First of all, my name is Lance. I'm a junior developer at a firm that I won't reveal right now because I like making a mockery of others online and I'd rather my actions not be associated with them. I am a long time windows Phone user, I have been using it since the initial release of the HD7 that I waited in a very, very short line for in the busiest store in the Austin area. and am currently rocking a Lumia 1020 and a Surface RT to compliment it. I also have a Nexus 4 for Android purposes in development and an iPhone 4, well, that is until yesterday. We received 6 5s units from Apple for development purposes and our apple team is only four people so we had two in a raffle. I jokingly entered being the absolute hater of iOS I was. The boring UI, the static icons. It's only saving grace prior to iOS 7 in my eyes was the sheer number of games on the platform. My iPhone 4 had been reduced to nothing but a machine to play Infinity Blade on, even my two year old had lost interest in it and turned his eyes towards my Surface RT. I fully believe that iOS has not innovated since Slide to Unlock which was arguably released on a few select Windows Mobile phones prior to that. I thought there was no way Apple could make a redeeming quality OS and then I won. Okay, Craigslist fodder, yay. Or so I thought.
I'd like to say, I still don't feel Apple can innovate, they still have not brought anything new to the table. This time, they just stole well. Most everything on the new iOS is a bastardized version of something that another OS has had for awhile. The beauty of iOS is it's ability to stitch together this Frankenstein's monster of a phone and make it where it would be able to function and even impress at times. Hell, it's even somewhat appealing to the eye and that's something the iPhone has never had going for it on the software front. It really is quite impressive what the hipsters at Cupertino have been able to come up with. So, well, here goes my little half-assed review and bear in mind that I'm half-asleep writing this.
Hardware:
Honestly, the hardware brings nothing new to the table. Apple continues to fail at excelling on all fronts aside from the GPU in terms of specs which, as both they and Windows Phone have proven, are not necessary if you actually optimize your OS (I'm looking at you Android and I would be at BBOS but no one looks at BBOS) Don't think I am saying this is a low quality device by any means. It is an expertly crafted phone with quality materials and it truly feels like each individual iPhone was put together by hand (Likely in a sweat shop in a third world country) to make sure that each part fit together flawlessly. My only complaint is that I've seen two people already try scanning their finderprint as they pick it up grabbing it solely from the bottom and dropping the phone as it flips from the top. It's a beautiful piece of machinery that I think only Nokia can rival in terms of quality.
Software:
I cannot tell you how many people updated their iPhones and thought it was a joke. This is not the iOS that I originally toyed with back in 08, who knew they'd ever update their archaic and hideous design? Sure, the new OS looks a little cartoony but it is a phenomenal step in the right direction. I know the colors are a bit too soft pastel but don't let that dissaude you, the fact that the iPhone only has one button on it's face is now finally okay with all of the gestures. The fact that the eye tracking actually works unlike the gimmicky S4 is great too, I thought it was a bit funny when I heard about it but it really does add a whole new dynamic layer to the UI creating a more 3d effect than the 3d evo ever did. The new camera UI is actually usable and quite good. It doesn't have the array of options I'm used to and certainly doesn't hold a candle to my Lumia 1020 in terms of quality but the shots are solid, it has the best panorama feature I've ever utilized on a smartphone and overall it's certainly usable. The new music player and the new Siri UI were both a pleasure to use and finally felt like an extension of the OS rather than another app.
Where Do I Think It Can Improve?
First of all, offer some kind of option for people who don't want a feminine phone. I like the UI but it's certainly affeminite. Second, pretty much every old app needs to be reconsidered to create a more unified experience across the OS. It should be made easy for developers to transition from your awful old menu styles to something that feels like an extension of the OS. Third, I'd love some sort of activity on the screen. It's all so static and dull. And FINALLY, innovate. Apple has not done anything innovative in years and that is sad coming from the hipster and geek company rather than us nerds for Microsoft. I know Apple has it in them but please, just brind something new to the table.
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