iOS 7

[WanderingTraveler]

I guess so, she just hates the ultra plain white design...says its got no character...i do think a light or dark theme would have been a nice option much like our WP8. Meh.

Add to that the fact that it screws up battery life...and you have a problem.

 

[Jazmac]

Downloading iOS 7 right now on our iPad Mini. Considering the change log, it appears to be a bigger update than iOS 5 and 6 combined.

To be honest, I'm actually excited about this.

If you like those "concept" videos for Windows Phone, you'll most likely like the IOS update. I found many of those concepts built into this update. As an aside, tracking Iphone 4s prices on Craigslist before the update, you could get one seemingly reasonable. Since IOS 7 dropped, those prices have jumped up. Never saw an update do that before.

 

[WanderingTraveler]

If you like those "concept" videos for Windows Phone, you'll most likely like the IOS update. I found many of those concepts built into this update. As an aside, tracking Iphone 4s prices on Craigslist before the update, you could get one seemingly reasonable. Since IOS 7 dropped, those prices have jumped up. Never saw an update do that before.

It's the effect of the iPhone 5 getting discontinued. And the update. I actually expected the 4S to be discontinued first due to the 5C.

 

[hagjohn]

The men in my office actually laughed when I handed their phones back to them, after I updated them. One guy actually though I was pulling a prank on him.

 

[WPmunkey]

My friend updated his iPad to iOS 7 and he hates it. It wasn't really designed with the iPad mini and iPad in mind.

How so? It works fine on my iPad 2 and iPod Touch

 

[Grimlock]

I upgraded my iPad and have been playing with the OS for several hours. I've got to say, in many ways it feels like amateur hour. It's like Apple put a bunch of amateur designers on it and failed to test usability properly. Or worse, they outsourced the bulk of it. There are violations of basic UX principles here, which is crazy because some of it was established years ago by Apple themselves.

I'd bore everyone with specifics, but suffice it to say, as a creative director I'd reject a good portion of what I saw. Not the core aesthetic, which isn't bad, but a lot of stuff related to usability and visual clarity. If you thought selecting and editing text was bad before, try it in iOS 7. Without a doubt, this release would have never seen the light of day under Jobs.

I think Microsoft needs to educate Apple in how to design a minimalist, typography-based OS. But, hey, from a marketing perspective it made the desired impact. Apple will never really admit fault, so we'll suffer until they fix some of this crap.

I was very excited with the announcement of ios7 initially because I was curious what they would do with a flat design. I had iOS before coming to WP8- so I had high expectations for an IOS refresh and very specific ideas as to what needed to be improved. I've been using ios7 on an iPhone 5 for the last few days and while I was initially impressed, I too share the feeling that it is amatuer-ish in some ways (considering how polished iOS has typically been).

I thought I was being too critical but the Anandtech review echoed many of my sentiments and articulated them better than I could have:

"There are some rough edges in iOS 7 that we simply haven't seen with iOS before as previous versions have largely been evolutions of the same basic starting point in 2007... I feel like the old Apple would've waited until the design was perfect before letting it out, while the new Apple is acutely aware of the competition that exists and is fine shipping and updating along the way".

I thoroughly explored the phone and ventured in to just about every menu testing as many functions as possible, and came away disappointed with the consistency and polish of the OS. Don't get me wrong, I found plenty I liked, but it simply didn't feel like the solid platform that it once was and instead felt more like android pre ICS era. Apple took one step forward and then half a step back.

One thing I found terribly annoying that was summed up nicely at anandtech:

"The downside is that after a few weeks of it, some animations are really just a lot more gratuitous than they need to be – after the thousandth time watching the tiles fly in or application zoom out into the multitasking interface you want it to just happen instantly. I have no doubt that iOS will go the route of OS X and Windows Phone and gradually increase the speed of these animations to make the platform feel faster."

I was so happy going back to WP8 because everything felt so snappy, fluid, and consistent. Hopefully Apple will speed up these animations by the time they release the iPhone 6.

There is really too much for me to ramble about, but one obvious issue was the control center. I was happy to see the addition of control center as it was long overdue but the implementation left a lot to be desired (I have a hard time believing Steve Jobs would have let this get out of the door). Control center is very cluttered and looks like a mess in my opinion. They could have ameliorated this problem by making it customizable- seems like a no brainer. The music controls never disappear whether or not music is playing and I find the bottom row of shortcuts to be puzzling. I have a hard time believing that many IOS users find those to be high priority shortcuts (except for camera). People want quick access to the camera but how is this better than the lockscreen shortcut and a homescreen icon? If WP 8.1 allows for quick toggle tiles (not shorcuts) that would be superior to control center. Also I had a lot of fun trying to use safari and accidentally pulling up control center when scrolling. The settings menu is still a mess- they had a chance to organize it but I guess that will have to wait. I really appreciate how well organized and simple the WP8 settings menu is (especially grouping background tasks separately).

If I purchased a 5S I think I would be excited by the new look of ios7 for a few months- but then I'd become board with a tired OS that deserves an overhaul that is actually new. I really wanted Apple to bring something new to the table.

 

[montsa007]

The men in my office actually laughed when I handed their phones back to them, after I updated them. One guy actually though I was pulling a prank on him.

You should have credited Tim Crooks for that one

 

[Grimlock]

I actually really like iOS 7! I don't like some of the icons (especially the phone icon...) but overall I think it's really good. I like the new features, especially the little touches like the layers effect.

I'm honestly trying to decide between the iPhone 5S or the Nokia 1520... obviously the 1520 stomps the iPhone in terms of hardware, but the software of the iPhone is very appealing. :/

Read: in my opinion

The 1520 will have a better camera, but as far as the SOC, GPU, etc the iPhone 5s is going to put up much better numbers than any WP8 phone. I personally think that doesn't matter unless you're into gaming, simply because WP8 will still feel faster because the animations aren't overdone!

 

[Fiona M]

A couple of my (guy) friends have stated IOS7 looks a little feminine now ... ---- Most likely because of the softer/pastel color palate??

One friend stated he'd prefer the darker/bolder colors like in WP.

Personally it looks to me as though they are marketing this color scheme to teenage girls. Not sure what they are thinking...

 

[montsa007]

Personally it looks to me as though they are marketing this color scheme to teenage girls. Not sure what they are thinking...

Maybe Tim Cooks is giving a hint towards something, he's umm kinda having you know, fancy & wild attraction towards guys?

 

[Jazmac]

Maybe Tim Cooks is giving a hint towards something, he's umm kinda having you know, fancy & wild attraction towards guys?

Man, you ain't right. ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[montsa007]

Man, you ain't right. ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am giving you this look currently.

 

[madhouse1616]

I don't think MS wants to take the wheel like Apple does. Apple started out as a hardware and software company ... I don't think MS is trying to kill the entire pc market by closing their os like Apple has always done. This article highlights why Apple was able to get away with their tactics ... Wal-Mart's iPhone prices undercut Apple's own - CSMonitor.com

 

[montsa007]

I don't think MS wants to take the wheel like Apple does. Apple started out as a hardware and software company ... I don't think MS is trying to kill the entire pc market by closing their os like Apple has always done. This article highlights why Apple was able to get away with their tactics ... Wal-Mart's iPhone prices undercut Apple's own - CSMonitor.com

That may happen once, twice, thrice but someday balls will be busted, and Miley Cyrus's video of Wrecking Balls will be played where the word wrecking will be replaced by busting.

 

[power5]

So far the only thing I have liked about iOS7 is the ease of enabling hotspots. Wonder what that means for people who are currently paying for the tethering plans? No one with an iPhone lives with me, so only going off the guy at work. Maybe we have tethering plans??? They did not have the ability on their phones before though.

 

[Psyk00]

Automatic brightness still doesn't work on my 3rd gen iPad. What the hell?

 

[WPmunkey]

Automatic brightness still doesn't work on my 3rd gen iPad. What the hell?

I know on my iPad 2 I think it's not working because the change is so subtle. Do you maybe have a case blocking a sensor? My case messes with that sometimes

 

[Psyk00]

No case. I doesn't work form the beginning.

 

[anony_mouse]

A couple of my (guy) friends have stated IOS7 looks a little feminine now ... ---- Most likely because of the softer/pastel color palate??

One friend stated he'd prefer the darker/bolder colors like in WP.

Do you hang out at the local Republican party office?

 

[psudotechzealot]

It's OK, but man I can't lie, those IPhone 5s sales, put a hole into my windows shape heart.