Your one-stop hop... into the new iOS 5

Your one-stop hop... into the new iOS 5

I rarely ever do a tech post, (or much posting at all these days) but I'll make an exception in honour of the late Steve Jobs.

For most of you who just got the iOS 5, you've probably gotten disappointed more than once while exploring. That's because the design really isn't that different and all that waiting and back up-ing was is really worth it... if you know where to find it.

The improvements done by Apple in the latest iOS really is hidden. And by hidden, I mean almost "find the golden egg" in Angry Bird hidden. Here are some examples of what I mean.



1) The camera button on the lock screen




Yes, I got excited by this, since I've missed so many pictures just trying to get to my camera. You can also snap a pic using the UP VOLUME (not down) button which makes zi-pai-ing so much easier (and Blackberry-like).


Off topic: I love the fact that Apple always tries to be multi-cultural and racial so much so that they actually appear otherwise.

This also means that people can access a locked phone's camera right bypassing the lock screen.
Apple has ensured that all pictures and content is securely behind your passcode, so no worries there. But it does open the door to pranksters (troll peen anyone?) just in time for All Hallows Eve.

2) iMessage



Oh hey look it's a black hand talking to a ethnic person!


I spent quite a while figuring this out. Apparently it's a go or no go thing. If your contact has iOS 5, your outgoing message will appear in blue, and before you type it in, iMessage will appear in Apple's signature grey, semi opaque font. HOWEVER, in order to get this elusive word to appear, you first need to message someone WHOM YOU KNOW has the iOS 5 to activate the iMessage function. For the "forever alone in a sea of Blackberry users", good luck in that department.

3) The swanky notifications bit.



I went a bit tap happy and immediately went into settings to try and get a whole slew of notifications, only to realise that.... I didn't know how to get it to show. Here's how: Swipe from the speaker bit of your phone downwards and you'll get a notification screen. Most of us don't need weather updates or news on how the Dow Jones is doing in stocks, but it's nice to see something so we all don't feel so lonely.

On the flip side, it will make getting messages and morning updates so much easier. I'm still awaiting that slew of notifications.

(My weather widget currently says that it's 25 deg Celsius outside in Singapore. I'm fully inclined to never believe that widget again)

4) Native Reminder/To Do list



This is fairly straightforward, but do note for those who are sharing apple IDs in attempt to save those couple of bucks at the App store: if you enable iCloud, it syncs EVERYTHING, using your Apple ID. Not too convenient if you are sharing, but convenient enough if you have more than one iOS device.

5) The new Safari.



I got a pleasant surprise when I opened up safari - It now has TABS. Being a person who has an attention span of a housefly, I rely on tabs a lot. A LOT. Another pleasant surprise is that they sync your Safari bookmarks to your iOS device, so now you have a bookmark toolbar!


6) Picture Editing



It's no Photoshop CS5, but it'll do. Cropping, rotating and "enhancements" are the few things the iPhone can do natively with the iOS 5. I'm happy about this, simply because such a smartphone shouldn't be deprived of such basic daily necessities.

Finally, Siri. Apparently it's not available to the iPhones 3Gs and 4, so it's a little bit of a letdown, but I guess they need SOMETHING to get people to buy the new 4S. It's also creepy in a sci-fi way.

Remember iRobot?