The new version of iOS is ‘the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone,’ said Appel CEO Tim Cook today.
iOS 7 has a completely new look, one in which the influence of industrial design SVP, Jony Ive is clear. Ive, talking to developers, said that his goal was to create an interface where ‘the design recedes and elevates your content.’
‘We see iOS 7 as defining an important new direction, and in many ways, the beginning,’ said Ive.
The unveiling of the new mobile OS was met with cheering and whooping, and one shout of ‘we love you,’ from the developer audience at the keynote.
Among the new features in iOS 7 is that the device tracks your motion and changes the view screen as you move it. As expected, the skeumorphic design touches such as Newsstand’s wooden shelves and Games Center’s green felt have been binned. Folders can now have multiple screens of apps.
The much discussed ‘flatter’ user interface was also evident during the demo.
Several new features were demonstrated.
Control Center allows you to access controls like brightness, volume, and play/pause by swiping up from any screen.
Multi-tasking is now available to all apps and iOS 7 will provide the most often used apps with more resources.
Safari has a new full-screen interface and a smart search field which allows you to access favourite sites with one tap. It also integrates with Keychain for iCloud. Tabs in Safari resemble a Rolodex, and you flip through them in the same way.
iOS 7 now includes AirDrop, the OS X feature which allows you to easily share files with friends and colleagues. It uses peer-to-peer wifi and encrypts transactions.
The new Camera app has ‘four cameras in one.’ To move between the vide camera, stills camera, square-framed camera, and panoramic camera, you swipe across the screen. Filters can be applied from within the Camera app.
Photos in iOS 7 organises snaps into what Apple calls ‘Moments.’ It uses meta data, including time, date, and location to organise photos. Moments are automatically organised into Collections, which gather together Moments by location or date. PhotoStreams can now be shared.
Siri has a new interface which displays a sound wave as you speak and adds new voices. Siri can now control more of a device including Bluetooth on and off and brightness. It also now integrates Wikipedia, Twitter, and Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Integration with cars has been improved in iOS 7. The OS will now be displayed on a supported car’s screen and can eve controlled using Siri.
The App Store now features age-based categories for children and ‘Apps near me’ which displays apps relevant to your current location. And the App Store now updates apps automatically.
iOS 7 features what Eddy Cue described as ‘the best Music player we have ever done’ and has an album view which displays album covers when you turn the device sideways.
