iOS 7: Cop or Flop??



At this point, I am pretty sure that most people are not unfamiliar with iOS: Apple’s mobile platform. Generally, from release to release, the platform has stayed the same, adding a few enhancements at a time.  On June 10, 2013, iOS 7 was publicly unveiled at the Worldwide Developer Conference. This version of the platform is supposed to go beyond the mere additions and enhancements we are used to seeing from Apple, and is supposed to introduce something “different”. Considering Microsoft’s flop after trying to be “different”, it is safe to say that people do not like change and “different” is a gamble. Although Apple hype beasts (that’s what I call them) might be excited to have an iOS 7 download party in the fall just because it’s new, some of us that are a bit more tech savvy (or have common sense anyways) might be a bit more skeptical before just upgrading from iOS 6 to iOS 7.  To prepare this group of people, Apple provided some of the major differences that users can expect to see with the release of iOS 7 later this year.  

The biggest difference is the user interface.  Although the home screen may make you feel somewhat at home since interactions have not changed much, fonts will be thinner, icons will appear more flat, and the pine newsstands, stitched leather, and notes that actually resemble notebooks will no longer exist.  The designs throughout the entire interface are expected to be presented in a clean fashion, focusing on lines and icons.

The upgrade has also implements what is referred to as the “Control Center”. Using an up-swiping gesture from the bottom of the screen will keep users from having to navigate through the settings menu to get to particular controls.  This new panel will allow quick access to settings and utilities such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, flashlight and calculator.  The Control Center panel can be accessed from any screen, at any time on the iOS 7 platform.  Swiping-down from the top of the screen will still display the notification center, but it provides different information.  Although you can still view application notifications from this panel, it will now also notify users of upcoming appointments, reminders, and even a brief description of tasks for the next day.

If you have the iPhone 4S (or anything newer), you will get one new camera mode with the roll out of iOS 7. In addition to the standard, panorama and video cameras, there will also be a square camera mode, that’ll pretty much make you think you’re on Instagram. This square camera mode allows for the application of filters as well. In addition to a new camera mode, iOS 7 provides a way to more efficiently organize photos and videos with an application called “Moments and Collections”. This app will allow you to categorize your pictures based on “moments” or specific events. The “collections” aspect of the application is a collection of moments.  For example, each individual day of your vacation is a “moment”.  The entire week’s worth of “moments” from your vacation is a “collection”. Moments and collections can be as long or as short as users want them to be, covering any time span. The new iOS 7 also comes with AirDrop, which will allow iOS users to share files over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Unfortunately, this is only available for the iPhone 5 at this time. iOS 7 users will now have access to iTunes Radio which is like Pandora, but allows more control over the kind of music you want to hear and provides a full history of songs that you’ve listened to.

There are several other features that are likely to be overhauled in the new iOS 7. I’m sure Siri well get some well deserved upgrades, and there are also new security enhancements such as Activation Lock. This blog entry only begins to touch on the enhancements that were uncovered at the WWDC, as iOS 7 is most likely still being developed.  One thing is for sure though: the new built in apps and enhancements for the new platform may create chaos for small mobile development companies.  I guess we’ll see.

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