iOS 7 – Apple’s latest operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch – will be available as a free download from September 18.
The completely re-designed software has an entirely different look and feel than previous versions of the operating system.
Announced for the first time back in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference, iOS 7 is the work of Apple’s design guru Jony Ive who was handed the task of creating a tighter integration between the hardware and software of Apple’s mobile products.
“iOS 7 is completely redesigned with an entirely new user interface and over 200 new features, so it’s like getting a brand new device, but one that will still be instantly familiar to our users,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering.
“Next month we’ll be shipping our 700 millionth iOS device, and we’re excited about what our hundreds of thousands of iOS developers are doing to bring great new features to their apps.”
iOS 7 will be available to download free for iPhone 4 and later and iPad 2 and later.
Here’s a look at some of the new features:
CONTROL CENTRE
Underpinning the whole system is a new Control Centre which gives users instant access to settings all located in one convenient place with a swipe from the bottom of the screen.
Now you can easily get to things like airplane mode, screen brightness, Bluetooth and wi-fi along with access to the flashlight, calculator and camera.
NOTIFICATION CENTRE
Notification Centre has also been enhanced to give user an at-a-glance overview of their updates and new interactions and is now available for the first time from the iPhone and iPad’s lock screen.
With one glance you can see missed calls, emails, calendar entries, messages and even the latest weather conditions.
FREE iWORK APPS
As part of the iOS 7, Apple is now offering its suite of iWork apps – Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie and iPhoto – will now be offered for free.
Previously these apps cost around $5 each so getting these apps alone are a good enough reason to download iOS 7 let alone the plethora of other features and functions.
MULTITASKING
Now iOS 7 can perform a lot of functions in the background and easily switch between apps with larger previews of what is happening with each app in real time.
iOS 7 will also now schedule updates to your apps automatically at the opportune time and adapt to the way you use your apps and the times of the day you are accessing them.
AIRDROP
Sharing content with other iPhone users just got easier on iOS 7 with AirDrop.
AirDrop will let you know which users are around you and allow you to select the people you want share content with using a peer-to-peer wi-fi connection and Bluetooth that requires no set-up and that is securely encrypted.
Users can choose to make themselves visible to others before approving to receive any files.
SAFARI
The mobile browsing experience has also been improved significantly with the latest version of Safari on iOS 7.
Buttons and bars move out of the way when you don’t need then to take advantage of every centimetre of the device’s screen.
There’s an all-new tab view so you can see all of the recent pages you’ve been looking at that are easy to navigate.
A unified search field now offers matches for websites, existing bookmarks and links shared by your friends on social networks.
iTUNES RADIO
Users will be able to listen to selections of music through iTunes streaming radio stations that are based on your music tastes and listening habits.
It’s also possible to control the type of music that’s served up to you by asking for more or less of certain types of songs as they appear.
And of course any song you hear can also be purchased from the iTunes Music Store.
iTunes Radio will initially be available in the US only and will be a free service supported by ads. iTunes Match customers will be able to enjoy the service ad-free.
SIRI
Siri not only gets a whole new look, it also gets a whole new sound.
The interface has been completely revamped and has an even more natural speech pattern that can now be either male or female.
Siri has also been given even more functionality like returning phones calls, turning Bluetooth on and off, playing voicemails and even searching for trending topics on Twitter.
FIND MY PHONE
iOS 7 can now go beyond just locating your phone whether it’s been lost or stolen.
New security features now make it impossible for anyone else to use your phone even after it’s been erased without your Apple ID and password.
IN-CAR USAGE
We spend a lot of time in our cars and it’s not always an ideal time to access the iPhone’s features.
iOS in the Car can now integrate your device into the car and even recreate your device’s display on the car’s built-in display.
Car companies including Mercedes, Honda, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai and Ferrari will be begin integrating iOS in the Car from 2014.
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