ios 7
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iTunes 11.1 is available
The latest version of iTunes is now available for download. iTunes 11.1 provides Mac users with the ability to listen to iTunes Radio, Apple's new streaming radio service. There are over 250 pre-set stations to choose from, and users can create their own stations by simply entering the name of a favorite artist or song. Genius Shuffle is another new 11.1 feature, providing a way to hear songs that "go great together." Each click of the Genius Shuffle button starts up a fresh shuffle of tunes so you can hear something new. Are you a fan of podcasts? You can create "Podcast Stations" of your favorite podcasts that update automatically with each new episode. All stations, subscriptions and current play positions sync through iCloud to the iOS Podcasts app. Lastly, iTunes can be used to Sync music, movies and other media to devices running iOS 7. At publication time, the update did not appear in the Mac App Store, but could be downloaded directly from the iTunes Web page.
Apple's AirPort Utility, iBooks updated with iOS 7-friendly look, compatibility
Sure, it's not the most exciting news to drop on this iOS 7 official "birth" day, but Apple has updated several apps to bring them into the brave new world of the new iOS. Both AirPort Utility and iBooks have received updates in the last few hours. The notes for iBooks -- which seems to be sporting the same non-flat icon that it has since it first became an iOS app -- show that "This version of iBooks improves compatibility with iOS and iCloud." The app is still as Scott Forstall skeuomorphic as it always has been, complete with the faux wood library shelves. For the AirPort Utility, the release notes simply say, "Adds support for iOS 7." I'd let you know what that means if I had half a clue, but there's just not a whole hell of a lot of detail there. If you're an iOS 7 user already and set up your devices for automatic downloads, those updates should already be installed.
iOS 7: Siri starts to shine
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Siri, Apple's intelligent assistant. While Siri hasn't yet become as smart or as useful as 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000 (which might be a good thing), Apple has quietly added some new features to Siri in iOS 7 that turn it from a useful but sometimes frustrating beta app to a really helpful assistant. Siri's new interface fits into iOS 7 better than the previous incarnation did in iOS 6. It literally fades into view on top of whatever you're looking at when you invoke Siri. You'll find that Siri answers your questions faster and usually more accurately. Apple also has Siri check more sources than ever before, such as Bing, Wikipedia, and Twitter. That means that not only do you get more answers, but it's easy to get a second opinion on an answer. And most of those answers no longer show up in a third-party application – instead, they're displayed in Siri's new and beautiful user interface. Siri's new user interface In line with iOS 7's new look, Siri now sports a different appearance. When you invoke Siri by either lifting your iPhone to your ear or pressing your iOS device's home button for two seconds, a line appears on the screen. That line turns into a "sound wave" (image above at right) mimicking your voice pattern when you begin talking – it's Siri's way of telling you it is listening to you. Once you've spoken, that line curls up around the Siri microphone icon and then "spins" to indicate that it is looking for a response. If you don't talk for a while, Siri plays the familiar two-tone prompt and then begins listing a number of things that you can ask it. In the past, this list was scrollable with a finger. Now, hints show up five at a time and then fly off the screen. New voice and ability to select gender Siri has a new, more natural voice. To my ears, it speaks somewhat faster and with a more human-like sound. The biggest change to Siri's voice in iOS 7 is the ability to select a gender. In the United States, Siri has always been female, while iOS users in the United Kingdom have always heard a male voice. Voices of both sexes are now included for English, French, and German, so if you feel like a different voice might be more pleasant to your ears, you can switch it quickly and easily. To do so, launch the Settings app, tap the General button, then tap Siri. The gender setting is set by tapping on Voice Gender, at which time a selection of male or female can be made if it's available for your language. If you decide that the new voice is less clear to you or just doesn't please you, a switch back to the other gender is just a tap away. Selecting a different language Siri has become quite the international gadabout, now available in 19 different regionalized languages. Remember that changing the language not only changes the voice prompts that you'll receive from Siri, but it will also expect you to be speaking to it in that specific language or regional accent. In other words, you can't speak to Siri in English and have it respond to you in Mandarin Chinese. The languages and regionalizations that are available to you include: Chinese – Hong Kong Cantonese, Chinese Mandarin, and Taiwanese Mandarin English – United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia French – Canada, France, and Switzerland German – Germany and Switzerland Italian – Italy and Switzerland Japanese Korean Spanish – Mexico, Spain, and United States Switching Siri languages is done in Settings > General > Siri. A tap on Language presents a list of the available languages for you to select. New Siri Features Siri has some new features that have become apparent during our time beta-testing the new operating system. Here's a sampling of what we've found: Ability to set the timer to the second Previously, it was only possible to set the timer to whole minutes, for example "Set a timer to three minutes". Now Siri responds to commands like "Set a timer to two minutes and 41 seconds" properly instead of acting confused. Controlling your device settings It's nice to know that while designing iOS 7, Apple really listened to some of the complaints that have been around since the original iPhone came out in 2007. For example, Control Center makes it easier to turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off without having to go into Settings. But what's even more exciting is that iOS 7 brings some settings to the realm of hands-free by adding them to Siri. Here are some of the many settings that Siri can control or at least query: With iOS 7, being able to set your iPhone to Airplane Mode while boarding a flight with your hands full is as easy as invoking Siri and saying "Turn on Airplane Mode". Siri warns you that it will stop working if you turn on Airplane Mode, and even asks for reassurance that you really do want to cut yourself off from the rest of the Internet. Finding out what your friends are doing iOS has been integrated with Twitter for a while, but now Siri is getting in on the act. No, Siri doesn't have it's own Twitter account now, but you can interact with your Twitter friends through Siri and find out what's trending. As long as a friend's contact card has a Twitter name on it, you can ask Siri what they're up to: Want to know what's trending on Twitter? Just ask Siri "What's going on?" You can also follow favorite hashtags by asking, for example, "Find tweets with the hashtag TUAW". Unfortunately, this social Siri searching doesn't work for Facebook yet. Ask Siri what a friend is saying on Facebook and you'll get an apologetic response that "I can't search Facebook". Telling your friends what you're doing No more typing on the little virtual keyboard to tell your friends on Twitter and Facebook what you're currently doing – now Siri posts those all-important social network updates for you. For Facebook, posting information to your wall is as simple as either saying "Post to facebook" or "Write on my wall" followed by whatever you want your friends to know. Siri asks you to verify your message, and then posts it. Hands-off tweeting is also a reality in iOS 7. You can send a tweet just by prefacing your message with the word "Tweet", and even add a hashtag by using the word "hashtag" followed by whatever the hashtag happens to be. Better integration with Yelp and OpenTable Siri's been working on becoming close friends with the servers at Yelp and OpenTable databases. For you, this means that it's easier than ever to find a good restaurant and in many cases, even make reservations. For example, let's say that you're suddenly craving a Fire Chicken Burrito and margaritas and want to find a good nearby Mexican restaurant. While Siri has always provided restaurant listings, it now works hand in hand with Yelp to give you ratings, reviews, and even the hours that the restaurant is open. For the over 25,000 restaurants that use the OpenTable reservation system, Siri can now make a reservation for you. Choose a specific place or just a type of restaurant, let Siri know how many people are in your party and what time you'd like to eat, and it will get you a list of available restaurants and reservation times. A few taps, and your reservation confirmation is in your email. Playing back voice mail Here's a new feature that's quite helpful when you're driving a car and using a hands-free system or headset. No longer do you have to grope for your phone and attempt to tap your way to your unheard voice mail messages –- you can just ask Siri to play them back for you. At the end of the message, Siri politely asks if you'd like to call that person back or play the message again. You can reply with "Call back" or "Play the message again" to have Siri perform either of those actions, or just say "No" to move on. Checking missed phone calls and returning calls There's nothing worse than not being able to answer a phone call because you're busy or in an unsafe situation like driving. Now you can ask Siri to list recent missed calls. If there's a name associated with a call, you can ask Siri to return the call to that person. It's yet another way that Siri is making it easier for you to keep in touch without touching the screen. Controlling iTunes Radio iTunes Radio is a fun new addition to iOS 7. You can listen to a huge variety of tunes on an array of stations that you can create. Siri's in on the act and plays your favorite stations on demand. Not sure what song is playing? Just ask Siri and you'll get an instant answer. Controlling Music Siri used to live in your iPhone next to another app that could control your music playback – Voice Control. Now Siri's taken over that job and Voice Control has retired from Apple, collecting a healthy pension check and surfing all day at Mavericks. To listen to music in your library, all you have to do is ask Siri. In the mood for pop music or some other genre? Need to pause the music for a minute while you talk with someone? Just tell Siri "Pause" and the music is paused. When your conversation is over with, say "Resume" and the music starts up again where it left off. Siri can also play a shuffled list of all of the songs by a particular artist if you just ask it to "Play songs by [name of artist]". Conclusion While brevity keeps me from saying too much about Siri's new capabilities under iOS 7, I encourage our readers to work with the intelligent assistant more often now. Siri has seemingly migrated from a sometimes buggy beta app to a more polished helper, and that makes a huge difference in how the service will be received by users. Parts of this post are excerpted from iOS 7 Quick Guide, an upcoming Amazon Kindle/iBooks ebook title. The book is targeted at experienced iOS users who want to hit the ground running with iOS 7. The authors, Yoni Heisler, Erica Sadun, and Steve Sande, Yoni Heisler, Erica Sadun and Steve Sande wrote iOS 7 Quick Guide, an upcoming Amazon/iBooks eBook. It's aimed at experienced iOS users who want to hit the ground running for iOS 7. They're sharing some of their tips on TUAW in a series of posts about the iOS 7 upgrade.
Barnes & Noble warns iOS 7 users of potential Nook incompatibilities
Barnes & Noble has sent an email to users of the Nook iOS app warning them that they could experience incompatibility issues between the current app and iOS 7, reports AppAdvice. The company cites two issues to watch out for: If you rotate the screen while reading, it may cause the page to render incorrectly or may cause the app to crash. To prevent this, we suggest locking the rotation while reading. If you sign out of your app and then sign in again, the app may crash or you may have trouble accessing your Library. The company says that not all users will experience these issues, and that it's working to release a fix as soon as possible. If you're a Nook fan, this is pretty depressing news as the company has had months to work out any bugs with its iOS app and iOS 7. Meanwhile, its main competitor Amazon has already released a fully iOS 7-ready Kindle app.
iOS 7 Control Center and Notification Center: Information and settings on the fly
My favorite feature in iOS 7 is the Control Center. Having such a feature was the one reason I jailbroke my phone under previous versions of iOS. No more; the Control Center handles almost all of my desires when it comes to instant access to my most-used iOS settings. The Control Center and the Notification Center go hand in hand, but let's take a look at the Control Center first. Before you get started using it, go into your Settings and take a look at the Control Center options. You have two: the ability to access it on the lock screen and access within apps. I have both of these activated, but at the very least, I advise having the lock screen option activated. There are five rows on the iPhone version of Control Center. The first row features toggles for Airplane Mode, WiFi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb and the Orientation Lock. The second row lets you set your brightness. The third row is a mini music player. It'll let you know what song is playing, gives basic controls for music and adjusts volume. The fourth row provides access to AirDrop with compatible devices and AirPlay. As you can see, my soon-to-be-departed iPhone 4S doesn't support AirDrop, so it doesn't show on the screenshot. The final row has quick access to several apps: a built-in flashlight (finally), clock, calculator and the iPhone's camera. The iPad setup of the Control Center puts all of these into two rows and is a bit different. AirDrop is on by default, and there's only quick access to the camera and clock functions. I've been greatly pleased with Control Center on both my iOS devices. The one thing I wish is that you could customize what appears in the control center. I'd switch out my little-used Bluetooth toggle for the ability to turn my internet tethering off and on quickly. I'd like the ability to choose which apps I want to quick launch from Control Center, especially useful if you favor a third-party camera app such as Camera+. Notification Center Notification Center is a lot like its predecessor in iOS 5 and iOS 6, except it now features the same sheer overlay as the Control Center. Like the Control Center, it can be accessed from the lock screen. The best new feature is a clear, concise view of what's coming up today. As you can see from the image above, the weather is gorgeous in the Harrisburg area; it would take me about six minutes to drive to Enola from my apartment; and I have an upcoming meeting. This screen can be customized in settings to show different items in the today view, and I love how you can check off items on the Reminders list. The traffic update is one of the best features of Google Now that made its way to iOS 7. You can toggle among three different tabs to look at items specifically for today, all your notifications or the ones that you've missed over the past day. To dismiss notifications, you still have to go under the all section and clear them by app. I wish you could just swipe away them away.
Five apps that look fantastic on iOS 7
Today is the big day you've all been waiting for since WWDC 2013. After months of reading about iOS 7, you can finally download this version of iOS and install it on your iOS device. Once you get settled in with the new features, you'll want to install some apps. To get you started, here are five of our favorite apps that look great on iOS 7. 7 Minute Workout "Seven" [iOS Universal; Free] No workout equipment, just seven minutes a day. Reach a goal of seven minutes a day for seven months using Seven, a seven-minute workout app from Perigree. Any.do [iOS Universal; Free] Simple, functional and pleasing to the eye. It embodies the design of iOS 7 and is worth every penny you spend on it. Around Me [iOS Universal; Free] Around Me is a location app that helps you find the nearest gas station or the best restaurant in the area. The latest version adds some color and a lot of iOS 7 style to the app. LetterGlow [iPhone; $1.99] LetterGlow is a newcomer to the photography category, and it made a big impression when it launched. The latest version of the text-over-photo app adds iOS support and a few new features. It's a wonderful complement to the fancy new camera app in iOS 7, and I can't wait to try it with the new iPhone 5s. TED [iOS Universal; Free] TED is known for its innovative talks from the world's brightest people, so it's not surprising the iOS app has a fresh new look to keep in style with iOS 7.
iOS 7 AirDrop: Information sharing without a bump
AirDrop is a Wi-Fi ad-hoc file sharing service, built into iOS 7. It enables information to be quickly sent to another iOS device. While AirDrop isn't perfect yet, it's certainly making sharing files between iOS devices a lot easier than sending them through Mail. Think of it as an "electronic sneakernet", where two parties just agree to share a file, bring up an AirDrop dialog, and then happily fling files at each other. Now this capability is built into iOS 7 making transferring files as simple as tapping a few buttons. How to use AirDrop AirDrop doesn't require you to "bump" your phone or tablet against another device like so many Android phones do. Instead, you easily share files with any device that's on the same Wi-Fi network with you that's nearby and has AirDrop active.* Imagine you are at a meeting with 5 other people who are all on devices running iOS 7 and want to share a Notes document containing a meeting agenda with all of those folks. Here's how you do it: Make sure that everyone at the meeting has AirDrop set up so that they're discoverable to everyone. This is done by bringing up Control Center with a swipe from the bottom of the iOS screen, then tapping on AirDrop and selecting "Everyone". Pop into Notes, tap on the note you wish to share, and then tap the share button. When the share sheet appears, an icon appears for everyone on the same Wi-Fi network who has made their iOS device discoverable. Tap the icon to begin sending. The recipient is notified of your file transfer with a small dialog that asks them to either decline or accept the transfer. If they accept, the file is transferred and usually opened in the appropriate app (i.e., Notes). If they decline the transfer, the sender sees the word "declined" below the "face" of the person who they sent the file to. If you only want to make your iOS device discoverable by friends, family and co-workers, use Control Center to change your settings to "Contacts Only." AirDrop-compatible apps At the present time, AirDrop works with the following built-in iOS apps: Notes Contacts (send a business card to another user) Voice Memos Photos (AirDrop lets you preview the photo before accepting it) Safari Passbook Maps Podcasts I anticipate that more developers will catch on to the utility of being able to send files to nearby users. It's a bit of surprise that Apple hasn't updated the iWork suite for iOS to be able to take advantage of AirDrop, but it wouldn't surprise me to see an update soon that makes it possible to beam Keynote presentations and Pages documents to other users. Compatibility So, this sounds pretty good, huh? Well, don't get too excited -- AirDrop doesn't work on all iOS devices. The devices that are AirDrop-savvy are the iPhone 5/5s/5c, 4th generation iPad, iPad mini, and 5th generation iPod touch. What other capability is AirDrop lacking? It can't send or receive files to or from a Mac. Apple introduced AirDrop for OS X two years ago with the release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. To transfer files between Mac and iOS device, you're still going to need a third-party app. I'm a big fan of Instashare (free, US$0.99 in-app purchase to remove ads), which is a cross-platform set of applications that's perfect for sending most file types between your Mac and iOS device. Mike Rose recently took a look at another app -- DeskConnect (free) -- that also offers iOS to Mac transfers, but appears at this time to be much less robust in terms of the apps and file types it supports than Instashare. I'd much rather see Apple "Sherlock" (build a third-party app's functionality into the OS) Instashare's capabilities so we are able to zap files hither and yon right out of the box instead of having to install and run a third-party app. Conclusion I hope that future updates, both to iOS 7 and to third-party apps, make AirDrop even more useful to the Apple world. Right now, it's a great implementation of something that has been needed in iOS since the first iPhone appeared. If developers embrace the ability to share more information through AirDrop, it could well turn out to be one of the most useful features ever created for iOS. *Note: AirDrop does not require that the sharing devices be on the same WiFi network; it uses Bluetooth and peer-to-peer WiFi to transfer files. We apologize for the error.
iOS 7: Get your iPhone and iPad ready for the update
The new iPhones and the free iOS 7 update are imminent. The articles regarding which devices can run the new Apple mobile operating system and how to prepare for that momentous occasion of installing it on your device are plentiful. Christina Bonnington of Wired, in her article How to Prep Your iDevice for iOS 7, offers three salient points that you should either consider or physically do with your iOS device before you install iOS 7. The first item is to make sure your device is compatible. Our very own Yoni Heisler wrote an article noting that iOS 7 won't run on the iPhone 3GS or earlier, or the original iPad; some features will be iPhone 5 only, including some device-specific iOS 7 features. Another article by Brock Kyle from EveryMac.com details the exact iOS 7 features supported by each device from the iPad 2 to the fifth-generation iPod touch. The second item is to back up your device. David Cooper commented on the Wired article and points people to a video he created on how to accomplish making a backup. His video is aimed at the absolute beginner and is perfect for those who find technology confusing (like my 90-year-old mom). The four-minute Understand Apple prepping your Apple device for iOS 7 resides on YouTube. Steve Sande has a set of text-based instructions in his article on TUAW, World Backup Day 2013. It doesn't matter whether you back up to the Cloud or your computer, but please back up! If you need help in choosing whether to backup to your computer or iCloud, Apple has a support article just for you: Choosing an iOS backup method. At the very least, remove your video or photographs, so that you don't lose any of them. Apple's Image Capture software (included with every Macintosh) is a great little app to copy items off your iPad or iPhone. The last bit of advice Wired recommends is to clean out your iOS device. If you do not want to rummage through all the apps on it, just be aware that some apps may not work smoothly with the new iOS. Stay tuned for a plethora of articles coming up on TUAW on the new features of iOS 7 over the next few days.
iOS 7: Block iOS updates on your office network, avoid first-day upgrade overload
For those businesses or educational institutions with limited bandwidth and lots of iOS devices on their Wi-Fi infrastructure, a blast of iOS 7 updates -- each with its own hefty, lingering download -- could be a bit of a problem. Tomorrow it should be easy to spot the network admin: he or she will be the one with the extra-large coffee and the expression of rage verging on uncontrollable weeping. Over at the Enterprise iOS site, Tekserve's resident uber-geek and CTO Aaron Freimark has a sneaky suggestion for avoiding this sudden impact. Since Apple's update server (mesu.apple.com) has to be reachable in order for iOS devices to see and download the update, the temporary fix is simple: adjust your local DNS servers to redirect or block the update server until the fever passes. Freimark mentions Apple's upcoming Caching Server 2, a component of the OS X Mavericks Server package that will provide local instances of Apple downloads to reduce network load caused by iOS devices and Mac App Store purchases. Unfortunately, in a bit of a cache-22, you can't use the beta of Caching Server 2 to cache the iOS 7 update surge; iOS 6 devices don't see the server.
Apple rolls out iOS 7-inspired iCloud.com redesign
Apple has taken the wraps off the redesigned iCloud.com site. As you can see from going to iCloud.com, the site has had a complete makeover, taking its inspiration from iOS 7. Apple first previewed the new look of iCloud.com in a beta earlier this summer. The new website features redesigned Mail, Calendar, Reminders, Notes and Find my iPhone web apps as well as beta versions of iWork apps Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
Before and after pics highlight iOS 7 design points
TapFame's before and after iOS 7 gallery provides a perfect showcase of iOS 7's new design touch points. Showcasing some of the most notable redesigned interfaces, it offers a one-stop link to compare and evaluate many of the most critical UI changes. Edge to Edge Design One of the biggest changes to iOS 7 is the introduction of edge-to-edge design. Standard interface elements like status bars (the bit with the time and the battery) and navigation bars (the large flat colored bars with the back buttons) no longer create a "frame". Instead they lie over the application, which stretches out to take advantage of every pixel. You see this in the KickStarter example, where the scrolling table extends up behind the Kickstarter label at the top. The blurred smudges you see in the screenshot are actually bits of the table that have flowed behind. As you scroll the table, these smudges update, offering subtle but important contextual hints. Your iPhone's workspace, although offering exactly the same number of pixels, has now grown to encompass the entire screen. Another great example of this trend is seen in the Cobooks Contacts app, where each table cell has grown to reach the edge of the device, without any retro paper-friendly indentation needed. It's a fresh and beautiful new presentation. It's like getting a 15-20% boost in screen size, all for free. More importantly, it shifts the focus of the app from the ornamentation that surrounds it to the app itself. This is a critical design element for iOS 7. User-Controlled Font Sizes Fonts represent another huge leap from iOS 6 to iOS 7. Developers now select fonts based on the roles they play within the app. From headlines to captions, iOS 7 delivers fonts to the application based on how text is used. Even better, users control those fonts from a single place in Settings. When you adjust what is called Dynamic Text size, all the fonts across every compliant app update on your behalf. If you have weak eyes (I do!) and need larger fonts, that single settings pane expands font size for every system defined role for you. Applications listen for a special notification which tells them to re-layout their entire interface to best match my personal viewing needs. It's an amazing and fabulous feature and the side effect is that the fonts you see in the iOS 7 screen shots are all consistent in terms of their face selection and the roles they play within the interfaces. Look at the iRun Perth app. It offers a perfect example of multiple font roles within a single app. As one font adjusts, the others do in lockstep. See-Through Controls On iOS, controls refer to interaction items like buttons, sliders, toggles, and radio button. When you look at the Photo Investigator screen shots, what you see is the radical change iOS 7's see-through controls offer. These color-coded controls integrate with whatever app lies beneath them, offering plenty of see-through areas so the controls augment the app rather than overwhelm them. Suddenly the controls become deferential to the app instead of visually taking them over. The change is profound, best seen in these side-by-side shots. Every app defines a primary tint color used throughout the window. In this example it is red, although it changes on an app-by-app basis. That uniform color, picked up by the outline in the radio button switch at the bottom of the screen and the text for the go back button at the top, provides a coherent design touchpoint throughout the entire control vocabulary. Borderless Interaction Although I'm not entirely a full fan of borderless buttons, the RecordOrders screenshot provides a perfect example of why these new elements can be so powerful. Actions and options now blend into the main application area instead of being segregated by traditional button design. Of all the iOS 7 changes this has been one of the most significant and most controversial. When it works, it's fantastic. When it doesn't, users ends up confused. Removing Familiar Patterns Many familiar textures have disappeared from iOS 7: the lined background behind tables (see Days to Go), the obverse linen that represented the "under page" background. They are replaced with simpler, cleaner interfaces that don't have to compete with skeuomorphism. Translucency With iOS 7 you don't lose context, even when moving to other tasks. The National Debt app shows this with its translucent overlay (done, by the way, I'm betting using a slightly illicit trick that all the developers have been talking about this summer) as does the Stamps for Direct Mail app. You see this as well with alerts, pop-ups, and modal dialogs that used to overlay and hide the interface behind it. With translucency, you retain the sense of previous work, and return to that presentation more smoothly. The faded visual hints mean you never really fully left, providing a more continuous UI experience. Final Thoughts I won't be surprised if iOS 7 gets a bit of a hammering as it debuts. The colors are strange, a lot of the interface looks different, but there are some amazingly strong design principles that are guiding this change. Although change is, and will always be traumatic, I applaud Apple for putting so much thought into powering those differences with an underlying philosophy of user deference and application strength.
iOS 7 Quick Guide: Back up now!
It may not be "World Backup Day" by the letter of the law, but it might as well be in spirit. iOS 7 is due to drop tomorrow, and we at TUAW would gently like to remind you to perform a backup before the new firmware is released. You'll want a clean, recent copy of all your files (especially all those levels you so laboriously earned and all your precious media like the pics of your pets and kids, not to mention those awesome barista swirls). We recommend connecting your iPhone to a computer and using the manual "Back Up Now" option, so you can be sure that all your data and all your media is safely copied. Happy upgrades everyone!
iTunes 11.1 will have new iOS app organizer
Last night Apple seeded the eighth Developer Preview of the upcoming OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While there were no significant changes since the last build, this release does include the next version of iTunes, as images by Filipe Espósito shows. The app screen organizer in iTunes has received frequent criticism since its inception, and iTunes 11.1 features a revamped iOS app organizer with a more logical home screen page layout, so users don't have to drag apps via a vertical layout anymore. Instead, home screen pages will appear side by side. While iTunes 11.1 is certain to show up in the final shipping release of OS X 10.9 Mavericks, presumably in October, it's possible we may see a version of it released on Wednesday to support the release of iOS 7.
Apple offering 'last compatible version' of iOS apps for older hardware
With iOS 7 arriving tomorrow, Apple is extending some love to the owners of older iOS devices that have been left behind. New compatibility features, first spotted on Reddit, will now kick into action if you attempt to download an app that is not supported by your current firmware. Instead, the company now asks if you'd like to install the last compatible version, which, for some apps, can be over a year old. We've successfully installed an older version of Instagram to an iPhone 3GS with iOS 4.3.3 and Twitter to an iPhone 3G running iOS 4.2.1. Although Instagram was "out of date," the last compatible version of Twitter (featured above) was version 4.3.2, and hit the App Store back on August 18th, 2012. If you're feeling nostalgic and you've got an aging iPhone, iPad or iPod touch that could use a bit of exercise, Apple's latest tweak might teach your old device some new tricks.
Siri finally says goodbye to the 'Beta' tag
When Siri first launched alongside the iPhone 4S back in October of 2011, the software came draped with an unusual characteristic -- a "Beta" tag. For a company that avoids discussing pre-release hardware and software like the plague, it was highly unusual for Apple to release a piece of software that may simply not have been ready for prime time. Of course, the flip side of that argument is that the very nature of how Siri operates necessitates that it "learn on the go." Put differently, a natural language-based app like Siri demands real-world usage to improve. The training wheels are now coming off. Apple has added a plethora of functionality (not to mention language support) to Siri over the past two years and it's now being promoted to the big leagues. Writing for 9to5Mac, Mark Gurman reports that Apple late last week updated its Siri page and removed all "beta" references in the process. Whereas the old informational page for Siri indicated that the feature was "available in beta" for a number of iOS devices, the new informational page reads as follows: Siri is available on iPhone 4s or later, iPad with Retina display, iPad mini and iPod touch (fifth generation) and requires internet access. Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area. Cellular data charges may apply. Not a mention of "beta" in sight. With iOS 7 set for release on September 18, iOS users can expect a more refined Siri experience. Some new features include a revamped interface, a more natural sound to the Siri voice and, for the first time, an option to choose between a male and female voice.
Daily Update for September 11, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Download iOS 7 wallpapers now
If you watched yesterday's Apple event, you probably noticed the colorful and dramatic wallpapers that were shown on each of the iPhones displayed on the screen. Those wallpapers are all available in the iOS 7 Gold Master (GM) that shipped yesterday to developers. Dom Esposito of MacMixing.com has made all of those wallpapers available for download so you can install them on your device today. I can vouch for the quality of the iOS 7 wallpapers -- after installing iOS 7 GM on my iPhone last night, I wasted a good hour of time browsing wallpapers and playing with the new alert and alarm tones. Have fun getting your iPhone "dressed up" before next Wednesday's general release of iOS 7.
Apple September Event: iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c announced and more
Did you miss the announcement of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, or was everything going by too fast to absorb? Catch up with TUAW's coverage of today's Apple special event. General coverage September 2013 Apple event liveblog: the new iPhone party Apple kicks off September iPhone event with impressive facts and figures Video of Apple iPhone 5s and 5c event available TUAW TV Live: Special Apple Event Episode Subtexts in Apple's Sept. 10 iPhone event Apple adds new 'Space Gray' color option for iPod Touch, nano, and shuffle Tim Cook sends email to Apple employees detailing new iPhones, iOS 7 iPhone-related coverage Apple debuts the colorful iPhone 5c Apple's iPhone 5c cases are protective and obnoxiously colorful Apple debuts the iPhone 5s, shipping September 20 starting at $199 iPhone 5s features enhanced motion tracking thanks to CoreMotion API Apple reveals Touch ID, a fingerprint sensor built into the iPhone 5s Apple bumps up camera specs on new iPhone 5s and 5c NTT DoCoMo gets new iPhones on September 20 Apple lists model numbers, carriers for new iPhones Unlocked prices for iPhone 5c start at $549, iPhone 5s at $649 Apple's back in the dock business and now making cases Apple killed the iPhone 5, but the iPhone 4s lives to fight another day Competitors react (humorously) to Apple's new iPhones Apple still offering the iPhone 4 in China iOS-related coverage Apple announces iOS 7 will be released on September 18 Apple announces free iWork suite including iMovie and iPhoto for iOS Apple releases iOS 7 and Xcode Gold Master builds to developers Infinity Blade III to launch on September 18 Apple asking devs to submit iOS 7-compatible app updates before September 18 launch Apple quietly discontinues its Cards app
Apple releases iOS 7 and Xcode Gold Master builds to developers
Say bye, bye to beta versions as Apple is rounding out its big iPhone announcement event with the expected release of the gold master version of iOS 7 and Xcode. The two builds are available to download from Apple's Developer Center. There is no OTA update for iOS 7, so for the time being, you must download the IPSW from Apple's website and do a manual install. Happy developing, y'all!
iPhone 5s vs. iPhone 5: what's changed?
The iPhone 5s has finally been unveiled. Following an intense buildup of pre-announcement hype and leaks, Apple describes its latest flagship iOS device as the "most forwarding-thinking iPhone yet." Wondering how the specs compare to the regular 'ol 5, though? We're glad you asked because we've laid it all out just past the break. Check out our liveblog of Apple's event to get the latest news as it happens! Check out all the coverage at our iPhone 2013 event hub!
