The Game Changing Features of iOS 7

Apple is renowned for delivering something extraordinary with every new release of its products. On Monday at the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), Apple marked the beginning of a change. It unleashed the new operating system for its devices the much awaited ‘iOS 7’. It was launched on Monday 10 June, 2013. This is the biggest change to the iOS since the introduction of iPhone. The design and specifications look compelling and captivating. Check out features of iOS 7 would make it as a distinguished operating system.

New look

As mentioned earlier, iOS 7 is the beginning of the change. The release of iOS 7 paves ways for the departure of many features from the previous iOS versions. The natural textures and 3D-elements all have disappeared. This implies that there won’t be any felt tabletop in Game Center, wooden bookshelf in iBooks, leather bound calendars and so on. The new look is clean, simple, unified and effective. It uses more white space, different color palette and modern fonts. However, it signals the departure of previous iOS elements, Apple made sure that the significant platform elements of the previous versions remain the same. The shape of icons and home screen layout remains unchanged.

Lock Screen Notifications

The lock screen has been revamped to match the overall look of the operating system. Lock screen notifications are being further supported in iOS 7. It allows the user to see more notifications directly on the lock screen and respond accordingly. In addition, it also synchronizes across all Apple devices. Suppose you mark something read on your Mac computer or iPad, it would be marked read on the iPhone as well.

Sliding Gestures

A new sliding feature has been added to a number of apps. This includes Messages, emails and Safari. The sliding gesture provides the ease of movement between messages, open tabs and in-boxes. This feature or the sliding gesture is activated by swiping to the left or right while viewing messages. In addition, Apple also added a new control for the screen. This control provides ease of access to the wireless radios, music controls, brightness settings and the flashlight. This feature is accessible via swiping from the bottom of the screen. (Android users would be familiar with this feature)

Photos and iCloud sharing

Technically it would be correct to say that this is a default app update. But the less understood photo stream feature has now been simplified. Clicking photos is one of the main activities on iPhone; as a result, this feature has been improved, organizing photos into moments on the basis of time and location. This feature is inspired by the third party apps such as Tracks, Flock, and others.  Photos taken are auto-labeled based on the locations you visit. Photos can be further shared on Twitter, Facebook, emails and iCloud photo streams.

Multitasking

Multitasking has been prioritized in the iOS 7. It is an attempt to enhance the battery life, and at the same time keep users up-to-date on information. Apple has made serious improvements to the way multitasking is carried out within iOS. Earlier only limited apps could function in the background, but now each and every application available to the operating system supports multitasking. In addition to the extended support, iOS 7 is responsive about multitasking. It uses a new set of parameters to define when it should or shouldn’t update calls in the background.

Car Integration

iOS 7 has a lot to offer between the iPhone and infotainment systems in the car. Beginning with the car models starting 2014, iOS 7 will be able to completely connect with cars. Apple demonstrated how it would look to utilize capabilities of this OS through a cars screen for playing music, making calls and for navigation using maps. Companies such as Mercedes, Chevy, Ferrari, Tesla, Jaguar and others, have given green signal to support this feature.

Siri

Siri has also been given a makeover. It will be able to do a lot many things than before. It has integrations with Wikipedia and Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Now, Siri can interact with more applications on the iPad and iPhone. It is better at understanding natural language requests. For example, users can ask Siri to read messages or play back voicemails. It also has voices of both male and female with support for German and French languages.

Anti-Theft Feature

The popularity and the resell value of iPhone not only make it a consumer delight, but also provoke thieves and criminals. As a result, the security has been upgraded and is meant to reduce crimes involving theft of iOS devices. Previously there was Find my iPhone feature. Thousands of users used it but once the device is stolen, thieves would turn off the device and wipe them off before re-selling. iOS 7 powers the phone with a new activation lock setting. The thief won’t be able to reactivate without hacking the iCloud user name and password.

Music and iTunes Radio

With updates and changes to the existing features of iOS. Apple has also revamped iTunes and the general appearance of the music player with iOS 7. Though it has a simpler and cleaner look, it offers a plenty of new features. The notable feature is the support for iTunes Radio, which would allow users to listen to their artists and albums.

These are the new features to look forward in iOS 7. The operating system was made available to the registered iOS developers later on Monday. The full version of the OS won’t be available for consumers until the fall. It would probably be available close to the launch of Apple’s next iPhone.