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.