Apple's iOS 7 certainly brings new features alongside a much-touted updated user interface (UI). Here are some of the top features in iOS 7 you're going to love.
Before iOS 7 was officially unveiled the rumors claimed that Apple would redesign iOS with a flatter interface that would be similar to Windows Phone 8. In all actuality, the Windows Phone "flatness" simply consists of having the previous icons without the look of being raised and rounded. The icons have all been given new looks, which sparked some controversy - some claim it looks unprofessional and too bright, while others have praised Apple for the new layout.
I've been using the software on my iPhone 5 and iPad mini and at first, the new user interface (UI) seemed bright and the new icons felt a little out of place, until I got used to them. Within a day, most of the uneasy feeling centered around being too familiar with icons that I have used many times per day on multiple iOS devices from the original iPhone, every iPhone since then, multiple iPads , and now currently an iPad mini. That's a long time to use an interface and icons day in and day out on multiple devices and the upgrade drastically changes the look of apps you've used for years. It was about time for Apple to give us a new look and I can guarantee you will get used to iOS 7 in no time, and will see how Apple has once again raised the bar with a new version of iOS that will debut on all of its highly-anticipated devices: the iPhone 5S, low-cost / iPhone 5C, iPad 5, iPad mini 2, and our previous iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches.
Let's take a look at some of the best features you're going to love in iOS 7:
One of the best features Apple has built into iOS 7 that consumers are going to love is the new Control Center feature. It is your centralized place to control the most common settings and features you use. Control Center can be summoned from anywhere in iOS 7 - a simple swipe up from the bottom of the display presents users with a sleek pop-up that offers users toggles to commonly used settings, music controls, screen brightness, Air Drop settings, and shortcuts to a flashlight (using your iOS device's camera's LED flash), clock app, calculator, and camera. Control Center can also be accessed without having to unlock the handset, and the same is true for the new Notification Center.
Automatic updating of apps is also another feature iOS users have been waiting for. Why should we have to visit the App Store when we want to download updates to our applications? Apple now adds the ability to allow application updates to be automatically downloaded in the background without you having to do anything. This is a feature Android users have been enjoying for some time. It's nice to see it make its way into iOS 7.
Multitasking, meanwhile, will be very reminiscent to webOS users. Palm deserves credit for nailing the best way to elegantly handle multitasking, while also presenting it in a way that showed users a live screenshot of the app's window and what they were doing. Apple has "borrowed" this feature from webOS, complete with using the same actions to summon the feature and quit the app. When you want to bring up your opened apps, you press the home button twice. To quit an app in iOS 7 simply flick it off the display.
Our favorite iOS personal assistant, Siri, has been using some of her down time to work on her speech and also gain some new abilities users will love. Siri now allows you to decide if you would like her to remain a girl, or become male. Siri's voice has also been updated and now the assistant sounds much more natural and responds faster. There is a new UI that shows Siri is listening and processing your request. Siri can also handle more complex questions and display them right inside, without sending you into another app like Safari, it's becoming similar to Android's Google Now.
In conclusion, iOS 7 brings a new user interface (UI) that seems drastically different initially, but it's one that also adds new features, refinements to existing ones, and you'll become very comfortable with it and feel that this is exactly what iOS needed. iOS 7 is the foundation of and the future of iOS.
