Apple IOS 7

Apple's iOS 7 comes out swinging with an overhauled design that reskins practically every element with a gleaming new interface. From what we've seen so far (including hands-on time with iOS 7 on an iPhone 5,) we like the latest 'do. A lot.

While some new behaviors go along with the updated apps, iOS 7's changes are more cosmetic and iterative than they are groundbreaking. That's completely understandable; not every update can spark a revolution.

However, apart from a few notable innovations, iOS 7 doesn't seem like it's enough to overturn criticism that its growth has stalled, that it's less innovative than arch-rival Android, and that it borrows heavily from other competitors (in truth, they all steal ideas from each other). At least not at this point in the game.

CONTROL CENTER
§  Control Center is a pull-up tray that is available in your lock screen.

§  You can adjust brightness, volume, and other settings including Wifi,   Airplane  mode, rotation lock, or Bluetooth.

§  The Control Center even offers a flashlight, along with tabs for music, camera, and other quick-access apps.

§  The Control Center takes on the environment it’s in, so if you swipe up   while you’re in mail, it will have the  same blue and white coloring under   that translucent panel.


MULTITASKING
§  iOS 7 lets you multitask between all third-party apps with much better  battery consumption.

§  You can double-tap the home button to enter into multi-tasking mode, just like always, but the interface  for multitasking has been revamped. It appears to offer live previews, but Apple wasn’t clear about that.

SAFARI
§  Safari opens straight into full screen mode now, with the option to pull down to bring up the search bar at the top.

§  The search field has been improved to be a unified smart search field, which lets you   have access to all  your favorite websites with a single tap.

§  Tabs come with a totally new interface, scrolling in a vertical carousel, and there are no longer any limits. 

§  The new Safari is integrated with iCloud keychain from OS X Mavericks, and also comes with parental  controls.

AIRDROP
§  You can share sharesheets with other people by simply tapping their name. No NFC required.

§  Airdrop supports iPhone 5, iPad 4th gen, iPad Mini

CAMERA AND PHOTOS

§  The Camera app lets you swipe between your various camera types,  such as panorama or HDR so you can quickly take a pic instead of  fumbling around with settings.

§  Photos marks the first update to the photo gallery on iOS since it was introduced.

§  You can search based on date, and location, within the photos app.

§  Instagram must be flattered — Apple has introduced photo filters so you can add a little professionalism to the picture.

§  Users can share via AirDrop, iCloud photo-sharing, as well as shared Photo Streams.

§  You can even share video with iCloud photo-sharing.

SIRI

§ Siri has a new voice! It sounds similar, but also weird. You can choose a male or female voice, if you like.

§ Voices include languages like French, German, and other languages “over time.” The visual UI has also been upgraded, with a sound wave going along the bottom.

§ Siri has also been integrated with settings, letting you tell her to turn on   bluetooth, or lower the screen  brightness.

§ The company has also added support for Twitter, Wikipedia, and shows web search results direct from Bing.


IOS IN THE CAR
§  iOS in the Car depends a lot on Siri.

§  It puts the iOS homescreen on the screen of your car, and lets you search for directions, listen to music,   etc.

APP STORE
§ You can now search for apps based on location. In other words, search for apps by the Louvre and see a lot of French museum apps.

§ The App Store also automatically updates apps for you in the background  now. Hallelujah again!

ITUNES RADIO
§  Apple has finally introduced the much-anticipated iTunes Radio, which  
gives a Genius-like experience to the entire 26-million title iTunes catalog.

§  You can see the full list of songs on each station by clicking history, with purchase and preview buttons built right in to send you to the iTunes store.

§  iTunes Radio also lets you customize each station by clicking a star to  show that you want more of this type of music.

§  iTunes Match users will get an ad-free experience, but others will be able to use the app for free with a few audio and text ads.

ACTIVATION LOCK
§  This is for those of us who have had an iPhone stolen.

§  If a thief steals your phone and tries to turn off Find My iPhone, they can no longer turn the device back on without your iCloud password.

§  Users can also block messages and calls from other users.