“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.
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