Disclaimer: I’m a die-hard Android user, but I’ve been using iPhones on and off since the original iPhone (the 2G, not the 3G)
One of the main things that has nagged me about every update to the iOS operating system is that no matter how many new features Apple added, it still always looked more or less like the same interface that shipped with the original iPhone.
While rival operating systems like Android and Windows Phone were making great strides toward enhancing the user experience, iOS always felt like it was stuck in a time warp.
iOS 7 changes that. It still has the same icon-driven homescreen (no live data feeds like widgets or tiles, sadly), but the user interface in general looks a lot fresher and cleaner – not unlike Windows Phone. All of the chrome and 3D shading has kicked to the curb, and Apple has ditched the weird ‘leather-bound’ interface found in Game Center and Find my iPhone, as well as the cartoonish legal pad background in the Notepad app, in favour of a clean white background all the way through.
Changing the look and feel of iOS actually makes it seem like a new operating system, and it’s something that’s been a long overdue.
There’s a bunch of new features, too. The one that really resonated with me was the new Control Center. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen brings quick access to a variety of settings and controls, such as Wi-Fi, airplane mode, screen brightness and orientation lock. It also houses music playback controls and shortcuts to apps such as the Camera and Alarm.
Yes, Control Center smacks of Android, but it fixes one thing that used to always drive me crazy about iOS, and that was the fact that every time I wanted to turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on or off, I had to go back to the homescreen, tap on the Settings icon and then tap on the relevant setting. Now, a simple swipe up from any screen reveals all of the frequently-used settings.
The Notification Center has also been given an overhaul, and splits the window into three tabs: today, all and missed. I’m in two minds about this one. I certainly like the ‘today’ tab, which shows you the weather for the day, your calendar for today and tomorrow, and an estimate of how long it will take you to drive to your next meeting (very Google Now-like). But I think having notifications split between the other two tabs over-complicates it, as it adds an unnecessary step to viewing your notifications.
The multi-tasking view now shows preview screens for each app, which is good, and closing apps is now as simple as swiping them off the screen (very BlackBerry 10-like). I really like the new features in the Photos app, which lets you view your photos by location and date, and the new filters built into the Camera app are pretty cool (although they don’t compare to the ones available in Instagram).
There are many other small but neat features in iOS 7. A new AirDrop feature, which I haven’t been able to test yet, makes it easy to send photos and videos to other iOS 7 users. You can now block calls and messages from certain people in your contacts list, and apps can now automatically update in the background when you're connected to Wi-Fi.
After using iOS 7 for nearly two weeks, I’m surprised to discover that I don’t feel a need to go back to my Samsung Galaxy S4 at all. Most of the pain points that I had with iOS have been fixed, and I’m enjoying having access to iOS-only apps like Nike+, Foxtel Go and Tweetbot.
What I’m most surprised about, though, is that I don’t mind the iPhone 5’s smaller 4” display as much as I thought I would. I had become used to super-sized displays like the 4.8” display on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the 5.5” display on the Samsung Galaxy Note II, but the 4” display doesn’t feel like it’s too small, especially when it's married to the iOS 7 operating system.
That said, I think iOS 7 on a slightly bigger iPhone screen, say, 4.3”, would be magical, and I’m really looking forward to the iPhone 5S. For now, I’m going to keep on using my iPhone 5 as my everyday smartphone.
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