iOS 7: Apple Finally Announces The Latest Version Of It’s Popular Mobile OS
In the past couple of years Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference has gathered significant notice, not just in the tech world, but in the mainstream media as well. Dozens of reporters are literary camping in front of Moscone Center every year, as they are joined by thousands of developers who are now buying tickets faster than ever. This year’s conference sold out in under 71 seconds!
It seems that Apple is not yet doomed as people have been talking in the past couple of months. Instead, tech geeks all over the world waited for the D day which finally came on June the 10th. Apart from introducing brand new OS X called Mavericks (there are only so many cats and lions a man can use) and an astonishingly gorgeous new MacPro, Apple also introduced improved MacBook Air’s which now last almost a whole day on a full charge.
In with the new, out with the old
However, star of the show was definitely new iOS 7 which people have waited for a very long time. Apple’s chief designer Jony Ive took Scot Forstall’s place last November and his first task was to remove any influence of skeumorphic design which was Forstall’s signature. Although there were rumors that Ive is working on a much simpler, flatter design, nobody knew what to expect from the popular designer who never before has worked on a piece of software.
Icons are awful, rest of it is kind of great
People have said it, and so will I. New iOS 7 icons are just ugly. They are literary a bunch of vivid colors put together without any harmony. This could have only resulted in a bunch of angry fanboys (which it did) who blogged day and night, expressing their dissatisfaction with new home screen. There is even a blog JonyIveRedisignesThings which I strongly recommend checking out.
Apart from this esthetic mess, rest of the new iOS is kind of great. Thanks to a friend of mine who is a developer from Serbia, I’ve managed to get my hands on the first beta and I have to say that I’m delightfully pleased with a better part of the new iOS. Except dialer. Nobody is impressed with dialer.
I will be the first the admit – there are flaws which bother me as a day-to-day user but I have a strong feeling that things could change rapidly for small things like design of the icons. In my opinion, the accent in the first beta was placed more at the core of the iOS which now features swipe gestures, Control center and a totally redesigned guidelines for developers to follow. Icons can be always changed, and they will. Mark my words. Apple will figure everything out by the time of the official release.
No, I’m not switching to Android
Although I’ve been looking through other options in need of a new smartphone, I’m pretty sure I’ve made my decision – I’m staying with the iOS. Indeed Apple copied most of the new features and yes, they are nothing revolutionary in the world of mobile, but they are a new thing to iOS users and that is what really matters.
Many people, including me, have been waiting for a more Android-like iOS and we finally got it. This is a huge deal because we can finally enjoy most of those awesome features other phone manufacturers have been implementing in their smartphones. At the end of the day, competition is great for consumers. It finally made one tech giant to stop for a moment and realise that they are not the ones dictating the tempo anymore.
