As everyone knows, Apple released iOS 7 recently. With everyone having an opinion and bloggers giving their own in articles, I thought I would write up my own opinion/semi review of iOS 7. To start, it?s a definitely a drastic visual overhaul. And yet, it remains the same; and it remains simple. Overall I really like the new look of iOS7, but what I don?t like is the high contrast and the shade of blur used for folders. If I put a red background on my homescreen my folders are blurred pink. Honestly I?d prefer a darker faded red to pink, and the same goes for any color background. I don?t much care for the color of blur for the folders. I will give Apple gray blur for a black background though, that makes sense for the visual they are going for.
I also really like Control Center. I use it all the time. The flashlight is a great plus, I deleted my flashlight app a while ago in anticipation of iOS7 and the first thing I noticed about the stock flashlight compared to the app I was using, it was instantaneous as opposed to going through the system for permission. I use Do Not Disturb and WiFi daily, so being able to just bring up Control Center and toggle them makes it much easier to use. I also the calculator frequently and I use the Clock app for alarms. I listen to music almost all day every day. I also use Airplane Mode to be sure my phone reconnects to data properly after getting off work because I work in an area with poor to no reception. So having all these options right there as quickly as I want to use them is a great plus. I could do without the brightness though as I have my phone set to auto brightness. Even the layout doesn?t bother me.
Unless I missed it in iOS6, I really like the addition of the time lapse for music both in Control Center and on the lock screen. I?m fairly certain it wasn?t in iOS6 because there were many times I was uncertain how much time was left in a song and I wanted to know, but couldn?t see unless I opened up the music app. So again, the time lapse addition for me is a great plus. I also like the new lock screen and passcode lock. I missed it before, but I figured it out quickly, with notifications on the lock screen, there is a line that says swipe to open on the notifications. I really like this. Being able to open a specific notification that I want to read even if I missed it when it came in is amazing. I also really like being able to bypass all notifications if there aren?t any I want or need to read right away. I can simple swipe to unlock in the usual location and be taken to my homescreen.
As a musician, I write music pretty frequently and I like to record new bits of music with the Voice Recorder. And Voice Recorder got a very well designed new look in iOS7. It actually looks like it was meant to record things now, and also all my recordings are in a list under the recorder and I can scroll through them and if I want to record after listening to something I can just click the record button that?s still at the top of the screen. It?s brilliant. But one overhaul I?m not pleased about is the Notes app. I thought it was the lack of lines, but the lack of lines isn?t an issue with any other app I use, I think it?s more the hint of parchment for the background now that displeasing to the eye. Even with my fascination of parchment, I?m not a fan of the look.
The movement of Spotlight Search from the left of the homescreen to a swipe down is all right in my books. I used to accidently swipe into Spotlight Search all the time and I never use it. Now that doesn?t happen. Ever. I really like that. The new app switcher screen is great too, I had to figure out that swiping an app up closes it, but that was very quickly learned. I also like the snapshot view of apps, it?s better than it was iOS6 in my opinion. Same thing with the new tab view in Safari. Another great change was the Notification Center. I like the today view, but since I don?t use the stock calendar much, or any calendar for that matter, I?d prefer to be able to set new notifications as the main view. At least I?m able to leave it on the new tab so it?s not that bad. Having a quick view of the weather is nice as well.
The last thing I?ll touch on is the app icon design. The pictures in the squares are too big. Everyone knows this, everyone sees it. But some of them are all right as far as design. I don?t care for the new Newsstand icon or Game Center, whereas the new Voice Memo icon is a great change. I think it?s moving away from voice recording and showing that it?s okay to record audio with it as well. I?m also very happy to see the Calendar app showing the current date, this allows me to not have to go into Notification Center or lock my phone to see the date. I?m not sure what they were going for with the Passbook and Photos icon. I?m also not a fan of the new photos icon. A photo album picture would have been better than the very Game Center like picture. In contrast the new Contacts icon is great, the address book icon was outdated, not many people use address books anymore.
Overall, I think iOS7 was a great change and big step for Apple with things to come, like the new stock gestures. I love gestures so this is very welcome for me. My most used apps are gesture heavy apps. The less tapping I have to do the better. Even the lettered buttons don?t bother me. I agree with Apple that people are very familiar with touch screens now and don?t need to be shown where a button is. The more I play with iOS7 the more I like it and the less the bothersome changes are bothering me. In time it will just be iOS and we?ll have almost completely forgotten the old iOS look. I?m quite excited to see what iOS8 and beyond will bring to the system. These are exciting times in the mobile industry with fierce competition and Apple is still playing the game their best at. So while Apple isn?t at the top of the list of features, it doesn?t seem to be affecting iOS users or the sales of iOS devices. That begs the question, do people really want a phone with a long feature list?
I also really like Control Center. I use it all the time. The flashlight is a great plus, I deleted my flashlight app a while ago in anticipation of iOS7 and the first thing I noticed about the stock flashlight compared to the app I was using, it was instantaneous as opposed to going through the system for permission. I use Do Not Disturb and WiFi daily, so being able to just bring up Control Center and toggle them makes it much easier to use. I also the calculator frequently and I use the Clock app for alarms. I listen to music almost all day every day. I also use Airplane Mode to be sure my phone reconnects to data properly after getting off work because I work in an area with poor to no reception. So having all these options right there as quickly as I want to use them is a great plus. I could do without the brightness though as I have my phone set to auto brightness. Even the layout doesn?t bother me.
Unless I missed it in iOS6, I really like the addition of the time lapse for music both in Control Center and on the lock screen. I?m fairly certain it wasn?t in iOS6 because there were many times I was uncertain how much time was left in a song and I wanted to know, but couldn?t see unless I opened up the music app. So again, the time lapse addition for me is a great plus. I also like the new lock screen and passcode lock. I missed it before, but I figured it out quickly, with notifications on the lock screen, there is a line that says swipe to open on the notifications. I really like this. Being able to open a specific notification that I want to read even if I missed it when it came in is amazing. I also really like being able to bypass all notifications if there aren?t any I want or need to read right away. I can simple swipe to unlock in the usual location and be taken to my homescreen.
As a musician, I write music pretty frequently and I like to record new bits of music with the Voice Recorder. And Voice Recorder got a very well designed new look in iOS7. It actually looks like it was meant to record things now, and also all my recordings are in a list under the recorder and I can scroll through them and if I want to record after listening to something I can just click the record button that?s still at the top of the screen. It?s brilliant. But one overhaul I?m not pleased about is the Notes app. I thought it was the lack of lines, but the lack of lines isn?t an issue with any other app I use, I think it?s more the hint of parchment for the background now that displeasing to the eye. Even with my fascination of parchment, I?m not a fan of the look.
The movement of Spotlight Search from the left of the homescreen to a swipe down is all right in my books. I used to accidently swipe into Spotlight Search all the time and I never use it. Now that doesn?t happen. Ever. I really like that. The new app switcher screen is great too, I had to figure out that swiping an app up closes it, but that was very quickly learned. I also like the snapshot view of apps, it?s better than it was iOS6 in my opinion. Same thing with the new tab view in Safari. Another great change was the Notification Center. I like the today view, but since I don?t use the stock calendar much, or any calendar for that matter, I?d prefer to be able to set new notifications as the main view. At least I?m able to leave it on the new tab so it?s not that bad. Having a quick view of the weather is nice as well.
The last thing I?ll touch on is the app icon design. The pictures in the squares are too big. Everyone knows this, everyone sees it. But some of them are all right as far as design. I don?t care for the new Newsstand icon or Game Center, whereas the new Voice Memo icon is a great change. I think it?s moving away from voice recording and showing that it?s okay to record audio with it as well. I?m also very happy to see the Calendar app showing the current date, this allows me to not have to go into Notification Center or lock my phone to see the date. I?m not sure what they were going for with the Passbook and Photos icon. I?m also not a fan of the new photos icon. A photo album picture would have been better than the very Game Center like picture. In contrast the new Contacts icon is great, the address book icon was outdated, not many people use address books anymore.
Overall, I think iOS7 was a great change and big step for Apple with things to come, like the new stock gestures. I love gestures so this is very welcome for me. My most used apps are gesture heavy apps. The less tapping I have to do the better. Even the lettered buttons don?t bother me. I agree with Apple that people are very familiar with touch screens now and don?t need to be shown where a button is. The more I play with iOS7 the more I like it and the less the bothersome changes are bothering me. In time it will just be iOS and we?ll have almost completely forgotten the old iOS look. I?m quite excited to see what iOS8 and beyond will bring to the system. These are exciting times in the mobile industry with fierce competition and Apple is still playing the game their best at. So while Apple isn?t at the top of the list of features, it doesn?t seem to be affecting iOS users or the sales of iOS devices. That begs the question, do people really want a phone with a long feature list?
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