Every time we spend our time thinking about the future course of activity, we forget the past. It is necessary to learn from your past and keep things with us. Today we are doing the same thing and talking about iPhone OS from the beginning. Within 15 to 20 minutes, you know the major advancements made by Apple in iOS starting from version 2.0: the AppStore.
The month of June, when Apple reveals the new iOS version at its annual WWDC gets to together meeting. Since then, the OS has spread out, jumping to several generations and sizes of iPads, not to mention the iPod Touch and the Apple TV. The simple, elegant design of the interface has even started influencing Mac OS.
Apple provides a huge App store for its customers, which is highly profitable for the company. But the company almost missed it because of Hackers’ early response towards adding the option to install third party apps. Apple immediately responded to the lope- hole and immediately worked on it, and launched version 2.0: the AppStore to safeguard the device from the outer threat. The original iPhone software allowed only for web apps now, and the Company provided all the native functionality necessary for this. The users of iPhone rejoiced version 2.0: the AppStore.
This version added a ton of additional improvements to the native functionality too. Push email/calendar/contact sync was added with Microsoft Exchange support. Hardware acceleration for 3D graphics was added, along with a 3-axis accelerator, Apple showcased some impressive (for the time) games.
Version 3.0: Copy & paste
After passing such a short time, Apple updates Version 3.0 in iOS. In this update, Apple added 100 new features to the device. Top of the list was Cut/Copy/Paste, Undo, MMS support, and a landscape keyboard. Other more notable improvements were available, things we take for granted now, like showing the last photo taken in the camera UI corner.
The new iPhone 3GS launched with the latest version of the OS back then was the first to offer video recording functionality. The Spotlight feature was adopted from Apple’s desktop OS; it allowed system-wide searching through Mail, Calendar, Notes, iPod (the music player app), and the web.
Version 4.0: Multitasking & FaceTime
The formula of 100 new features once again comes into the limelight when Version 4.0 is launched. Once again, the company adds 100 new features in this latest update, Version 4.0. These updates having some major stuff like multitasking for which users waiting for.
The new version can access 7 background services, and it was the services that did the actual work. They handled things like audio, VoIP, location, notifications, and so on so that an app can provide the necessary functionality, but the OS was consuming so much battery.
Apple ventured into video calling as well. FaceTime utilized the front-facing camera on the iPhone 4 to do video calls over Wi-Fi (support for video calls over mobile data would come later). Apple also launched iAd, a way for developers to monetize their apps via ads and a cash cow for Apple. iBooks was born, the iTunes of books, while the Game center strengthened the iPhone’s claim to be a gaming machine, two years since the addition of 3D graphics.
Version 5.0: Siri & iMessage
After the big changes in 3.0 and 4.0, it was understood that Apple gives much more to its customers next time. Now the company comes with a more incremental upgrade iOS 5 claimed 200 new features mighty. The biggest addition to the list is Siri. Apple bought the parent company of chatty virtual assistant, used it as a separate app, killed off support for other OSes, and wove it tightly into iOS.
Apple’s proprietary instant messaging service, iMessage, brought an alternative way for Apple users to stay in touch – it supported text, photos, and videos. To this day, there’s no official iMessage app for a non-Apple OS.
The Notification center was a big deal too. Borrowing a page from Android, iOS added a pull-down shade that held recent notifications, but quick toggles were a few updates away. Twitter was made a native app and integrated into the OS. Fans would have been happier with Facebook, but iOS 5.0 let them tweet from Safari, Photos, Camera, and a few other apps.
Version 6.0: Maps
Fans got their Facebook integration with iOS 6.0, and Siri extended its consciousness to the iPad. Multiple car manufacturers announced they’ll be adding a button that can call Siri into action from the steering wheel. FaceTime was allowed to use mobile data, and Apple unified users’ FaceTime and iMessage IDs.
The new Maps
The biggest noise would surround an old new feature – Maps. Previous incarnations used Google data, but increased competition with Google’s Android led Apple to create a new app. The company quickly learned that such an endeavor takes years to perfect – Maps was initially lacked features and was inaccurate, becoming the butt of so many jokes.
Version 7.0: Going flat
Microsoft popularized a flat interface design, a polar opposite of skeuomorphic 3D designs of the past. Android quickly followed suit, while Apple kept its leather, wood, and metal textured apps until 2013 and iOS 7. The new-look completely replaced the old, and it brought new icons, wallpapers, native apps.
New lock screen and app drawer
It also changed how multitasking works, letting apps do more work in the background, and was clever about when to let apps do work, learning from your habits. Siri got smarter, too, borrowing the card-based interface from Google Now and tapped into Twitter, Wikipedia, and Bing to answer your questions.
The Notification center from v5.0 was joined by the Control center, which housed quick toggles. It also introduced AirDrop, a simple way to share files between Apple devices without the need for NFC. Meanwhile, FaceTime got an audio-only option to complete the Internet-communication functionality of iOS.
Version 8.0: Handoff & HealthKit
Apple was adopting features and designs popularized by other companies; now, it was time to show them something new. The new Handoff feature worked with the new Mac OS X Yosemite and allowed users to move tasks between their iPhone and their Mac – calls, messages, swapping files, and so on.
Okay, iOS 8.0 wasn’t completely new; it added things like third-party keyboards, which Android has had for ages.
The new OS introduced HealthKit, days before Google unveiled Fit. It also opened the fingerprint tech of Touch ID to developers and pooled Apple’s cloud services into one iCloud Drive.
Apple is holding this year’s WWDC next week, and we expect to see the new iOS unveiled. Keep visiting routerunlock.com for the latest update.