16 iOS 7 Changes to Know About

iOS 7 is a radical departure from the previous version of the OS – it is cooler and hipper and really makes your iOS device seem new. Then again, sometimes the familiar is best and change isn’t that good – especially when you are looking for something and don’t know where it went.

Speaking of which, here is a list of changes in iOS7 to know about.

  1. Downloading iOS 7 was perhaps the worst download experience some of you have ever faced. I downloaded it over 30 times on two devices before I could upgrade them. It took two hours in total. People I reached out to on Facebook in Connecticut and Canada also had similar problems.
  2. Swipe down in two ways – you can swipe from the top of the screen down to access notifications, schedule and weather – similar to iOS 6 but again, the results are sleeker. If you swipe from the top row of icons down however you can access Spotlight Search. This is very different from the previous OS where you swiped to the right from the home screen and in fact you can be on numerous home icon pages and still access search in the same way.
  3. Swiping up gives you access to music controls, airplane mode, WiFi, bluetooth, do not disturb, lock functions, camera, timer, AirDrop (like Bump – more below), volume and brightness controls. This is something borrowed from Blackberry and Android and it makes the experience that much easier.
  4. Double-click the home button and swipe left or right to access running apps on an iPhone and iPad. In this view, you will be presented with the app and its associated icon. Swipe the app up and off the screen to close it and remove it from memory.
  5. Siri is now out of Beta for what its worth – it seems quicker and more accurate in my testing so far on an iPhone 5.
  6. Safari allows private browsing from within the app which makes a lot more sense than going into Settings, finding the app icon, opening it and changing the privacy setting.
  7. iTunes Radio is getting rave reviews and is located in the Music app. If you were looking for an iRadio icon you won’t ever find one.
  8. iTunes Radio is smart – it uses your existing music library to present you quickly with music options you should like
  9. Auto app updates are now allowed – you can enable them in the App Store when you click the icon you are presented with the option.
  10. AirDrop lets you seamlessly transfer files such as photos to other ios-7-AirDrop.pngiOS users over WiFi and bluetooth.
  11. Your iTunes password is needed to turn off Find My iPhone and to restore your phone making it less valuable to thieves. Just be sure to have Find My iPhone on under settings and either remotely lock or wipe your device.
  12. You can now selectively block individuals from texting, calling or Facetiming you through the phone application under settings or by scrolling down to the bottom of the page in the phone app when looking at the contact.
  13. In settings under text size you can use a simple slider to change size and compatible apps such as email will adjust accordingly.
  14. Siri can now use a male voice.
  15. Background App Refresh in Settings allows you to control whether an app can be working, accessing data and location when not in the foreground.
  16. The send function is beyond elegantly presented – well done Apple.

ios-7-send.png

In short, this a tremendous update and Apple has raised the bar quite high. We will see how Android, Microsoft, Blackberry and others respond. TMC’s Tony Rizzo loves this update and has a post worth reading.

    Leave Your Comment


     

    Loading
    Share via
    Copy link
    Powered by Social Snap