Apple’s iOS 11 public beta begins today, and it brings with it a huge number of improvements and changes. While there are UI tweaks, feature additions, drag and drop, and lots of improvements for the iPad, a change to the way screenshots work might seem bigger. Like many people, I use screenshots on my iPhone every single day, and the process of storing or sharing them is about to get a lot better in iOS 11.
Apple is introducing a new preview for screenshots. It looks a lot like Android’s brief thumbnail that’s displayed after a screenshot is taken, but Apple is making it functional. Instead of having to flick over to the notifications panel, the thumbnail that’s presented after a screenshot in iOS 11 lets you tap and hold to share to another app or simply tap to start annotating it before you share it. You can even share the screenshot and never save it in your camera roll, meaning you won’t be flicking past useless screenshots you’ve taken when you’re trying to find a photo.
Apple is also grouping screenshots in this thumbnail interface, so you can select multiple screenshots and drag and drop them into apps or share them. If you forget to tap on the thumbnail then iOS 11 will automatically save the screenshot to the camera roll like before.
It might sound like a small change, but if you’re like me and use screenshots frequently then iOS 11’s changes make that daily task a lot easier to complete. That’s really the theme of iOS 11 in general, lots of tweaks that make things smoother and more powerful. Apple is planning to release the full version of iOS 11 later this year, and you can check out our preview for all the details on iOS 11.