Apple unveils Ios 7

Apple unveiled iOS 7 at
its Worldwide Developers Conference
(WWDC) on Monday
, with Tim Cook touting the upgraded
software as the "biggest change to iOS since
the first iPhone was launched".
He's right, too. Jony Ive's first iOS reworks
the interface we've come to know from the
inside out with revamped icons, lots of new
features and the promise of making your
iPhone and iPad feel brand new.
Here's everything you need to know about
Apple's new iOS 7 mobile operating system
ahead of its rollout this autumn. (We know.
Sigh.)
It looks completely different
When Jony Ive took over software design
from Scott Forstall, the rumour mill
promptly generated speculation that he
would completely redesign iOS.
Ive has delivered just that too, revamping
everything including application icons, fonts
and iOS colour schemes. There are also new
translucent bars and menus, while some
apps like Weather and Siri have been given
a complete makeover inside and out.
Perhaps the most interesting design
element is what Apple calls the Parallax
Effect, which takes advantage of the
iPhone's motion sensors to produce a sense
of 3D depth when a user moves and tilts
the handset. Who said iOS 7 was flat?
Ive summed up iOS 7 quite nicely himself,
saying, ""The interface is purposely
unobtrusive. Conspicuous ornamentation
has been stripped away. Unnecessary bars
and buttons have been removed. And in
taking away design elements that don't add
value, suddenly there's greater focus on
what matters most: your content."
There's a quick settings menu
Finally! Apple has taken tips from Android
here and added a quick settings menu to
iOS, which it calls the Control Center.
Accessed via swiping up from the bottom of
the screen, and presented as a translucent
menu, Control Center enables users to
quickly complete tasks such as toggling WiFi
and Bluetooth connections, adjusting screen
brightness and loading apps such as Torch
and Calculator.
Multitasking is better
Apple has completely revamped
multitasking in iOS 7, and it's about time
too. Taking tips from Microsoft's Windows
Phone 8 and HP's WebOS software, tapping
the home button now opens a card based
interface, enabling users to swipe through
open applications. To dismiss an app,
simply swipe up and it is gone.
Apple has improved app loading times too,
boasting that iOS 7 learns a user's most
frequently used apps and prepares them
ready for use. Apple claims this will have no
negative effect on a device's battery life. µ
Siri is much better
Apple's voice-controlled digital assistant,
Siri, has been given a total makeover. It
now, like Notifications and Control Center,
features a translucent interface, and shows
sound waves when you talk to it. There's
also new voices, support for car integration
and Apple says it is now way more
intelligent, being able to carry out tasks
such as increasing an iPhone's screen
brightness - for those who can't be
bothered to tweak it themselves.
Music comes with an integrated Spotify
rival
As expected, Apple unveiled its long-
awaited Spotify competitor alongside iOS 7,
named iTunes Radio. This is free to all
users, and comes with intermittent adverts
- unless you're an iTunes Match subscriber.
There's no monthly subscription based
model just yet.
Like Spotify, Apple's iTunes Radio service
lets users create personalised radio stations
based on genre, artist or what's trending on
Twitter, although it's still unclear whether
the service will offer an offline listening
mode.
Camera now comes with Instagram filters
Well, sort of. Apple has revamped its
Camera application with both a new icon
and a new interface, allowing users to add
hipster-style filters from within the app.
There's now four shooting options too;
square format, standard stills, live photo
filters and video, and Apple boasts that
sharing images on Facebook and Twitter will
be easier and smooth with iOS 7 installed.
This new Camera app arrives combined with
a new Photos application, which looks to
combat the endless stream of images
currently present in iOS 6. For example,
pinch out, and you'll be able to see all
images you've taken on the phone, while
hovering over a picture will give you a
closer view.
Safari takes on Google Chrome
Apple's preloaded browser, Safari, has been
given a makeover too, no doubt to fight off
competition from Google Chrome.
When users are browsing the web, Safari
gets rid of all buttons and bars, offering a
slick, full-screen browsing experience. Users
are no longer limited to just eight open
tabs either, and - much like the improved
multitasking feature, these windows come
presented in a card-based format, and can
be flicked away to close.
Game Center looks weird
One revamped app we're not completely
sold on yet is Game Center. Gone is the
green felt design (sob), and Apple has
replaced this with a new colourful design.
You can put Newsstand in a folder
One subtle change Apple revealed, that will
no doubt be music to the ears of iPhone
users, is that Newsstand can now be hidden
away in a folder - hooray!
That's not all Apple has changed about
folders. Gone is the ugly textured
background, and this has been replaced
with a translucent glow. What's more, users
are no longer limited to 12 apps per folder
either, with folders now supporting multiple
pages.
Airdrop brings file sharing to the iPhone
Mac users will be familar with Airdrop, as
it's a feature that has long arrived baked-
into Apple's Mac OS X operating system.
With iOS 7, it will finally come to the
iPhone, enabling users to share things such
as documents and images over a WiFi
connection. "You won't have to bump your
phones together to be able to share stuff,"
Apple said during its keynote, in a sly dig at
rivals Samsung.
You're unlikely to get your iPhone stolen
iPhone theft is on the rise, but Apple is
looking to combat this with the launch of
Activation Lock. Now, if a pesky iPhone
robber tries to turn off Find My iPhone or
tries to wipe the device - they won't be able
to without tapping in your iCloud username
and password. Take that, robber.
It will be available in autumn
And here comes the bad news. Apple hasn't
given an exact release date just yet, but has
said that it will be available to download in
the autumn.
We do know, however, that it will be
available on the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and
iPhone 5 handsets, as well as the iPad 2,
iPad 3, iPad 4 and iPad mini. Of course, an
autumn release date also suggests we'll be
seeing Apple's next-generation iPhone - be
it the iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, in August/
September time.