Apple has done it again.
Just when customers thought smartphones couldn’t get any better, the new iOS 5 operating system has taken one of the most advanced operating systems on the market to new levels.
The new operating system offers features that go further for not only Apple’s most recent product, the iPhone 4S, but for the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and third- and fourth-generation iPods and iPads.
Apple makes a substantial improvement to the system with 200 new features in iOS 5.
The notification center is one of the new features that gathers alerts for e-mails, texts and Facebook friend requests all in one place.
Alerts no longer interrupt what the user is doing on the device since notifications appear at the top of the screen. Notifications can also be accessed from the lock screen with the swipe of a finger.
“I like the drop-down notifications on the lock screen,” said Louisiana State U. chemical engineering sophomore Courtney Rome. “I like how you can slide them from the top. It’s really convenient”
The iMessage app is another new feature in iOS 5. Consumers can now see when other iPhone users are typing a reply and can cover their digital tracks with secure encryption for text messages.
“My favorite new feature is the new texting app,” LSU biology sophomore Laura Kushner said. “I like how I get to know when people read my text messages, even though I’m not a huge fan of people seeing when I have read theirs.”
One of the elements previous Apple operating systems lacked was a to-do list app, and the iOS 5 fills that void. The new app is persuading some students who haven’t invested in an Apple product to drop some cash to get the new technology.
“The Reminder app is the most impressive because when I get to the grocery store it knows where I am and it can tell me, ‘Hey, don’t forget to get milk’ just by using the GPS,” LSU general studies sophomore Jackson Slaid said.
Since the Reminders app is location-based, it can be programmed to notify a particular reminder when the device is arriving or leaving a location.
Photos taken with the iOS 5 update can now be edited directly on the device. Advanced photo enhancement and on-screen editing includes cropping and rotating as new aspects to the Photo app.
“The new camera is one of the best additions, in my opinion,” LSU biology freshman Rebecca Elias said. “They added everything I really wanted.”
Losing all the data stored on an Apple device is now a thing of the past with iCloud.
“I think students will most appreciate the fact that they will no longer have to spend time with their device plugged in to another computer,” said Sheri Thompson, LSU IT communications and planning officer. “The iOS 5’s ability to sync and back up everything to the iCloud will not only save them time, but will provide peace of mind that their data is stored in case something happens to the device itself.”
These new features may even help students with their GPA if they use them to their advantage, Thompson said.