Apple released the first major iOS 7 update last night. The update took the iOS version to 7.1 on your beloved iPhone, iPads and iPod Touches. As expected the update has bought about several changes which are very noticeable, so let’s jump in and go through, all the new elements that iOS 7.1 has bought.
Just as an honest assessment should be, we would not be commenting upon the performance of our iPhone 5s post the update because we feel it would take at least 1-2 days for the device to stabilize on the new OS and once that happens, we would edit the post and add a more detailed assessment of performance enhancements or otherwise.
Few icons look darker or different
The phone icon as well as the messaging icons definitely look a tad darker in color than what they were initially. The photos icon too seems to have got a bit of a touchup in the update.
The dialer has drastically changed
There have been massive changes in the phone dialer. Gone are the solid green bars at the bottom and they have been replaced by a much sleeker looking circular green border of a telephone icon.
The Call Receiving screen has changed
The screen for call receiving has changed and has picked up similar circular elements just like the dialer screen. The slide to answer has been replaced by a more rounded bar and so has the call end button. Kudos to Apple for finally getting rid of big ugly bars and going the minimal route.
Improvements to Touch ID Performance
As much of a novelty as Touch ID was, there were several users who complained that the feature did not stand the test of time very shrewdly. You were always forced to delete the fingerprints and re-configure Touch ID if you wanted it to work seamlessly. Apple has promised that plenty has been improved in Touch ID, for now we will go by their words, but will keep this open to our opinion change later.
Touch ID and Passcode are in Settings App
If you like making changes to your Passcode or Touch ID very often, then Apple has made life a lot simpler for you. You will find the two options now living directly under the Settings hood.
A bit more Bold Keyboard
The keyboard on the device also has a slightly bold-er fonts. The transparency seems to have increased a bit too, making it a very clear contrast when it comes to reading the letters. Few keys such as Shift have also received minor updates as they are more filled now than previously on iOS 7.
No more random reboots
As an iPhone 5s owner, one of the biggest complains I had with iOS 7 was the number of random reebots the phone underwent which were as result of the 64 bit A7 chip. This was extremely frustrating and you could be in the middle of composing a long important e-mail and the phone will totally restart frustrating you no end. Apple claims, this has been fixed, but guess only periodic usage will tell us if this indeed is the case.
Sleeker and Faster animations
Apple has made the animations a touch faster. Even the opening of control center has a cool bounce effect now. Unlocking the device just feels that little bit faster, not sure if that is indeed the case or our eyes playing trick, but the whole experience seems smoother and faster.
Faster Performances on iPhone 4
Apple has also promised that the experience of iOS 7 on it’s older devices including the iPhone 4/4s is much faster. We did consult our friends who were using the device and they did seem a lot happier with iOS 7.1 than they were when iOS 7 had arrived. They felt the whole experience was sleeker and tiny things like opening apps from the multitask window was much faster than before.
Auto HDR Mode
iOS 7.1 also brings an Auto HDR Mode for iPhone 5 and above. If enabled, your camera will be able to make a choice if the scene deserves an HDR image or not. This is a really useful feature as it ensures, if you keep Auto HDR on that you always get the best possible picture from your device.
Slide to Power off is more rounded too
Pressing the Power button for a long time brings the Slide to Power off control. This has been changed from a solid rectangular bar to a more rounded bar which is neat.
Host of Accessibility changes
There have been several accessibility changes that have been bought to iOS 7.1. You now have the ability to prevent the wallpaper zooming when you turn parallax off as well as the ability to grey out the bottom dock bar and folder backgrounds to make everything written more legible. You also have the option of Reducing Transparency as well as Increasing Contrast in Accessibility now.
The Shuffle Buttons are highlighted in Music player
The Shuffle and repeat icons have been better highlighted in IOS 7.1 than they were in iOS 7 once again making it easy to differentiate it against white background.
Facetime Notifications Refinement
It was extremely annoying that if you are using more than one iOS device at the same time and answer a facetime call on one, there is a lingering notification that stays on the other devices. This has been fixed in iOS 7.1.
Siri improvements
Siri has been optimized with a more natural sounding male and female voice for languages such as Mandarin, English etc. Not just this, now you can keep the home button pressed as long as you want Siri to hear you and release it when you are done.
