by ANDREA FRENCH Section Editor
Apple announced new software for all of its products at the annual Apple World Wide Developers Conference on June 10.
This World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), held in California, is a place where Apple showcases all of their new advancements for the upcoming year. Apple also allows developers play around with their new technologies and receive feedback before the public gets access to it.
This summer’s conference held the most advancements since the release of the first iPhone and Apple’s first iOS software.
Apple said that in the fall of 2013 they will be releasing the new iOS 7 platform and all of its new advancements that will be accessible for free to all iPhones (4, 4S, and 5), iPads, and iPods. Next, they said that in the fall they will also be releasing a new software program for all Mac computers, called Mavericks.
“It is standard for Apple to come out with new updates gradually, but it seems like so much new stuff is coming out at once, it’s exciting,” says sophomore Cori Haider.
Jony Ive, the Senior Vice President for Apple, claims that iOS 7 is the biggest and best advancement in the history of the iPhone. Ive also says that this is the most ‘user-friendly’ version of the iPhone software, and it will really allow people to do more of what they want quicker.
Additional new features that come with iOS7 are:
Control Center – Similar to the notification center, the Control center is found when you swipe at the bottom of the screen and a window pops up that will allow you to control settings such as the song you are listening to, or the Wi-fi router to which you are connected.
Notification Center – The notification center will now be accessible from the lock-screen of the device, and will feature an ‘at a glance’ version of your day, composed of all of your appointments, and reminders of the day.
Multitasking – The ‘Double-Click’ is still in effect, only this time when you double click the Home Button, a view of all of the open apps will appear as well to show you exactly what window you are closing.
iTunes Radio – Similar to Pandora, iTunes Radio will play music based on an artist, song, or genre that you enjoy. Instead of having to use a different app for Pandora radio, iTunes Radio will be integrated directly into the Music app on all devices. iTunes Radio also features a ‘Purchase Now’ button where you will be able to buy a song instantly on iTunes if you hear it while listening to the radio.
Photos – All photos will be categorized by the date and place in which they were taken, and then using photo stream and Airdrop, you will be able to access other people’s photos, as well as create unique folders for your pictures.
AirDrop – Anything you want to share with your friends can be simply ‘dropped’ onto their phones. Everything from a website to a photo, video, iMessage conversation – they can all be shared instantly.
Camera – Instead of applying effects afterwards, you can now swipe the phone to the left or right and see what the picture looks like in all effects and frames before taking it.
Siri – Siri can now change internal settings for you. For example, if you want bluetooth on, Siri can do that.
Mavericks is the newer version of all of the “Cat” software systems, such as Snow Leopard, the predecessor.
OS X Mavericks will offer a variety of new features for Macs, similar to the ones that iOS 7 offers to iPhones. There will be a new redesigned notification center, fully equipped with reminders and day-to-day schedules. Also, Macs will now have familiar apps such as iBooks and Maps.
Tagging is another thing that is brand new with Mavericks, and it will allow you to organize all of your documents by category.
“I cannot wait to update to iOS 7 in the fall. It seems like so much is different in this update compared to previous Apple updates,” says sophomore Casey Schieda.