Throughout the years, we have seen iOS transform from iPhone OS 1.0, an operating system that changed the world, with no MMS (people actually complained about this, you remember, right?), no copy and paste, no multitasking, no notification drawer, no background apps, and a list of 100 other features that were lacking. Yet it goes to show that a feature checklist isn’t what normal people care about when you have a product that is intuitive, innovative and delightful.
Here we are, now 10 whole years since iOS was first introduced to the world, and Apple has just finished previewing iOS 10. It’s available for developers to download today, so here are some first impressions and thoughts on iOS 10 — what Apple calls the biggest iOS release ever.
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Apple said that this is the biggest update to iOS since its release, and it shows. There’s a fundamental rethinking of things like the lock screen, which has remained static pretty much forever, but it now has widgets, actions and raise to wake.
We have Siri getting smarter and now integrating with developer’s third-party apps.
A lot of time was spent talking about the new iMessage, complete with inline previews of links and music, the ability to send handwritten notes, disappearing messages… pretty much all new ways of communicating, in addition to third-party app integration. You can order food, book a table at a restaurant or order an Uber, all without leaving iMessage.
Over all, this is a huge step forward for the platform and Apple has opened up the biggest parts of the operating system to third parties, including Google. How ironic is that you can have the best smartphone with the best OS in the world, with Google services and apps all integrated at the system level, yet with Android you get all those great Google services but on horrible phones with a shoddy OS and no Apple? And with that, the comments are closed ladies and gentlemen.
