The good:Apple iOS 7 gets a complete design overhaul and adds useful features like automatic updates to make everyday use easier. Long-overdue Control Center gives quick access to most-used features. AirDrop and iTunes Radio are excellent additions.
The bad:Besides the massively overhauled design and Control Center, there are few ground-breaking new features. The flat design concept favors space over information so you'll generally need to do more scrolling to get the info you need. Some new features aren't available for iPhone 4 and 4S users.
The bottom line:Provided you take the time to find your way around, iOS 7's new design makes it a compelling upgrade that completely transforms Apple's mobile OS.
The good:Apple iOS 7
gets a complete design overhaul and adds useful features like automatic
updates to make everyday use easier. Long-overdue Control Center gives
quick access to most-used features. AirDrop and iTunes Radio are
excellent additions.
The bad: Besides
the massively overhauled design and Control Center, there are few
ground-breaking new features. The flat design concept favors space over
information so you'll generally need to do more scrolling to get the
info you need. Some new features aren't available for iPhone 4 and 4S
users.
The bottom line:Provided
you take the time to find your way around, iOS 7's new design makes it a
compelling upgrade that completely transforms Apple's mobile OS.
iOS 7 and a new iPhone are both near-certainties, but what about everything else?
Ars Technica - On September 10,
Apple will host its first major event since its Worldwide Developers
Conference (WWDC) back in June. Unlike that event, which revolved around
mostly product announcements and not product launches, Tuesday's
keynote "should brighten everyone's day" with a bunch of shiny new
stuff.
This list isn't comprehensive, but it should encompass all of the
major announcements that Apple could make. We'll also share just how
likely we think those announcements are.
A release date for iOS 7 will be one of the largest announcements we get from the show. While iOS 6 was all about spit-and-polish,
iOS 7 is the most extensive redesign Apple's mobile operating system
has gotten since its introduction in 2007. It brings new features, new
APIs, and a brand new design that sheds faux-realistic textures in favor
of flatter, brighter colors and gradients. The new operating system
will support the iPhone 4, 4S, and 5; the fifth-generation iPod touch;
and the iPad 2, iPad mini, and both Retina iPads. It's the end of the
line for both the iPhone 3GS and the fourth-generation iPod touch
(though there have been rumblings that the iPad builds may not be ready at the same time as the iPhone and iPod builds). Read More
CNET - SAN FRANCISCO -- To silence a growing chorus of discontent against an
operating system design that's remained more or less static since 2007,
Apple needed to go big. With iOS 7, it did. Apple's crisp, newly
announced OS update gives the mobile operating system a radical new look
and some first-for-Apple features for iPhone and iPad fans, like
quick-access system controls, automatic app updates, and Apple's AirDrop
file-sharing system.
The visual overhaul, which becomes
available this fall, is a clean sweep that changes absolutely
everything, from the typography and color schemes to the typical icon
and button shape across the entire platform. And we mean the whole thing
-- from the Safari browser to the photo app.
While there are a
few notable new features in iOS 7, the new interface is by far the
platform's deepest felt and most profoundly changed of the entire batch.
Apple's other features are relatively uninspiring and do little to
challenge competitors; however, we have a feeling that Apple is saving
some major reveals for its next big iPhone announcement.
Gone are the skeuomorphic interface elements that
make icons and apps look like leather or paper or felt. Gone, too, are
the slightly bubbly icon effects. Flat graphics and a dappled, pastel
color scheme bring an elegant look. When you move the phone or tablet,
Apple promises a 3D effect that makes your wallpaper appear some
distance behind the icons.
Circles enter the design language,
along with visuals that look nearly transparent, like a pane of glass.
See what we mean in the slideshow above. The most important part of any
deep design work is that it feels smooth and connected from screen to
screen. We had a chance to sit down with some of the folks from Apple
after the keynote and check out iOS 7 for ourselves. More
CNET - The next major update of Apple's iOS software is almost upon us! But which features does Apple's grid-based operating system desperately need to add, and which ones will Tim Cook and pals probably ignore completely?
That's what we're asking in this video, so hit play on the clip above
as we rattle through the apps and tweaks that we want to see in iOS 7,
as well as the things we probably won't. A fresh, "flat" redesign? How about some kind of "kids" mode' to stop pesky kids spending your cash on virtual in-game currency?
Furthermore, we'd love the power to change iOS' default apps, so you
never need to open Apple Maps again -- but is that really likely to
happen, or is it just wishful thinking on behalf of cartographically
confounded smartphone owners everywhere? How about a proper file system?
Plausible? Or will Apple refuse to give up the control it has over how
you store and access your stuff?
