In yesterday’s Part One I discussed changes to: the overall appearance, Notification Center, and lock screen functionality. I also talked about the all-new Control Center. Here I will cover changes to the Camera and Photos apps, different ways to access or use the Spotlight/Search function, iTunes Radio, and AirDrop. Finally, is it worth it for you to upgrade? I’ll go over a few of the issues and pros and cons in an upcoming editorial.
Camera App
The Camera app is all-new in iOS7, with several new features and changes. If you have a compatible device, you’ll now have live filters, which you choose before taking photos, and rapid-fire photo-taking ability. If you have a 5S, you’ll have an even higher fps, an auto-selection feature that tells you which shot is best, and faster auto-focus.
Another major change is to how you access the functions within the app: instead of buttons, you’ll use the scrolling interface near the bottom of the screen to choose from Video, regular, and Panorama.
Photos App
Again, this app has been re-designed with some great new features. It makes it easier for you to find certain moments. The app sorts out your photos by date or location, which is pretty awesome. There’s also a shared photo album tab and you can look at your photo history on a map.
Spotlight/Search
This app works pretty much the same way except for how you access it: instead of residing to the left of your first Home page, it now lives above all of your Home pages. Swipe down from anywhere except the very top (because that’s how you access Notification Center) and you’ll see your search bar. This will be especially helpful to those people who have numerous pages of apps but use the Searchlight option a lot and don’t want to have to swipe back to the very first Home page each time.
iTunes Radio
I’m sad because I live in Canada and don’t yet have iTunes Radio. According to all the reviews I’ve read, it sounds fabulous and I can’t wait to try it. Basically, iTunes Radio is a free (ad-supported) streaming service available that lets you set up customized radio stations based on your preferences. You can also browse the pre-loaded stations, with limited skip options. You can buy songs you like from iTunes, of course. According to the official iTunes Radio page, you’ll hear “everything from Hard Rock to Doo Wop…” and your selections will change your stations so it’s a totally customized streaming radio service. How cool is that?
Stations are stored in the cloud, so you can listen on all of your devices.
If you want to get rid of the ads, you can subscribe to iTunes Match for $24.99 a year. On top of all the great radio features, you also get all of your own music imported and stored in the cloud, so you can listen to any music from your collection whenever you want, wherever you are.
AirDrop
AirDrop is a an all-new feature on iOS7. It’s a peer-to-peer file-sharing service that will be supported by iPhone 5, 5C, and 5S; fourth-gen iPad, and iPad mini. How it works is that it creates a local network among all users nearby. Say you want to share a photo; instead of sending it by email or message, just enable AirDrop (accessible from Control Center), hit the share button, and you’ll see other devices around you that are on the same network (as long as they have AirDrop enabled). Tap on a photo of one of the nearby users listed and your photo will be sent via Bluetooth and WiFi if the recipient accepts.
These are just a few of the major changes made to the OS; stay tuned for "7 Reasons Why You May Want to Wait to Upgrade to iOS 7."
