Apple announced the newest version of its iOS operating system yesterday at its Worldwide Developer Conference. iOS 7 will improve battery life for iPhones and iPads, and it will feature an iPhone control center — a finger swipe from the bottom of the screen brings up the controls for settings like volume, brightness, Bluetooth and airplane mode. As expected, iOS 7 will also have a new look and feel, inspired by Apple’s rock star designer Jonathan Ive.
Today the company is releasing a developer tool kit for iOS 7, but even developers may have a hard time getting their hands on it. Yesterday Apple’s developer site was almost impossible to access due to the heavy traffic.
Apple also unveiled its new iRadio, which will be built into iOS 7. iRadio will be ad-supported, except for subscribers to iTunes Match. They are already paying $25.00 a year, and will not have ads on iRadio. The service has 200 channels, and Apple says it will learn what users like as they use it in order to personalize their experiences. iRadio will be competing with Google’s All Access music service, which is slated to come to iOS, as well as with Spotify, Pandora and Deezer.
For carriers the big question surrounding iOS 7 is of course whether it will drive more sales of new iPhones. Although several retailers have discounted existing iPhones this summer, a new device is not expected until at least this fall.
Follow me on Twitter.
