To say iOS 5 is a software overhaul is quite the understatement. Packed with more than 200 new features, the launch symbolizes the future of iOS as both a platform on smartphones and tablets. An intuitive notification system, updated camera application and iCloud services are just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s your top 5 reasons iOS tops the smartphone food chain.
Mixing together the best aspects of Android, Windows Phone 7 and BlackBerry OS is only a small portion of the iOS 5 journey. The past four years of iOS have seen subtle changes and only a single major revision with iOS 4. Unlike previous iterations, Apple is going for the kill with iOS 5 and in its sights is the entire smartphone ecosystem.
1. No cords, period.
The USB cable is dead (except for charging). iOS 5 no longer requires a PC/Mac to setup, sync or update. Google started the trend with Android OTA updates and more recently with Google Music, but Apple put on the finishing touches and raised the bar. Unlike Android OTA updates where select devices on individual carriers receive an update in phases, Apple supports an ecosystem of 200 million iOS devices. Once updated to iOS 5, all future updates will occur automatically in the background while your iPod touch, iPad or iPhone charges — worldwide via WiFi.
2. iCloud is Google Music’s big brother
iCloud takes the concept of Google Music, but leverages iTunes for a seemingly simpler and more efficient solution. All of your content in iTunes is available across all of your iOS devices. Your recent photos, videos and music are synchronized. Instead of having to upload all of your music, iTunes will instantly make available any music you’ve purchased via iTunes available to all of your devices. If you’ve downloaded music or ripped CDs from other sources, you’ll have the option to pay $24.99/year to have the iTunes 256kbps version of those same songs. For someone with over 15,000 songs, not having to upload that music is a huge advantage — not to mention the lossless 256kbps quality iTunes offers.
3. iMessage delivers iOS synergy
FaceTime is a great method for calling fellow iPad and iPod touch owners, but sometimes you just want to fire off a message. Realizing that not everyone wants or has an iPhone has done wonders for Apple’s software philosophy. Now, instead of having to use an instant messaging service or email to communicate with fellow iOS users, Apple has released iMessage. Just like RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), iMessage supports multimedia attachments, group messaging and offers real-time delivery status notifications — heck, you can even see if the other person is typing a message!
Leveraging the hundreds of millions of iOS users worldwide for a single messaging ecosystem is quite possibly the best idea out of Cupertino in years. We’re not too sure how the carriers will feel about iMessage, but iOS users will love it.
4. WiFi Sync — all data, all devices
Beyond the basic syncing capabilities iCloud brings to the table, WiFi Sync makes the iOS experience even better. The next time you open up your Camera application and snap a photo, by way of Photo Stream sync, you’ll be able to edit that image within moments on your iPad. Would you rather handle your image editing on a 3.5-inch display or 9.7?
With the new notification system, your iOS alerts reach your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch simultaneously. If you’ve ever had the unfortunate pleasure of using and iPad while your iPhone is in your pocket
5. Notification done right
Android notifications are rock solid. Whether you’re talking about Android Honeycomb or Gingerbread, Google has done a great job. Apple on the other hand has done little to update its Notification System, until iOS 5. Using a similar pull down system, Apple has taken the Android foundation and built a more functional finished product. The Notification window is as much stylish as it is functional, delivering the polish we’d expect from an Apple solution. Where Apple really takes the notifications a step further can be seen in the lock screen. The next time you press the power/screen on button, you’ll be presented with a complete breakdown of your alerts. If you’d like to unlock the device using the normal slide-to-unlock that’s fine, but now you can slide-to-unlock each alert — taking you directly to its respective application.
Since we’re talking about the lock screen, it’s worth a mention that the Camera from lock (a trick Windows Phone pioneered) is a nice touch, as is the use of the volume up button as a hardware shutter key. One feature spotted, but not featured in the WWDC keynote yesterday was the inclusion of iPhone flash on calls and alerts. Finally, you can leave an iOS device on the table and not have to enable sound or vibration.
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