Massive makeover makes iOS feel new again
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The good: Apple iOS 7 gets a complete design overhaul and adds useful features like automatic updates to make everyday use easier. Long-overdue Control Center gives quick access to most-used features. AirDrop and iTunes Radio are excellent additions.
The bad: Besides the massively overhauled design and Control Center, there are few ground-breaking new features. The flat design concept favors space over information so you'll generally need to do more scrolling to get the info you need. Some new features aren't available for iPhone 4 and 4S users.
The bottom line: Provided you take the time to find your way around, iOS 7's new design makes it a compelling upgrade that completely transforms Apple's mobile OS.
With an interface that's remained more or less static since 2007, Apple needed to go big. With iOS 7, it did. Apple's latest update gives the mobile operating system a radical new look and some first-for-Apple features for iPhone and iPad fans, like quick-access system controls and notifications, automatic app updates, Apple's AirDrop file-sharing system, and the excellentiTunes Radio streaming music app.
The visual overhaul is a clean sweep that changes absolutely everything, from the typography and color schemes to multitasking and the typical icon and button shape across the entire platform. And we mean the whole thing -- from the Safari browser to the photo app, and even the design of the system settings screens.
While there are a few notable new features in iOS 7, the new interface is by far the most deeply felt and most profoundly changed of the batch. Apple's other new features do little to innovate beyond what competitors already have done, but make many everyday smartphone actions easier, and -- once people get used to the new look -- should breathe new life into a once-"stale" OS.
Design
Gone are the skeuomorphic interface elements that make icons and apps look like leather or paper or felt. Gone, too, are the 3D bubble-shaped icon effects. Flat graphics and a dappled, pastel color scheme bring an elegant look. New zooming animations feel sleek as you open and close apps. When you move your phone or tablet, 3D parallax effects make your wallpaper appear some distance behind the icons. The design takes some getting used to and not everyone will agree, but I like it. It makes my iPhone feel new and -- like a new wristwatch -- makes me want to keep looking at it.
Gone are the skeuomorphic interface elements that make icons and apps look like leather or paper or felt. Gone, too, are the 3D bubble-shaped icon effects. Flat graphics and a dappled, pastel color scheme bring an elegant look. New zooming animations feel sleek as you open and close apps. When you move your phone or tablet, 3D parallax effects make your wallpaper appear some distance behind the icons. The design takes some getting used to and not everyone will agree, but I like it. It makes my iPhone feel new and -- like a new wristwatch -- makes me want to keep looking at it.
Circles enter the design language, along with visuals that look nearly transparent, like a pane of glass. There's not much in the way of customization or themes, but your passcode and phone dialing screens take on the color of your background, which successfully ties the look together. The most important part of any deep design work is that it feel smooth and connected from screen to screen, and after some time spent with iOS 7, I do think it delivers an elegant overall experience.
One word of warning is that the overall look is completely different across the board, from the core Apple apps to more minor interface elements, and some will probably find the changes jarring at first. The important thing to note is that even though it looks completely different, it's still easy to pick up and use right away because the core functionality is largely the same. In other words, browsing in Safari is as easy as ever, but it looks a little different, and there are now extra tools on hand for sharing via AirDrop, and a smooth tablike browsing interface.
The home screen gets a whole new look (left) and a swipe upward brings up the Control Center.
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