iOS 7 is public now and most of the general public is in the process of updating it.

So what’s in store for you in this biggest technology refresh from Apple? Read on.

  1. UI – A Complete Overhaul

 

Every nook and corner of the UI has been redesigned from icons, colors, typography, and button to general look and feel of the entire OS. The emphasis is on translucent and transparent design.

The idea is to see what’s happening in the background. Parallax effect – the accelerometer powered 3D effect as the device is tilted and shifted, gives you a depth to the hierarchy of layers, has been introduced.

The Notification Center is available on the lock screen now. You can see today’s notifications, missed notifications or all notifications through the buttons at the top.

  1. Control Center – Just a Swipe Away

 

Your access to Airplane mode, turn Wi-Fi on/off, Brightness adjustment, a torch etc are just one swipe away from bottom of any screen.

 

  1. Multitasking – Smarter and Intelligent

 

The multitasking has just become smarter. The OS learns your usage pattern and will be ready with data when it knows you are going to use an app at a particular time.

You can preview screens of the apps you have opened when you press the “Home Button” twice. To quit an app, just swipe it up and out of preview

 

 

  1. Camera

Now camera app supports square in addition to still, video, panorama formats. All of them accessible by left/right swipes. Also new filters have been added on top of existing basic editing features.

 

The Photos app groups your photos based on time and place. “Collection View” groups the photos based on a particular visit and “Year View” groups them on year timeline basis. Also you can easily share them via “iCloud” and new activity view lets you see the latest updates from all your shared streams in one place.

 

 

  1. AirDrop – Sharing Simplified Between iOS Devices

 

Want to share photos, videos, contacts etc standing someone next to you? You can use AirDrop to do the same. This is peer to peer based and simplifies the whole sharing experience. You don’t even need to be on the same Wi-Fi network for it to work, a temporary direct connection to the other person would be created automatically, so long as you’re within a close proximity to one another.

  1. Safari – Big and Better

 

Safari now sports an automatic full screen mode. As you scroll down through content, the address bar that you normally see will be minimized to only show the website name. The buttons at the bottom will also be hidden until you scroll up to reveal the controls. Also the address bar doubles as a unified smart search bar like when typing in part of a word will show you the “Top Hit” and also shows other Google search suggestions.

New tab view has been added, so that you can switch between multiple tabs effortlessly.

  1. iTunes Radio

 

This gives you more personalized experience. It features streaming radio stations from the best selection of music. You can create your own new stations while you listen. It also keeps track of all the songs that you listen to on the History tab.

  1. Siri – New Features

 

It adds a male voice and now they are available in US. English, French and German and gets integrated with more sources like Bing, Wikipedia and Twitter. It also enables voice commands like “Play voicemail”, “turn Bluetooth on” etc. The interface has been redesigned and presents on top of whatever’s on your screen.

 

  1. Enterprise Features

 

  • Open in Management – Control which apps and accounts are used to open documents and attachments. Managed open in gives IT the ability to configure the list of apps available in the sharing panel. This keeps work documents in corporate apps and also prevents personal documents from being opened in managed apps.
  • Per app VPN – Configure an app to automatically connect to VPN when they are launched. This gives more granular control over corporate network access. It ensures that data transmitted by managed apps travels through VPN — and that other data, like an employee’s personal web browsing activity, does not.
  • Enterprise single sign on (SSO) – This means user credentials can be used across apps, including apps from the App Store. Each new app configured with SSO verifies user permissions for enterprise resources, and logs users in without requiring them to reenter passwords.
  1. Other Features

 

Following are other interesting features iOS 7 offers.

  • Apps Near MeThis new feature from App Store shows collection of popular apps relevant to your current location. It also supports auto-updating your apps and provides “Kids” category which recommends the best age for children based on age.

     

  • Find My iPhone – This helps you to get your iPhone back in case you lost. Even if someone disables “Find My iPhone” or wipes the entire device, your iCloud user ID is required to use your device, so it can be misused that easily.

Note: The images used in this blog have been referenced from the following sources.