Apple iPhones With iOS11 or Later To Grant Users File System Access, Leaked Screenshot Hints

While the Apple World Wide Developers Conference will take place Monday 1 p.m. EDT, the leaks about the vent keep trickling in. The newest one involves a screenshot of an iOS app called ‘Files’.

According to a new app placeholder discovered by iOS developer Steve Stroughton Smith, devices having iOS 11 or later, might have a new Files app, which would grant them access to the device’s hard disk. While Android users have ‘file manager’ access for long, this is the first time that Apple will open up file access to its system, which has remained closed since the first iPhone.

Read: iOS 11 Release Date Features: What To Expect From Apple's Upcoming OS Update For iPhones

Since the device needs iOS 11 or later, chances are that the supportive functionality might only be available on the more recent Apple devices, expected to receive iOS 11 – iPhone 6S and iPhone 7.

Apple most probably is not offering unfettered access to the iPhone’s hard drive, but it could actually allow access to essential files such as photos and music and also provide greater access to developers to develop more integrated apps.

One of the major enhancements it could bring for an iPhone user would be the ability to delete pre-installed apps. Currently when you delete such apps on your smartphones, even if you remove them from the trash folder, the binaries of such apps remain inside iOS.

Apple seems to have finally responded to users’ demands for a greater control of their phones. The major user concern with iPhones, which runs out pretty soon, as you are not allowed the temporary or junk files. Furthermore, since you don’t have file system access you don’t really know, which particular file is hogging space on your smartphone’s memory. Commonly, when iPhone users run out of storage, they empty photos, videos and music files. But that might not even be the reason your smartphone memory is filling up, it might be an app that is taking a lot of space on your phone. Unless and until users are given Android-style access, they might never know.

There is also a chance that Apple might rebrand or even redesign iCloud Drive. The 5 GB storage space offered on iCloud has many users complaining, since it runs out pretty past. In comparison, many Android devices offer unlimited cloud storage.

Another thing that Stroughton discovered was that there was an app store entry for an ‘Activity’ app, which might be an indication that Apple could be coming out with more health and fitness related features in iOS 11.

Read: WWDC 2017 Keynote Time: iOS 11, Siri Speaker, New MacBook, Other Products Apple Could Unveil

iOS 11 is expected to come with new features including an improved artificial intelligence-based version of the Apple’s voice assistant, Siri, which will compete with Samsung’s Bixby, the Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and others. It is expected to launched Monday 1p.m. EDT at the San Jose Convention centre.