MacMost Now 878: Looking Forward To iOS 7

The next version of iOS seems to be a big leap forward in looks and features. In addition to a whole new look for many of the primary apps, we'll see new features in Photos, Camera, Weather, Safari and other apps. You will be able to access iCloud Keychain password, have better compatibly with future cars, and be able to share files with nearby iOS users without a network. iOS 7 will come out this fall, most likely at the same time as a new iPhone or iPad.

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Video Transcript: Hi this is Gary with MacMost Now. On today's episode let's look forward to iOS 7.
iOS 7 is the next version of the operating system that runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It's going to have a whole new look now. It's going completely away from the look that it has had in all previous versions dating back to 2007.
It has a more flat look now. The icons are all going to be different for all the primary pre-installed apps, and each of the apps inside them is going to have this flatter look too with less skewomorphism having it look like some sort of real world object. It will be just a lot of white screens with lots of data and hopefully it will be very easy to read and navigate.
One interface change that we are going to see is something called Control Center. This is going to come up from the bottom of the screen. We have this now where you kind of look in your Recents list at the bottom at go over to the left and see some controls. But now these controls can come up and you have a lot more controls there to be able to access what is currently playing in Music for instance, brightness controls, and things like that on your iPhone.
Also we are going to have a new way that you switch between apps. There is going to be a different apps switching screen that shows you a preview of what's going on in that app. It allows you to flip through different screens to jump to an app. It's also going to come with some better multi tasking functionality that is going to be able to handle different apps running in the background better than it does now.
Some changes to some of the apps will be more than cosmetic. For instance the Photos app will have a new way to organize your photos. As you look through them you will be able to group them together by the date you took them, or by location. Also in the Camera app you are going to have a new square photo mode and also the ability to apply filters while you are taking photos.
A big new feature is going to be the addition of AirDrop to iOS. This will allow you to send files to other devices that are near by, directly communicating from device to device not requiring them to be on the same WiFi network or even the same cellular network, or connected to any network at all. The device need to be able to see each other. This is called WiFi Sideband, being able to use the WiFi capability of these devices to be able to go and see each other rather than seeing a primary network.
The upshot of which will be that when you are standing there next to somebody who has an iOS device and you want to send them something like a photo you can do it, you don't have to go and both log into a WiFi network or ask them their email address of anything like that. You will just be able to see them, send it to them, they accept it, and now they've got it.
Siri will get an upgrade with a new voice that sounds more human and also some new services like being able to access data in Wikipedia, do searches on Twitter, and even access some data in the Bing search engine.
Now iCloud Keychain is something I talked about in the last episode. Macs will be able to use this to enter in passwords and other information, like credit card numbers, into forms in Safari. You will be able to use this on the iPad and iPhone as well using iCloud Keychain and they should sync across.
This should have a big advantage over third party solutions like One Password which can't really do this on iOS because each app stands on its own.
iOS 7 also promises better car integration but you have to have a car that is compatible with it. So only new cars, probably next years models and the year after that, and probably only some models by some manufacturers will be compatible with this. But if you are lucky enough to have the right car your will be able to see you iPhone screen, or at least portions of it, on your car screen. So you can use Siri and your car screen to control things going on in your iPhone rather than having to actually pick up and look at the device.
So we already have with Find My iPhone the ability to track your phone, to be able to lock it, and even be able to wipe it remotely if somebody steals it. But iOS 7 will take that a step further because it is going to make it very difficult for somebody to wipe your phone. As a matter of fact wiping it normally should still give you control over it and they shouldn't be able to activate it as a new phone unless they know the old phone's password. 
We are going to see how this plays out. I'm sure some hackers will find someway to really wipe the iPhone but it is going to make it much more difficult and also it might make it more difficult to resell your iPhone because you are going to have to completely wipe it and unlock it before you give it to somebody else. You can't leave it all up to them.
So Apple is putting the iTunes radio service under new features for iOS. It is going to be for Mac and iOS and even Apple TV as well. This should be kind of a replacement for Pandora allowing you to have similar functionality. The difference might be which labels are assigned to which service. So Pandora may have an upper hand at first since they have been around longer. But you should be able to stream music based on just the basic criteria like a song that you like or an artist that you like or some preset stations. Then I'm sure this will be tied in nicely with iTunes allowing you to purchase music that you like.
So how about details. When will iOS 7 be out? Well Apple says this Fall, so late September to late December. But we may see some new iOS devices in that same time frame; new iPhones and new iPads. If so I'll bet that Apple puts iOS 7 on those pushing forward the release date, maybe even before Mavericks. So maybe October or November. Whenever they come out with new devices. That's when I think we will actually see it.
How much is it going to cost? Well Apple really hasn't be charging anything for iOS updates. In the past they have charged for iPod Touch users only but they have done away with that. So I would expect iOS 7 to be a free upgrade as iOS 6 was. 
What will it be compatible with? They say it's going to be compatible with the iPhone 4 and newer, the iPod Touch 5th gen or newer, and everything from the iPad 2 on. So everything that can currently run iOS 6 leaving out only the original iPad 1.
Lastly, how will you get it? Well you will get it through an update either through iTunes or directly to your iPhone and we will all know about it because every Apple site out there, including MacMost.com, will be talking about it when it comes out.
Hope you found this useful. Until next time this is Gary with MacMost Now.

Comments: 6 Responses to “MacMost Now 878: Looking Forward To iOS 7”

Robert

12 years ago

Will AirDrop work between an iOS device and Mac with AirDrop capability?

Gary Rosenzweig

Hard to say at this point. The problem would be that Mac uses a file system -- all files go into folders and you can see everything. iOS doesn't have a file system. Each app has its own document space. So sending a Pages document to iOS should put it in the Pages app document space, but what happens when you send a document that doesn't have a corresponding app on iOS? Be interesting to see if and if so, how, Apple deals with the major file handling differences between the two OSes.

Richard Greene

Like the features. Hate the sissy look of iOS7.

Allan Zhang

Agreed.

Ramo

Garry, will all features on ios 7 be available on all devices. It's just that I heard air drop won't be available on the iPad 3rd gen.

Right AirDrop uses device-to-device connections that require wifi "sideband" ability. That's built into the hardware. So some older devices just don't have it. Same for Macs and AirDrop.

Comments Closed.

MacMost Now 878: Looking Forward To iOS 7

Comments: 6 Responses to “MacMost Now 878: Looking Forward To iOS 7”

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