Apple Inc. provides updates to the iOS operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch through iTunes, and since iOS 5.0, also through over-the-air software updates. With the June 6, 2011 announcement of iOS 5.0, a USB connection to iTunes is no longer needed to activate iOS devices; data synchronization can happen automatically and wirelessly through Apple's iCloud service. The most recent update, iOS 8.2, was released on March 9, 2015; 12 days ago (2015-03-09).
Apple's iOS did not have an official name until the release of the iPhone software development kit (iPhone SDK) on March 6, 2008. Before then, Apple marketing literature simply stated that their iPhone runs a version of OS X, a reference to iOS' parent operating system.[1] When introduced, it was named iPhone OS. It was renamed iOS on June 7, 2010, as the iPhone was no longer the only device to run iOS.[2] Apple licensed the "iOS" trademark from Cisco.[3]
On June 29, 2007, Apple released the first version of what became iOS – concurrently with the first iPhone. The final 1.x series release was 1.1.5, released shortly after version 2.0.
July 11, 2008 saw the public release of iPhone OS 2.0, with upgrades through version 2.2.1 made available.
June 17, 2009 was the release date for iPhone OS 3.0. It was updated through (and including) version 3.1.3 (release date February 2, 2010).[4] The first generation iPod Touch and iPhone have iPhone OS 3.1.3 as their newest available version. The iPad was introduced with iOS 3.2, later updated to 3.2.2. 3.2.x versions of iOS were made specifically for the iPad.
On June 21, 2010, iOS 4.0 was released to the public and was made available only to the iPod Touch and iPhone. iOS 4.0 was announced to have over 1500 new APIs for developers, with the highly anticipated multitasking feature.[5] The iPod Touch (2nd generation) and iPhone 3G have iOS 4.2.1 as the final version available. Nevertheless, many features are not available for the iPhone 3G or iPod Touch (2nd generation), such as multitasking and home screen backgrounds. iOS 4.2 is the first version to bring major feature parity to the iPhone and iPad. The release of the CDMA iPhone for Verizon Wireless saw a branching of iOS. The 4.2 version sequence continued for the CDMA phone while 4.3 was released for all other products.
On June 6, 2011, Apple previewed iOS 5, Apple TV 4.4 beta and the iOS SDK 5 beta along with iCloud beta among other products. This update introduced iMessage chat between devices running iOS 5, a new notification system, Newsstand subscriptions, Twitter integrated into iOS, Reminders app, Enhancements to AirPlay, full integration with iCloud and over 200 new features. iOS 5.0 supports all iPad models, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4GSM & CDMA, iPhone 4S, and the iPod Touch (3rd & 4th generation).
iOS 5 had only three minor additions, 5.0.1, 5.1, and 5.1.1, which were all provided as OTA and iTunes software updates.
Apple concurrently provides the same version of iOS for the comparable model of iPhone and iPod Touch, usually devices released in the same calendar year. iPhone users receive all software updates for free, while iPod Touch users paid for the 2.0 and 3.0 major software updates. As of iOS 4.0, Apple no longer charges money for iPod Touch updates.[6]
As of October 23, 2011, two versions of iOS were never released. iPhone OS 1.2, which after the first beta was replaced by a 2.0 version number; the second beta was called 2.0 beta 2 instead of 1.2 beta 2. The other was iOS 4.2, replaced with 4.2.1 due to a Wi-Fi bug in 4.2 beta 3, causing Apple to release 2 golden masters (4.2 GM and 4.2.1 GM).[7] One version of iOS was pulled back by Apple after being released. iOS 8.0.1 was pulled back by Apple because cellular service and Touch ID were disabled on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The current version is iOS 8.2 which along with continuing to fix various bugs also introduced the Apple Watch companion application.
First iteration of Apple's touch-centric mobile operating system. No official name given on its initial release; Apple marketing literature simply stating the iPhone runs a version of Apple's desktop operating system, OS X.[1] On March 6, 2008, with the release of the iPhone software development kit (iPhone SDK), Apple named it iPhone OS (they went on to rename it "iOS" on June 7, 2010).[2]
Table of versions: iPhone OS 1.x – iPhone and iPod Touch
Commonly called the iPhone "January '08 Update" and January Software Upgrade by Apple.[11]
Free update for iPhone; $19.95 in iTunes for the iPod Touch.
Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes apps for iPod Touch.
Recent calls contact details now show most recent call times.
Google Maps on iPhone gains the 'Locate Me' feature which can determine the phone's approximate location, using a combination of cellular triangulation and Wi-Fi data from Skyhook Wireless; also adds hybrid map support and the 'Drop Pin' feature.
Icons on the home screen can be rearranged and placed on multiple home screens (up to nine).
iTunes gift cards can be redeemed on the iTunes Store.
Movies downloaded through iTunes have chapter support.
Music has lyrics-support feature.
Web Clips can be added to (and subsequently removed from) the home screen.
SMS messages can be sent to multiple contacts using messages.
SMS storage capacity increased from 1,000 to 75,000 messages.
Default GmailIMAP setup for new accounts (previously was defaulted as POP3).
The clock timer now remembers the last used options (bug fix).
Incoming SMS messages now prompts the user to "Close" or "Reply" (previously "Ignore" or "Reply"). Pressing either option now marks the message as "seen".
Labels for contact data can now be deleted.
Applications on the phone no longer run as root; they run as the user "mobile" instead.
Ability to listen to music through a Bluetooth headset by going to the voicemail and choosing "Bluetooth" as the audio source no longer works (still works as long as phone is not locked or voicemail screen is active).
iPhone OS 2.0, the second major release of iOS, became available on July 11, 2008 with the release of the iPhone 3G. Devices running 1.x are upgradable to this version. This version of the OS introduces the App Store, making third-party applications available to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Table of versions: iPhone OS 2.x – iPhone and iPod Touch
Free for iPod Touch users who have upgraded to iPhone OS 2.0.
Initial release on iPod Touch (2nd generation) (as 2.1.1).
Companion changes in/with iTunes 8 for this release
Displays capacity and used space of information on iPhone.[23]
Dramatically reduced time to back up to iTunes.[24]
Does not remove all media after restore.
Faster firmware installation and data sync.
Application updates downloaded from iTunes have new finder naming convention.
Bug fixes, performance enhancements
Security fix to prevent from bypassing the double home button exploit.
Fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes for users with lots of third party applications.
Faster installation and updating of 3rd party applications.
Updating applications keeps their icons in place on the home screen.
Improvements to Mail stability.
Improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts.
Faster loading and searching of contacts.
Auto-correct now appears above the text instead of below (fixing a usability problem people were having where auto-correct would appear above the first row of keys).
Smoother browsing in Safari, particularly when scrolling up/down on a web page.
Significantly better battery life for most users.[24]
Decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls.[24]
Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display.
Some Bluetooth headsets which didn't originally work with visual voicemail on previous firmware versions have been reported to be working on 2.1.[citation needed]
The 12/24 hour clock which has been available in previous versions is now usable to UK iPhone users.[citation needed]
Improved way of creating the "Application Map" on reboot fixes the "ALoD" issue.[citation needed]
Third-party application settings are loaded after loading the main Settings.[citation needed]
With the UK English keyboard setting, when entering URLs, holding down the '.com' button would bring up shortcuts to other TLDs, but for some reason it would drop '.net' to make room for '.co.uk'. 2.1 adds '.net' for the UK English keyboard.[citation needed]
Apple have fixed the grammar in the App Store when all apps up to date. Before 2.1, the update page would display the text "All Apps Are Up-To-Date." (hyphenated with a period). The update page now displays the text "All Apps Are Up to Date".[citation needed]
Double tapping (the standard gesture for zooming) didn't work in prior firmware versions in the Mail application. The only way to zoom into content (e.g. a HTML attachment/web page) was to use the 'pinch' method. 2.1 now adds the functionality of double tapping to zoom in the Mail application.[citation needed]
Triple-click on the control button of headphones now jumps music to previous track played.
SMS app can alert up to two additional times if you don’t acknowledge an incoming text message (will play the alert sound/vibrate again after a period of time as if a new message just came in).[23]
When receiving a text message, it used to display "Sender — Text Message" when the message preview was off (e.g. "Pete — Text Message"). Now just displays "New Text Message".[citation needed]
Update supporting languages.
Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts (after 5 attempts, the device will disable itself for 1 minute. After the 6th attempt, it will disable itself for 5 minutes. In the 10th attempt, it will wipe all data).[23]
The camera can now be turned off within the restrictions page.[23]
When taking a screen-shot of your phone, there is now the camera shutter noise.
Pause apps by clicking the icon while it downloads/installs.[citation needed]
Updated apps now keep their original position in the Home Screen.[citation needed]
iPod volume/application volume setting is now independent of the phone ringer volume setting.[citation needed]
iPhone never gets locked when placed in dock and playing music.
New application features
Genius playlist creation.
More information provided within iPod Music lists (artist and album are now shown below song title when selecting music in addition to remaining time on podcasts).
More information is provided for audiobooks, such as displaying time left in active audiobook.[23]
New podcasts & videos had "filled" blue bubbles next to them to indicate that they were new, now if you have "half-played" a podcast or video, it will include a half filled blue bubble.[23]
Sound from iPod now fades out if you start syncing device with iTunes.[25]
Options to load & display earlier text message in a conversation.[citation needed]
Exif data information now remains on photos/pictures when emailed from your iPhone. Sites such as Flickr are now able to show geotag and other information.[citation needed]
When location services is switched off in the Settings menu, the Maps application reminds you to manually turn it back on from the Settings menu when using GPS. Originally, you would have the option to turn it on when the notification appeared.[citation needed]
Bookmarked home screen apps open in full screen.[26]
iPod Touch only
Settings for individual speaker sounds. Sounds can no longer be turned off en masse. All sounds must be turned off individually to mute sounds.
iPhone OS 3.0 became available with the iPhone 3GS. It was released on June 17, 2009. This release added features such as copy and paste, and MMS. Not all features were available on the original iPhone. Devices running iPhone OS 2.x were upgradeable to this software. The final release supported on the original iPhone and iPod touch is iPhone OS 3.1.3.[35] The iPad was introduced with iOS 3.2.[36] iOS 3.2 was the first iOS version to be called "iOS".
Table of versions: iPhone OS 3.x – iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Features iPhone users got in 2.2 now added for the iPod Touch (e.g. Google Street View, public transit and walking directions, display address of dropped pin, share location via email, and cache of recent locations). Changed behavior when routing directions and showing steps.
Stocks
Landscape mode that enabled viewing detailed price and change information by dragging one or two fingers across the full-screen chart.
Metadata display for detailed information about the symbol, including full company/fund name, market capitalisation, price to earning ratio, dividend yield, and statistics about the day and year price range.
Table of news stories from various internet sources related to the selected symbol.
YouTube
Can now log into account.
View subscriptions, Favorites, My Videos, History, and Playlists
Comment on videos, rate videos
Phone
Recent Calls now show more details (call length, etc.).
Ability to change/set "own number" (my number) in the SIM card. Will be displayed in the Contacts list and iTunes, as well as possibly used for MMS identification.
Camera now has a thumbnail of the previous photo captured. The thumbnail also acts as a shortcut to "Camera Roll" allowing for view/delete of photos without exiting the camera app.
Camera now has autofocus. To change what is being focused on, simply tap on what you wish to now have the camera focus (iPhone 3GS only).
Photos options menu changed (new UI, added copy button).
Can now delete multiple photos.
App Store
Installs new apps from the second home page on. You can still move the apps to the first home page manually.
Screenshot browsing method has changed.
SMS application renamed to Messages
Application icon was slightly modified, it no longer has the letters "SMS".
Sending progress bar has been moved to the title bar and does not cover up the screen.
Sending queue (compose a new message(s) while sending others).
Select single or multiple messages to forward or delete.
SMS entry text box have unlimited lines (actually limited by the screen).
MMS functionality including sending vCards, pictures, audio files, video (depends on mobile network availability).P2,P3
Optional Subject line in the Messages settings.
Photos can be taken/sent directly from the Messages app.
MMS messages are played/viewed in the Messages app.
Mail, contacts, calendars, MobileMe
MobileMe now has a "Find My iPhone" option, allowing MobileMe users (via the online service) to remotely locate device and wipe data.[38]
AVRCP: Play/Pause/Stop for iPod app (no Next/Back yet).
Device side audio control still enabled but does not affect audio stream.
PBAP: wireless phone book access (for use with vehicle head units).
PAN: personal networking for tethering and ad-hoc connections between mobile devices (multi-player gaming).
iPod
Shake to shuffle songs in iPod app.
Search through iPod.
Scrubbing through tracks can now be done at 4 variable rates as user moves finger down the screen, and the speed is displayed on screen ("Hi-Speed", "Half Speed", "Quarter Speed", "Fine").
(When Bluetooth is enabled and a paired audio device is present) Audio output menu added to "Now Playing" screen and Home button iPod controls.
Location dot while playing video/music now glows while you scrub the track/video.
Podcasts
More details shown: time remaining, etc.
Can be played at "½x", 1x, or "2x" speed (actual speeds are 0.8x, 1x, and 1.5x).
Can now sign out of iTunes account and use a different iTunes account.
iTunes account info can be accessed and edited.
Can now read and write reviews for content on iTunes.
Movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and iTunes U content can now be purchased on iTunes Wi-Fi store.
Notes syncing.
Voice memos syncing (audio files added to a "Voice Memos" playlist).
Backups can now be encrypted and password protected.
Tethering over USB and Bluetooth (depends on mobile network ability).P2,P3
USB tethering auto activated when connected to USB on iTunes 8.2+ (if tethering is enabled in iPhone settings and by phone's carrier).
iTunes 8.2 now includes a USB driver for iPhone tethering.
Full access to iPhone possible while tethered.
(In Windows) iPhone shows up as a standard ethernet connection.
Accessibility settings (for the visually/aurally impaired) (iPhone 3GS only).[42]
VoiceOver gesture-based screen reader. Touch screen to hear a description of the item under your finger, then double-tap, drag, or flick to control iPhone. Speaks 21 languages and works with all apps.
Zoom, magnifies entire screen on any app up to 5 times normal size. Move left, right, up, and down to view any portion of the screen close-up.
White on Black, changes display to white on black (instead of the normal black on white), works in any app, and alongside with Zoom and VoiceOver.
Mono Audio, if users hearing is limited in one ear, routes both right- and left-channel audio into both earbuds, so you can hear both channels in either ear.
Speak Auto-text, works with VoiceOver to automatically speak auto-corrections and auto-capitalisations.
Other
Device automatically connects and authenticates to Wi-Fi hotspots which need username and password (e.g. Starbucks, McDonalds).
Locate Me for the iPod Touch accuracy improved.
Restrictions have been updated and now block "Current Location" and allows setting what content is appropriate for iPod music/videos/TV shows and apps.
11 home screen pages instead of 9. Now can store 180 apps (including native applications. i.e. Phone, iPod, Safari).[43]
Speed optimisations during keyboard input and use of the included App Store application.[citation needed]
Voice control (ability to voice dial and control iPod).P3,T3
Holding the home button will no longer force quit an unresponsive application. To force quit an application in 3.0 hold the sleep/wake button until the red power off slider appears. Then hold down the home button to quit the unresponsive application.
Screen captures are no longer numbered separately from photos taken with the camera application; all new images in the camera roll now use a common numbering sequence.
On iPod Touch (2nd generation) the Voice Memos app now successfully records audio if you plug your microphone after you have started the application.
Numbers inside Notes have more options when tap and hold is triggered: Call, Text Message, Create New Contact, Add to Existing Contact.
Voice control over Bluetooth is now available, allowing users to initiate calls and control music playback via Bluetooth headsets (however, voice control while plugged into car audio systems no longer works).
APIs allow third party apps to access videos and edit them.
Gives programmers their choice of video recording quality.
A pair of new app interface classes that are known to relate to graphics, but which haven't had their functions identified.
New camera APIs.
Calendar event alerts will be shown also with a pop-up, much like push notifications.
Xcode 3.1.3 has also been released and is said by people aware of the update to improve facilities for creating a new project as well as setting a target configuration.[citation needed].
Enables connectivity to devices for developmental purposes wirelessly instead of requiring tethering via the dock connector.
Ability to save videos from Mail or MMS.
Ability to copy and paste full quality videos from camera into email.
Allows transferring files between a computer and the device for a shared (per app) document store that all applications can access (iOS file sharing). Only available for the iPad.
Allows use of Apple Bluetooth keyboard (possibly other keyboards).
Includes a built-in dictionary which can be used in iWork and iBooks (possibly other apps too).
The Dock is now able to hold up to six icons.
The iPod app allows the user to create and name custom playlists.
Safari's new thumbnail view allows the user to navigate to up to nine active pages (similar to Top Sites on Safari for Mac OS X).
Places in the Photos app allows the user to view their photos by location (needs iPhoto '09).
iOS 4 was made available to the public for the iPhone and iPod Touch on June 21, 2010. This is the first major iOS release to drop support for some devices (original iPhone and iPod Touch) and that iPod Touch users do not have to pay for.
The iPhone 3G and iPod Touch (2nd generation) have limited features, including lack of multitasking capabilities and the ability to set a home screen wallpaper, while the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch (3rd & 4th generation) have all features enabled, such as multitasking. The iPhone and iPod Touch (1st generation) cannot run iOS 4.0 and above.
iOS 4.2.1, released November 22, 2010, added iPad compatibility. It also was the last version to support iPhone 3G and iPod Touch (2nd generation, MB & MC model). iOS 4.2.1 replaced iOS 4.2 due to a Wi-Fi bug in iOS 4.2 beta 3, causing Apple to release 2 golden masters (4.2 GM and 4.2.1 GM).
Table of versions: iOS 4.x – iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Enables FaceTime call connection via email contacts (e.g. for iPod Touch (4th generation) users who won't have a phone number) and through favorites.[55]
Check spelling can be turned off in Settings.[citation needed]
iOS 4 features for iPad (multitasking, folders, etc.).
Up to 4,400 icons instead of 220 (20 apps a folder).
Updated carrier signal strength display (3G iPad only).
Increase in the length of the smaller signal bars.
The method in which signal strength is calculated has been enhanced.
Additions to the multitasking tray.
Brightness.
Volume control.
AirPlay controls.
Screen rotation lock switch.
Physical iPad screen rotation lock switch is converted into a sound/silent switch in iOS 4.2 (just like on the iPhones), with a virtual screen rotation lock switch added to the multitasking tray.
More than 30 new keyboards and dictionaries, including Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew.
Fixes glitch that can let a user get into the Phone app while the phone is locked via "Emergency Call" by dialing a random number and quickly pressing the lock button after dialing that call.[66]
Fixes the alarm bug caused by daylight saving time changing, affected on a part of iPhone and iPod Touch owners living in various countries.[67]
Improved iPhone 3G and iPod Touch (2nd generation) performance.[68]
Ability to cancel and delete an app which is currently downloading. Before iOS 4.3, it was only possible to delete an app which had already downloaded.
Stream from an iTunes library to iOS using Home Sharing.
In-app purchases always ask for a password, even if one has previously been entered.
Internal system clock gets network time updated more frequently via NITZ (part of the official GSM standard since phase 2+ release 96) and gives a more accurate time for the device, it updates about every five days.
iPhone only
Personal Hotspot feature (Wi-Fihotspot with up to 5 simultaneous devices (Wi-Fi hotspot iPhone 4 only[69])) on supported carriers.
Ability to set amount of times a text tone repeats (up to 10 times).
In field test mode refresh button has been removed & updated information has been displayed in bottom of the screen (it updates every 4–6 seconds).
Slideshow options moved to Photos app.
New look for taking a picture for a Contact.
When receiving a text message, the iPhone now vibrates 2 times.
All notifications concentrated to Notification Center: swipe downwards from the status bar to open it. Notification center shows a list of all notifications and widgets (widgets available only on iPhone & iPod Touch).
Notification order can be arranged.
Choose Notification Type: Banner notifications, the classic pop-up notifications, or no notification at all (selectable on an app-by-app basis).
Notification list on lock screen. Swipe an icon to unlock and go to the specific notification.
Notifications announcing earthquakes with 2 minutes (only in Japan).[73][74]
Messages
Messaging between all iOS devices running iOS 5 through Wi-Fi or 3G. Allows to send text, photos, videos, contacts, and locations.
All iMessages and conversations will be synced between all iOS devices linked under a single Apple ID. You can start a conversation on one device and continue it on another.
Can message between multiple people simultaneously (group messaging).
Shows when other person(s) is typing.
Delivery receipts.
Optional read receipts (enable in Settings).
Animated GIF image support for iMessage.
Ability to set how many times an alert will be shown when a new message is received (ranges from once to ten times).
The name of the person that responds appears in small light blue text directly above the response when SMS is sent to a group.
Slight redesign for text messages. Font & time-stamp layout.
Hide keyboard; hidden by downwards scrolling in message screen (after being used to type a message). Unhidden again by tapping in text entry field.
A new icon on the home screen, which opens to an iBooks-inspired folder which shows all papers and magazines downloaded from the App Store.
Subscriptions to newspapers and magazines available for browsing and downloading in a dedicated section of the App Store, stored in the Newsstand folder.
Reminders
"To-Do list" functionality in Reminders app.
Date-based reminder notifications.
Location-based reminder notifications that can be set to when you leave, or arrive a specified area (P4,P4S).
Twitter integration
Tweeting from native applications: Photos, Camera, YouTube, Maps, and Safari using new Tweet Sheet which supports multiple accounts.
Music
iPod app now split and renamed to Music and Videos (iPhone and iPad only; was always split on the iPod Touch).
Video podcasts can only be found in the Videos app.
Ability to play content while the device is synchronizing with iTunes.
Ability to delete songs from device (by swiping over the corresponding song).
Tap and hold on a song to view extended song information (iPhone & iPod Touch only).
Long names scrolling in now playing.
Album artwork now displays in full resolution (Retina Display only) on Now Playing screen.
Broadcast song information on devices (e.g. car stereo) when connected over Bluetooth.
Improved Sound Check for Music.
“Group by Album Artist” option for Music.
iTunes Store button has been added to the Music app.
Removed ability to view lyrics (on iPad).
Camera
Volume-up key as shutter release button to take photos (also works using headphone remote volume up button). Also works for starting/stopping recording of videos.
Shortcut to Camera app from lock screen, accessed by double-clicking the home button (iPhone 3GS & later and iPod Touch 4th Generation only).
Grid composition aide (3x3).
Spread to zoom-in, pinch to zoom-out.
Swipe left to reveal camera roll.
Tap and hold to lock/unlock Auto Exposure and Auto Focus.
Options button added, HDR toggle and Grid composition aide toggle.
New Camera button on Photos app that returns to Camera instead of a "Done" button (was on OS before this) to close the Camera Roll.
Can now create, rename, and delete calendars right on the device.
Tap and hold or double-tap to create a new event.
Tap and hold in "all-day events" to create a new all-day event.
Drag appointments to a new time slot.
Drag handles to change start and end times.
Creating new Event, now an "Invitees" field; takes to screen for multiple email address entry, emails sent to all invitees once event is saved.
Invitee can “Accept”/“Decline”/“Maybe”; reply sent to iCloud servers then reflected for all invitees to see.
Calendar event on device lists those invitees accepting event.
All users on iOS 5.x devices get notification when event is nearing.
Ability to specify a time zone to events.
Ability to add URLs to events.
Current time on Calendar if in landscape mode.
Navigate in day view by swiping.
Event attachments can now be viewed directly in the app.
Share calendars through iCloud with friends and family. Edits made by subscribers to that calendar are updated and pushed to other subscribers of that calendar (can be disabled by the creator of the calendar and locked so others cannot make edits).
Japanese or Buddhist calendars support.
Mail
Rich text formatting (bold, italics, and underline).
Indentation control.
Ability to mark multiple mail items as read.
Ability to flag emails.
Draggable mail address in the recipients field.
Alert if the subject line is blank.
Search now includes body of messages.
Delete mails while in Airplane mode.
Exchange Activesync Email can now be deleted offline.
Can create new email folders.
Mail sidebar.
S/MIME support.
Ability to show 1000 recent messages; 25 message option removed.
Ability to create additional @me.com email address within the Mail settings.
Ability to increase quote level in Mail settings.
New and updated tiny icons on Mail for Windows Live Mail, Gmail, Exchange, etc.
Hotmail accounts now have new icons and folders.
While reading an email you can swipe right to open a list of messages and swipe left to bring back the open email message again.
If you have multiple email accounts configured in Mail.app, swipe left or right from one’s mailboxes folder list, it will take you to another account’s mailboxes.
Support for three popular Chinese email services: Tencent’s QQ Mail, and Netease’s 163.com & 126.com mail inboxes.[75]
Photos
Built-in basic photo editing: crop, red-eye, auto-enhance and rotate photos.
Ability to create and edit local photo albums folders (only those that aren't synced with iTunes).
Ability to sync pictures taken on one iOS device automatically with other iOS 5 devices using Photo Stream.
Ability to select all when adding pictures to an album.
Slight re-design for video time-line under Photos app.
Safari
Safari Reader: new "Reader" icon appears in address bar if Safari detects a webpage article, removing need to click-through to each page. Scrollable window sheet appears over current webpage showing all article pages together separated by page breaks, removing ads and page clutter.
Ability to change font size in reader mode.
Reading List: a new area of the bookmarks window has been added, purposed for pages you might want to read later. New pages can be added from a new option in the action menu or when long-pressing on a link.
Items from the Reading List can be synced to iCloud to be pushed to all of your other iOS devices.
Safari bookmarks can be synced to iCloud.
Ability to open pages in background or in new page (change in Settings).
Ability to replace a word with a word from a list of similarly spelled words spellings when typing in a text box on a web page.
Private Browsing; interface colours change from blue to black (change in Settings).
Ability to remove custom website data.
CSS fixed position support.
Slight fade out at end of long URLs (instead of ellipses) in the address bar.
iTunes, iBooks (books & progress), App Store, Photo, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Mail, Safari (Bookmarks & Reading List), Settings, app data, iWork, and backup data; saved in iCloud to automatically or manually download to all linked devices (iOS & Mac/Windows PCs).
All iMessages and conversations will be synced between all iOS devices linked under a single Apple ID. You can start a conversation on one device and continue it on another.
Backup homescreen layout on iCloud.
Document sync.
Ability to buy more storage.
Free upgrade to 256 kbps bit rate for iTunes purchased songs if backing up on iCloud.
File names in iCloud Storage are case-sensitive.
Documents/data can now be selected to sync with iCloud account.
Option to disable iCloud Sync via cellular network to save cost, especially if roaming.
Points in Game Center: shows you how many points you have on the home screen of Game Center.
Sort and view Friends on the basis of Points.
Friend recommendations.
Game recommendations.
Games can be purchased from within Game Center.
New Friend requests screen.
Native support for turn based games.
Settings
Help Center: learn more about every option under settings app to explore more about it.
New menu under Location Services called System Services where certain services can be toggled on or off (such as setting the time-zone, location-based iAds, Diagnostics, etc.).
Hearing Aid Mode.
Ability to rename your device.
Ability to set up an AirPort base station or Time Capsule devices.
Ability to organise Notification Center items "Manually" or "By Time".
Can select which apps can be included in Notification Center.
Can select which type of notification will be used for each app: banner notification, classic pop-up style notification, or no notification.
Ability to turn off app badges.
On the "Ringtone" and "Text Tone" page, instead of showing "new", they are all in one category now.
Custom sounds for New Message, New Voicemail, New Mail, Sent Mail and Reminders alerts.
Ability to purchase text, email, and voicemail alert tones.
Under "Mail, Contacts, Calendars", on the bottom it shows "Reminders" and gives an option to Sync.
In the "Messages" section, the "Alerts", "Show Preview", and "Repeat Alert" options have been removed.
The Usage screen is improved and now shows how much of the memory is consumed by each app.
Storage usage clean up.
Backup to iCloud shortcut added.
Software Update menu added. This allows you to update your device independently without a computer with iTunes installed; the update downloads directly to the iOS device (Requires Wi-Fi or cellular network connectivity). It becomes easier and faster this way.
Photo Stream settings.
New purchases Settings; automatically download new purchases made on other devices (for music, apps, and books). This can also be enabled or disabled for use on cellular when not connected to Wi-Fi.
Twitter sign-in OS-wide with support for multiple Twitter accounts.
Ability to set left or right for mono audio.
Ability to turn on/off sending of iOS diagnostic data to Apple.
Keyboard
Ability to create keyboard shortcuts to replace custom phrases. By default includes “omw” which expands to “On my way!”.
Emoji keyboard no longer requires an app to enable it (regarding non-Japanese devices).
Define your own words in Offline Dictionary.
New keyboard with prominent # (hash-tag) and @ (mention) buttons for Twitter app similar to the ".com" button when entering an address into the Safari address bar.
New Chinese-Pinyin keyboard spreading.
Quick Chinese input method.
List of associated words show on the top of Chinese input keyboard.
iTunes/USB no longer needed to activate new devices via a computer.
New welcome screen when using the device for the first time (or after resetting a device).
Ability to start fresh with no need to tether it to iTunes. Option to restore all data on a device from an iCloud backup through a simple iCloud sign in.
Ability to wirelessly sync to iTunes over Wi-Fi added (an initial tethered sync is needed to pair them together and the setting must be enabled in iTunes).
OTAdelta updates: from iOS 5 forward, devices can now self-update the system software right on the device itself through Wi-Fi or 3G; no iTunes or computer needed.
YouTube
Ability to play 480p/720p videos over 3G (iPhone only).[76]
Scrolling titles for YouTube videos.
Seek bar fine scrubbing visual notification has been added.
FaceTime
Improved video quality.
Ability to set your FaceTime caller-ID to be your email or your phone number.
Ability to mirror the FaceTime call on large screen.[77]
iTunes/App Store
iTunes Tone Store.
New Purchased History section.
Genius support for finding songs and apps similar to ones users have purchased previously.
Ability to completely disable in-app purchases.
iTunes password prompt.
Restrictions with password needed for purchases if enabled.
Shows "Install" instead of the price for previously purchased apps. Shows "Installed" for installed apps.
Additional “iForgot” button on App Store if a user has forgotten their Apple ID password.
Simultaneous app downloads.
Custom tones for almost everything under "Sounds" with "Buy more tones" button.
Music app now has a "Store" button that goes to the iTunes Store.
Contacts
Add family relations ("related names") to contacts.
Add social media info into contacts.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver item chooser.
VoiceOver action support.
Arabic language support for VoiceOver.
Option to speak text selection.
New voices for VoiceOver.
Bluetooth
AVRCP 1.4 supported (sends track and artist info to supported devices).
Minor improvements/bug fixes
New rounded UI switch graphic.
Ability to use the device while syncing.
Spotlight search now includes Reminders and searches through Messages.
Built-in system-wide dictionary; in the typical Cut/Copy/Paste pop-up when selecting text, there is a new option to "Define". Define brings up a view with definition of the selected word.
Ability to delete app data.
Fixed a bug that caused a song to crash for a second while switching to another application in the multitasking tray.
Apps fade to home screen when they crash, rather than flicking off.
Option to automatically set the time (new for Wi-Fi only devices).
Switching the ringer switch to "on", the indicator now shows the volume level bar (iPhone & iPad only).
Screenshots are saved using the device's orientation (previously, all screenshots were saved as if the device was in portrait mode).
Hindi virtual keyboard based on standard InScript layout.
iPhone & iPod Touch only
Notification Center
Option to display Stock & Weather widgets in Notification Center. Swipe weather left or right to get five-day forecast.
Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation.
Contains security improvements.
Activates the LED camera flash, whether the speaker is muted or not, for incoming calls and messages, when activated within the Accessibility sub-menu.
Introduces a new way for developers to specify files that should not be backed up.
iPhone 4S only (Build 9A406)
Attempts to fix "Invalid Sim" and "No SIM card installed" issues.
iOS 6 was announced and previewed on June 11, 2012 during Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2012, and its release was stated as Fall 2012. Following the pattern of previous iOS releases, some older devices were no longer supported, specifically the iPod Touch (3rd generation), and the iPad (1st generation). Supported devices include the iPhone 3GS and later; the iPod Touch (4th generation) and later; and the iPad 2 and later.[82]
On September 12, 2012 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, among other items unveiled, Apple announced three iOS-related items: the next generation iPhone 5, the redesigned iPod Touch (5th generation), and the announcement of the release of iOS 6.0 the following week.[83]
iOS 6 was released to the public on September 19, 2012, through iTunes and over-the-air updates.
iOS 6.1.6 is the final release supported for the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch (4th generation).
Table of versions: iOS 6.x – iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Siri now available on iPad (3rd, 4th generation and Mini) and iPod Touch (5th generation).
Additional country and language support for Canada (English and Canadian French), China (Mandarin), Hong Kong (Cantonese), Italy (Italian), Korea (Korean), Mexico (Spanish), Spain (Spanish), Switzerland (Italian, French, German), Taiwan (Mandarin), US (Spanish).
Siri can provide information on movies like find movie reviews, ask about actors and actresses, play a movie trailer, get showtimes for movies and find a theater/cinema.
Yelp! built-in reviews and launch to open up more information and create reservations with OpenTable.
Restaurants are listed by reviews and nearest with more information.
Apps can be launched by saying "run <app name>" or "open <app name>".
Siri can send Tweets and update Facebook status.
Siri can read items from Notification Center.
"Eyes Free", allowing car companies to build-in Siri integration; with a mic button on steering wheel, and for launching Siri functions, and screen disabling during Eyes Free mode.
Message previews can now be toggled on/off for alerts.
Calendar now shows the current date in the title bar.
Shows ending times for Calendar events.
Added "Do Not Disturb" for Notifications. (See Settings, below, for more information)
Photos
Shared Photo Streams. Photos can be shared with other contacts. Photos shared can be commented on and liked. Notifications are enabled for when a contact shares a photo with the user.
New sharing menu, using new icons.
Constantly shows a button to create new Albums.
Sharing menu has options for Twitter, Facebook, Weibo (when Chinese keyboard is enabled), as well as Copy, Slideshow, AirPlay, Use as Wallpaper, & Print.
Videos can be uploaded to Youku and Tudou when the Chinese keyboard is enabled.
Music
New streamlined UI with white and black themes.
Late Night Mode equaliser.
Redesigned rewind, play/pause, and fast forward controls (videos kept the same touch controls from previous iOS software.)
Settings
"Bluetooth" moved to top of Settings list.
Added "Do Not Disturb" mode, allowing users to avoid calls and notifications unless calling parties are on the user's Favorites group. A crescent moon icon will appear in the status bar when enabled. Has no effect when the screen is on.
New Privacy Controls. Apps must now ask for permission to access the users photos, calendars, contacts and reminders.
Revised Settings icon, similar to that of the OS X System Preferences app icon.
New gear animation in the Settings app shown whilst downloading an over-the-air update.
In the Usage menu, Time Since Last Full Charge, showing "Usage" and "Standby" time, is now available for all devices.
Enable 3G under Cellular setting (iPhone).
Maps menu for changing voice volume, map label language, label size, and distance units (iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, & iPod Touch (5th generation)).
Settings categories now separated into groups on iPad.
"Advertising" option added under "About", just above "Diagnostics & Usage" to enable or disable advertising networks from serving you "targeted ads".
Phone
Adds phone icon on lock screen for showing additional ignoring options, similar to the camera sliding icon on the lock screen in iOS 5.1.
When ignoring a call, the user can message the caller by sending one of three customizable quick SMS responses or set a Reminder to call them back later.
Phone call doesn't take up the entire lock screen when a call is incoming. (QuietIncomingCallsonLock)
Maps are now Apple-sourced instead of using Google sources.
Turn-by-turn Navigation with Siri Voice powered by TomTom (iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, & iPod Touch (5th generation)), voice directions (iPhone 4S and later only).
3D overview for maps (iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, & iPod Touch (5th generation)).
Satellite view.
Flyover view for maps gives 3D satellite view.P4S,P5,T5,S2,S2
New Map icon.
Lock Screen integration for turn-by-turn navigation (iPhone 4S and later, & iPad 2 and later), voice directions (iPhone 4S and later only).
Yelp! integration available for businesses provides reviews and information on the business. Allows the user to launch Yelp! app from Maps.
Info cards of businesses.
Traffic crowd sourcing with anonymous data sent from all iPhones, also adds events of traffic slow-down. Re-routing around traffic accidents and road work.
Tapping search bar will automatically give you directions from current location to back home, can be changed.
Fullscreen landscape mode (for iPhone and iPod Touch).
iCloud tab syncing across iOS devices and Macs.
Offline Reading List caches the user's Reading List for later use, even when not connected to the Internet (not available for iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch (4th generation)).
Smart App Banners: Banners on mobile webpages prompt users to download the website's native App Store counterpart in the App Store.
Faster JavaScript engine.
Apps in search results.
Support for photo upload via Camera Roll to web forms with <input type="file"> elements.
Support for up to 24 open tabs on iPad (up from previous limit of 9).
Bookmarks window now displays tabs along the bottom of the window for switching between viewing "Bookmarks", "History" and "Reading List"; previously was just listed all in one source list (iPad 2 and later only).
Bookmarks button changes to Reading List icon with a progress bar when updating the Reading List for offline use (iPad 2 and later only).
Long press the "Back" or "Forward" button to reveal the browsing history (for iPhone 3GS and later, iPod Touch (4th generation) and later. Previously only available for iPad since iOS 5.x).
Lost Mode: If an iOS device is lost, Lost Mode triggers an attention grabbing sound, prompting the person who finds the iPhone to call a specific number set by the owner remotely.
Additional features for China (Baidu search engine added, China social network, improved inputting method).
New music controls on lock screen when you double-press home button.
Siri can now purchase movie tickets via Fandango (USA only).
LTE now works with several European, African, Asian and American carriers.
Individual songs can once again be downloaded or deleted when using iTunes Match.
An empty Passbook will automatically add a sample pass explaining passbook functionality. The pass text changes slightly for users in British English speaking countries, changing “movie tickets” to “cinema tickets” in the first sentence, and “theaters” to “cinemas” in the last sentence.
Reset Advertising Identifier button now works.
New cellular data option for iTunes (it is available from iOS 6.0).
When setting up an iOS device for the first time with iCloud, it will now ask you to confirm your Apple ID password for FaceTime and iMessages. It will also ask you to confirm how you'd like people to reach you, and tells you that you can change these settings at any time later on.
Fixed an iPhone 5 bug that prevented the phone from reconnecting to the cellular network when it lost connection for an extended amount of time.
"Accessory attached" splashscreen removed. Bi-directional control now possible.
Fixed a Bluetooth A2DP trigger delay - the beginning of the audio stream cut off (e.g. when navigating turn-by-turn, you heard "HT in .5 miles" instead of "TURN RIGHT in .5 miles" in your A2DP headset/speakers)[87]
Fix CVE-2014-1266, a bug in Secure Transport that can cause it to fail to properly authenticate a SSL/TLS connection. This bug also occurred in iOS 7, and was caused by a duplicate goto fail; statement in the source code that caused critical parts of the certificate verification code to become unreachable code. This bug is informally known as the goto fail bug as a result.
Apple announced iOS 7 on June 10, 2013 at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, with release announced for sometime in Fall (Northern Hemisphere) or Spring (Southern Hemisphere) 2013. At their iPhone event on September 10, 2013, Apple announced the full release of iOS 7 for September 18, 2013, while also unveiling two new iPhone models: the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S. With this release, support was once again dropped for older devices, specifically the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch (4th generation). Supported devices on this release include the iPhone 4 onwards, iPod Touch (5th generation), the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) onwards. iOS 7.1.2 is the final release for the iPhone 4. But, Apple can detect an unauthorized install and deactivate the device.[91]
Table of versions: iOS 7.x – iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Flat design and move away from skeuomorphism in general (exceptions exist - for a move towards more skeuomorphism, see for example the Countdown with a new skeuomorphic 3D animation of a spinning wheel).
Full Screen apps that make use of the system status bar and navigation bar.
Translucent design in tab bar, navigation bar, status bar, system keyboard, Control Center, and Notification Center (some translucent layers not on devices without the Lightning connector).
Opaque design in Alert view, Action Sheet and Share Sheet.
Borderless buttons in general.
Back navigation gesture by swiping from left edge of the screen.
New UI for arranging tab-bar icons.
System-wide dynamic font size, configurable in Settings.
Enhance the viewing experience of non-iPad apps on iPad 2 and iPad mini, remove the 1x and 2x toggle, apps are opened in ’2x’ mode by default on iPad 2 and mini.
Home Screen
Spotlight Search is now accessible on each screen by pulling it down.
"New" banner on newly installed apps have been replaced with blue dots.
Brand new icons for built-in apps.
Newsstand is now a dedicated app instead of a folder.
Control Center
A unified screen to quickly access toggles and controls for system settings and services, and for using AirDrop and AirPlay.
System wide, accessible by swiping upward from the bottom of the screen.
Accessible in the lock screen.
Flashlight (device-specific features that come with physical camera) toggle button.
Integrates Apple's ad-hoc Wi-Fi sharing feature AirDrop (iPhone 5 and later, iPod Touch (5th generation) and later, iPad (4th generation) and later, and iPad Mini (1st generation) and later).
Alert view, for receive invitation from other devices, option to accept/cancel.
Options to set discoverable: Off/Contacts only/Everyone.
Inter-app Audio
Register audio streams to share with other apps.
Provides for MIDI control of audio rendering, remotely launching other registered Inter-App Audio apps.
Notification Center
Accessible in the lock screen.
Today tab, for previewing the events calendar, stocks, and tomorrows events; provides traffic info on frequently visited places.
Missed filter: can filter list to see notifications that occurred when phone was not actively in use.
Bounces when swiped down quickly.
Folders
Unlimited number of apps via folder subpages.
Newsstand app can now be moved inside any folder.
Transparent background.
Folders change color when apps are downloading and clock-like animated progress graphic is superimposed over folders that have actively downloading apps.
Alert
A countdown for snooze.
Calculator
New feedback when pressing a key.
Toggle landscape mode button.
Spotlight
Accessible on every page of the Home screen by swiping downward from anywhere.
New animation.
Multitasking
Redesigned switcher, with horizontal scrolling for previewing all running apps, and swipe upward gesture to stop any running apps.
Can close multiple apps simultaneously by swiping with multiple fingers.
Landscape switcher.
Background App Refresh; fetches data in the background based on network connectivity and user habits.
Bookmarked website thumbnail icons appear when text field is activated.
Top-hit, Google suggest, Bookmarks, and History appear on the unified text field while typing.
Preview tabs on iPhone and iPod Touch are no longer limited to 8.
Preview tabs use new 3D vertical animation for previewing the opened tabs; long press to edit positions, swipe to remove.
Reading List shows website thumbnails on the right.
Scrolls articles one-by-one vertically from Reading List, as per OS X Mavericks.
Swipe gestures for back/previous history, as per OS X.
Parental controls.
Private button: enables "Do not track me." feature per website within the app. Previously, configuration appeared in Settings for every website.
Recent links: a reading list of all user's friends on Facebook or Twitter post.
Reading List button: new round glasses icon pays tribute to Steve Jobs.
The .com button removed and replaced with a simple period button. The .com, .net, and .org domain extensions can be accessed by holding down on the button.
Updated voices, and a new male voice (in select regions/languages). English (US), French, and German will be available with the launch of iOS 7 (additional languages will be added over time).
Controls certain system settings, such as turning on/off Bluetooth, and changing display brightness.
Activation Lock: re-activation with iCloud account if the device have been wiped remotely using Find My iPhone service, to prevent unauthorized usage of the lost device.
No longer included in the AssistiveTouch, they appear on the layer of the image.
Trusted Devices
User is warned when plugging their iOS device into their Mac/PC, "Trust the currently connected computer? Trusting this computer will allow it to have full access to your device and all of its data."
Voice Memo
New design.
Save to iCloud.
Share using AirDrop.
Status bar
Translucent design.
1xRTT icon on CDMA iPhones changed from "o" icon to "1x" icon.
GPRS icon on GSM iPhones changed from "o" icon to "GPRS" icon.
Dots representations for cellular signal strength.
Icon size slightly increased for better readability on the lock screen.
Lock screen
Charging the battery: rather than battery image on the lock screen, x% charged briefly appears under the clock, then reverts to the date.
Access to Notification Center and Control Center.
When playing music, the lock screen will now display the time.
iPad has Camera control on the lock screen, like the previous version on iPhone and iPod touch.
Timer counting down is shown when the device is locked.
Scrubbing bar is now displayed on the lock screen.
Photos & Camera tab in iOS Settings has a new "Upload Burst Photos" option.
You can disable Parallax effect independently of other animations when setting up wallpaper.
Notification Center now displays "No Notifications" and "No Missed Notifications" for the "All" and "Missed" sections respectively when there are no notifications.
Caller ID photos: no longer full screen, instead small circle portrait for incoming/outgoing calls.[93]
New Yahoo logo, in both Notification Center and the Weather and Stocks apps.
A new dialogue "Touch ID requires your passcode when iPhone restarts" when restarting.P5S
New iPad wallpapers.
"Touch ID and Passcode" has been moved-up to the main menu in Settings.
Animations and transitions are noticeably faster.
Keyboard has new Shift/Backspace key highlights.
Control Center has a new "spring" animation upon opening.
Control Center sliders — volume and brightness — have momentum.
Icons for Phone, Messages and FaceTime apps have less vibrant colors.
Music app: Albums now in descending order when browsing by Artist.
The buttons are circular in shape and do not show the word of what the icon means.
The Phone and FaceTime app have a new-look dialer and "end call" button.
The slide-to-power-off UI has been redesigned; the shape of the slider is circular and the thing that says "slide to power off" is oval in shape. Same with the "slide to answer" slider in the Phone and FaceTime apps.
Bug Fixes/Improvements
Fixes a home screen crash bug.
Fixes display of Mail unread badge for numbers greater than 10,000.
Patches 41 security exploits, including those used by the Evasi0n 7 jailbreak. This firmware, along with iOS 7.1.1 and 7.1.2 can be jailbroken via the Pangu jailbreak.[95]
Reduce Motion function in Settings app is introduced. This function reduces the motion of the UI and disables the parallax effects.
First update to iOS that enables beta versions to update over-the-air to the final release.
Issues
Touch ID fingerprint recognition is disabled when rebooting, turning Touch ID on and off; even restoring or resetting the device does not solve the problem.P5S
Apple announced iOS 8 on June 2, 2014 at its annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event, with release announced for sometime in Fall (Northern Hemisphere) or Spring (Southern Hemisphere) 2014. At their iPhone event on September 9, 2014, Apple announced the full release of iOS 8 for September 17, 2014, while also unveiling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. With this release, Apple resumed the cycle of dropping support for older devices, specifically the iPhone 4. Supported devices on this release include the iPhone 4S onwards, iPod Touch (5th generation), the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) onwards. The iPad 2 is also the first iOS device to support 5 major releases of iOS, supporting iOS 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. This is the greatest amount of major iOS releases a single iOS device has supported, surpassing the iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, and iPad (3rd generation) which all support 4 major releases (iOS 3, 4, 5, and 6; iOS 4, 5, 6, and 7; and iOS 5, 6, 7, and 8 respectively). However, iOS 8 has limited support for this device's predecessor and the iPhone 4S. The current version is iOS 8.2, which fixed many issues and bugs and introduced support for the upcoming Apple Watch. Currently, there is 1 major iOS 8 update in the beta stage, iOS 8.3 Beta 3.
Table of versions: iOS 8.x – iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Photo Library – All photos and videos are automatically available in the iCloud Photo Library, and is consistent on all the linked devices automatically.
iCloud Drive – Various files that are being written or worked on are automatically saved in iCloud Drive and is consistent on all linked devices automatically, including a Mac or PC.
iCloud settings now display account information, payment information and security settings.
Ability to send voice messages instantly by using a new "microphone" button to the right of the text entry field.
Pressing and holding on the microphone button lets you record your voice and then swipe up to send it.
Messages can be listened to by either pressing play or raise to listen. Messages can also be listened and responded to on the Lock Screen by raising to listen and raising to respond.
Ability to send photo and video messages instantly by using the "camera" button to the left of the text entry field.
Pressing and holding on the camera button lets you take a photo or record a video and instantly send it.
Tapping the camera button shows the most recent photos in your camera roll. Options are also present for taking a new photo or video and to view your entire photo library. Multiple photos and videos can be selected to send at once.
A new details menu is available for each conversation which contains many new functions:
You can now title group message threads.
A list of everyone participating in a message thread is listed with buttons to call, FaceTime and view their full contact card.
Ability to drop or add people to groups.
Ability to leave groups.
Send current location.
Can share location with an individual or group for one hour, until the end of the day or indefinitely until you choose to stop.
Do Not Disturb option per group.
A collection of all photos that have been sent in a message thread.
Batch save/delete all images in a message thread.
Messages threads are now synced between all of your devices.
Images in conversations are now much larger.
Scrolling to the top of a message will now automatically cause older messages to load.
Can mark all texts as read.
Added options to automatically delete standard messages after 1 year, 30 days or never.
Added options to automatically delete video/audio messages after 2 minutes or never.
Faces of contacts display next to contact name on select iPhones.P6P
Music
Left swipe to delete albums.
Can add music to a playlist from another playlist.
Updated Icon.
Multitasking UI
The faces of recently conversed people now appears above the open applications, and with a swipe to the right one can also access their favorites.
The animation speed when entering and leaving the app switcher is now much faster.
Share sheets
Share sheet action icons are now redesigned.
Share sheet icons can now be rearranged and hidden.
UI
Improved animation system. Gestures such as bringing up Notification Center won't be blocked by an animation, such as the home screen icons flying in.
Can swipe to the left for options to flag it for follow-up, move it to a folder or delete.
Can swipe all the way across the screen to the left to delete immediately.
Can swipe all the way across the screen to the right to mark as read/unread.
Ability to swipe mail compose sheet down allowing access to the rest of ones mailbox to gather the information needed in order to compose the message.
When Mail recognizes a reservation, flight confirmation, or phone number in an email, a notification appears at the top of the message. In order to add it to the calendar or contacts, one needs to tap the notification(s).
Mail conversations are now threads.
Individual threads can be set as VIP so that the user will receive a notification when a reply is received.
Per thread S/MIME.
Automatic reply messages.
Can delete attachments.
New mailboxes: Unread, To or CC, Attachments, Thread Notifications, Today.
Interactive notifications – one can take action on texts, email, calendar invitations, reminders, and messages from apps like Facebook and other third-party apps.
Can be performed from within Notification Center by swiping a notification to the left to reveal actions available.
Can be performed directly within an apps notification banner/alert all without having to leave the app one is in.
Notifications in Notification Center can be individually dismissed.
Indoor Mapping – iOS 8 adds the M7 and M8 processor's and iPhone motion sensors to the CoreLocation API, allowing venue owners to create indoor positioning systems.
Time limits and countdown timer for Guided Access.
Privacy
Background location notifications – popup asking to "continue to allow" apps accessing Location information while running in the background.[101]
More Location Services options per app.
Camera added to Privacy settings.
HomeKit added to Privacy settings.
Health added to Privacy settings.
Photos
Camera Roll and My Photo Stream removed and replaced by "Recently Added, Videos, Recently Deleted" albums.
Search Photos by location and more.
Date, time and location information displayed.
Photos can now be favorited.
Photos and videos can be hidden from Moments.
Hidden photos and videos get added to the "Hidden" album.
New Albums added for Bursts, Slo-Mo Videos, and Time-Lapse Videos.
Option to auto optimise storage on device by removing local copies of pictures and videos.
Improved editing.
Smart composition tools.
Smart adjustments.
Extension support.
Voice Memos
Play/Pause button next to the record button in Voice Memos.
Lock Screen
App shortcuts for Handoff on the Lock Screen.
App shortcuts on the Lock Screen based on your location.
Audio iMessages received while the phone is locked can be listened to by raising to listen and responded to by raising to respond.
iTunes Radio "buy" song button on Lock Screen.
iTunes Radio skips remaining displayed on Lock Screen.
New animation when opening apps from the Lock Screen.
Access to Medical ID from emergency dialer.
New "Slide to Unlock" text in certain languages.
Keyboard
QuickType – As one types, they see choices of words or phrases one would probably type next, based on their past conversations and writing style, using a more formal language for mail, and a casual one for Messages. The system also adjusts the system based on the person one converses with, and the region of the user (currently available in 14 countries).
QuickType can be hidden by swiping down.
QuickType can be toggled on or off from within the keyboard switcher.
Extra functions added to the keyboard on select iPhones.P6P6P
Smiley icon for when emoji keyboard is the only alternate keyboard set up. Becomes a globe icon when multiple keyboards are set up.
Streaming voice recognition for Speech to Text.
Support for third-party keyboards like Minnum, Swype, SwiftKey, KeyMoji, and Adaptxt. However, their performance is limited, especially that of Swype[citation needed].
iOS 6 keyboard no longer appears in apps that are not optimized or updated to a version optimized for iOS 7 or higher.
New keyboards (Indian language and Indian English keyboards, Tagalog, Irish Gaelic, and Slovenian).
Family Sharing – a service of sharing purchases from iTunes between up to 6 people.
All group members must pay for family purchases with the same credit/debit card.
Ask To Buy – a parent can approve kids’ spending right from a parent’s device.
Coincides with iCloud Photo Library – automatically sets up a family photo stream where you can share photos, videos, and comments, and all the family photos are available from any device within the family.
Offers shared calendar and Reminders.
Family Sharing can automatically share the user's location with the family members, or keep their location hidden.
With the Find My iPhone app, family members can use their devices to locate one that’s lost and have it play a sound.
Apple IDs for kids under 13 are now possible due to Family Sharing.
Health app –shows a dashboard of all the fitness and health data of the user (iPhone and iPod touch only).[102]
Shows the heart rate, calories burned, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. of the user.
One can create an Emergency card with medicinal details, from within either the application or the lock screen.
Natively tracks steps taken and other movement activity within the Health app.
Export health data.
Continuity – iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Mac communication.[103]
Handoff – start writing an email or surfing a website from one device, then carry-on the activity from another device. (Requires all devices are connected to the same iCloud account) P5P5CP5SP6P6PT5S4S5M1M2
Answer a phone call, receive and send SMS/MMS from an iPhone on an iPad or a Mac. (Requires all devices run iOS 8 or OS X Yosemite, and are connected to the same Wi-Fi network or to the device's hotspot).
Intelligent hotspot – intelligently discover when an iPhone is nearby and automatically list the device under Wi-Fi networks in Settings.
Spotlight
Spotlight now also searches Wikipedia, iBooks, iTunes, App Store, nearby places, news, Suggested Websites, and Movie showtimes.
Shutter Mode (timer can be set to 3 or 10 seconds).
Burst photos can now be taken with the FaceTime camera in addition to the iSight camera.P5SP6P6P[106]
Settings
Every app installed now has its own settings panel, regardless of whether the app specifies its settings to appear in the Settings app (e.g. Notifications, Privacy, Background App Refresh, and Cellular Data usage).
Option to Enable/Disable dictation in keyboard settings.
iBooks icon and Reader view icon in Safari have been redesigned.
Settings app for third-party apps has been tweaked.
Apple Pay support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus (in physical store, online, or in app) P6P6P, Apple Watch-compatible devices (in physical store) P5P5CP5SP6P6P, for Touch ID devices (online or in app). P5SP6P6PP6PS6M3
Photos
Adds iCloud Photo Library as a beta service.
Adds Camera Roll and My Photo Stream albums back to Photos app after disappearing in iOS 8.0.x.
Removes Recently Added album.
Camera
Provides alerts when running low on space before capturing Time Lapse videos.
Messages
Adds the ability for iPhone users to send and receive SMS and MMS text messages to an iPad, iPod Touch and OS X Yosemite.P5P5CP5SP6P6P[113]
Resolves an issue where searching messages would sometimes not display results.
Fixes a bug that caused read messages not to be marked as read.
Fixes issues with group messaging.
Resolves issues with Wi-Fi performance that could occur when connected to some base stations, like the FIFA 15 Ultimate Team servers.
Fixes an issue that could prevent connections to Bluetooth hands-free devices.
Fixes bugs that could cause screen rotation to stop working.
Fixes an issue in Safari where videos would sometimes not play.
Adds an option to select between 2G, 3G, 4G, or LTE networks for cellular data on certain carriers (iPhone and iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) only).[114]
Adds AirDrop support for Passbook passes.
Adds instant tethering for OS X Yosemite.
Enables HealthKit apps to access data in the background.
Accessibility
Fixes an issue that prevented Guided Access from working properly.
Fixes a bug where VoiceOver would not work with third-party keyboards.
Improves stability and audio quality when using MFi Hearing Aids with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Fixes an issue with VoiceOver where tone dialing would get stuck on tone until dialing another number.
Improves reliability when using handwriting, Bluetooth keyboards, and Braille displays with VoiceOver.
Fixes an issue that was preventing the use of OS X Caching Server for iOS updates.
Patches the "date trick" for apps like GBA4iOS. Emulators (for non-jailbroken devices) can still be installed on this firmware, but not by the date trick.
This firmware can be jailbroken via the Pangu8 jailbreak, just like its predecessors, iOS 8.0 and 8.0.2.
On October 23, 2011, Apple TV (2nd generation) received the iOS 5.0 software, with My Photo Stream, AirPlay mirroring (from iPhone 4S & iPad 2), NHL, Wall Street Journal, slideshow themes and Netflix subtitles.[118][119] Contrary to rumors and code found in iOS 5, the release did not bring support for Bluetooth or apps to the Apple TV (2nd generation).[120]
Table of versions: iOS 5.x – Apple TV (2nd generation) onwards
On September 24, 2012, Apple TV (2nd generation) onwards received the iOS 6.0 software update, with Shared Photo Streams, iTunes account switching, better AirPlay functionality, and Trailers searching, among other smaller improvements.
Table of versions: iOS 6.x – Apple TV (2nd generation) onwards
Shared Photo Streams: Accept invitations for Shared Photo Streams, browse photos and comments, and receive notifications of new content.
AirPlay: Send audio content from Apple TV to AirPlay-enabled speakers/devices (including AirPort Express and other Apple TVs). Also includes the ability to require an onscreen code to use AirPlay with your Apple TV.
iTunes account switching: Save multiple iTunes accounts and switch quickly between them.
Trailers: Search for movie trailers. In the United States, see show times for local theaters.
Screen savers: New Cascade, Shrinking Tiles, and Sliding Panels screen savers.
Main menu: Reorder icons on the second page by holding down the select button on the remote.
Subtitles: SDH support for the deaf and hard-of-hearing as well as improvements to viewing and selecting subtitles.
Network configuration: Support for setting up advanced network options using configuration profiles.
Stability and performance: Includes general performance and stability improvements.
Create your own radio stations and listen to them ad-free with iTunes Match (US and Australia only).
iTunes Store
Browse, purchase, and play music directly from the iTunes Store.
iCloud Photos
Adds support for playing video from a shared Photo Stream and viewing Photo Streams from multiple contributors.
AirPlay from iCloud
Apple TV will play content from iTunes In The Cloud instead of your AirPlay device when possible (requires iOS 7 on AirPlay device).
Podcasts
Sync your podcasts and podcast stations across Apple TV and all your iOS devices.
iMovie Theater
Stream your iMovie creations instantly in high definition from iCloud (requires latest version of iMovie for iOS or Mac and an iCloud account).
Subtitles & Captioning
Automatic subtitle selection based on Apple TV language setting, with customizable closed caption style.
Conference Room Display
Lock Apple TV into Conference Room Display (for business and education environments) and show onscreen instructions for using AirPlay.
Software update
Keep your Apple TV always up to date by automatically installing software updates when available.
Setup
Use an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch with iOS 7 to automatically transfer network settings, your Apple ID, and language preferences to Apple TV (3rd generation) (not available on iPhone 4 or iPad 2).
Includes ability to make hiding channels easier[138]
AirPlay
Security option to require that iOS devices or Macs be verified with a one-time, onscreen code before using AirPlay (requires iOS 7.1 or later on an iOS device or a Mac with OS X 10.9.2 or later).[138]
Adds support to allow an AirPlay device to discover Apple TV over Bluetooth in environments where multicast or Bonjour traffic is blocked on the network or the AirPlay device is on a different subnet.[138]
Remote app
View your purchased TV Shows and Movies in the Remote app and tap to play them instantly on Apple TV.[138]
Create and play iTunes Radio stations (requires Remote app version 4.2 or later).[138]
Stability and performance
Includes bug fixes, general performance and stability improvements.[138]
On September 18, 2014, Apple TV (3rd generation) onwards received the iOS 8.0 software update, with a redesigned UI, Family Sharing and peer-to-peer AirPlay.
Table of versions: iOS 8.x – Apple TV (3rd generation) onwards
Make sure children get permission before buying items from iTunes.
Descriptive Video Services
Hear descriptive video with a new accessibility feature coming to select iTunes movies and TV shows later this year.
Peer-to-peer AirPlay
Guests can AirPlay from their Mac or iOS device directly to your Apple TV without connecting to your wireless network. (Requires AppleTV3,2 (A1469), iPhone 4S and later; iPad 2 and later; and iPod Touch (5th generation) running iOS 8 or a Mac running OS X Yosemite (10.10) or later.)A3R
The Alarm feature of the built in Clock app in the iPhone and iPod Touch has been plagued by major bugs in all versions of iOS 4. The first bug noticed was the "DST bug" which was first seen when some countries switched to/from daylight saving time from/to standard time in October/November 2010.[139][140] It caused recurring alarms to start going off an hour too early or late. Apple promised the bug would be fixed in iOS 4.2 but according to some reports it still exists even in iOS 4.3.1.[141]
The second alarm clock bug discovered was the "New Year's Day bug" which showed up on January 1, 2011 as well as January 1, 2012. It caused non-recurring alarms not to go off at all.[142] However two days after each New Year's Day, on January 3, 2011, they "magically" started working again. This bug was seemingly fixed in iOS 4.3.[143]
Apple confirmed that several battery life bugs were negatively affecting battery life in iOS 5.[144] They attempted to fix these bugs with iOS 5.0.1 and 5.1 but the problem still remained.[145] Finally, these bugs were fixed in iOS 5.1.1.
Wi-Fi
The launch of the iOS 5 update on October 12, 2011 (including iOS 5.0.1 released on November 10, 2011) led many users to report a major bug causing the device to lose Wi-Fi access. This problem has supposedly been fixed with the release of iOS 5.1.1[146][147]
SIM card
Some users of the iPhone 4S and iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular) reported issues with the SIM card in iOS 5.0,[148] and even though Apple attempted to fix these issues in version 5.0.1 build 9A406 (for iPhone 4S only), they still remained.[149]
Echo bugs
Some users of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S reported issues with having echo problems during phone call in the initial release of iOS 5, which causes echoes to appear randomly during phone calls made through earbuds. The other party in the call is generally unable to hear the conversation due to this problem.[150] The owners reported a "fix" that is to switch to speaker mode when echo happens then switch back (turn speaker off), which would get rid of the echo temporarily, but it might happen again within the same phone call. It is unclear that whether Apple attempted to fix this issue in version 5.0.1, but for many users this problem still remains after updating to 5.0.1. It appears that the new noise-cancelling microphone/technology might be the reason behind this bug.[citation needed] Apple has since released version 5.1.1 in an attempt to fix the problem.
Apple has admitted that there were several bugs in the mapping app on iOS 6, with cities in the wrong location, some places being missed off altogether, some places misnamed and places of interest in the sea.[151][152][153]
Bluetooth
Many users report a problem with Bluetooth audio streaming to a range of compatible devices. The sound cuts out every now and then for no apparent reason. As of October 2012[update], no solution has been provided by Apple.[154]
Location-based Reminders
Location-based reminders do not work for iPads, even though they were promised to work on cellular enabled devices.[155]
Cellular Network
A lot of users reporting problems with the iPhone 5 not reconnecting to the cellular network, when having lost connection for more than 5 minutes and staying at "No Service". As of December 2012[update], no solution has been provided by Apple and the problem was not solved with the 6.0.1 iOS release.[citation needed]
From iOS 6.1, new major bugs have been identified. The first was addressed when iOS 6.1.1 was released that "fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for iPhone 4S".[156]
Do Not Disturb
Many iPhone users experienced a bug with the Do Not Disturb feature when the calendar changed from 2012 to 2013. The feature would be left on past the scheduled time set by the user, allowing texts, notifications, and alarm settings to be missed. The bug was caused by a difference in formatting in the ISO calendar system versus the Gregorian calendar system.[157] Apple did not offer a quick software update for the bug, instead saying that the bug would fix itself on January 7, 2013.[158]
Microsoft Exchange
Another bug causes issues when iOS devices connect to a Microsoft Exchange server to retrieve email, resulting in message "mailbox server resources are consumed, log growth becomes excessive, memory and CPU use may increase significantly, and server performance is affected".[159] Microsoft have suggested several workarounds,[160] and Apple responded with a KnowledgeBase article describing the cause of the bug and a suggested temporary workaround, promising a fix in the near future,[161] which was then fixed with release of iOS 6.1.2.
Lockscreen bypass code
On iPhones, another bug found in 6.1 allowing bypassing the lock screen's passcode to temporarily gain full access to the Phone app, by performing a specific sequence of actions on the phone that remained unfixed,[162] with Apple acknowledging the bug[163] and then addressed with release of iOS 6.1.3.
Audio profile speakerphone
iPhone 5 users experienced dropped calls during the release of iOS 6.1.3 when there was an issue with the audio microphone profile. This also caused issues with many voice-over commands, including Siri, to get different results than expected or to fail easily. Apple fixed this bug with the release of iOS 6.1.4 to update the audio speaker profile so users would get better results.
FaceTime
Shortly when Apple released iOS 7, the new software unfortunately left the iPod Touch (4th generation) along with the iPhone 3GS. However, a FaceTime issue occurred in iOS 7.0.3 when video calls were failing for users while developers on the iPod Touch (4th generation) addressed this same issue, while no longer supported and stuck on iOS 6.1.3. Apple then fixed this bug with the release of iOS 6.1.5 for the iPod Touch (4th generation) on November 14, 2013, along with iOS 7.0.4 for iOS 7 devices for the same purpose. iOS 7.0.4 included bug fixes that occurred during the release of iOS 7 whereas iOS 6.1.5 did not include the bug improvements that appeared on iOS 6 when Apple did not realize, noticeably since iOS 5, that the echo bug has still occurred. For example, during a FaceTime call, echoes occur when a person tries to speak to the other person that he or she's talking to. Because of this, the sound takes longer for the person to hear than the other person speaking.
Data security
An attacker can collect or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS protocols. This same bug was also reported on iOS 7.0.4 and iOS 7.0.5 for the iPhone 5C & 5S. For the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch 4th generation, iOS 6.1.6 was released to fix this issue since they are no longer supported. (see iOS 7.x)
In iOS 7, users that were running iPhone 4 to iPhone 5, iPad 2nd to 4th generations, first-generation iPad mini, and iPod Touch (5th generation) have developed bugs that were previously retained since iOS 6. One example is the SSL/TLS protocol when the secure transport failed to verify certification authenticity (fixed in iOS 7.0.6). This caused the iPhone 3GS (initially ended with iOS 6.1.3) and the iPod Touch 4th generation (initially ended with iOS 6.1.5) to advance one update to iOS 6.1.6.
Passcode screen bypass bugs
People are able to bypass the "Enter Passcode" screen. This flaw was discovered within hours of it becoming publicly available. This is only able to be done on iPhone 5 and earlier while the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S are safe from this bug. This is caused by the ability to use the control center via the lock screen and clicking on the camera or timer buttons. This feature is able to be turned off in the Settings app.[164]
Motion Sickness
Users complained about dizziness and vertigo-like symptoms when using this operating system because of parallax motion effects. In iOS 7.1, a new function in the Settings app called "Reduce Motion" was introduced to reduce the motion of the user interface and disable the parallax effects.[165]
Creation of CardDAV Accounts not working
Creating a CardDAV Account contains a bug that needs manual fixing of the CardDAV-Server-URL.[166]
Battery drain problems
In iOS 7.1, users have reported seeing significant drain on their batteries after installing the new update.[167]
FaceTime
Issues with video-calling and connection errors. This was fixed in iOS 7.0.4. (See iOS 6.x)
Safari ignores local domain
Local domain names can no longer be resolved in Safari.[168][169] This breaks short names on the local network, e.g. 'nas' for nas.<ourdomain>.
Home screen crashes
Users have reported various crashes of the home screen, the core service that renders the home screen icons, Notification Center, Control Center, Siri and the lockscreen.[170]
Data security
Secure transport failed to validate the authenticity of connection. This issue was addressed by restoring missing validation steps. This may cause an attacker with a privileged network position to capture or modify data in sessions protected by SSL/TLS.[171] This issue was addressed by the release of iOS 7.0.6.
Battery Indicator stuck until restart
iPhone 4S users report experiencing problems with the battery indicator; the indicator will freeze at the same value until the iPhone is restarted again.[172][173]
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
iPhone 4S users are reporting that after the update to iOS 7 their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth cannot be activated.
Phone and FaceTime History
In iOS 7.1.1, particularly on iPhone 5, the recent history data in both these applications cannot be deleted.
Ringer
When using earphones on iOS 7.1.1 on iPhone 5, the ringer for any incoming alert (phone, messages etc.) only sounds on the phone speaker and not in the earpiece of the earphone. When you are in a crowded place, and vibrating phone does not suffice, the ringer will fail as well, one will not hear anything in the earphone.
Music
In iOS 7.1.1 on iPhone 5, when users are listening to music via an auxiliary cable, the music continues to play after the cable has been unplugged. Previously, the music would pause.
Weather
The weather application displays the closest city of the current location instead of actual city of the current location. This may be an issue that Yahoo! might have not yet resolved.
Touch ID
In iOS 7.1, Touch ID was not functioning on the iPhone 5S. The problem cannot be resolved by turning Touch ID on and off in the "Fingerprint and Passcode" menu, restarting, resetting, or restoring the device using iTunes. This problem was similar to the iOS 8.0.1 release, which crippled iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus of both cellular and Touch ID.
Shortly after the release of iOS 8, Apple released a statement pointing out that a bug had been found in the operating system which prevented HealthKit-compatible being released alongside iOS 8.[174] Apps already released that included Healthkit functionality were withdrawn from the App Store. iOS 8.0.1 included a fix for this issue.
Cellular
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who updated to iOS 8.0.1 wirelessly had cellular service of their iPhones disabled due to a software issue. Over-the-Air downloads of iOS 8.0.1 were stopped within an hour of the release of the software, but many early adopters had been affected. This issue was fixed with the release of iOS 8.0.2 a day later.
Touch ID
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who updated to iOS 8.0.1 wirelessly had Touch ID disabled due to a software error. Over-the-Air downloads of iOS 8.0.1 were stopped within an hour of the release of the software, but many early adopters had been affected. This issue was fixed with the release of iOS 8.0.2 a day later.
Performance
Many users of older generation devices such as the iPhone 4s and the iPad 2 reported performance issues with iOS 8. Apple has since released version 8.1.1 in an attempt to fix the problem.
Keyboard
Several issues with the new Keyboard API in iOS 8 were reported, including problems with custom keyboards crashing or not appearing, or being replaced with the default keyboard.
^Gibbs, Samuel (September 22, 2013). "Apple says it's working on fix for iOS 7 lockscreen bypass flaw". theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013. Embarrassing discovery comes within hours of release of new software and exploits Control Center feature to hack into photos, texts and Facebook content
