The newest operating system to grace the iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch, called iOS 5, is available for free download from the 12th October. It brings with it many new features including a rival to BlackBerry Messenger and a fresh outlook at how notifications are received.
Notification Centre
Currently when a notification comes through it completely interrupts what the user is doing. Whether writing a message or email, or playing a game. This has now changed with only a small bar appearing at the top of the screen for a moment before disappearing when the user has had enough time to read the preview. The full Notification Centre can be accessed with a simple swipe downwards from the top of the screen. The Notification Centre can of course be customized to show whatever the user wants to see- whether you want to see share prices, local weather and the usual of notifications from messages, mail, Facebook and Twitter.
iMessage
iMessage is available to all users running iOS 5 by being built into the current messaging app and is Apple’s rival to BlackBerry Messenger. Messages from and to users running iOS 5 will appear in blue instead of the usual green to establish the difference between the two. Choosing between sending a text and an iMessage is done automatically. If the recipient is running iOS 5 then the message will be sent as a free iMessage. Delivery reports are also included and an icon appears to show when the recipient is typing a new message. Another feature of iMessage is that a conversation can be started on one iDevice and be carried on using another.
Reminders
With a whole range of third party to do list apps available currently, Apple decided to create their own. It is very simple to use- just choose what to be reminded of, set a time and date, and you’re done. It will appear within the Notification Centre just like any other, with an alarm set if desired. The new Reminders app can also be used with GPS software. For example if you’d like to be reminded to buy milk when leaving work, as soon as you leave the location the notification will pop up to remind you! This providing you have work as a contact in your address book of course.
Twitter integration
Quite simply, when signed into Twitter, it is available system wide. Whether browsing online and wanting to Tweet a page, or after taking a picture. Simply bring up the menu bar up and link directly to Twitter with a location if desired.
Safari
Reader is a new feature of Safari, which is currently being used on the new Mac Lion OSX. It enables the user to save webpages to read later, offline. The reading list is kept synced between all iDevices linked to a single Apple account. So save a page on your Macbook and read it on the train on your iPad.
Camera
First of all the camera will now be accessible from the lock screen. Simply press the home button twice when the iPhone is locked and an icon appears next to the slider that can be tapped to open the camera. And if your phone is locked with a passcode then never fear a password will still be required to access anything else on the device. Another new feature that will make taking photos that little bit easier is that the volume up button on the side of the phone can now be used to take the photo. Photos can also be edited within the device for the first time, with the ability to crop, reduce red-eye and auto enhance photos. All the better for that ever important quick Tweet!
Wi-Fi Sync
iOS 5 lets the user sync devices wirelessly to the PC or Mac that they are connected to. This is done through WI-Fi and is also done in the background so the device can be used fully whilst the sync is going on.
iCloud
Last but by no means least is iCloud. One of the biggest hassles about having all these shiny Apple toys is backing them up. And now Apple have taken care of that for us too with the launch of this new feature. It enables the user to automatically sync the devices to each other. For example take a photo on your iPhone and it is automatically pushed to your iPad. It can sync all data, photos, music, documents and apps. With 5gb worth of free ‘Cloud’ storage and songs not counting this is plenty. But if more is needed then an upgrade is also available!
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