I ’ve accomplish the hat trick of iOS equipment ownership — I have an iPhone , iPad , and iPod touch — so , clear , I love the program . But like others , I ’ve long been disappoint with some of iOS ’s weakness . That ’s why I found this week ’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote so electrifying .
In hisiOS 5 previewduring Monday ’s WWDC tonic , Apple executive Scott Forstall highlight just ten of 200 features slated for this fall ’s iOS update . And with many of those change addressing the operating system ’s glaring weaknesses , I ’m confident thatiOS 5will wind up being the serious affair to find to Apple ’s peregrine o since its creation .
The iPhone and iPad were indisputably revolutionary gimmick . I do n’t fault Apple for needing meter to picture out how to perfect matter . iOS 5 seems to be focused on correct wrong , taking great footstep on usability , and focus intimately on the exploiter experience . Of of course , focusing on substance abuser experience is at Apple ’s essence , but Io 5 happen upon me as exemplifying a dramatically rekindle interestingness in that pursuit .
Notification elation
Far and forth , the grownup annoyance in the post - push warning signal iOS human beings is the manipulation of notice . Those dopey blue alert boxes slip focus from whatever you ’re doing and require fundamental interaction . They interrupt me , they jumble my kids , they block my video playback … In short , they stink . iOS 5 may not reinvent how to wield mobile notifications — it clearly take some cues from previous implementations on Android and elsewhere — but Notification Center will be a welcome and incontestable melioration to the iPhone and iPad experience . In fact , prognosticate Notification Center an melioration is akin to shout the iPad an improvement on the computer .
Notification Center — pair off with iOS 5 ’s floating streamer qui vive — redefines what it mean to get notified on iOS , and removes all the defeat from that process . The lock screen integration is also brilliant : New notifications will stack up on your lock screen if they come in while your machine is numb . do the “ swipe to unlock ” motion on an alerting , and you ’ll launch the appropriate app in a flash . It ’s wonderful .
There ’s still some details to knead out , like how to hit honest-to-god notification . And , as with all variety , there will be a point of genial adjustment as we stop looking for the speechless blue box and look for the floating banner or else . But on the whole , the new notification system of rules seems as well thought out as the old system was n’t .
Camera ready
The iPhone 4 make a great pocket camera . ( The iPad 2 ’s cameras are ludicrously bad and I try not to think about them . ) iOS 5 promises to make telling — and at time surprising — pace in the camera ’s overall usableness and power .
WhenApple introduced multitasking to iOS 4.0 , I thought the only real downside was the loss of my darling camera shortcut . Before double - tapping the house button was bind to bringing up the multitasking bar , you could configure that shortcut to plunge the Camera app forthwith . orchard apple tree set about to restore the power to set up television camera rapidly in iOS 5 with a Modern take on that old approach .
On your iPhone ’s curl screenland in iOS 5 , double - tapping the Home release will expose a television camera push to the right of the “ slide to unlock ” stripe . tap that button immediately launches the photographic camera app . ( This will work even if you practice a passcode to mesh your phone , but you wo n’t be able to review other photos or exit the Camera app without entering your codification . ) I appreciate that Apple want to make it sluttish to take pictures faster , because I hate miss pic ops while suffering through the “ tap Home to wake , glide to unlock , tap Home button to get to main menage screen , tap Camera image ” dancing . iOS 5 ’s shortcut knock off peradventure a sec off that appendage , but that can intend the difference between the everlasting guess and another instant excision .
I ’m also delighted that Apple will satisfy a wish of mine byallowing the manipulation of the volume button to take photographs . If you ’re unclear on how tap a hardware clit could be better than tapping the on - screen shutter ascendance , it ’s simple : reckon tapping the viewfinder of your unconstipated camera every time you want to lose it a photo . It ’s much easier to hold your phone unfluctuating and press the volume button than it is to bear it steady while you poke at the screen . Like its rethinking on the iPad ironware switch drama , Apple ’s about - case on repurposing the volume button is a smart , client - friendlychange .
Other anticipate television camera niceties — like the ability to enhance and tweak photos on your iOS machine , post them directly to Twitter without launching a separate Twitter app , and wirelessly synchronise them via iCloud — are all similarly awing . These are my favorite kinds of updates : Apple is taking process that were already well-fixed , and do them simple , more streamlined , and even more fun .
Send in the clouds
Like how I just tucked my first iCloud point of reference into an appositive phrase just a paragraph ago ? That was kind of jerky of me , cave in just how biz - changing iCloud isfor the iOS experience . ( It ’ll revolutionize the Mac experience too , but that ’s another article . )
No one — no one!—likes the current approach for transfer file between iOS gimmick and your Mac . Thus , even though iCloud ’s magic , inconspicuous syncing of your data point will completely invalidate my own prolonged tutorial on just how to plow such file transfer of training , I ’m happier than Steve Wozniak in a Segway showroom .
Tweak a file on your Mac ; it will be available and update seamlessly on your iPad . You ’ll note that — make unnecessary one Proto-Indo European - in - the - sky wish for system - all-encompassing audio transcription — iCloud as described Steve Jobs Monday satisfiesevery last one of my goals for synchronize . It ’s inconspicuous , available to third - party developers , and stand for never needing to get behind a blast file into the iTunes File Sharing box again . And it keeps your contacts and calendar in sync , too .
iCloud also makes gadget syncing a lot better . Download an app on your Mac , and it ’s automatically instal in your iOS equipment . And while iOS 5 ’s cord - cutting is n’t quite an iCloud feature film , it ’s likewise wonderful : Syncing your iOS gimmick without need to secure it into your Mac is in spades an splendid rising slope .
Because of what it means for sync , I love iCloud even before we get towhat it means for music .
System-wide subtlety
A while back , I offer up awish list of subtle betterment for the iOS , and many of them should make an appearance in iOS 5 .
First , iOS 5 endure file delta — meaning you only need to download patches for app and iOS update , not download the full , larger version of such files . And autocorrection in Io 5 seems notably voguish based on what we ’ve get word about the current developer preview .
Inline dictionary definition are helpful — and mean third - company developer can stop sweating their own . The optional stock split keyboard is great when you ’re holding the iPad in script , though I wish that I could save one setting for portraiture ( split ) and another for landscape ( normal ) .
What’s app with that
Most of Apple ’s new and updated apps in iOS 5 are also solid stunt woman and triples . Remindersisn’t fantasy , but it looks clean and sports iCloud magical syncing . Initial reports from developers using the iOS 5 genus Beta suggest that iMessage works very well , and near - transparently , with pernicious visual cue on the iPhone to distinguish between even texting and iMessage correspondence . Safari tab key ( on the iPad ) will be not bad , and Safari Reader ’s plausibly going to stop up more useful on the iPhone than it is on the Mac .
But really now , let ’s be serious : If my biggest complaint about iOS 5 is that there ’s an unwanted pamphlet I ca n’t remove , then clearly the young mobile operating system is in pretty becoming shape .
More annoying than Newsstand , to me , is one of Mail ’s many tweak . Most of the herald update to Mail come across me as top - notch — full - text searching , racy text formatting , and a cagey swipe to discover the inbox drawer on the iPad in portrait mode . I dread that one new feature , though — one that some have clamored for — will make my Mail experience worse . In implementing the ability to flag message in Mail , Apple seems to have done away with the “ Mark as [ un]read ” connexion upon which I ’ve grown to rely , patently hide it behind a second spigot .
I like it, I really like it
The iPhone and iPad are enceinte twist . They ’re visceral and usable and effective . iOS 5 refines huge belt of the iOS substance abuser experience , turning good to cracking , operable to drool - worthy . The features Apple preview at WWDC generally fall into one of two categories : feature we ’ve begged , screamed , and waited impatiently for , and awesome material we did n’t even know we want . Apple say that iOS 5 wo n’t land until downslope , so this is one year I ’ll finally root for summertime to pass by quickly .
[ Lex Friedman is a stave writer for Macworld . ]
