are supposed to make the phones better, not worse. I hope this update improves, but I do enjoy the update, overall.