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The Dentist’s Guide to iOS 11

by | Oct 10, 2017 | Dental Practice Management, Technology

In the past month, we saw the launch of the new iOS 11. We took some time as a team to look over the new update and have picked five of our favorite new features to share with you! The features we have chosen are ones that can work to your benefit in your dental practice. 

One-Handed Keyboard & QuickType Keyboard on iPad

*Image belongs to iMore

Do you find yourself constantly texting with one hand and wishing that your keyboard was a bit more user friendly? Do you struggle rotating between characters and numbers on the iPad? With the iOS 11 update, the keyboard interface on the iPad and the iPhone have undergone a nice revamp and changed quite drastically. These new changes may be helpful for your patients that are filling out forms in your practice!

With iOS 11, the iPad now features a QuickType Keyboard feature. The updated interface displays alternate characters for each key in a light shade of grey, just above the main character. Long gone are the days of clicking between different keyboards to rotate between letters and numbers. To type in an alternative character, all you’ll need to do is tap on the key and slide your finger slightly down!

On the iPhone, users can now activate a One-Handed Keyboard. This new design allows for faster typing with one finger and less time dragging your finger (or thumb!) across the entire width of the screen.

Quick Password Sharing

This update is short and sweet, and will save you some time by eliminating any additional hassle.

If you have multiple Apple devices in your practice, but not all are connected to the WiFi, you’ll now receive an invitation on your screen to share your password with other users that are trying to connect. This can work as an advantage for patients who are trying to connect to your complimentary WiFi. You can now avoid giving out your WiFi password verbally.

* As a side note, this feature will work only with devices that are updated to iOS 11

Screenshots

The interface that occurs when taking a screenshot has also completely changed.

Once a screenshot is taken, it will open in a new window with a new built-in editor. The editor allows you to crop the screenshot, annotate it with text, circle and mark areas, etc. This update will definitely save you some time when sharing screenshots with one another. The best thing is that screenshots no longer need to be saved to your photo library in order to be sent via text or email. This will save you the trouble of having to delete them later from your photo library.

This can be used between team members in the office when new reviews are spotted on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Healthgrades. Someone in the office can screenshot the review and share it via text with other team members. This could be a nice way for everyone to have a quick reference so the next time the patient comes in, you’ll remember the review they wrote and can thank them!

New Control Center

The control center still appears when swiped upwards on the screen, but you’ll notice an entirely new design. It no longer takes up just the bottom half of the screen, it’s now displayed with a full-screen view. Each setting is now represented by an icon. The only downside is that you’ll now need to familiarize yourself with what each icon represents, as some have changed.

What’s great about this feature is that it’s completely customizable! In your settings, you can decide which features you want to access from the control center. You can add all of the options that are offered or pick and choose the ones that are most relevant to you. You can also customize it so that it’s more user-friendly for your patients by allowing them to quickly adjust screen brightness, text size, etc.

Even More Multitasking

Let’s face it, we all multitask. Especially in our dental offices. If you find yourself constantly on the iPad, you may want to take advantage of this new and improved multitasking feature. The split screen mode is still active, but you now have more creative leeway in terms of how you’d like to customize your screen. You can drag and drop apps on either side when the iPad is in split-screen mode and create custom additional split screens for each. Play around with this feature as it’s a little tricky at first, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it!