Apple unveils new operating system iOS 7 for iPhones

Late on Monday night at WWDC 2013 in San Francisco, Apple officially unveiled the next generation of the iOS, the iOS 7. Apple CEO Tim Cook called it the biggest change to the platform since the iPhone was introduced five years ago.

The rumours about a flat design have turned true. The icons are not flat and this includes the default apps such as calendar, phone, message and Game Centre. The new interface will make the iPhone appear bigger as everything is designed to take advantage of the entire screen.

There is a new Control Center that gives quick access to controls  for Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Do Not Disturb, and the ability to adjust screen brightness, pause or play a song, jump to the next track and stream your music with AirPlay. Plus, it houses the clock, camera, calculator and flashlight and can be summoned by a single swipe from the bottom of the screen. The notification center will be accessible from the lock screen itself.

Multitasking, where the iOS was lacking for over years, has also been worked upon. Using the new API, users can enable apps to multitask in the background. The iOS 7 will examine which apps are used the most and will automatically keep the content up to date in the background. Then there is AirDrop, a new way to share content with people nearby. It shows the contacts nearby and using peer-to-peer transfer, transfers content without any network. The camera app features filters for adding real time effects. Moments, is the redesigned Photos app, that automatically organises photos on the basis of time and location.

The web browser Safari has got a redesigned interface and has got a new smart search field that helps simplify searching. There is also iCloud Keychain, that stores passwords and credit card information securely and is made available on all devices. The redesigned music app now includes the iTunes Radio, a free Internet radio service featuring over 200 stations and an incredible catalog of music from the iTunes Store.

Other additional features include, a new Find My iPhone Activation Lock feature that requires your Apple ID and password before you can turn off Find My iPhone, erase data or re-activate a device after it's been remotely erased; night mode in Maps that responds to ambient light when you use it in the dark; FaceTime audio for high quality calls over a data network; notification sync, so when you dismiss a notification on one device it is dismissed on all of your devices and enhanced in-car integration, bringing an Apple designed experience into the car for the first time.

While the iOS 7 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS Developer Program members, the iOS 7 will be available for a free software update for iPhone 4 and later, iPad 2 and later, iPad mini and iPod touch (fifth generation) this fall.

Apple has got over 400 million accounts on the App Store with over 650,000 apps on the app store. The App Store now operates in 120 countries and 30 new countries will be added soon.