Of course everyone knew iOS 7 was dropping last night. I was fully prepared to download and get crackin’ on the new interface.
So, how did it go? At first, very slow with some hiccups.
I started the download last night and initially it told me I needed to clear some space to update my software. Fair enough. I cleared the necessary space by dropping some podcasts off my device and went back to update. Problem was, they then told me I was current at iOS 6.1.3. Nooo, don’t deny me.
It was stuck like that for quite some time. It ultimately came back and let me update. I was happy, yet not very happy with the estimated time remaining – 3 hours. Ugh. I went to bed and looked forward to what the morning might bring. Here are my initial thoughts upon waking up to iOS 7.
Overall User Interface – After going through the initial setup steps and arriving upon the home screen for the first time, my reaction was “meh”. It didn’t exactly knock my socks off. Maybe it’s because I have a dark background and the buttons didn’t pop like they might on a lighter background. The interface got a worse review from my youngest daughter when she saw it for the first time. Her reaction – “ewwww”.
Mail – I like the presentation of my various email accounts from the intro mail screen. It seems the order of accounts is presented better than the old OS. I don’t like the fact I have to only swipe to the left in order to delete a message. Before, I could swipe either way and it would allow me to delete. If you are used to swiping right, swiping left feels like writing with your off hand.
Clustered Apps – The background coloring is pretty ugly at first glance – dark gray on my device. I believe this is also a result of having a darker background image. I looked at my oldest daughter’s phone and her clustered app backgrounds were a much nicer light color.
Scaling – My icons bled over to the next screen. What used to be fully located on the home screen now created another intermediate screen with only one icon. I guess the icon sizes are different and make one or more of your former home screen icons bump to the next screen. This will take some re-organization of the icons for me to get back to a tight clean icon layout. Also, my background image has ballooned beyond the scale it used to have with the old iOS.
Tiles – I like the way you can double touch the home button and easily navigate all of your open apps. I was looking forward to this capability when I first heard about it at the pre-launch. This reminds me of the Palm Pre I used to have. I loved how Palm implemented a “card” concept back then and Apple did well by bringing that capability to iOS. You can even swipe them up to delete them, just like the old Pre.
Legacy Apps – It’s funny the difference you can immediately notice in the legacy apps. Pull up your Facebook or Twitter apps and there’s something a little different about them that doesn’t quite fit with the new layout. I’m sure we’ll see some updates of apps in the coming days and weeks to better align with the new iOS interface look and feel.
iPhone Security – The feature I was most looking forward to was the added security of requiring your Apple password for device wipes and changes to your Find My iPhone settings. It’s been reported that thieves were brazenly running by people using their phones and simply snatching the device. They could then rather easily wipe the device and take ownership. Not anymore. Now you need the Apple ID and password in order to reactivate. Good stuff.
After waking up and getting acquainted with the new interface, I went to my oldest daughter’s room to tell her I updated. I guess I felt like I’d be the bearer of the cool news. In reality I wanted to be the guinea pig for the family before they updated in case there were major issues. Also, I work in the computer industry so I figured I was more in the know. I went in to her room and proclaimed I had updated to iOS 7. She quickly replied that she did too. I guess I was a little deflated. She said everyone at school was talking about it and had a countdown going to when they’d be able to download. Drat, I should’ve know those pesky teens would be ahead of me. So, two of us are updated and two of us are running legacy. My youngest has no desire to update after her “ewwww” reaction. She’ll get used to it though and come to embrace it…she’ll have no choice.
These are just my quick initial thoughts on the interface. I haven’t dug into the new functional capabilities yet. What are your thoughts on the new iOS? Are you a fan? Are you struggling to get to know it?
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