I think that a lot of people were disappointed with the iOS 7.0 update, especially those who possess an iPhone 4 - it was one of the most unhealthy, uncalled for updates in Apple history, and I can still remember my friends complaining about it, both online and offline.
iOS 7.1 has been in BETA for quite some time, and even before the public release - hackers and tech enthusiasts were getting their hands dirty, by releasing public jailbreak hacks that unfortunately for some, were taken care of rather quickly.
The iOS 7.0 brought many performance issues for those who are using the iPhone 4, and I’m happy to announce that in the newest iOS 7.1 update, these issues have been taken care of. I recommend reading the Ars Technica review of the new update, to learn more about the smaller details like improvements in battery life, which aren’t really that great.
Try a New Driving Experience With CarPlay
Apple wants to be everywhere, including your car. You might have heard of CarPlay already, and if not - it’s a new ‘experience’ from iOS that will help to integrate your car with your iPhone. The official statement says that CarPlay is going to work only with iPhone 5 and up devices.
It will come integrated into the newest cars, by a select list of manufacturers that is continuously growing, thanks to new agreements and partnerships. You can expect to manage your messages, music, photos and even contacts from within your cars dashboard. Is also connected with Siri, and so you can take action trough voice based commands.
Long Awaited Siri Improvements
How many times have you accidentally entered Siri, only to realize that it is listening and you’ve got to say something, or you’ve already said it - and it’s unable to find it. I know I have, quite a few times. The new updates brings a much needed change, allow you to control when Siri is listening by holding down the home button of your iPhone. You can then release it, instead of having Siri figuring out when you’ve stopped talking.
Includes updates of more natural sounding male and female voices for the following languages,
- Mandarin Chinese
- UK English
- Australian English
- Japanese
iTunes Radio Ad-free with iTunes Match
iTunes radio is also getting some love in this new iOS 7.1 update and brings forth some new additions like the Search field above Featured Stations to easily create stations based on your favorite artist or song. You can now directly buy albums from your favorite artists by a single tap of the button from the Now Playing screen.
The last improvement for the iTunes Radio is a subscription service to iTunes Match - Subscribe to iTunes Match on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to enjoy iTunes Radio ad-free.
Calendar Gets Country Specific Holidays
Tiny update to the Calendar application will now automatically list other country holidays, and also display events in month view.
It’s not the largest update we’ve seen, but it certainly changes the way we’re going to interact with the calendar, and more people prefer the iOS 7.1 style than they do the version before.
iOS 7.1 Has More Accessibility
The last three major points in the new iOS update are for accessibility, making the phone more usable and appealing to the masses. Here are the three points,
- Bold font option now includes the keyboard, calculator, and many icon glyphs
- Reduce Motion option now includes Weather, Messages, and multitasking UI animations
- New options to display button shapes, darken app colors, and reduce white point
This and many other small tweaks were made to improve the performance of your mobile phone, and more importantly - the performance of the operating system. Take a look at the full documentation at the official Apple page, and let us know what you think of these changes.
Are you pleased with the changes?
Images courtesy of Apple, Inc., Input Factory, Inc.
