Showing posts with label iOS 10.1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iOS 10.1. Show all posts

Saturday 24 September 2016

iOS 10.1 Public Beta brings much-anticipated ‘Portrait Mode’ to iPhone 7 Plus

iOS 10.1 Public Beta brings much-anticipated ‘Portrait Mode’ to iPhone 7 Plus


Apple is making the most of its head start over Samsung due to the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, and already consolidating its position in the smartphone market. After releasing iOS 10 publicly just ten days back, Apple is already adding even more features to its OS with the iOS 10.1 public beta.

And apart from squashing a lot of bugs and fixing a few errors, the iOS 10.1 public beta brings the much anticipated 'portrait mode' to the iPhone 7 Plus.


The mode allows users to take photos with the background blurred, creating a depth-of-field effect that makes the viewer's eyes focus more on the subject of the photo. The effect will blur out out-of-focus background all the while keeping the subject of the photo in focus.

It is a feature exclusive only to the iPhone 7 Plus that comes with a dual camera setup containing one wide-angle lens and one telephoto lens.

The Portrait mode was showcased at the iPhone launch event earlier this month and even though it wasn't there in iOS 10, the feature finds its way through in iOS 10.1.

However, it should be noted that the feature is still in its beta stage and that means its likely to have a few bugs.

Apple has also included a set of instructions to make the best use of the portrait mode. When the Portrait mode is turned on, the camera app will ask you to place the subject within 8 feet, for the depth-of-field effect to come into play. Also, Apple says the function needs to have adequate lighting to work properly. There is still no option to record videos in Portrait mode, however.

The depth-of-field effect is created because of the wide-aperture length of the iPhone 7 Plus camera lenses. With an aperture size of f/1.8, the iPhone camera can keep the shutter wide open allow you to create bokehs from out-of-focus backgrounds while simultaneously allowing you to focus on the main subject with greater clarity. As a result, the Portrait mode can also be used to click insane macro photographs.

As a result, photos of people's faces looks much more immersive and aesthetically pleasing.

Apple's Public Beta Program allows everyone to sign up for beta releases of iOS for free. Participating in the program will let you experience Apple's newly included features earlier than the general public, but with quite a few bugs and errors included along with it.