So, this is iOS 7 at first glance:
Simply put, this is the most significant change to the Vanilla OS since the introduction of the iPhone... or is it? Visually, I'll give it to Phil Schiller and go with that consensus. Function-wise? Not so much. Does it make it bad? Absolutely not! The change are still significant for the average user; that is, a user who uses their device for what it is (as opposed to jailbreaking the device).
VISUAL
Visually, its beautiful and a welcomed makeover from the past builds. The theme of iOS 7 is obviously flat and colorful, and Jony Ive sure hit his mark. It's very colorful and dynamic to whatever wallpaper you choose to use. Jony also made use of in-your-face sliding. "wat?" you may ask? Well, the first thing that happens when you unlock you device is that every thing slides in front of you in a rather elegant fashion. tap on app such as the Clock or Calendar and the screen zooms into the app. Hit the Home button, and you zoom back out into the Home Screen. Another visual "ooooh" is the use of Parallax on the Home Screen. Essentially, your icons and such act as if it was hovering over your background. It's very subtle, and only noticeable if you have the right background. This is NOT innovative. I had a parallax effect on my Jailbroken iPhone well before the idea was implemented by Apple. Lets not forget that the Android camp also has apps (although, not really good apps) that replicate that effect, as well. It's something that's just a non-factor in the functionality department.
FUNCTION
Apple has always been known for its ease-of-use and has been a selling point for many who buy an iDevice. That transition to the iOS 7 landscape is no different. Many of their in-house apps have gone through the Jony Ive Treatment with all the zooms and flatness, but it fits in with a lot of the [visual] changes done to apps such as Photos and Calendar.
At the least level of Organization, the Photos app can be arranged by Year, and then categorize onward and onward until its broken down by pictures taken from the day of the week. The traditional Album that has been used for as far as I can remember may also be utilized if you're keeping it OG, but the overhaul may be something worth checking out. Other notes for the Photo app: it does have an extensive editing suite built in and should be used in conjunction with the Camera app since its feature-less to begin with.. but more on that in a bit.
The Calendar app also received an overhaul of sorts. Now lets be real, the changes are mostly cosmetic and visual, but that's typically what a calendar is, right? It functions the same as the old calendar app, but it's done in such a fluid way, that's easy for the eyes. No one should have a hard time navigating through it.
Year View..
...and onto Month view...
...but omg! It goes into Week & Day view! Wow!
But wait! If you rotate your device, it does this!
Perhaps I'm not as blown away about a calendar as I'm supposed to be? Well, there's only so much you can do with such an app, and I think Apple hit their mark. Kudos, I guess.
NOTIFICATION AND CONTROL PANEL
Notifications remains largely intact. In a nutshell, it lists the day, the weather, what's on your schedule, stocks, and earthly reminders (such as "Your day starts early tomorrow. There are 2 events scheduled, and the first one starts at 8 AM."... thanks, I didn't know that). Notifications are tabbed with events happening Today, All events, and events that you may have missed, such as phone calls, FaceTime, and texts.
A much more significant addition to [vanilla] iOS is the Control Panel. Accessible by swipe up from the bottom of the screen, he Control Panel are a series of quick options where you can either turn on Airplane Mode, enable/disable WiFi or Bluetooth, adjust brightness, etc, etc. There are also quick options to turn on your light, access your clock or calculator, as well as your camera. You can control your music from that panel, and you can enable Air Drop for file sharing and the like. This is an excellent addition to iOS, out the box... it's just unfortunate that it took this long for Apple to include this feature considering that this is the norm on Android-based devices, as well as the Jailbreak realm. In fact, the format of such is similar to the Jailbreak app Auxo.. very suspect. Regardless, its here and it's good to have.
Other notes regarding both is that both features are accessible on the lockscreen... which is great!
APP SWITCHER
Another nice change made to an existing feature is App Switcher. This is the one system that the average user refuses to get onboard, I swear! Incoming mini rant: I can understand going to Apple Store or some other retailer, double tapping the Home button and find every app installed running... it's a demo unit! Alright.. I just don't understand when someone comes up to me, crying that their battery is dying faster than before, only for me to double tap the Home button and find every damn app running! Android users are also notorious of this, though their tasking system is a little more liberal with running apps in the background (as in you try and quit the app, and you find it running again a minute later). iOS users have no excuse since as soon as you quit the app via App Switcher, you completely quit the app! iOS 7 just made this feature a lot more prominent and easier to use. Double tap the Home button and you find the home screen zooming out to see what other apps you have running. Swipe left or right to the app you want to quit/switch to and you either tap the window to go to said app, or swipe up to quit the app. It sure beats pressing, holding until it starts jiggling and clicking the little red stop circles. Ultimately, it's something that you should get into the habit of using! No excuses!
This... USE IT!
MUSIC APP / ITUNES RADIO
Speaking of music, the music app is much, MUCH better. The default search menu is now Artist, instead of Albums. I guess that's a personal preference, but it's just more logical to start with the artists, right? Anyway, tapping on an artist lists the songs you have, categorized by album (see? logical). Coverflow has also received an overhaul, and I think it's much better. The entire screen is filled up with album covers. pinching the screen zooms the albums in and out, and tapping the album brings the songlist up for your choosing. Finally, Apple has utilized it's rumored Pandora clone and has iTunes Radio ready for access. For those obtaining music legit, it's a good way to discover new songs within the iTunes Store ecosystem. Other than that, if you're already invested in Pandora, Spotify, or Rhapsody (my source), than iTunes Radio may be something to pass, though when it comes to music, redundancy is a good thing.
New Coverflow.
Playing from Coverflow
iTunes Radio
iTunes Top 100: Alternative station
CAMERA APP
Another feature overhaul that Apple was babbling about is the Camera app. How hyped is it? Very. How functional is it compared to its competitors? Well, at least it works. For iPod Touch's case, it does its job well for a low-end 5mp camera. For the app itself, there is a visual overhaul. the top has options for turning the flash on, HDR, and switching cameras. On the bottom we have the album access and giant shutter button (though should be using the Vol Up button to snap photos (again, opinions, lol). A new addition to the app is the filter option. There are nine different filters to choose for your Instagram photography needs. Finally and speaking of Instagram freaks, there is a "Square" format mode in addition to the usual Photo, Video, Panoramic modes. Rejoice InstaGERMERS. Missing from the option set is the Rule of Thirds Grid option (which found its way to the regular Settings menu). The camera app is big fat "MEH" for me. It does what it says it does, and nothing more. Again, make sure you discover the Edit tool in the Photo app to fine tune your pics. I also think that my iPod may be the reason that it may lack features, considering that iOS 7 seems to have been developed with the upcoming 5C and 5S in mind. Those two devices may make better use with a more capable camera. Other than that, if you're already using apps such as Camera+, stick with that since it's feature-packed and it works fine with iOS 7.
le Camera
Filter options
...and for you Instagurrmers...
FINAL THOUGHTS
iOS 7 has built itself over a series of variables. The bad reception of iOS 6, and the management shuffle that placed Jony Ives at the helm of development of iOS 7 seems to be the biggest variable of how the OS came to be. In the visual aspect, iOS 7 is a tour de force. It's beautiful and the flow is excellent, and the likes of Samsung and HTC can't take that away from Apple. When you dig deeper, you'll begin to notice that much of the features has either remain intact, or there has been subtle and blatant ripoffs. In an industry where "innovation" is starting to become tacky and useless (Samsung, I'm looking at you.), there isn't that much room for new things. Apple's target still seems to be the clueless, average customer who just wants their device to work, and while the Android market share is dominating Apple (and Microsoft), Apple is maintaining their share with one lineup of phones over the course of the past 5 years (iphone 1 - 5). There is still a market of consumers who still just want a phone that "works." iOS 7 is just another essential cog in the wheel to maintain that mindset. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but it works for them. As it stands I think iOS 7 is wonderful. Unless you're jailbroken (or unless someone creates an untethered jailbreak for 7), update to 7 as soon as it drops (which is 3 days from now).
Other pics:
Settings menu
New lockscreen with music playing. Note the bottom bar is for Control Panel access along with the camera.
Swiping to unlock slides you over to the new key pad screen.
Parallax-friendly wallpaper.. notice the additional battery indicator next to the Bluetooth symbol? That's the battery indicator for my next review: the Jay Bird Bluebuds X. :)
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