iOS 7: The Best Features Coming to Apple's Made-Over Software
June 11, 2013 — -- Your iPhone and iPad might never look the same come this fall.
No, we don't know what the next versions of the iPad and iPhone hardware will look like, but we might not need to. Apple Monday revealed the next version of its mobile software iOS 7, and it's the makeover of makeovers. Think a "Pretty Woman"-size makeover.
Apple CEO Tim Cook even said, "This is the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone."
The completely redesigned software will be out this fall for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. So what's going to be happening to your phone? Here are five of our favorite new features.
VIDEO: See the iOS 7 Features in Action
1. Design
Whether you were getting sick of the look of Apple's iOS, you can still appreciate the new look and feel of the software. Gone are the textures, gone are the patterned backgrounds, gone is the notepad-looking Notes app. They have been replaced with cleaner design elements, including lots of white space and brighter colors.
But while the house might have gotten a new shade of paint and all new furniture, the layout is still familiar. You still get the familiar grid of icons, pull-down notification tray and more.
2. Control Center
But it's not all just skin deep. There are a slew of new features, including one that will save you a lot of time digging through the settings menu. Swipe up from the bottom of the phone and you will now see a new set of easy-access controls. You can easily access your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Airplane mode toggles and adjust the brightness and volume. You can also turn on Apple's new built-in flashlight (bye-bye flashlight apps!) and control your music. Small addition? Maybe, but huge time saver.
3. Multitasking
In iOS 7, you still switch to another app in the same way by double-tapping the home button, but now you get a new interface, which shows you what is happening in your app. You will see a card of the main screen of the apps you have open. You can tap to switch to it or, similar to Android or webOS, swipe it up to close it.
Photos of Apple's Big Unveil of iOS 7, Mac OS Mavericks and More
4. Siri
Siri has matured with a new voice and a new brain. Siri now has male and female voices and, according to Apple, will be faster at answering questions. It also can find full results from Bing, Wikipedia and Twitter. And like the rest of the operating system, Siri has a new look. The service will also be finding its way to cars in 2014.
5. Photos/Camera
There are loads of new camera and photos features. In the Camera app there is a brand new interface, which lets you apply filters right to your photo. Yes, it's like having Instagram built in to your camera, without the whole sharing thing.
But Apple has rolled out a new sharing option called AirDrop, which lets you easily select friends and share your photos wirelessly. There's also a host of new photo organization features; iOS will take care of organizing your photos based on the date and location you took them.
Apple says iOS 7 will be out later this fall. Of course, Apple's rumored to release a new iPhone around then, too.
