iOS 5

[jipchen]

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html

Really looking forward to this. Looks like Apple listened to what the customers said: They included several features people used to install with Cydia or third-party apps: Lockscreen with instant access to certain features, "notification center" with all info on one screen (like pretty much every other smartphone does, but the iPhone couldn't do it without Cydia ).
I hated the push messages because they threw you out of most apps or stopped them at least (i.e. when you drive somehwere and use Navigon, if someone wrote you a message, Navigon would stop working and you'd have to close the message window.
"Reminders" is basically what pretty much every iOS user already has through 3rd party apps like 2Do, ToDo, etc.. only iOS native which means better sync options (through iCloud which is cool and for free btw).
I love the "Reader" option on OS X so it's a good idea to bring it to the iOS devices, because the screen is even smaller. I'll use that for sure.

PC/Mac-Free-Sync is a great thing: First off, PC users can't moan anymore how difficult / weird the iPhone is to sync with their computers and about how they're forced to install iTunes etc. Also, I love being able to sync without the Mac - which should've been there from the beginning btw.
Second: Updates will come in form of small patches, because you will only download the new data. Being forced to download the complete 700MBs of the OS until now is ridiculous and impossible for some people with crappy internet (me).

Overall: Nothing broundbreaking, but definitely needed and well-thought features - most of them should've come a long time ago, though

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

The whole "volume up as camera shutter button" thing is pretty clever too

 

[Morgan C]

Second: Updates will come in form of small patches, because you will only download the new data. Being forced to download the complete 700MBs of the OS until now is ridiculous and impossible for some people with crappy internet (me).

Holy crap. Now that's groundbreaking. Hopefully they'll apply that change to iTunes too, so that upgrading 10.1.2.1a to 10.1.2.1b isn't exactly the same size as downloading the software from scratch. Then maybe other software developers will catch on and.. oh wait, they caught on 20 years ago.


But seriously, it looks like a kinda meh update. Some cool stuff in there, but not much that you couldn't already get alternatively. I was going to get an iPhone5 this year, since my iPod touch has been great, but I want a GPS built-in because my geographical knowledge is nil. Might consider waiting though, since they seem to do 'major' updates every 2 years, and this isn't one of them.

Some of the features seem to be iPad-only (like Safari), so not sure what's there for the rest of us. Texting from an iTouch seems cool, but I'm not sure how that'll work, or if it'll actually be useful considering you have to be connected to a Wi-fi to do anything.

I find it odd that they integrated Twitter rather than Facebook in there. Also, I'm not sure how these new gestures will work, it looks like they'd interfere in whatever app you're running ("Pinch to return to homescreen" - what if the app uses pinching?) but Apple is usually pretty good with these things.

The volume control shutter for the camera is interesting, and I think that's all they need to make it a really good gaming platform - a single 'app' button that's mapped to whatever app you're running at the moment. If you're playing a shooter, the 'app button' becomes the trigger, so you've got two thumbs for moving and aiming, and a finger for shooting, rather than trying to do 3 things with 2 fingers. This would mean abandoning any previous hardware versions though, so I can understand the issue.

Holy shit long post.
TL;DR - Apple sucks my bawlz.

 

[AllanD]

Apple sucks my bawlz.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Not sure if I'm excited or not. I love my iPhone over Android because of the simplicity of the OS, and now it looks like they're going a bit into the Android direction. Twitter integration? Euch.

 

[AdamG94]

iOS 5 is supposed to be a big performance/ efficiency leap, so app's should be getting much more impressive graphically and hopefully have bigger story lines in some games

Hopefully they won't stall the new iPhone for much longer, since my contract runs out in August and I want a new iPhone aha.

Twitter integration? Euch.

It's optional, i.e. you turn it on in the settings menu if you want it.

 

[DanLights]

They included several features people used to install with Cydia or third-party apps

They've been doing that since iOs 2.0, but yeah

Nice updates, I like most of them I guess, but I kinda agree with Jarkko a bit

 

[Steven Otto]

iCloud seems like a cool feature for a studio. Basicly an improved Dropbox if you don't want to share with others.

 

[setyouranchor]

Might just be me, but I cant wait till this gets released. Imessage looks useful, so does the notification center and the camera from lock screen.

Any release date yet?

 

[Scott Horner]

I'm most excited about the ability to swipe/delete songs out of iTunes than anything else, haha. Seems like that feature should have been around a while ago. I would also like the ability to organize my camera roll into separate albums but oh well.

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

I hope this shit works on my iPhone 3G and not get fucking screwed with massive features not working with ios4 because they decide they wont support it anymore.....

 

[006]

Morgan: The iPhone has a Maps application installed from the start which does navigation for you.

Those saying these features should have come along a while ago, should have learned by now it may take longer but Apple does it with the most finesse when it's finally there. iOS works way smoother than Android, every feature iOS adds that Android has already had, iOS' version feels better/smoother and generally more elegant. Just sayin'... Every time I use my friend's Android phone, which he has to get the latest newest shit all the time, I'm always unimpressed with how it feels to use the OS, seems like it just doesn't respond nearly as smoothly as iOS does. \_()_/ The feel and the screens. Not impressed.

 

[006]

I hope this shit works on my iPhone 3G and not get fucking screwed with massive features not working with ios4 because they decide they wont support it anymore.....

Still on the 3G????? Jeeeez. I mean, I feel for people that are using older models, but at the same time I can't help but feel like you have no reason to complain using a device that old.

 

[jipchen]

I hope this shit works on my iPhone 3G and not get fucking screwed with massive features not working with ios4 because they decide they wont support it anymore.....

Officially only the 3GS and 4 will be supported.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Yeah dude, people have come into Radio Shack with 3G's and they're so fucking slow, it's unbearable - and I was under the impression that the 3GS wouldn't be supported for iOS 5...

 

[arv_foh]

Might just be me, but I cant wait till this gets released. Imessage looks useful, so does the notification center and the camera from lock screen.

Any release date yet?

today if you have access to a developer's account

 

[DanLights]

LOL PEDRO 3G YOU DINOSAUR!! XD LMFAO


.... I had a 3G until I got the 4 last month hahaha you make it sound like a fucking Motorola, its not that ancient you faggots, some of us can't shell out 200 bucks every year for a new phone

 

[Seth Munson]

today if you have access to a developer's account

how are you liking it? I might hop on my dad's macbook to update to ios5 but usually the betas are a tad buggy

 

[arv_foh]

how are you liking it? I might hop on my dad's macbook to update to ios5 but usually the betas are a tad buggy

I haven't noticed any major bugs so far, sometimes the animation isn't smooth when you swipe but that's about it

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

LAWL! That's the thing... Ancient?! WTF? Since when is it ancient?

3G released in July 2008, it's only 3 years old, off couse I'm still with the 3G, why would I buy the piece of shit 3GS that is exactly the same just a bit faster, the 4 doesn't seem all that special to upgrade, although I'm tempted, but I'd like to buy something that I can fucking tell "damn, that's an upgrade" and not like "yeah, looks almost the same, it's faster. cool."