Inside iOS 10: Apple's Data Detectors offer quick details on music, movies, actors
Finding local movie showtimes or viewing an artist's complete discography is as simple as striking up a conversation in Messages, thanks to expanded content-driven Data Detectors included in Apple's iOS 10.
Data Detectors are not new -- the concept was one of the principal features introduced in Apple's Mac OS 8 back in 1997. They have also been a major part of iOS for years, automatically creating quick links out of items like phone numbers, dates, addresses and more.
Starting with iOS 10, Data Detectors have also been expanded to include content. For example, if you send a friend an iMessage about a movie you want to see, iOS 10 turns the title of the movie into a link that provides relevant details, including showtimes or the ability to rent or purchase on iTunes.
Data Detectors in iOS 10 are designed intelligently, apparently based on current releases or popularity. Currently, tapping the words "Star Trek" in a text will return results for the current film in theaters, "Star Trek Beyond," despite the fact that there are numerous "Star Trek" films and television shows.
Notably, Data Detector links for such content only appear in certain situations. For example, a text that simply reads "Star Trek" does not turn into a tappable link, while a sentence asking "Do you want to see Star Trek at 7?" creates a link.
iOS 10 Data Detectors also work with other types of iTunes content, such as artists and actors. When the operating system detects the name of an artist or performer it knows, it is displayed as a link, which can be tapped for quick links to the iTunes Store, Wikipedia, and suggested websites.
These features also work with the pressure sensing 3D Touch screen on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s series, allowing users to "peek" at content with a firm press. Swiping up while peeking offers links to search the web or to copy the content, making it easier to share.
As with 3D Touch elsewhere in iOS, pressing harder while peeking will "pop" the content out, making it display permanently on the screen so users can interact with it.
iOS 10 Data Detectors do not appear to work with TV shows, apps, books or other types of content.
Editor's note: This article was originally published in August following Apple's announcement of iOS 10 at WWDC 2016. It has been updated and republished to coincide with the mobile operating system's public release. For more on iOS 10, see AppleInsider's ongoing Inside iOS 10.
Data Detectors are not new -- the concept was one of the principal features introduced in Apple's Mac OS 8 back in 1997. They have also been a major part of iOS for years, automatically creating quick links out of items like phone numbers, dates, addresses and more.
Starting with iOS 10, Data Detectors have also been expanded to include content. For example, if you send a friend an iMessage about a movie you want to see, iOS 10 turns the title of the movie into a link that provides relevant details, including showtimes or the ability to rent or purchase on iTunes.
Data Detectors in iOS 10 are designed intelligently, apparently based on current releases or popularity. Currently, tapping the words "Star Trek" in a text will return results for the current film in theaters, "Star Trek Beyond," despite the fact that there are numerous "Star Trek" films and television shows.
Notably, Data Detector links for such content only appear in certain situations. For example, a text that simply reads "Star Trek" does not turn into a tappable link, while a sentence asking "Do you want to see Star Trek at 7?" creates a link.
iOS 10 Data Detectors also work with other types of iTunes content, such as artists and actors. When the operating system detects the name of an artist or performer it knows, it is displayed as a link, which can be tapped for quick links to the iTunes Store, Wikipedia, and suggested websites.
These features also work with the pressure sensing 3D Touch screen on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s series, allowing users to "peek" at content with a firm press. Swiping up while peeking offers links to search the web or to copy the content, making it easier to share.
As with 3D Touch elsewhere in iOS, pressing harder while peeking will "pop" the content out, making it display permanently on the screen so users can interact with it.
iOS 10 Data Detectors do not appear to work with TV shows, apps, books or other types of content.
Editor's note: This article was originally published in August following Apple's announcement of iOS 10 at WWDC 2016. It has been updated and republished to coincide with the mobile operating system's public release. For more on iOS 10, see AppleInsider's ongoing Inside iOS 10.
Comments
Simple solutions like force touch trackpads that open Wikipedia and an iPhone text like "Star Trek tonight?" that show you movie times instantly, give users less reason to take an extra step to do an Internet search with clutter and ads.
This is apart from apps that are already hurting the Giggle empire. Now if Siri would stop being so stupid, users would have even less reason to search online on outdated websites.
Glad I'm not the only one. When Apple showed off Force Touch Wikipedia info in OS X I chuckled. (WWDC 2015?)
Later I posted about it and everyone was like "wtf you talking about? It's for convenience only". But this convenience cuts down the steps of opening up Safari, going to google.com, searching for "Star Trek theatre times", scrolling over ads etc. Yes a huge population of people STILL go through all these steps. Heck, some people type in "yelp.com" in Google. SMH.
Seriously, Internet search engines are so 1996.
Regarding the Travelocity emails, that may be a formatting issue. And would it not be abusive for the operating system to creating additional links in hypertext? How would you know which were web links and which weren't?
I think you're on the right track of where this is all going, and I appreciate that Apple is taking it in stride, and minding privacy. But one must wonder. How much of the data detector tech sends our content to Apple's servers for processing and how much stays privately on the device?
I think he was being sarcastic. His entire point is that auto-suggestions are removing free choice and we are being force-fed opinions and things to do.
His argument is that the search engine helps us decide what we want to look for.
Also so on a side note, I am pretty happy having switched over to DuckDuckGo on all platforms. You can always add a bang (!g) to get a result from Google if you can't find what you're looking for with DDG.
Why would you ever go to google.com vs just using the search/URL field?
Also, trust me: until some kind of regulations are created, regardless of the form factor an interface takes in the future, Google et. al. will find a way to sell ads/harvest information on it, whether we like that they do or not!
Really, it's similar to the people that think Facebook IS the internet.
For power users especially, current Google is a step back from a decade ago (although maybe not for joe schmoe, joe schmoe's searches are predictable and narrow.
It's like Siri, Handoff, Airdrop and all the new AI magic Apple is adding: if it works, its great but a lot of times, it just doesn't.
Did you see this when it happened? Hilarious:
http://www.themarysue.com/facebook-login-readwriteweb/