Apple Previews iOS 5 with Notification Center, OTA Updates, Wi-Fi iTunes Syncing and More

[Rodimus Prime]

Right, and Apples inventing the entire touchscreen design metaphor is irrelevant? Finger-driven UI, Inertial scrolling, rubber banding physics, App store, soft keyboard design, etc. Every other competitor have taken these things that Apple invented, but Apple can't occasionally draw influence from others as well?
.

umm what are you talking about.

Apple did not invent touch screen UI. It was around for a while for example Palm.
Apple was not the first touch screen only phone.
Finger-driven UI. Again not first touch screen only phone.
Rubber banding physic. Not something Apple invented. They took it from sompleace else.
Not the first App Store. Handgo for example came a long time before it.
Soft keyboard design. Nope again. Like I said touch screen only phone came long before the iPhone.


Also the reason Apple is being insulted here is because both Apple and the Apple fans made such a big deal calling others copy cats. Apple has proven it is a huge hypocrite. Do not throw stones if you live in a glass House. Apple brought this on themselves.

 

[Northgrove]

Hopefully iOS 5 won't do to the 3GS what iOS 4 did to the 3G.

Yes; while I was surprised Apple was still going to support the 3GS for one more round, there's a slight risk of a hit to performance due to iCloud and checking for over-the-air updates for apps, photos, music, you-name-it. Hopefully it's not done too frequently. I read somewhere that it was just daily as for the "Backup" iCloud app, which sounds good.

Of course, if done a bit too frequently it may only show up in performance on 3GS, but in battery life across all devices. So it's in everyone's interest that it's well designed.

This is the only major new background service that I can think of, and that could hit 3GS. Except for the new Notifications system, but they have to mess up there to make a simple list view consume noticeably more performance than dialog boxes...

 

[Northgrove]

As for the "copycats" thing. IIRC, it was told in context of the iPad (in reference to 2010 being "Year of the iPad") -- not iOS, and not iPhone, and certainly not specifically about the Notifications system in Android.

I recall Apple was talking about tablets and others copying their form factor back then.

Context is important here.

Actually I think that was just a specific comment aimed for the Samsung tablet, but they didn't want to name names...

 

[ph00ny]

No kidding! Besides, theres only so many ways to invoke something on a touch screen. Its hard not to copy or be similar these days.

I mean some of you guys gave so much crap to samsung for touch wiz but now it's ok because there are only so many ways to invoke something on a touch screen?

Hopefully you're just joking...you're not actually comparing Amazon Cloud Storage to iCloud are you? Their system for having your music in the cloud is already archaic after today's announcements. The two don't even compare.

1. Amazon Cloud Storage isn't just for music
2. Some of the system sync is actually builtin to android 2.3. With the introduction of their music cloud service, it should be comparable

 

[n8236]

While I applaud Apple for finally bringing these features to the iOS platform, I don't understand all the hype and wows and omgs and etc...

Everything that's being demonstrated is either already pre-exists...

1. tab browsing on the ipad - o wow -_- LOL

2. notification system - total android

3. camera button on the lock screen - i actually think that's a nice touch

4. game center - meh

5. lock screen information - android much? lol. try lockinfo instead. been using it forever and love it. long overdue, but i think ppl will love this.

6. wireless sync - this has existed too, but from cydia. i think this is a nice feature if it's integrated well.

Revolution? No.
Evolution? Just a little.

 

[Compile 'em all]

umm what are you talking about.

Apple did not invent touch screen UI. It was around for a while for example Palm.
Apple was not the first touch screen only phone.
Finger-driven UI. Again not first touch screen only phone.
Rubber banding physic. Not something Apple invented. They took it from sompleace else.
Not the first App Store. Handgo for example came a long time before it.
Soft keyboard design. Nope again. Like I said touch screen only phone came long before the iPhone.
.

It was never about what...it is about the how. The iPod wasn't the first mp3 player and the iPhone wasn't the first smartphone.

 

[fabianjj]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; sv-se) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; sv-se) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)



I hope that it will completely replace SMS and MMS messages for the contacts that are on iOS devices in the messages app. So that if the recipient is using an iOS device you won't need to do things differently, but are given the improvements of encryption, not the limiting word count on SMS (usually not a problem these days unless you're paying for them individually or sending them to certain people with older phones that can't fuse the SMS together), or the limited image quality of an mms.

It would also be nice if they opened this up for developers to integrate other messaging systems like whatsapp, viber or different IM-platforms, which would allow you to send messages to anyone regardless of what network they're on.

It appears that iMessage is apart of the Messages app.

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html#imessage

Excellent! Then i will probably get some use out of this!

 

[octarine]

How does someone with WhatsApp send me a message?

They send me a text message? So what is the point of Whatsapp, they can send me a text message without it.

The point of Whatsapp is that the text message/media sending is free.
The benefit of whatsapp is that the contact discovery is automatic, because every whatsapp account is tied to a phone number, and it cross-references all the numbers in your iphone addressbook with registered whatsapp users automatically. You never need to add a contact to whatsapp or tell someone your whatsapp ID. (Viber does the same for VoIP).
If apple don't crack this auto-discovery of imessage capabilities then there will be uptake issues. Apple ID is an email address. I don't have all my friends'/colleagues' AppleIDs stored in my phone, I *do* have all of their phone numbers, because it's a phone.
The cost of creating the whatsapp community is zero. It takes no effort on the part of the user. This is why it's so successful and why it has scared the crap out of mobile operators.
(how whatsapp can actually make money is left as an exercise for the reader)

With iMessage they can send me an iMessage because I have an iPhone.

As above, they can only do that if their iphone magically knows you also have an iphone.
If apple copy the whatsapp method of using phone numbers, iMessage will be wonderful.

 

[appletastic]

I don't get wireless sync. Is it exactly like plugging in your iphone with a cable only wireless?

The apple text neglects to mention music:

Wirelessly sync your iOS device to your Mac or PC over a shared Wi-Fi connection. Every time you connect your iOS device to a power source (say, overnight for charging), it automatically syncs and backs up any new content to iTunes. So you always have your movies, TV shows, home videos, and photo albums everywhere you want them.

Just saying...

It also says wireless sync TO iTunes.. not to and from iTunes.

 

[hexx]

iMessage - what's the point of it? as far as i know:

iChat - @me.com account
FaceTime - @me.com account
iMessage - @me.com account

can't they see it? it's the same account so why the hell do we have 3 apps for it where all we need is one!

 

[Dusky600]

Image

iOS5 Notification is just a copy of David Ashman LockInfo.

wrong , its mostly the work of the guy that made mobilenotifier that was hired by apple.

Peter Hajas, see the link

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/06/03/apple-has-hired-mobilenotifier-developer-peter-hajas/


on another note, i have an iphone 4 , i've always used jailbreak.

ios 5 looks like i will finally go unjailbroken for a while, the new features, that already existed in other phones has everyone keeps reminding us, are a good thing.

i dont care who came up with it first, apple seems to be implementing them well, and ill bet it will turn out to be better than the majority, if not all, android phones.

keep going this way apple, take the best of everyone and make them better !

stop the bickering over who made what first. it's really pointless.

 

[Dusky600]

Im VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!!

Where are the WIDGETS??????

I wanted a homescreen change of look!! I hate having all the icons just there. I like more android homescreen with widgets and stuff...

STILL NO TASK MANAGER OR SYSTEM MANAGER??????

NO LIVE WALLPAPERS!!!! They look so cool on android... and I dont care about battery life, you can just turn them off...

It was NOT A MAJOR UPDATE!!

WIDGETS FOR GOD SAKE!!! I had them on symbian!!!

if you want android buy a dam android and stop caps locking

 

[Dusky600]

Yes, but David Ashman should be rewarded. Or hired .

they hired peter hajas instead !

 

[Pit!]

If you're unhappy with Apple, don't buy their products. Simple.

Stop Whining.

 

[macist34]

Can anyone check Browsermark and Sunspider scores on iOS 5 ?

I'm curious to see if there are any enhancements on the engine side besides the reader, tabs, etc.

 

[yellowballoon]

While I applaud Apple for finally bringing these features to the iOS platform, I don't understand all the hype and wows and omgs and etc...

Everything that's being demonstrated is either already pre-exists...

1. tab browsing on the ipad - o wow -_- LOL

2. notification system - total android

3. camera button on the lock screen - i actually think that's a nice touch

4. game center - meh

5. lock screen information - android much? lol. try lockinfo instead. been using it forever and love it. long overdue, but i think ppl will love this.

6. wireless sync - this has existed too, but from cydia. i think this is a nice feature if it's integrated well.

Revolution? No.
Evolution? Just a little.

I'm sorry...Apple is a little late to the game this time and is one big copy cat. Windows Phone is already doing many of these features, including 25 GB of FREE space on a cloud, where photos NEVER expire. Wireless syncing? Already on Windows phone, 1 click camera button? Come on...Windows Phone.

Among the 500 (read 500, not a handful like iOS) new features coming to Windows Phone via Mango in September which have already been announced, Apple is copying these..

Apple has now built a split ergonomic keyboard into iOS 5. The feature is eerily similar to an identical keyboard that Microsoft revealed in Windows 8 recently.

Apple has integrated Twitter straight into iOS 5. You can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube or Maps. Microsoft is also building in Twitter integration deep into Windows Phone Mango

Background download service

Apple revealed its own background download service for Newsstand. The new feature lets magazines and newspaper app subscriptions download automatically. Windows Phone Mango also includes a similar service that application developers can build into their apps.

Apple introduced iMessage on Monday. You can send unlimited text messages via Wi-Fi or 3G from the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to anyone who has an iDevice. Windows Phone Mango has also introduced deeper integration of messaging services directly into the operating system.


iCloud auto photo uploads

Jobs also unveiled the ability for iOS to automatically upload pictures take from iOS devices. The pictures go into Apple’s iCloud system and are available for viewing online or on other devices. Windows Phone 7 also has an identical feature and uploads the pictures to Windows Live SkyDrive that gives you 25 GB of space, not 5GB. Lame

On top of that Mango will have visual search with Bing (snap a picture and hit search) , and voice recognition with Xbox Live. Don't even get me started on how Game Center is now getting avatars like Xbox Live...no comparison.

Apple is no longer leading the pack, they are running fast with everyone else and spoon feeding their so called innovations in their closed little world. Stop drinking the kool aid and masterbating over sexy hardware and maybe you'll see the world of Apple is starting to lose face.

 

[krischik]

stop the bickering over who made what first. it's really pointless.

True but it goes both ways.

And since the Apple fanboys and girls have shouted copycat first and loudest the have to stop first as well.

 

[Project]

The point of Whatsapp is that the text message/media sending is free.
The benefit of whatsapp is that the contact discovery is automatic, because every whatsapp account is tied to a phone number, and it cross-references all the numbers in your iphone addressbook with registered whatsapp users automatically. You never need to add a contact to whatsapp or tell someone your whatsapp ID. (Viber does the same for VoIP).
If apple don't crack this auto-discovery of imessage capabilities then there will be uptake issues. Apple ID is an email address. I don't have all my friends'/colleagues' AppleIDs stored in my phone, I *do* have all of their phone numbers, because it's a phone.
The cost of creating the whatsapp community is zero. It takes no effort on the part of the user. This is why it's so successful and why it has scared the crap out of mobile operators.
(how whatsapp can actually make money is left as an exercise for the reader)


As above, they can only do that if their iphone magically knows you also have an iphone.
If apple copy the whatsapp method of using phone numbers, iMessage will be wonderful.

iMessage uses both the registered phone number of the iPhone you are using and the Apple ID as the identifier. You can also add as many emails as you want (work, personal etc), in case people have one or the other.

 

[jonnysods]

Out of everything, iOS5 was what I was most excited about. So many improvements have been made to this that were so long overdue, I'm glad Apple came through. Not much complaining on the forums about this yet, so everyone else must agree!

Remember how so many were just wishing that you could cut and paste? This OS has come a long way, good to see.

 

[yg17]

True but it goes both ways.

And since the Apple fanboys and girls have shouted copycat first and loudest the have to stop first as well.

Exactly. It's not so much the copying that bothers me, it's the hypocrisy from Apple and their fanboys that bothers me.

Apple called 2011 the year of the copycats when they announced the iPad 2. All the fanboys go nuts about how Google, Samsung, etc, are stealing from Apple and how they're a bunch of unoriginal thieves. 3 months later, they announce iOS 5, whose major new features are copies from Android, webOS and WP7. Not a peep from the fanboys. Not even an admission that the new features were heavily inspired by the competition. All I hear from them is that the new features in iOS 5 are new, revolutionary, game changers, etc. But they're not. When the competition has had a feature for years, it's not new, not revolutionary, and not a game changer.

 

[sotorious]

Exactly. It's not so much the copying that bothers me, it's the hypocrisy from Apple and their fanboys that bothers me.

Apple called 2011 the year of the copycats when they announced the iPad 2. All the fanboys go nuts about how Google, Samsung, etc, are stealing from Apple and how they're a bunch of unoriginal thieves. 3 months later, they announce iOS 5, whose major new features are copies from Android, webOS and WP7. Not a peep from the fanboys. Not even an admission that the new features were heavily inspired by the competition. All I hear from them is that the new features in iOS 5 are new, revolutionary, game changers, etc. But they're not. When the competition has had a feature for years, it's not new, not revolutionary, and not a game changer.

Took the words out of my mouth.

 

[Dusky600]

True but it goes both ways.

And since the Apple fanboys and girls have shouted copycat first and loudest the have to stop first as well.

what is this ? grade school ? why fuel a stupid behaviour ??

 

[shk718]

it doesn't look like the weather widget is on the unlock screen - at least in this build - i hope they add it!!!!!

 

[Scrib]

Does Apple have plans to allow for the syncing and frankly the ability to use Apple TV WITHOUT having iTunes open? The idea of being able to come home, throw my iphone on the charger and not having to worry about opening iTunes is obviously very appealing. Same goes for having to run into the den (or my nearest Mac) to fire up iTunes before being able to leverage the media in iTunes.

But the wireless sync is mostly meaningless if iTunes still has to be active.

Thoughts?

 

[Aviboy97]

For some reason, I get the feeling that iOS 5 is rather temporary until we see the new iPhone4S/5/4G....or whatever they will call it. These features were badly needed for the iPhone and were obviously features that Andriod users were touting for quite some time now.

Is iOS 5 "revolutionary"? Definitely not. Leave it to Apple to make a big hoopla over existing technology. You have to give Apple credit here though...they do know how to put on a show!

What is all comes down to is user experience. This is where Apple still has an advantage, regardless of available features. Apple has such a tremendous advantage over availavle apps, a more user friendly UI and proven reliability.

I know that my iPhone4 does not have as many features, or 4G connectivity like some available Andriod phones, but, I will never trade my user experience and practicality for tech specs. Ever.