Cool apps from new Apple products

This is the software that will define the experience of 2018’s new iPhones, and also update current iPhones and iPads when it comes out to devices later this year.

Digital Health will help curb your phone addiction: One feature Apple may highlight is digital health, with the iPhone-maker talking up new tools to help you manage (and cut back on) how much time you spend on your phone, Bloomberg reported. Similar to Google’s Android Dashboard, Apple’s Digital Health tools would help combat phone “addiction” and give parents more granular tools to monitor their kids’ phone use. Playing games with friends in AR life: While AR gaming might not take center stage, Apple might package at least one key update into iOS 12, Bloomberg added.

ARKit 2.0 could contain a new mode that lets you and your friends play against each other in the same augmented reality world. Google takes it one step further with software that can bring Android and iPhone players in the same AR space using digital anchors. It’s likely that Apple would use a similar technology in iOS 12 to bridge the reality gap.

A more refined Face ID: Keep your ears cocked for Apple to refine Face ID, Apple’s secure biometric face unlock tool that uses the 3D front-facing camera. Mac Otakara, a blog out of Japan, reports that Face ID could get support for landscape mode.

More animoji, please: Apple could also branch out with more animated emoji -- animoji -- and pave the way for both Face ID and animoji for future iPads. Building in software support for Apple’s tablets would hint at future iPads getting a 3D depth-sensing camera like the iPhone X.

What we probably won’t get: The alleged tighter focus on stability and bug fixes means that Apple is saving its bigger iPhone and iPad changes for later, including a redesigned home screen in iOS 12, an overhaul to Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, or a heap of photography enhancements, according to Bloomberg.

While it’s unlikely Apple will lavish attention on virtual reality, CNET was first to report that Apple is working on a standalone VR headset for 2020, with an 8K resolution for each eye, so it’s possible we’ll see a nod in this direction. Or rather, a wink.