One year ago consumer electronics giant, Apple Inc., released iOS 6, which was promised to be a game changer for the smartphone and tablet industries. Instead the result was a wipe as the introduction of a new app called Passbook was hardly accepted and improvements to the Maps app added more headaches than direction.
While the operating system did introduce sharing of links and photos to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, the newest operating system looks to erase the other bad memories with iOS 7.
The upheaval includes a redesigned user interface and improvements to functionality, aiming to make the operating system more appealing and easier to use.
iOS 7 will include iCloud photo-sharing as well as collections, moments and years of organization in the Photos app.
It will also include phone, FaceTime and message blocking as well as an improved Find My iPhone app, which will require an Apple ID and password to erase the device or reactivate it to help further prevent information theft.
Control Center
Like Notification Center, this screen can be accessed by scrolling from the bottom of the screen and allows users to adjust settings that were previously buried in the Settings app such as Airplane Mode, brightness, media controls and shortcuts to apps like a built-in flashlight, compass and camera. The Control Center aims to be the first step at Apple’s improved functionality approach.
Interface
This seventh operating system will give iPhone, iPad and iPod users a different perspective on the home screen that has become so familiar. Improved colors and app cover design has allowed for the home page to really pop off the screen.
Also included is a transparency aspect as well as a redesigned weather app, which shows weather animations.
AirDrop
iPhone users have found themselves in trouble at times when a document or file saved on one device or computer can’t be accessed while away from home. Problem solved with AirDrop, which is similar to the popular app DropBox, allowing users to share files with other Mac supported computers and devices.
The service will also allow for files to be saved among other devices around the user. Sending a song or video to a friend no longer involves a file heavy email or text message with AirDrop.
iTunes Radio
Perhaps the most important news from the iOS 7 release is iTunes Radio.
With Spotify and Pandora taking attention, and money, away from iTunes, the iTunes Radio app will act as a perfect counter punch. It will be a free service with ads, but iTunes Match users will be able to enjoy it ad-free.
There is no confirmation yet whether the app will have a limited number of skips like the popular music app Pandora.
With the first major facelift to the popular iOS operating system since the first iPhone was released in 2007, this latest rendition is sure to be the best yet. Apple appears to have an added attention to a more modern look with this latest update and it is sure to have us tapping and downloading when it is available for devices this fall.