“It’s still iOS, after all these years,” Sascha Segan writes for PC Magazine. “Apple’s iOS 7 beta 3 is out, smoothing and stabilizing Apple’s new mobile operating system. It’s still far from being ready for consumers, but it’s also far from launch; I’m anticipating late September or early October, when the new iPhones and iPads come out.”
“The number-one thing that strikes me about iOS 7 is: it’s iOS. Most notably, it keeps iOS’s central metaphor of the app grid, which sets it apart from the other major operating systems,” Segan writes. “The new notifications center [is] a huge breath of fresh air. If I’m going to throw myself backwards into Apple’s arms like I’m doing some sort of corporate trust challenge, I want Siri to be whispering life lessons into my ear. That’s the chatty little “Today” panel, not just listing calendar events but telling them to you as a narrative, a story. An assistant. Maybe even a friend.”
Segan writes, “Other changes, similarly, extend but don’t shatter Apple’s existing strengths. Siri is more Siri, and she does more things. Safari is much better: faster, cleaner, with a better multi-window interface and finally a single search/navigation bar, which it should have had years ago… The visual redesigns are absolutely necessary… iOS 7 tries to balance the trend towards cleanness with Apple’s traditional parade of forever-marching icons, and does it well. I love the new design, especially the new slender fonts. iOS 7 is the first iOS really designed to take advantage of Retina screens… There’s nothing for [iOS users] to be afraid of here: iOS 7 is still iOS, just clearer, better-looking, and more convenient. They’ll get used to it quickly.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
Jony Ive changes his mind, thickens system-wide font in iOS 7 beta 3 – July 9, 2013
Is DuckDuckGo an option for search?
This would be a great option.
This is a company I can see Apple buying, if they ever decide to go into the search business.
Do you use it? What do you think of it?
There’s an app for that.
Am I the only one who dislikes the unified “search/navigation” bar? I find that often when I click within the bar, my cursor is set to “insert” text, not to “replace” the contents.
Elderly relatives are completely confused by the unified search/URL bar. A separate search box has significant advantages. For that reason alone I often use/recommend Firefox.
I see a continued loss of visual clues in the Mac and iOS interface. For example, with Safari’s tabs, the shades of grey are so similar that it is very difficult to tell which is the active tab.
I am not that fond of the unified search/navigation bar, either.
I cannot reproduce your “insert” problem, but surely Cmd-L is more reliable and faster than clicking.
My experience with technophobic relatives is exactly the opposite: they frequently type domain names into Google search (which is inefficient) or search terms into the URL bar (which is haphazard).
How do you execute Command+L on iOS?
Just asking.
I’ve managed to prefer it, to the point where I’m pissed if it ain’t there, like in Safari on the iPhone, so I’m very happy to hear that’s fixed in 7. And, verily, I’ve seen 90% of people go to the google home page, totally oblivious to the fact there’s a search entry either as part of the url field or separate.
This is an issue though. The fact that this is really still iOS as we’ve always known it.
Instead of ripping off WebOS with multi-tasking, they should have spent the time to redo Settings, a huge issue for me. Because that god damn Settings App sucks. It’s virtually identical to iOS 1. It’s a bloated mess to the point of being infuriating finding things.
There’re are so many settings buried in there and difficult to navigate to. They could have completely redesigned and reorganized this in a way that’s better. I have some ideas…
You do realize that about the only thing they took from WebOS was the little “card” views of the running apps, don’t you?
Pretty much everything about the way iOS 7 does multitasking is an evolution from concepts they already used and revolutionary thinking about coalescing operations and divvying up resources based on real-life usage patterns.
No. Wrong.
The entire multi-tasking in iOS 7 is ripped off from WebOS. Multi-tasking before iOS 7 was completely different.
In WebOS:
1. Swipe left and right to scrub between open applications: Cards with application views appear that represent the applications.
2. Swipe up on a card to quit that application.
In iOS 7:
1. Swipe left and right to scrub between open applications: Cards with application views appear that represent the applications.
2. Swipe up on a card to quit that application.
Before iOS 7:
1. Swipe left and right to scrub between open applications: Small icons in a dock at the bottom of the screen that represent open applications.
2. Hold and then tap the red circle on an App icon to quit that application.
It is a FACT that Apple copied WebOS. And you fanboys would be all over ANYONE if Apple had multi-tasking like WebOS first, and then somebody else came along and switched from a crappy way of doing it (pre-iOS 7), to the way it is currently.
And you’re the same people saying Apple should have a monopoly on names like “App” for their App Store or bloody shapes of icons. This multi-tasking is patented, and it’s much more involved than the shape of an icon or a name. Somebody invented this entire paradigm, and it was Palm, not Apple.
The hypocrisy and illogical bullshit you guys vomit is insane.
Thought I doubt facts will alter your anger much, for the benefit of others who read your diatribe please know that what “slimon” reports is not entirely accurate. Specifically, iOS supports multi-finger gestures on the iPad that allow switching between active apps without using the active app ribbon at all. You can turn on “Multitasking Gestures” in General settings, and then swipe left or right with four or five fingers to move between apps, with no small icons needing to be shown. iOS 6, that is. I don’t know how iOS 7 will handle this since it hasn’t been released/finished yet and anyone discussing it’s capabilities as it exists in beta form is dishonoring their word, agreement and contract with Apple to not do so.
Yup. He’d better be careful. Apple and the NSA are keeping close tabs on everyone. Especially him.
Your post contributes nothing.
It doesn’t change the fact that Apple COPIED WebOS outright with MULTITASKING. Nobody cares about full screen App switching. Apple completely replace their old crappy multitasking with the WebOS multitasking.
With this multitasking, users can view and QUIT open applications. That is the purpose of THIS feature. Any other features are irrelevant. Apple copied the multitasking feature from WebOS.
No amount of fanboy fog will change this fact.
Actually, for their task switcher, Palm ripped off Mobile Safari’s tab view, but thanks for playing anyway.
Palm did NOT rip off Mobile Safari’s tab view. Go and do your research.
Sorry, but yes they did. The WebOS multitasking view is identical to the Safari window switcher.
Go crawl back into your information age hole and do the research. Then come back and eat it.
Palm had this years before the iPhone, and so did Nokia and MS.
Oh and, with the VIEW bit out of the way, let’s move on to what’s really going on here.
You’re the same fanboy screaming bloody murder because somebody had icons that had a similar shape to Apple’s. And that Apple should “go get em!”. “Sue them!”.
And on here, you deny facts and reality because you’re a fanboy.
APPLE STOLE MULTITASKING FROM WEBOS.
Multitasking is a feature.
1. Swipe left to right to scrub through card views of OPEN applications.
2. Swipe UP to QUIT an application.
The feature was designed by Palm to give the user the ability to quickly scrub through open applications, and then quit the ones of their choosing. This method was much better than Apple’s horrible multitasking feature where a user would have to scrub tiny icons on the bottom of their screen. Then hold an icon to get them in a delete state. Then tap the close minus bottom on the desired applications.
Apple changed and moved to this COMPLETELY different multitasking feature, a feature ripped off from WebOS.
No amount of fanboy BS will take away from this. You will not deny facts or reality.
Who copied the Newton?
OK. So everyone else in the world hates the new skinny font…except Segan. Who’s right?
If you are looking at beta 3 you will note that the skinny font is not as skinny any more.
I thought the skinny font was cool.
Be happy you get it now stop complain.