Apple’s iOS 7 became available to download for free yesterday and review roundups are starting to emerge. It seems only yesterday it was showcased at the Cupertino electronics maker’s WWDC in June and again at its iPhone release event earlier this month. But now that the next-generation mobile operating system is done crashing internet servers (hopefully), a handful of Apple’s new features, color schemes, and good times are just a touchscreen tap away.
The big updates for iOs 7 were the complete UI overhaul, the addition of male voice option for Siri, notification and command center access from the lock screen, iTunes Radio a more accurate Apple Maps, and much more. All of these will be available on the next-gen smartphone lineup of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, both of which will be consumer available tomorrow. But if you’re still wary, take a look at the review roundup and what the pros think of iOS 7 so far.
IGN: “iOS 7 is a notable leap forward for the platform — not just in terms of form, but function. Even with the significant design and feature improvements, however, there’s still room to grow. Apple still lags behind Google’s deep integration of unified cloud services on Android, and iOS remains somewhat of a tightly regulated ecosystem. With Apple’s recent leadership shakeups, hopefully future iterations will see more drastic expansions.”
ZDNet: “I personally called the latest operating system ‘an old soul with style and substance,’ despite my own concerns that Apple had somehow suffered a ‘mobile mid-life crisis’ amid its shockingly bright color schemes and vivid, almost fauvist iconography. ”
TechCrunch: “There’s a lot more going on in iOS 7, including new sounds, dynamic wallpapers, changes to the design of Calendar, Notes, Reminders and more, but the big shifts that go beyond new design are those listed above. There’s no question that iOS 7 will be a dramatic change from the iOS many users already know and love, but on balance it’s an update packed with plenty of new features that make using Apple’s mobile devices easier and more enjoyable.”
Ars Technia: “iOS remains an excellent operating system. Day-one availability of the update for all supported devices remains unparalleled in any other mobile OS. Developers who want to start using iOS 7-specific features can begin using them much sooner if they can assume that the software will make it out to most current users in short order, and this will keep the iOS software ecosystem vibrant. Version 7.0 has some new-release wrinkles that are going to need to be ironed out (battery life, occasional iPad stability problems, and iPhone 4 lagginess are the biggest issues), but Apple is typically good about identifying and addressing these kinds of problems.”
