iOS 13: The First Hints About the Future of Apple's Mobile OS Emerge

The future of Apple’s iPhone and iPad operating system is quietly in the works. It’s only been a little more three months since iOS 12 was first shipped to the company’s mobile devices around the world, but a number of users running next-gen iOS 13 have already been spotted online.

iOS 12 introduced notification stacking, the Shortcuts command-creating app, Screen Time, and group FaceTime. But the Cupertino-based company is already working on ways to one-up its new features with its next-generation software, reports MacRumors and 9to5Mac.

The news outlets spotted a number of users accessing their websites using what was labeled as “OPERATING SYSTEM VERSION 13.0” in their web analytics tools. 9to5Mac publisher Seth Weintraub tweeted that he first noticed what looked like iOS 13-related activity as early as March, seven months before iOS 12 was even released. So far, this mysterious software appears to be heavily iPad focused.

iOS 13 has been codenamed “Yukon,” reported Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The software will bring big upgrades to the Files app, introduce MacOS-style app tabs, improved app multitasking, and further Apple Pencil updates, he tweeted in May.

These potential tablet-centric additions would complement Apple’s plans to market its 2018 iPad Pro as a laptop killer, but there hasn’t been any word as to what iPhone changes are on the horizon.

As of January 1, 78 percent of all Apple devices from the last four years are currently running iOS 12, according to statistics published on the App Store developer support page. The company will continue to refine its current software throughout the year to coax more users into updating while it simultaneously gets iOS 13 up and running.

For now, we’ll have to rely on leaks until Apple’s 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference, where it formally unveils new software, which is usually hosted early in June.