iOS 7 has been rumored to introduce a drastic change to iOS for several weeks now, and Apple has finally unveiled what they have been spending months on, which did turn out to be quite the drastic change to its overall UI. Apple CEO Tim Cook calls iOS 7 the “biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone,” so let’s take a look at just how big this change will be.
iOS 7 Features A Completely New UI
While the overall UI isn’t exactly changed as you’ll still access your lock screen, home screen and apps the same way, the way the iOS 7 UI presents these areas of your iOS device will be drastically different. For example, your iOS device will now be aware of how you’re holding your device and will react through a number of small animations, such as the animated lock screen moving along with your motions, or the home screen’s icons shifting to present more of your wallpaper.
A number of additional changes to the UI are being introduced in iOS 7, such as end-of-screen gestures that will allow you to jump between open applications, multiple browser tabs or jumping between messages in your email client. Opening applications will also be slightly tweaked as iOS 6 and below would bring your app forward from a black screen. In iOS 7, the application will pop up from its location on your homescreen and the overall animation will be a lot smoother.
Folders within iOS 7 will now support an endless number of applications, instead of having a maximum number of apps within a folder being set based on the iOS device. So now you can have a simple Games folder with all of your games, instead of several Games folders.
Notifications has also received an improved look and feel as you’ll be able to view your notifications in either a collective “All” section, or just your missed notifications in the “Missed” section. You can also view a “Today” section, which highlights upcoming calendar entries, reminders, and anything else going on in your day.
New features you won’t want to miss
Aside from the updated UI, iOS 7 introduces a number of new features across both the UI as well as a number of applications. One of the first new features we’re sure many iOS users are going to want to check out immediately is Control Center. Control Center can be accessed by swiping upwards at any time, regardless of the application, to bring up access to a number of features, such as Airplane Mode, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Do Not Disturb Mode, your screen’s brightness, music controls, and access to AirPlay and AirDrop.
Multitasking isn’t necessarily a new feature, but it has been overhauled in iOS 7 to not only be a list of icons that are supposedly running in the background. Now, in addition to an app’s icon, you’ll be able to scroll through a small window of applications which are currently running. Multitasking will also be more intelligent as it will be able to schedule how often an application is running in the background based on how often it’s used, will use push triggers, adaptable to network conditions and will update at the most opportune time.
The Camera app on iOS will now offer four cameras at once at any time: the standard camera, video camera, panorama camera and block camera. You’ll be able to easily scroll between all of the available cameras. In addition to the Camera app, the Photo Library app has also been improved in iOS 7 as it will now automatically sort your images based on time and location. Accessing your images takes you to one of three categories: Moments, which are individual moments that you’ve taken photos of, Collections, which are a wider range of images based on a wider range of time and location, and Years, which sorts all of your images based on the year it was taken.
Apple has decided to launch AirDrop in iOS 7 as you’ll now be able to share to other iOS users through this feature simply by tapping on your contact, or contacts, which will come up as an AirDrop notification on their iOS device. From the prompt, the person you are sharing with can accept or decline the AirDrop. AirDrop is being supported system wide, uses a peer-to-peer connection and is securely encrypted.
Siri launched on iOS 5, and since then, has received a number of improvements. In iOS 7, Apple is looking to further improve its Siri, starting with its graphical UI. When you activate Siri, a sound wave across the bottom of the screen will come up and track your voice. The results page Siri delivers will also receive a new look and feel compared to previous versions of Siri. New voices will also be available as both a new female and male voice will be available in English, French and German, with more languages expected to be released in the future. Siri will also be able to control more of your device as you can issue commands to have your last voicemail played, increase your screen brightness as well as keep tabs on what your friends are saying. Support for Twitter, Wikipedia, Bing and Photos will also be rolled out with iOS 7’s update for Siri.
Watch the video below showing a demo of the new Siri and the integration of iOS 7 in the car
Using your iOS device in your vehicle has been limited as you have always needed to access your device in order for it to interact with your vehicle. Apple is looking to better integrate with vehicles starting in 2014 as they’re announcing an iOS in the Car feature launching with iOS 7. With iOS in the Car, your vehicle’s screen will be an extension of your iOS device as it’ll resemble its screen. You’ll be able to access music controls, make a phone call, and access messages all from within your car’s screen.
The Music app in iOS 7 has received a drastic improvement as you’ll be greeted with an artist image as soon as you open the application. You can then click on an artist to see a list of their music, giving priority to music you already own. You’ll also be able to access moves and TV shows from within the application and it will also support landscape mode. A new radio feature called iTunes Radio will also be made available in the new Music app for iOS 7 which will not only allow you to listen to a station based on an artist, but also buy music from iTunes.
Watch the video below showing the main new features of iOS 7
The biggest change to iOS since the iPhone
Apple has definitely gone big with its introduction of iOS 7, which is definitely a drastic change from previous version of iOS. It won’t be too long until iOS users can get their hands on the next version of Apple’s mobile operating software as the company says they expect to roll out iOS 7 starting this fall, with developers able to get into the beta starting today.