Apple makes iOS 26 seem faster by tweaking animations
Interestingly, the actual change in animation timing is quite small - around 150 milliseconds quicker. But there is a much bigger difference in the pacing, and that affects how fast it feels. This, in turn, makes the entire OS feel faster despite the fact that nothing has changed performance-wise.
If you're a die-hard Android fan you've probably scoffed a few times reading this - a lot of skins let you tweak the animations (which are generally faster than Apple's to begin with), and you can go a step further through Developer Options if you're careful not to touch anything else, making all animations shorter by default at the OS level.
This does in fact make everything feel faster, even though nothing changed aside from the animations, so Apple is clearly onto something here, it's just funny how long it takes the Cupertino company sometimes to "discover" such "revolutionary" tweaks that have been available from its competitors for years.
Via
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Phone Arena
2 hours ago
- Phone Arena
China introduces its first domestically made e-beam lithography machine
We've often said that the inability of Chinese foundries and tech manufacturers to obtain Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines is the big reason why China is so far behind in the chips race. Thanks to U.S. and Dutch officials, the one company that makes advanced lithography gear, Dutch firm ASML, cannot ship the latest EUV lithography equipment to China. However, less advanced Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, using older technology, can still be shipped to China. This is important because EUV machines are needed to manufacture chips under 7nm. Foundries like TSMC and Samsung Foundry will be mass producing chips using their 2nm process nodes this year. Lower process node numbers mean that the transistors used are smaller, allowing more to fit into a small space inside a chip. This number is called the Transistor Density and is usually shown as millions or billions of transistors per square millimeter. The higher the transistor density, the more powerful and energy-efficient a chip is. The lithography machine is used to transfer circuitry patterns onto the silicon wafers that serve as the foundation of the chips manufactured by foundries. Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) light has a wavelength of 193 nanometers. EUV, however, uses light with a wavelength of just 13.5 nanometers, which is about 14 times shorter. This shorter wavelength allows EUVs to etch the fine patterns needed for today's intricate chip designs. -Hangzhou Daily But the Chinese have built their first e-beam lithography machine, which they have titled Xizhi. It was created at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou and uses focused electron beams to etch the circuitry patterns on the silicon wafers. The downside is that e-beam lithography cannot produce chips at a large scale like DUV and EUV machines can. But for China, it's any port in a storm when it comes to lithography, and the e-beam lithography works great during the testing phase of production. An ASML built Extreme Ultraviolet lithography machine. | Image credit-ASML A local newspaper, Hangzhou Daily , said on Thursday, "Due to export controls, such equipment has long been out of reach for leading domestic research institutions, including the University of Science and Technology of China and Zhejiang Lab. The delivery of Xizhi is expected to help break this impasse." Xizhi can etch circuit lines as narrow as 8 nm, with a positioning accuracy of 0.6nm. This meets international standards. Discussions with Chinese companies and research institutes interested in Xizhi have begun. The domestically produced e-beam lithography machine is cheaper than similar devices imported into China. This is just the beginning of China's attempt to bypass U.S. restrictions by producing its own chipmaking equipment. There are reports that Huawei has been working on building its own EUV machine. Reportedly, Huawei has been testing a trial EUV machine at its factory in Dongguan. Supposedly, Huawei will aim for trial production later this year with mass production expected to take place in 2026. Should Huawei be able to create an EUV machine, it would be a big deal for China in general and Huawei in particular. It could allow Huawei and China's largest foundry, SMIC, to produce cutting-edge chips that might be able to compete with the silicon designed by U.S. chip design heavyweights like Apple, Qualcomm, and Nvidia. Before the U.S. implemented the sanctions preventing Huawei from obtaining cutting-edge chips, the Chinese manufacturer's HiSillicon chip design unit was TSMC's second-largest customer after Apple. At that time, HiSilicon and thus Huawei had access to TSMC's most cutting-edge process nodes. In fact, the last chip TSMC produced for HiSilicon before U.S. sanctions kicked in was the Kirin 9000 AP. Built using TSMC's 5nm process node, this was the SoC used to power the Huawei Mate 40 series in 2020. After the sanctions went into effect, Qualcomm was given a license from the U.S. Commerce Department allowing it to ship 4G Snapdragon chips to Huawei. In 2023, Huawei stunned the industry by releasing the Mate 60 series powered by the Kirin 9000S. Produced by SMIC, the SoC was built using the foundry's 7nm process node and brought 5G support back to Huawei's flagship phones. With Galaxy AI – port-in & $720 upfront required We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Phone Arena
6 hours ago
- Phone Arena
Apple accidentally leaks some of its upcoming products
Apple does not like leaks. Its lawsuit against FPT's Jon Prosser, accused by the tech giant of getting access to a developmental iPhone 17 model owned by an Apple employee, makes this crystal clear. But the reason for Apple's anger might not be as clear. You see, Apple apparently wants to get into the "Apple Leaks" business itself and hopes to shut down a competitor (Prosser). Apple itself just accidentally leaked several new products and while this paragraph was written with tongue-in-cheek, the rest of this story is true. According to the report, Apple slipped up and included code used to identify hardware in software code that linked to several unannounced products. One of the products is a new HomePod mini carrying a codename of B525. This tracks perfectly since the current HomePod mini sports a codename of B520. The new HomePod mini will use the same T8310 microarchitecture deployed on the Apple Watch. The Apple HomePod mini, released in 2020. | Image credit-Apple The Apple Watch Series 9 and Series 10 both use the T8310 core architecture. It is also expected to be used with the S11 chip that will run the Apple Watch Series 11, scheduled to be unveiled next month. This indicates that a new chip will replace the S5-class chip that is used with the currently offered HomePod mini model that was released in 2020. The new chip will reportedly have a 64-bit dual-core CPU based on the A16 application processor (AP). It will also feature a four-core Neural Engine, which is something that the chip inside the current HomePod mini doesn't have. The HomePod mini 2 could be released this year anytime between next month and the end of 2025. Among the unannounced new products that Apple leaked is a new Apple TV powered by the same A17 Pro AP that powers the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The updated silicon would be a nice improvement from the A15 Bionic currently found in the current Apple TV product. The new chipset will bring Apple Intelligence support to Apple TV and will also allow the product to run console-tier games with the quality graphics such games deserve. The company is supposedly testing its own Bluetooth/Wi-Fi chip to use with the product. The new Apple TV unit could be released as soon as next month at the earliest; it is expected to see the light of day sometime this year. A new iPad mini (J510/J511) was one of the products leaked by Apple. It is expected to feature the powerful new A19 Pro AP which will be the silicon inside the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. The last iPad mini was released last October, employing the A17 Pro. Apple is supposed to be working on a new iPad mini with an OLED display for 2026 or possibly 2027. This could be the model leaked by Apple. The A19 Pro AP that could run this device has more GPU cores than the A19 SoC. There could be a binned version of the A19 Pro with just one less GPU core, which might be found inside the upcoming ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air. A binned chip is one that was not perfectly produced and, as a result, it was placed in one of various bins based on its flaws. This is done so that chips not perfectly produced don't have to be thrown out and can be employed. A new entry-level iPad (J581/J582) was also leaked by Apple, and the product will get a chip boost from the A16 used on the current entry-level Apple tablet to the A18. Expected next spring, the new low-end iPad should support Apple Intelligence and feature a 16-core Neural Engine. The chipset might be new, but the design of the tablet will reportedly stay the same. The new Apple Watch Series 11 , Ultra 3, and Watch SE 3 were included in the leak, and Apple is expected to use the S11 System in Package (SiP) chip to power its upcoming timepieces. With the same T8310 architecture used with the S9 and S10 SiP, the S11 could carry two performance cores, a 64‑bit dual‑core CPU, and a 4‑core Neural Engine. Other devices accidentally leaked by Apple include: Vision Pro 2-powered by M5 chip, replacing the M2 used in the first version of the spatial computer. We could see a late 2025 release. Apple Studio Display 2-with a possible mini‑LED backlight. This might be launched early next year. Which of the above leaked Apple products would you be interested in? With Galaxy AI – port-in & $720 upfront required We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Phone Arena
6 hours ago
- Phone Arena
So Apple is just discarding two heavily marketed features of the iPhone, what gives?
There have been two very heavily marketed features on the iPhone for the last 2-3 years, and Apple is apparently getting rid of both of them. What's worse is that I actually quite liked both of these characteristics of the iPhone, even though one of them has been a very contentious change. Titanium looks great for phones. | Image credit — PhoneArena Yep, Apple is ditching titanium with the iPhone 17. It's not like this was a must-have feature for flagship phones, but it was appreciated nonetheless. I don't think I'm alone in saying that the titanium iPhone models looked stunning, like a truly premium piece of gear. At least we still have the Galaxy Ultra phones, unless Samsung is planning to ditch titanium for the Galaxy S26 Ultra as well. I truly believed that titanium was here to stay, to distinguish the flagship offerings from the rest. And, on a very minor note, titanium sounds so much cooler than aluminum, glass, or stainless steel. But what truly bugs me is remembering how much Apple focused on the titanium finish when it was first announced. The people announcing the iPhone 15 Pro couldn't stop mentioning just how beautiful the new phones looked, and I agreed. But now, just like that, we're ditching titanium this year. The reasoning behind this decision is likely quite complex and not just a change of heart. Some suggest that manufacturing costs are to blame, and that makes sense because Apple is trying to make its phones as affordable as possible with the threat of tariffs looming over it. Perhaps it's the lack of titanium that has made it possible to not increase the cost of the iPhone 17 too much this titanium isn't the only heavily marketed feature Apple is getting rid of. Apple was really proud of the Dynamic Island. | Image credit — PhoneArena Who remembers when Apple first announced the Dynamic Island? This was one of Apple's more contentious changes, I remember a lot of the internet clowning on it back then. However, I thought that it was a pretty clever way to get around a problem that existed in smartphones back then, and still does today. See, every phone manufacturer had started to introduce punch holes or notches into their phones. Even the cheapest budget phones made for low income regions featured a notch at the very least. This was being done to minimize bezel thickness, and because I suppose it was just the new thing to do. Apple, who I blame for popularizing the notch in the first place, came up with a pretty clever solution: the Dynamic Island. Immediately, the iPhone was recognizable everywhere, and it wasn't just another phone with a water drop notch. Even better, the Dynamic Island actually served a integration with the Dynamic Island is superb, when it works of course, and it usually always does. And, personally speaking, I just like the pill-shaped cutout much more than a water drop notch, or a circular punch hole. But guess what, Apple is ditching the Dynamic Island in favor of a punch hole design. This won't happen until the iPhone 18, but many reports have said that it is happening. Apparently, the punch hole iPhone 18 will bridge the gap between the iPhone 17 that has a Dynamic Island, and the cutout-free 20th anniversary iPhone Pro. But…why not just stick with the Dynamic Island? Has Apple forgotten how much it showed it off back when the company first announced it? Not to mention that the iPhone 18 will just look like any other phone from the front. Apple is already making this mistake with the iPhone 17 redesign, and I wouldn't fault some people for confusing it for a Google Pixel 9, especially the iPhone 17 Air. Suffice to say, I just don't understand why Apple would abandon heavily marketed features like this out of the blue. It honestly just makes the company look like it has no direction or sense of self, and is just throwing random things at a wall to see what sticks.
