Word on the street says Apple's refresh of its mobile operating system, iOS 7, is already in the works. Come June 2013, Apple will allegedly showcase iOS 7 at its World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC).
With the release of iPhone 5 in September 2012, iFans got a taste of iOS 6, which met with a lukewarm response. Most will remember the ensuing Maps fiasco, which ultimately led to CEO Tim Cook apologizing. iFans would hope that iOS 7 brings several novel features that enhance user experience.
Whether Apple ups its game with the launch of iOS 7 remains to be seen. Here we take a look at the top five features we'd like to see in iOS 7:
1. Biometric Security
This feature tops our iOS 7 wishlist and would undoubtedly be a leap of faith for iOS, giving it an edge over other ecosystems like Android, WP8 and BB 10.
The current crop of smartphones boast face lock and eye-tracking technology; however, having biometrics would up the ante and set a new trend. Imagine simply placing your finger or thumb on the display and letting the biometric reader do its thing. Scan your fingerprints and you're all set!
2. Siri Gets Smarter
We all love Siri but you'd agree that the aging voice assistant could do with an image overhaul. Siri is perfect when it comes to scheduling alarms, appointments, reminders et al but there's room for improvement.
Imagine if Siri could keep track of your search history and preferences on Safari and then in the future recommend relevant information based on this data. Siri could even scan the emails in your inbox and sort the spam from important messages. Siri could track shipment notifications and remind you that you have a flight to take or a movie to catch, and perhaps even integrate your movie or flight tickets into Passbook.
Moreover, having third-party app integration would be a step forward for the digital assistant. Users could then simply ask Siri to dial in from Skype to make a call.
3. Multi-Window View
Apple could take some cues from Samsung and adopt the Multi-Window View feature, which lets users run two apps simultaneously. How awesome would it be if you could multi-task on your iPhone or iPad?
Apple could one-up Samsung and make this feature applicable for several apps and not limit it to some.
In case you're thinking the iPhone 5 can run apps in the background and the push notifications is helpful enough, with a bigger screen and higher resolution on the Retina display, the Multi-Windows experience would be phenomenal.
The feature would enable apps to be run side-by-side in the portrait or landscape mode. What's more, Apple should make the apps resizable so that if a user prefers single tasking he/she can do the same easily. A preview option for the apps could be the icing.
4. Location Aware Locking
Currently, iPhone and iPad users have the option to set reminders for locations. For example, you can set a reminder to buy vegetables at the grocery store. If Apple makes the location-aware locking feature more intelligent, with password protection included, it could be tied to more features on the device.
5. Home Screen Improvements
This is one area where iOS is lagging behind ecosystems like Windows and Android. If you think about it, the home screen has barely evolved in the last six years.
Enough users have jailbreaking tools at their disposal to modify the look and feel of the home screen icons, but an official change would be a welcome addition. A dynamic home screen that can be personalized, a la Windows 8's Live Tiles, would breathe in a fresh lease of life.
What features are on your wishlist for iOS 7? What would you like to see Apple incorporate?
