Apple introduced iOS 7 – its new mobile operating system during the WWDC 2013 Keynote on June 10. It features more than 200 new features including an all-new user interface, Control Center, improved Notification Center, true multitasking, all-new Camera app with filters, new Photos app, AirDrop, iTunes Radio and lots more.
Here’s the exhaustive list of new features and improvements in iOS 7.
Design and UI:
- No more fake linen and leather textures. iOS 7 has forgone skeuomorphism in favor of a digitally authentic interface, with a heavy use of blur, transparency and layering to create the illusion of depth.
- The system font has changed to Helvetica Neue Regular.
- Full Screen apps that make use of the system status bar and navigation bar.
- Translucent design in tab bar, navigation bar, status bar, system keyboard, Control Center, and Notification Center (some translucent layers not on iPhone 4).
- Opaque design in Alert view, Action Sheet and Share Sheet.
- Borderless buttons in general.
- Back navigation gesture by swiping from left edge of the screen.
- New UI for arranging tab-bar icons.
- System-wide dynamic font size, configurable in Settings.
- Enhance the viewing experience of non-iPad apps on Retina iPads, remove the 1x and 2x toggle, apps are opened in ’2x’ mode by default on non-Retina iPads.
Home screen:
- “New” banner on newly installed apps have been replaced with blue dots.
- Built-in app icons have glossy effect removed.
Control Center:
- A unified screen to quickly access toggles and controls for system settings and services, and for using AirDrop and AirPlay.
- System wide, accessible by swiping upward from the bottom of the screen.
- Accessible in the lock screen.
- Flashlight (device-specific features that come with physical camera) toggle button.
- Landscape support.
- A grabber in full screen apps.
- Mute/silent toggle button in iPad.
Airdrop:
- Integrates Apple’s ad-hoc Wi-Fi sharing feature AirDrop (iPhone 5, iPad (4th generation), iPad Mini, and iPod Touch (5th generation) only).
- Alert view, for receive invitation from other devices, option to accept/cancel.
- Options to set discoverable: Off/Contacts only/Everyone.
Inter-app Audio:
- Register audio streams to share with other apps.
- Provides for MIDI control of audio rendering, remotely launching other registered Inter-App Audio apps.
Notification Center:
- Accessible in the lock screen.
- Today tab, for previewing the events calendar, stocks, and tomorrows events; provides traffic info on frequently visited places.
- Missed Filter – Can filter list to see notifications that occurred when phone was not actively in use
- Bounces when swiped down quickly.
- Landscape support.
Folders:
- Unlimited number of apps via folder subpages.
- Newsstand app can now be moved inside any folder.
- Transparent background
- Folders change color when apps are downloading and clock-like animated progress graphic is superimposed over folders that have actively downloading apps.
Newsstand:
- A dedicated app (the previous version was a kind of folder), with short cut to Store.
- Newsstand can now be hidden in a folder
- New feedback when pressing a key.
- Toggle landscape mode button.
- The Calculator app no longer looks like a real calculator. The buttons have been flattened, there’s no leather texture in the background and the numbers itself are now shown in a very thin font.
- The Equals button has become smaller, and the landscape button grid is now 5 x 10 instead of 6 x 8
Spotlight search:
- Accessible on every page of the Home screen by swiping downward from anywhere.
- New animation
Multitasking:
- Redesigned switcher, with horizontal scrolling for previewing all running apps, and swipe upward gesture to stop any running apps.
- Can close multiple apps simultaneously by swiping with multiple fingers.
- Landscape switcher.
- Smart background app running mode; fetches data based on network connectivity and user habits.
- Use apps while the app is updating.
Wallpapers:
- New wallpapers.
- Dynamic wallpapers.
- Gyroscope-responsive parallax wallpaper effect, based on user’s movement.
- Panorama wallpapers, which didn’t make it through the betas.
- Wallpaper preview in Settings now shows iOS 7 lock screen.
- Dynamics animation for different weathers. (iPhone 4S and later, iPad, iPod touch only)
- Shows sunrise/sunset humidity, chance of precipitation, and wind speed.
- Can see multiple locations simultaneously when the menu icon is selected.
- Can select GPS Arrow Icon at bottom to immediately see weather for current location.
Phone:
- Block list.
- Contact pictures on Favorites.
- Transparency in the number pad button when pressing.
- Phone History and Voicemail Info options allow one to return the call in multiple ways including call back, FaceTime and Messaging.
Contacts:
- New fields in Contacts: “Add Social Profile”, and “Add Instant Message”.
- “Chat”, “FaceTime”, “Mail” buttons next to the contact information; no longer need to scroll down to the bottom.
- Send contacts through AirDrop.
FaceTime:
- FaceTime Audio.
- Block list.
- A dedicated app on the iPhone, like the previous version on iPod Touch, and iPad.
Messages:
- Long SMS.
- Block list.
- No longer have to scroll to the top to access “Call”, “FaceTime”, and “Info”.
- Contact pictures in group chats.
- Ability to see the time of each message.
- Drag the conversation bubbles to the left to see the exact time the message was sent.
- Event and address detection in the message context, tap to open in Calendar and Map.
- A contact with a nickname will appear in Messages under the nickname, rather than the full name.
- New animation when compressing video to be shared.
- Full screen browsing, the previous version only support in iPhone Landscape mode.
- Unified text field for both URL and search.
- Bookmarked website thumbnail icons appear when text field is activated.
- Top-hit, Google suggest, Bookmarks, and History appear on the unified text field while typing.
- Preview tabs are no longer limit to only 8.
- Preview tabs use new 3D vertical animation for previewing the opened tabs; long press to edit positions, swipe to remove.
- Reading List shows website thumbnails on the right.
- Scrolls articles one-by-one vertically from Reading List, as per OS X Mavericks.
- Supports iCloud Keychain for website login & Wi-Fi network passwords, credit/debit card management, and other account info. This feature was removed in iOS 7 GM.
- Swipe gestures for back/previous history, as per OS X.
- Parental controls.
- Private button: enables “Do not track me.” feature per website within the app. Previously, configuration appeared in Settings for the every website.
- Recent links: a reading list of all user’s friends on Facebook or Twitter post.
- Reading List button: new round glasses icon pays tribute to Steve Jobs.
- The .com button removed and replaced with a simple period button. The .com, .net, and .org domain extensions can be accessed by holding down on the button.
- Bookmarks/Reading List/Shared Links tabs re-ordered/slightly tweaked.
- New bolder loading bar, private browsing UI tweaks and tab/bookmark changes on the iPad .
iCloud:
- Photo Stream video support, and more than one contributor per photo stream.
- Notification Sync across different iCloud devices.
Maps:
- Automatic Day/Night Mode that responds to ambient light and current time to switch between day and night color schemes.
- Turn-by-turn walking directions, with estimated time.
- Maps bookmarks syncing.
- Receives notification data sent from the new Maps app in OS X Mavericks (version 10.9).
- A live compass at the right top corner.
Clock:
- App icon reflects the live time.
- Timer shows in the lock screen.
- New iTunes Radio service.
- Scrub along the song to get to a certain part directly from the lock screen.
- Download full albums from iCloud from iTunes Match.
- Tapping a song in the Now-Playing screen allows users to rate.
- Cover Flow: Instead of swiping though individual albums, one now swipe through multiple albums.
- Automatic app updates: switch to enable/disable in Settings, under iTunes, App Store.
- New catalogues for kids based on their age.
- Genius tab replaced with “Apps Near Me” tab. for app recommendations based on user’s location.
- Volume purchase.
- Search tab redesigned, the number of results appears on the right of the search field.
- Circular download progress animation during downloading/updating in Home Screen.
- Add to wish list.
iTunes:
- Smart TV show downloads, through the new multitasking system.
- Albums are organized by Places, Moments, and Years, using the EXIF data as the base of the collection.
- Share Sheet shares photos to iCloud, social networks, and AirDrop (if available).
- New default album “Panorama Photos”.
- Control redesign: swipe horizontally to select the still images, videos, square photos, and Panorama modes (if available).
- Live Image filters (if available).
- SDK for 60 FPS video recording.
- Pinch to zoom while video recording.
- Redeem iTunes gift card using front camera.
- Slow motion video recording at 120 frames per second.
- New layout for Calendar list view on the iPhone.
- Years view.
- Week view.
- Integration with Mail.
- Integration with Maps, users are notified with transit information when entering places information.
- Can now hide or show declined events.
- Will support custom calendar colors
- All Day toggle on the Add Event Screen instead of buried in the Select Time control.
- Can snooze or View Event when an Event Reminder appears.
- Can setup a second alert time for an event.
- Can change Busy/Free Status
- Selecting the name of the calendar month shows the monthly calendar.
Game Center:
- Secure game scores.
- Authenticated players.
- Turn-based game modes.
- Ranking-style leader boards.
Compass:
Mail:
- View PDF annotation.
- New smart mailboxes.
- Improved Mail search.
- Hotmail is now Outlook when adding an account, using new Outlook icon.
- Flagged, Unread, To or CC, Attachments, All drafts, All sent, All Trash smart mailboxes.
- Shake to Undo to un-archive something.
- When emailing a passbook pass, it appears as a pass.
- New animation when compressing video to be shared.
- New animation when moving mail into a folder.
- When selecting a target folder while moving an email, an iconic image of the email above the folder selector appears.
- Have the ability to move an email to Junk folder when flagging.
- New Print option available when Reply option is selected.
Notes:
- New design, mostly white.
- No longer change fonts in Notes.
- Can AirDrop notes.
Settings:
- Add a new Control Center.
- Per app cellular data usage permission.
- Per app using microphone privacy permission.
- Per app using camera privacy permission.
- Password required to reset networking and contents.
Accessibility:
China-specific features:
- Tencent Weibo social network integration.
- Chinese-English bilingual dictionary.
- Improved Chinese input including T9 keyboard for pinyin (Added in Beta 4), and handwriting recognition for multiple Chinese characters.
Siri:
- Updated voices, and a new male voice (in select regions/languages). English (US), French, and German will be available with the launch of iOS 7 (additional languages will be added over time).
- Controls certain system settings, such as turning on/off Bluetooth, and changing display brightness.
- Search from Wikipedia and Bing search engines.
- Instruction “Launch Maps” gives users a choice between Apple’s Maps app or other map apps.
- Navigation, access and voice are more natural.
- Geofencing.
- Ability to create repeating reminders has been removed.
- Scan and recognize barcodes/QR codes.
- Add gift cards as a folder.
- New version
- Re-activation with iCloud account if the device have been wiped remotely using Find My iPhone service, to prevent unauthorized usage of the lost device.
- Password required to disable. (Activation Lock)
iOS in the Car:
- Providing iOS control to in-car control systems on some car models by selected vendors from 2014.
- Includes Siri integration (eyes-free/hands-free modes), satellite navigation, telephony, music, and iMessage integration.
- Enterprise single sign-on.
- Per app VPN.
- Managed app config, for more efficiently deploying and managing of iPhones and iPads.
Accessories:
- Setup and configure Wi-Fi accessories, such as AirPlay speakers.
- Alert error message “This cable or accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPhone.” when connecting to uncertified cables or MFi accessories.
- iBeacons: a new class of low-powered, low-cost transmitters that can notify nearby devices, which serve as trail markers in a park, exhibits in a museum, or product displays in stores.
- Bluetooth LE profiles; including time, notifications, keyboards, and stereo sound, which means a lot more notifications for your Pebble watch.
- MFi game controllers.
Voice Memo:
- New design.
- Save to iCloud.
- Share using AirDrop.
Status Bar:
- Translucent design.
- 1xRTT icon on CDMA iPhones changed from “o” icon to “1x” icon.
- GPRS icon on GSM iPhones changed from “o” icon to “GPRS” icon.
- Dots representations for cellular signal strength.
- Battery Percentage in status bar for iPod Touch (5th Generation)
- Icon size slightly increased for better readability on the lock screen.
- The charging lightning bolt indicator no longer blinks, it is now static.
- Charging the battery: rather than battery image on the lock screen, x% charged briefly appears under the clock, then reverts to the date.
- Access Notification Center, Control Center, Music Control, Passcode.
- When playing music, the lock screen will now display the time.
- iPad has Camera control on the Lock screen, like the previous version in iPhone/iPod Touch.
- Timer counting down is shown when the device is locked.
Others:
- New first-time setup menus.
- Boot up no longer shows spinning wheel.
- Add Passcode Lock during Setup Assistant (added in Beta 2.).
- Vimeo and Flickr social network integrations.
- Italian, Korean, and Dutch dictionaries.
- New fade animation when pressing the power button (time background and status bar).
- New Tamil keyboard.
- New ringtones and system sounds.
- User is warned when plugging their iOS device into their Mac/PC, “Trust the currently connected computer? Trusting this computer will allow it to have full access to your device and all of its data.”