Archive: Business & Technology

Wednesday Apple released the long awaited iOS 7.  iOS 7 is the new operating system for compatible iPhones, iPads and iPods.  iPhone operating systems are typically released a few days before Apple begins shipping new versions of the iPhone, and this one is no exception.  iPhone 5S and 5c are available in Apple stores as of 8am today, so the new iOS was released Wednesday. 

But you don't need a new iPhone to get iOS 7 and its new features.  If you have an iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPod touch 5th generation 16GB, iPod touch 5th generation 32GB/64GB, iPad 2, iPad with Retina display, or iPad mini iOS 7 will work on your device.    And the look and feel of the operating system is different enough that just getting the free upgrade almost feels like getting a whole new phone.


Joni Ive's new design has created quite a buzz in the tech press over the past several months because it favors flat design including simplified app icons and flat looking controls that favor white and black.  I didn't know how I would respond to them, but after almost a minute I decided I like them.  Maybe it's my age and what happens to aging eyes, but I find text more legible and graphics in iOS 7 easier to see.

If you see this error wait a while and try again. It just means that you had the idea to download iOS 7 when everyone else did and Apple's servers are overwhelmed.As has happened with past iOS releases, the Apple servers were overwhelmed Wednesday with the volume of people who wanted the new phone operating system as soon as it was available.  I downloaded and installed it in the sweet spot for early adopters, around 4pm -- soon after it was first released but before people in Eastern time got off work.  The download took about 11 minutes and a few minutes later my phone had a new look.

The lock screen has been expanded.  Now you just swipe anywhere on the screen to unlock, a feature I am loving, since my bug thumb could never quite swipe the little unlock widget right in iOS 6.  Now I can unlock the phone without even looking.  That is definitely an improvement.

My immediate favorite new feature is 'Control Center'.  For a long time now you could swipe from the top down to see alerts in Notification Center including upcoming events, weather, stock quotes or whatever you wanted to include in Notification Center.  In iOS 7 you swipe up from the bottom to open Control Center, which has shortcuts to controls like airplane mode, wifi, bluetooth camera, volume and backlight, among other features you want to access quickly.  You can start and stop music, change screen brightness, and even set AirPlay to tell what device you want the music to come out of (such as an Apple TV).

However swiping up is not as effortless as swiping down.  I found that if I start to the left of the Home button (the round button below the touch screen) and swipe up into the touch screen I have the most consistant luck in getting the Control Center to display.

A flashlight that turns on the led next to your camera lens (that is also used for flash photography) is included in Control Center.  I was looking forward to that flashlight -- I had been using a separate flashlight app, but I had to fumble to find it on your phone, usually with my hands full.  Now I just swipe up and touch the flashlight icon, and -- to paraphrase the song, it lights up my life.  Fewer apps, I am finding, makes for a simplified life.  I have three and a half screens of apps, so you can take that with a grain of salt.

I am trying out Dynamic Wallpaper on my Home Screen.  At the moment there are different colored bubble designs, so you choose the color you want for your home screen.  When you tilt your phone the bubbles move.  I am not sure whether I am going to like this or be annoyed by it.  if the latter I can choose one of my own pictures later.

Most of iOS 7 is like earlier versions, so there is virtually no learning curve if you had iOS 6 or 5.  But there are some differences that may be confusing at first.  Perhaps the hardest to figure out is closing apps entirely.  In iOS 6 you would double click the Home button and a line of icons would appear at the bottom of the screen with little circles with Xs in them.  Touch the X and the program would close.  In iOS 7 you still double click, but now you see screen shots of the open apps.  You have to slide the screen shot of the app you are closing upward.  It disappears, closing the program.


The Calendar app also has notable changes.  The key to seeing the different views -- year, month, day -- is a link at the upper left.  If you are in Day view touch the September link (of course it changes for the month you are viewing).  Or the year link in the same location to see a twelve month view.  You can also swipe up, down, right, or left to go to different months, weeks, or days as the case may be.  Rather than separate pages you have the feeling on one big honking calendar that you can just scroll around in.


The camera app now has filters.  this idea came from a number of third part camera apps, and Apple's version is a simple one with nine filters available.  I like the way different manifestations of the camera -- video, photo, square and panorama -- are laid out and easy to switch.

When iOS 6 was released I tried Siri.  I didn't like her.  She had an edge to her that smacked of bad attitude.  I am told she has been improved in iOS 7 -- that her voice is more natural and her abilities are improved.  When I turned her back on this morning I didn't find her that able.  I asked what movies are playing in Lansing and she said she found some movies (and displayed them on the screen) but added, "They are quite far from Lansing."  So I asked, "Where are they?" And the answer was a Web search that included results like "Where Are They Now? and "Cheers: Where are they now?"

I don't know if the voice sounded more human because it has been so long since I last used Siri.  So I gave her a sex change.  Actually the new Siri can use a male voice as well as female -- you choose.  Boy Siri wasn't any smarter about local movies.  And I don't think using Siri is that hands off.  If I am driving I would like to just say "Siri" and have her chime to let me know I can ask her something.  Instead I have to press and hold the Home button or lift the phone to my ear (which didn't seem to work initially).  So I turned him/her back off.

Do you have to upgrade?  Nope.  If you love iOS 5 there is no reason not to keep it.  For me, though, if the only new feature were Control Center I'd say it would be worth upgrading.  And that's not the only feature I like after only one day.  You may or may not like the new look.  I like it because I think it is more readable.  Should you upgrade now?  iOS 7 doesn't take much more space on your phone than iOS 6 and I have noticed zero performance hits.  So I'd say sure, go ahead, but given the download problems many people had Wednesday it might be a good idea to wait a couple of days for the downloading frenzy to die down.

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