After the unexpected drop of the long-time Apple iOS executive Scott Forstall, people have been keeping on what the next version of the iOS will bring. Now under senior vice presidents Craig Federighi and JonyIve, the iOS has changed a lot. The newest installment to the iOS family, the iOS 7 brings a whole lot of change in terms of functionality and design. The iOS is much whiter and with more flat look and the icons have a more 2D feel to it than its predecessor, iOS 6, with its glasslike smooth icons. The iOS 7 brings a lot to the table than any of its previous updates. And although there have been numerous complaints about the battery life and installation problems, iOS 7 still proves a worthy foe to its mobile OS competitors.
Apple has decided to drop most of its older generation phones like the iPhone 3GS and iOS 7 and only supports iPhones 4 and above. Although there have been numerous complaints about the performance of iOS 7 or iPhone 4s, there seems to be no problems with iPhone 4S and above. The first thing iOS 7 users will notice is the new feel to the iOS 7, unlike any other iOS. Apple has decided to get rid of its old flux-glass icons and have reverted to more basic, color-prioritized flat icons. The applications have lost most of textures and now provide a basic streamlined design. No more of the notepad feel to the Notes app and no more of the rich black leather or the brown wood textures. This flat user-interface feel more like a mobile app and makes it easier for the user to concentrate on the more important buttons and content of an app. The latest version of the iOS has been known for its Android and Windows 7 Phone-type features, like the Android-styled control center or the Windows Phone animations. There are plenty of features on the iOS 7 that you won’t find on any of its competitors.
Turning on your phone will introduce you to a more Android Ice Scream Sandwich-type of lock screen that seems to have done away with the thick bars and the realistic slider. Now you are greeted by a simple text and two bars on the top and bottom that encourage you to pull down the notification center or the control center, again a feature previously seen on Android devices. But no matter how different you expect the iOS 7 to be, the general feel and usability of the iOS remains the same. It’s the same page-by-page application icons, and the much loved widget feature of the Android system still seems to be absent although multitasking has been improved greatly with the Web OS-style app switcher. The recent applications that have been running around show up next to each other and dismissing them is as simple as swiping them up or down.
Another visual upgrade on the iOS 7 is the more prominent User Interface (UI) animations that had been much simpler and transparent than the ones on iOS 7. Unlocking the phone prompts a swooping effect of the application icons. Opening up a folder icon or the application switcher prompts a zoom-in and zoom-out effect and even the screen’s off and on animations have been beautified with a slight fadeout and fade-in. The notification icon on the top of the phone also seems to have undergone some serious redesign. The signal bar seems to be the most prominent with dots instead of bars that puts the whole mobile design into question because of the fact that bars have turned into a universal language for network. Can Apple change it to dots is yet to be seen.
The iOS 7 also brings a lot of new features, like the Control Center that provides quick access to frequently used settings. It’s in stark contrast to its predecessors when every setting had to be changed from the setting app. Or the new tabbed notification center that makes it easier to browse notifications by type, or the new translucent feel to all of these features. There are colors everywhere now, even in places where it becomes more of a nuisance rather than an addition to design. The new design to the iOS design also calls for new application design. Most of the applications on the AppStore are built for iOS 6 and that slight hiccup on switching from a more modern design to the old would call for a light inconvenience. Most of the proprietary software that comes designed by Apple possesses the streamlined feel of the OS but many third-party applications still need a facelift.
The performance of the new OS seems smooth and quick on the newer A5 and A6 processors but on older phones like the iPhone 4, which sports an A4, the OS can seem quite slow and sludgy. The OS also creates new opportunities for sluggishness with more prominent animations that can be easily noticed if it stutters. Another problem that the iOS 7 brings is the quick depletion of the battery life. The iOS 7 seems to be notorious for hogging the CPU and cutting down on battery life.
But all in all, the iOS 7 seems to bring a lot of new features and clean new UI design to the table. No doubt that it poses a big threat for its competitors but the new iOS also seems to spark up some love and hate relationship with its users. Some users seem to love the new flat look of the iOS 7 whereas others seem to prefer the more professional look of the iOS 6. The iOS has definitely changed, but for the better or the worse is yet to be seen.
Prajesh Sjb Rana, the writer of this post is República The Week’s much loved tech guru.
