Re: What features do you think will be included in iOS 7?
Up-to-date app icons (not ‘live’) for weather, clock and calendar apps; default, and third party.
A dedicated dictionary app.
A dedicated weather app on iPad.
A dedicated calculator app on iPad.
Quick access to brightness on iPhone.
Quick reply for texts.
Scrollable folders (one big gaming folder, woo!)
More reliable iMessage sending and syncing infrastructure.
Clear all button in NC.
Per-app password (on/off option).
OS settings Siri commands (e.g. “turn off WiFi and Bluetooth”).
B&W edit option in photos app.
Ability to copy part of a text message.
Ability to cancel outgoing text before progress bar reaches the end.
Ability to cancel a-yet-to-read “Delivered” iMessage.
App direct-dev feedback: users can get help or provide bug or product feedback directly to the developer via their app page. Users messages appear for the developer in iTunes Connect and responses from the developer appear to the user as push notifications.
Silent glyph in status bar to inform the user their iPhone switch is set to silent.
System auto-merges iMessage convos for same person.
Mail icon read count badge updates automatically for e-mails which are read on another device. Currently you need to open the iOS Mail app to update the icon to get rid of the unread badge number, which is totally inconvenient.
A rethinking of some fundamentals. And I don’t mean the home screen. What The Verge calls dated with regards the consistent home screen layout for the last 6 releases of iOS I call good design. It’s simple, obvious, reliable and predictable. Toddlers to OAPs who’ve never used it before ‘get it’ in 10 seconds. It works incredibly well while looking the same. And therein lies Apple’s genius. So clever you don’t notice it. And you shouldn’t.
Since iOS 1.0 they’ve added to the home screen, multiple home screens, wallpapers, the ability to download, rearrange and delete apps, the ability to create, name, rename and dissolve folders, and the ability to search your whole phone. That’s no mean feat given that it appears as if the UI is invisible. It’s like they’ve added nothing. The Verge and the other vocal minority take all of this for granted. They wouldn’t admit this, but they are basically looking for a wizz-bang addition. And yet it’s that type of thinking that messes up a thing like a home screen. They are not looking for what’s really important: good design. They’d say they are, but they aren’t.
Could the home screen be improved? Of course. ‘How’ is the question. It’s not totally obvious. Flashing icons like Windows Phone are not the answer. And widgets are a joke. A lock screen is a lock screen is a lock screen is a lock screen. A weather app icon that updates hourly with the current weather and temperature would be an elegant solution to the request for slapped on widgets. It would be simple, seamless, and unobtrusive. And by keeping such a feature to a specific subset of apps (weather, clock and calendar apps) it ensures that millions of developers don’t get the opportunity of abusing it and ruining the perfect elegance of the iOS home screen. As many of them now try to do with regards their use of notifications.
Apple could easily add features all over the place on iOS, but I’m glad they add them systematically and thoughtfully. I’ve used Android for a few minutes at a time here and there, and that’s all it takes to realise just how right Apple nailed a lot of the basics. You take it for granted until you see it poorly executed. And that’s my list.