iOS 5: Features for Everything

Apple recently introduced its newest and most advanced OS, iOS 5. As Apple mentioned on its site earlier, over 200 new features have been introduced through the update. Most users are happy with the new OS after the famous battery drain incident with iOS 4. A problem of the past, Apple's products can be setup without the need of a computer, right out of the box. Because there are so many apps, I'll introduce the three main features which stand out the most and will prove most helpful during your iOS transition.

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Notification Center
Most companies like to learn from each other's works. In this case, Apple has taken from Android to compose a similar notification center. Just like Android, the status/notification center can be viewed by a simple downward swipe at the top of the device's screen. Unlike Android, the center can be accessed from anywhere, even during an open application. Also a feature which relates to the notification center is the status window. Instead of the annoying pop-up windows which interrupted users during an open application, Apple decided to make notifications more subtle. At any time, a small window at the screen's top will fade in to notify the user if they have a new meeting, message, task, etc. Even notifications are flexible, allowing the user to choose which applications are allowed to send notifications. The lock screen used to have flaws which disallowed Apple device users to access information quickly. The new OS fixed that by allowing its users to listen to messages and do more through the lock screen, all through a swipe. Overall, the notification center was a great idea to implement on Apple devices, aside from knowing the fact that its roots came from Google's Android company.

Task List
Apple made the right decision for its iCal application to sync with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook. There was only one major problem with that. Both GCal and MS Outlook contained task lists, which were not able to sync with iCal. With Apple's calendar application already cluttered with features, speculation says that the app could not fit a combined task manager. Instead, through the OS update, Apple decided to make the task organizer application separate. "Reminders" is the new task organizer and also works in sync with the cloud. Because iPhones and other Apple devices have the Maps capability, users are able to supply the area where the task should be committed. Since the iPhone has GPS capability, the "Reminders" application will automatically include locations. Users can disable this through the app's settings. Alerts are visible directly through the lock screen and notification center.

Camera & Picture Editing

In my recent post on the iPhone 4S, I mentioned that the camera application was accessible through the lock screen. For those once-in-a-lifetime momentary photos, it's an annoying situation to unlock the phone, get ready to capture the scene, and miss it. Another positive change, Apple decided to move the camera button to the lock screen for quick and easy access. To imitate a real camera, volume buttons can be used to shoot. Again making use of the cloud, photos can be directly uploaded to other compatible Apple devices. Similar to Google's Picasa, in-app accuracy and editing includes grid lines for better photo composition and improved auto-focus. Photo enhancements are also available in the "Camera" app.

Is it right for you?
As technology advances, so does our knowledge. But sometimes, technology advances past our knowledge and gets too confusing and complicated. This just makes life harder- the iPhone 3Gs already has several great features and sells at an out-of-Earth price of $0 (without plan). Nobody says you should just resort to the Jitterbug, but sometimes simple is best. For the tech-savvy, the iPhone 4S is the perfect phone, several great features included. The choice to update and/or get a new phone is really up to the type of person you are.