All about cars and Apple

WWDC was very thrilling this year

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This year, Apple had a very exciting Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The announcements at the keynote were very remarkable, and included products, that amazed everybody. The most significant major unveilings were the redesigned flat iOS 7, the new Mac Pros, the new OS X Mavericks, and the updated MacBook Airs. But the star of the show was iOS 7.

iOS 7 defines a new beginning for Apple

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iOS 7 was the most exciting and anticipated announcement at the conference. It is completely new from the ground up, and as Apple said, “It’s the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone”. The design language is the most substantial update to the new operating system, but adding new features was not forgotten, luckily.

Even the logo is very minimalistic

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Starting with the design, it is now flatter, courtesy of design guru Jony Ive, who leads the iOS team. He has removed skeuomorphism, the imitation of real-life objects that Apple popularized earlier. iOS 7 uses a whole new color palette, and includes more black and white elements. Translucency is seen throughout various elements of the operating system.  You now have the option of dynamic wallpaper, and the parallax function allows you to tilt the device to move the wallpaper. This introduces an unmatched level of refinement to user interfaces.

Useful Additions

Control Center allows you to access settings quickly

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At last, Apple has added some form of quick toggles. They were seriously kind of late to the game on this, especially since Android has offered this for a while now. Apple calls their quick settings panel Control Center. You just swipe up from anywhere within the OS, and it reveals a handful of settings, including Airplane Mode, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Flashlight, and more.

AirDrop lets you share files wirelessly among friends

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AirDrop is another notable addition. This has trickled its way down from a feature introduced in OS X Lion. You can locally share files via Bluetooth with another iOS device, without the need for a network connection, though Wi-Fi still works effectively. You can control who AirDrop can work with, be it everyone, your contacts, or nobody at all. Supported devices include iPhone 5, iPod touch (5th generation), iPad (4th generation), and iPad mini.

Multitasking’s new card layout looks great

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Multitasking has been improved too. The interface displays a new card view with a preview of each open app, and you can just close each one just by swiping the card up. In addition to revamping the aesthetics, there is a new “Intelligently scheduled updates” feature. This knows when you use certain apps. For instance, you might check your favorite sports app everyday at 4 PM. It will automatically have the content for the specific app updated and ready to rock.

Internet Services

Siri can do more for you now

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Siri gains a whole new level of functionality. Twitter and Wikipedia are more tightly integrated. Siri relies more heavily on Bing now, since Google and Apple have been known to be foes. Now you can toggle settings with your voice; you can say, turn Bluetooth on, and your request will be acknowledged by Siri. Siri speaks with new male and female voices, which you can customize in Settings.

iTunes Radio lets you customize stations, just like Pandora and such

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iOS 7 takes on Pandora and others, with its new iTunes Radio music service. This is a free music service with ads, but you can bypass ads if you are an iTunes Match subscriber, which is $25 a year. You can categorize your favorite music and pick stations. If you appreciate a certain song, you can choose to purchase it with one click. You can choose to never play songs you hate, which I know some people will love.

Safari is much cleaner and more elegant

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Safari and the App Store gain new functionality, too. Safari has a unified search field, new tab view, fullscreen browsing, and iCloud keychain, which remembers passwords for your accounts. In the App Store, apps update automatically. You can also view what apps are popular based on your current location, and apps can be sorted by age rating.

Cool Features

Filters add a nice touch to your pictures

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Camera and Photos add more collectible features. For instance, you can now add filters to your pictures, to give them a beautiful sensation. There’s even a square mode for those Instagram shots. You can just swipe between the four camera modes, video, photo, square, and panoramic. Photos can intelligently organize your pictures into collections, moments, and years. Friends and family can now contribute to your iCloud shared photo streams.

iOS in the Car lets you use special features onscreen

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iOS in the Car allows you to integrate features of iOS onto your dashboard. This will only work with select new cars. You can use phone, navigation, messaging, music, and more. Connection works via USB or via AirPlay over Wi-Fi. It is available on iPhone 5 or later. This feature initially rolls out in 2014.

The lock screen is much simpler now, and you may notice the translucent effect of Notification Center

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As you can see, iOS 7 is an incredible update to Apple’s faithful mobile operating system. It’s great in both design and features. The newly renovated operating system is coming this fall. You can download iOS 7 on iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad (3rd generation), iPad (4th generation), iPad mini, and iPod touch (5th generation). I personally cannot wait to download iOS 7, and I may even consider picking up the next iPhone, which will probably have some killer features to complement iOS 7.

UPDATE 7/14/13: To add the iOS 7 promo video done by designer Jony Ive and engineer Craig Federighi.