iOS 5 now available: 5 reasons to update
Yesterday, Apple released iOS 5 – the latest version of the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad operating system. iOS 5 comes with lots of new features and makes some big changes to the way your iDevice works, but is it worth the hassle of downloading and backing everything up? Here are our top 5 reasons you should make the switch.
New Notifications
Lets be honest, the old way that iOS would issue notifications was a bit rubbish. Dialog boxes that must be closed before you can carry on. Interruptions that pull you out of whatever you are doing – notifications were a welcome addition in iOS 3.0, but the implementation left much to be desired.
Apple has taken a cue from the way Android does things (not that it would ever admit it..) and the revamped notification system now pops up an unobtrusive (and ignorable) box. You can pull down the full list of outstanding notifications and either deal with them or dismiss them with a single swipe.
Tabbed browsing
Safari has been updated to be faster and now features tabs rather than the separate pages of old. Skipping between tabs is very fast and the whole browsing experience seems smoother. Safari can now display just the text of a webpage and Safari Reading List lets you sync bookmarks between devices.
Location-aware reminders
There are a few third party apps that do something like this, but now location-awareness is baked right into the iOS reminders system. You can set your phone to remind you to buy milk when you pass the supermarket or to put the heating on when you get home at night.
iCloud
iCloud is Apple’s cloud storage solutions that lets you synchronise content on all your iOS (and OS X Tiger) devices. Everything happens in the background without you needing to do much and if nothing else the way iCloud sucks up the data on your phone means you should never need to do a backup to a PC or Mac again. When you get a new phone, just link it to iCloud and it will grab all your contacts, etc. automatically.
iMessage
Apple isn’t the only company trying to jump in with a rival to BlackBerry Messenger (or even SMS messages) but the fact that iMessage is built in to iOS 5 might give it a leg up over Google Talk, Facebook Messenger, et al.
iMessage chats take place in real time and can involve images and video clips as well as texts. iMessage also uses iCloud to mirror your chats on all your iDevices so you can swap from phone to iPad when you get in and just keep on chatting away.
User comments (12)
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Charlie Allen13 October 2011
Ios 5 is great, but I am struggling to find out some of the features
Report as inappropriatePete13 October 2011
It took me an age to install it last night - after several backup/restore crashes, I finally got it installed (after switching off my external HDD)...and quite frankly it's terrible - I cannot see any advantage of having it - I lost all my apps (thankfully I could resinstall from the appstore) - none of the notifications seem to work - it's just as quick to unlock the phone to use the camera as it is to use when locked...you cannot access the email unless you have an me.com address - I already have 4 email addresses and don't need another one.....so far I cannot see any benefit in IOS5 at all.
Report as inappropriateTEV13 October 2011
I haven't updated yet as i'm jailbroken. Im waiting for a release in jailbreak for the new ios 5 before i update. From what ive heard, the ios 5 has transformed loads of features. Alot for me to look ahead to.
Report as inappropriateJoe Bloggs13 October 2011
iOS 5 is good, and worth the 5 hour hassle to download. And no, it doesn't delete all your apps permanently, it reinstalls with all data during the update. Nice one Apple, keep them rolling.
Report as inappropriatemordrin13 October 2011
You need OS X Lion for iCloud not Tiger..I know it's probably a typo but just pointing it out.
Report as inappropriatesteelneil13 October 2011
@Pete you could have done a restore from backup plus you don't need a me.com account. The emails work in the same way it's just if you want to add them to the cloud you need a me.com
Report as inappropriateT12RYK13 October 2011
I waited till the next day after its release to download and install it and only took about 20 mins for the whole thing. But I have to say it would have been worth the hassle just for the new notifications, the old ones where a nightmare and all the jailbreak tweaks just slowed down my phone.
Report as inappropriatedavid13 October 2011
well i have 3 ipod touches at my house and when i plug in all 3 there is no update via itunes ???? are my ipods too old ???
Report as inappropriatedoug13 October 2011
Its great update, camera can now work with Volume button. swipe down from top and a thingy mebob board pops down. I came off jailbreak to get the camera via button.. It will be back in a few days ;O) ohh i want to delete the newstand or move it...
Report as inappropriateh,m13 October 2011
david, you need to update itunes using apple software update
Report as inappropriateadam14 October 2011
swipe down notification-could do it on android (apple has copied it directly!) instant messenger-could do it on android cloud storage-could do it on android tabbed browser-could do it on android looks like apple has just caught up right at the time when android is just about to release its next major upgrade. see you in another year iOS
Report as inappropriateDaRiCh14 October 2011
How about '5 Reasons why not to buy an iPhone' of which there are dozens. Android IS leading the way and apple are just dragging their feet. even Siri is a bit of of joke, as it doesn't work properly in the UK.
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