iGyaan Editorial 2 : iOS 4 !
After all the hype and anticipation surrounding the newest OS from the Apple stables, take a look at what you can expect in the coming.
This time around, the OS 4 is the life force behind not only the iphone, but the iPod touch and iPad as well. iOS (earlier : iPhone OS) 4 will start shipping this summer (iPad in the fall), and the developer preview just came out. Although the iPhone 3GS and new-gen iPod touch will get all the features, sadly some features won’t make it to the iPhone 3G, original iPhone, and older iPod touches.
The most useful and absolutely new feature (for apple) has to be multitasking, which Apple says is going to be the “best” implementation in the Smartphone space, though it’s obviously not the first. App switching will be activated by double tapping the home button, which pulls up a dock/ dashboard of apps which are currently running.
Apple claims it can do this without hurting battery life or performance for the front app, This is done by stalling/pausing the applications in real time, so that the processor is not engaged in activity, while you can come back to the application and resume usage from where you left off. Unfortunately, this multitasking won’t be available for devices older than the 3Gs iPhone 3G and new iPod touch. Multitasking is just one of hundred (claimed by Apple) different new features, though:
Notable new features for users:
- Multitasking.
- FaceTime App lets two iPhone 4 users Video Chat using wifi
- Spell check (like on the iPad).
- Bluetooth keyboard support (again, on the iPad).
- User-defined wallpaper (a jailbreak favorite).
- Tap to focus when recording video, just like with photos, and a 5x digital zoom for the camera.
- Playlist creation and nested playlists.
- App folders for sorting apps! You can even put an app folder in the dock.
- Enhanced Mail! You can have a merged inbox view, switch between inboxes quickly, and sync to more than one Exchange account. There’s also threaded messaging (at last!) and in-app attachment viewing.
- iBooks, just like on iPad, only smaller. You can wirelessly sync books between platforms, a la Kindle.
- iMovie lets you edit and upload movies on the fly
- Gift Apps the ability to send applications as gifts to your friends and family
- Enterprise features, including remote device management and wireless app distribution.
- Game Center. It’s like Xbox Live, but for iPhone games.
Includes achievements, leaderboards, and match making. It will be available as a “developer preview,” and out for consumers later this year.
Developers are getting plenty of new tricks too:
- New SDK, available now.
- 1,500 new APIs.
- Background audio (ex. Pandora).
- Background VoIP (ex. Skype and Facetime).
- Background location data, both with live GPS for backgrounded turn-by-turn, and cell tower-based for lower power draw.
- Local notifications. Like push notifications, but sends a notification straight from the app without needing a push notification server, perfect for an alarm, for instance.
- Fast app switching. Saves the state of an app and resumes it from where you left off, without dwelling in memory.
- iAd‘s. Apple says it’s for keeping “free apps free.” The ads keep you in the app, while also taking over the screen and adding interactivity — using HTML 5 for video — up to simple gaming in-ad. Apple will offer a 40 / 60 split on revenue,With the bigger chunk for the developer and users can even buy apps straight from an ad.
- In-app SMS.
- Map overlays.
- Quick look for previewing documents.
- Photo Library access.
- Calendar access.
- Full access to the camera.
- Video playback and capture.
- Date and address “data detectors.”
- Automated testing and performance / power analysis (the same tools Apple uses).
While we’re impressed with Apple’s constant endeavors to make products increasingly tactile and user friendly, the basic set up seems more evolutionary, than revolutionary.
The push mail interface, app folder, as well as the single email view setup have been done before and seem to be a natural progression in the smartphone arena, without which Apple would anyway crumble. Having said that however, Apple can only remain ahead of the game by sustaining all these without compromising on memory, performance or battery life.
The iAd app is a personal favorite and continues to show and celebrate the spirit of innovation and 3rd party app sharing, integral to keeping things fresh and interesting.
Although expectations from Apple are always sky high, it is not always about offering something completely new; sometimes just perfecting existing platforms is equally noteworthy. We might have a while to go before we can actually test it for ourselves; so for now we’ll have to content ourselves with what’s written on paper.
Posted by Srishti Handa
