6 overlooked new features of Apple’s iOS 7

“Apple fans have read all about the most exciting features of iOS 7, the soon-to-be-released mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch,” Jill Duffy reports for PC Magazine.

“Many of us are already familiar with the redesigned interface, AirDrop being added, the completely updated Notification Center, as well as some much-needed changes to photos, multi-tasking, and the control center,” Duffy reports. “But there are a few overlooked features of iOS 7 that I think are worth pointing out. They may not be as visually sexy as the new design, but they all drastically improve overall experience of owning an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.”

6 overlooked new features of Apple’s iOS 7
1. Limit Ad Tracking
2. Do Not Track in Safari
3. Blocking Numbers for Phone, Messages, FaceTime
4. Auto Close Captioning and Subtitles
5. Apps Popular Near Me
6. Preset Maps for Walking or Driving Directions

Read more in the full article here.

51 Comments

  1. What exactly does ‘Do Not Track’ mean? I suspect this is just the limp request to advertisers who care. Do any advertisers care?

    I’d like a way to directly block, or optionally remove all tracking cookies in Safari for iOS. I can easily do it on my Macs via shareware tools. The closest thing to it on iOS is to surf the net inside an app whose purpose is to block Tracking Cookies, which is not a happy compromise at times.

      1. Excellent! TY!

        Meanwhile on my Macs, I can set how often to dump all my tracking cookies and all cookies from unapproved websites automatically after any period of time I choose. I typically use 30 minutes because nasty Google kill off your login if you delete their Tracking Cookie. 😛

        The application I’m using is the shareware application ‘Cookie’. The developer is working on a way to do the same in iOS 7.

        1. The developer sells Cookie either way. I bought it via the Mac App Store. But you can get it via his site as well. The only difference is that updates from the Mac App Store are slightly delayed by Apple for vetting. I had trouble once downloading and installing an update from the website whereby the Mac App Store then freaked the next time I tried to update from Apple instead. My understanding is that this problem has been solved.

      2. I assume Apple’s iOS browser is subject to taking on LSO “super cookies” (local shared objects) – that “regular cookie removal” doesn’t touch.

        (I use the “Better Privacy” add-on in FireFox to remove these on my PC).

        Any equivalent for iOS??

      1. Exactly! That’s one I like to use. Others are around for Mac. Others are on the way for iOS.

        I also use:
        – Do Not Track Me (Do Not Track Plus on other browsers)
        – Those, ahem, not to be mentioned here ad blocking thingies.
        – WOT – Web of Trust
        – JavaScript Blocker (to which I donate).

        Then toss on the ‘Cookie’ app and that is my current arsenal for dealing with the Internet MY way. There are plenty of other apps and odds and ends to use, depending upon your browser.

  2. Numbers 1and 2 are already parts of iOS 6, though not publicized. Limit Ad Tracking is “hidden” in General > About > Advertising, whereas it belongs under Privacy settings. As for Safari, surfing in Private mode automatically enables Do Not Track, which is probably why PBS.org pop-up messaged me to turn off Private Browsing to watch their videos.

        1. I suspect he is referring to the insane number of different ways MDN gets advertisements in your face.

          I’m learning the best way to limit MDN advertising is to read their mobile site on your iPhone. Then you get only one ad per article.

    1. I have a contact in my iPhone named “Do Not Answer”, it has 125 entries, and counting. Making it so my phone doesn’t even ring when those a–holes call would be so fabulous.

  3. If I had a change-the-Internetagic wand I would wave it and magically teach all bloggers that “drastic” connotes not only large, but negative effects. Use “dramatic” if its large and positive, or the more common “huge, serious, wide-ranging” or essentially anything else. But “drastic changes” used to reference sometjinarge and good just makes you look like an imbecile and makes the educated among us enjoy your writing less…

    1. “sometjinarge” = ?

      “Drastically” versus “Dramatically”: I’ve attempted to contact Jill about this egregious abuse of adverbs, but either my Twitter account isn’t working properly, or she overlooked my enquiry on your behalf as utterly trivial, perhaps even wrong.

    2. Drastic means exactly:
      “likely to have a strong or far-reaching effect; radical and extreme.
      “a drastic reduction of staffing levels”
      synonyms: extreme, serious, desperate, radical, far-reaching, impactful, momentous, substantial
      antonyms: moderate”

      There is nothing in the definition that says it has to be negative. I believe you are applying your own incorrect defenition to the word.

      1. Note the use of violent and severe in this Random House definition. Neither word has positive connotations:

        dras•tic (ˈdræs tɪk)

        adj.
        1. acting with force or violence; violent.
        2. extremely severe or extensive: drastic cuts in spending.
        [1685–95; < Greek drastikós efficient, drastic]

      2. Definitions have fungibility. 🙂 Keep in mind that common usage changes the meaning of words. “Fact” originally meant “thing done” or “deed.” (The usage still shows in the legal phrase “after the fact.”) My great aunt described herself as “gay” in the 50’s; she’d find that a pejorative now.

        1. ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

          ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

          ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.’

  4. I for one, can’t wait for this update. I don’t see why so many people are hating on this. This looks fine, and I know Jony I’ve and Tim Cook are doing their best to make this work. At least it isn’t blindingly colorful like Windows 8

  5. Ms Duffy also says she is “not a fan” of the screwed up Apple Maps app with good reason. All of the bullshit “features” of this latest iOS don’t compensate for the removal of street view and public transit directions and the glaring inaccuracies that still plague Apple maps. No amount of MDN’s apologist rhetoric can justify the way Apple has screwed their customers since iOS 6 was introduced. Operating system upgrades are supposed to ADD features, not take them away.

        1. The important thing for people like me—and I expect there are quite a few direction-challenged and even sensory-deficient people—was the availability of clear, spoken turn-by-turn directions.

          Google held that out from Apple’s Maps App, preserving its own Android advantage…plainly because Apple had refused Google clear access to user location and other personal data.

          Apple’s solution to Google’s intransigence was to ditch Google maps unceremoniously. The result was an alarmingly rapid makeup app. We all won with that sequence of events: consumers got a greater choice of maps; Apple protected user privacy rather than giving in to Google; and Google still can skim off the ad dollars from its iOS app users—just not by default.

          The only losers in the aftermath were those who were just fine with the original setup. I want to remind those folks that it wasn’t all fine with others, like me, and that Apple evidently cares about all its users, not just the 18-35 healthy and active demographic group that represents the ad target cluster.

        2. Gotta love Free Enterprise!

          (OK, in light of the current attitude towards a market-based economy, I was only kidding, as too many don’t love it. However, the term ‘Gotta love Socialism….or else’ really didn’t seem to apply to (y)our situation)

        3. Sorry but the Google maps app is not “better” than the native Apple maps app in iOS 5.1.1. Unless you upload all of your contacts to Google, the app can’t access your contact information.

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