The 5 most important changes and additions coming to the iPhone in the next major update, iOS 12

This fall, a major new update for iPhone and iPad is scheduled to arrive: iOS 12, the latest version of Apple's smartphone and tablet operating system software.

Its standout feature? A new way to turn your face into a living cartoon, called Memoji:

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It's true! That grinning cartoon above is none other than Apple CEO Tim Cook.

But let's not kid ourselves — the stuff that will really impact your daily iPhone use is far more mundane. To that end, Apple is making some major strides in iOS 12 towards ease of use and convenience that are worth highlighting.

Here are the five most important changes and additions coming in iOS 12:

1. iOS 12 makes old iPhones faster.

There are plenty of new features coming in iOS 12 that are intended for the latest models of iPhone, such as the aforementioned Memoji.

But one huge feature that's aimed squarely at older iPhones is a major performance improvement. In testing thus far, according to Apple VP of software engineer Craig Federighi, iOS 12 makes older phones like the iPhone 6+ run far more quickly: 40% faster app launches, 50% faster keyboard opening, and a 70% improvement in opening the camera.

It's not sexy, but it's stuff like this that makes the user experience for most iPhone owners so, so much better. Apple is directly addressing the common complaint that each year, with each new iOS update, older iPhones get slower.

That iOS 12 will support iPhones going all the way back to the iPhone 5S is another subtle nod of acknowledgement to the tens of millions of people using older iPhone models.

2. The Notifications tray is getting a major update, smartly copying Android's best feature.

Ever slide down your notifications tray and find a mess of nonsense? That's most interactions with the notifications tray on iOS, unfortunately. One of the major arguments for using Android over iOS is how useful the notifications tray is in the former (and how poor it is in the latter).

Apple's seemingly addressing that disparity with iOS 12, finally adding support for grouped notifications in the notifications tray. All your text message notifications will be automatically bundled together, for instance, rather than showing each one individually. You can still tap in and see each one, or you could swipe left on the whole stack to clear them all at once.

It's a small but crucial change to daily iPhone use.

3. Customize your life with Siri Shortcuts.

Siri is kind of a mess in general use, but a new tool for Siri has a lot of promise. It's called "Shortcuts," and it essentially allows you to program a series of actions tied to a specific command phrase.

In the example Apple gives, an iPhone owner has set a shortcut to the phrase, "Heading home."

When Siri hears that phrase, it automatically enacts a series of actions:

— Retrieves directions home with the least traffic.
— Text messages the user's roommate to let her know she's on the way.
— Sets the home thermostat to 70 degrees and turns on a fan.

If you've ever used Automator on a Mac, Shortcuts will sound familiar — it's a way of setting up a sequence of actions that you perform frequently, tied to a single trigger. In the case of Siri Shortcuts, those triggers are whatever phrase you set. Pretty neat!

See the rest of the story at Business Insider