iOS 10 now available for iPhone and iPad: Here's what's new

By Alex Choros

Last updated 14 September 2016

The latest version of Apple's iPhone and iPad operating system - iOS 10 - is now available as a free download.

Here's a quick look at what's new:

Redesigned Lock Screen

The first thing you'll notice when you upgrade to iOS 10 is an all new lock screen design. The classic "swipe to unlock" is gone, and has been replaced by "raise to wake". Simply picking up your iPhone will now bring it to life.

Notifications now appear in clean white bubbles, and you can interact with these right from the lock screen. For example, you can accept a calendar invite or view and participate in conversations without even unlocking your phone.

Swiping to the left will open up the camera, swiping to the right will bring up a screen with widgets such as your calendar, frequent apps, news, weather, and more.

iMessage is a lot more fun

iMessage has gotten a massive overhaul in iOS 10 with plenty of new features. While some of these are practical additions, many of these are more playful in nature.

Emojis are three times bigger, and are included in predictive text. When you're inserting an emoji, words that can be swapped out for emojis will be highlighted, and you can simply tap to replace them.

You're also able to bring messages to life with "bubble" and "full screen" effects. Bubble effects are short animations that play when a message is being delivered, such as appearing larger or smaller than normal. Other options include invisible ink, which makes whoever you're sending your message or photo to "scratch" to reveal it. Full screen effects are animations that take over the entire screen, such as balloons when you're saying "happy birthday" or "congratulations".

If you want to be a little more efficient with your messaging, iMessage now also offers what Apple calls "Tapback" responses. When you touch an hold on a message, you're able to select from a number of quick responses including a thumbs up, thumbs down, heart, question mark, or exclamation mark.

On the more practical side of things, you're able to turn on read receipts on a per conversation basis using the detail pane in the Messages app.

iMessage now also has its own App Store, that will mostly encompass sticker packs, ordering services, and peer to peer payment services.

Smarter Siri

Siri - Apple's digital personal assistant - is once again getting smarter, and is now able to integrate with third party applications. This means that you'll be able to speak to Siri to send a message in WhatsApp, book an Uber, or make a call via Skype. At launch, Siri is limited to interacting with messaging, voice, ride-sharing, fitness, finance, and photo apps, so you won't quite be able to make a lazy takeaway order yet, but it's nonetheless an improvement that makes Siri a lot more powerful.

Apple Music redesign

Apple Music has a fresh new redesign with a few meaningful usability changes. The most important of these are that your music library is now the first thing you'll see when you open the app, and a new section that shows you the music that's actually on your iPhone or iPad's internal storage, as opposed to "in the cloud".

You can finally delete Apple's apps

Sick of all of the apps your iPhone or iPad comes preinstalled with? Have a folder called "apps I wish I could delete"?. iOS 10 fixes this, with Apple finally giving you the option to delete the vast majority of apps you get out of the box. Some aren't removable - you'll have to keep Phone, Messages, Safari, Wallet, Clock, Camera, Settings, Photos, and the App Store - but almost everything else can be deleted. If you decided you want an app back, you can just redownload it from the App Store.

iOS 10 lets you delete the following apps: Calendar, Compass, Contacts, FaceTime, Find My Friends, Home, iBooks, iCloud Drive, iTunes Store, Mail, Maps, Music, News, Notes, Podcasts, Reminders, Stocks, Tips, Videos, Voice Memos, Watch, and Weather.

How to upgrade to iOS 10

Upgrading to iOS 10 is easy. Simply open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, select General, and then choose Software Update. The upgrade to iOS 10 is a fairly large download, so it's best to download it when you're connected to Wi-Fi.

Can I upgrade to iOS 10?

iOS 10 is compatible with the following iPhones: iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus.

iOS 10 is compatible with the following iPads: iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4, iPad (4th generation), iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro (9.7-inch) and iPad Pro (12.9-inch).

The iPhone 4s, the 2nd and 3rd generation iPad, and the original iPad mini will not be upgradable to iOS 10. While these devices will still all keep working, they'll miss out on new features, and more importantly, security updates.

If you've got an iPhone 4s or older and are looking to upgrade to a new iPhone, check out our iPhone plans page. Below are a few great iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus options.