iOS 7 - What We Want, Hope for, and Are Looking Forward to

Here we are, on the cusp of iOS 7’s official release. No, the early beta doesn’t count. Now that Apple’s latest mobile OS is almost upon us, the senior staff at 148Apps decided it was a good time to discuss what we’ve been looking forward to the most. With a little speculative wishful-thinking thrown in for good measure, of course.

Jen Allen is most interested in the new Multitasking feature. The ease with which we’ll all be able to close out apps is certainly welcome, but it’s the intelligent tracking that she’s really excited about. “[the fact that] it knows when I use apps most frequently will be great,” she says, “as I’m a creature of habit.”

For the unfamiliar, that means iOS 7 will anticipate when you prefer to use your apps and can update them before you even open them. Like to check Twitter every evening at around the same time? Load it up and your feed will already be up-to-date.

It’s the Control Center that’s been on Carter Dotson’s mind the most. “I love the quick settings panel. It's long overdue!” he says, “Especially since turning Bluetooth off and on is such a hassle on iOS.”

Imagine being able to access all the simple but incredibly useful features you usually have to dig through menus to find. Well, that’s what the new Control Center in iOS 7 does. By swiping up from any screen - Any screen. Even the lock screen - users can turn Airplane mode on or off, fiddle with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, lock the screen’s orientation, access the flashlight, camera, and more. They totally had me at Airplane mode.

My own (Rob Rich) interests are fairly in-line with Jen’s and Carter’s. I’m super-excited about Control Center, and while I’m not quite as psyched for Multitasking I can certainly imagine how useful it will be. I’m also really looking forward to the Safari update, which will hide most of the extraneous interface elements until they’re needed. I’m also looking forward to the swipe navigation and the smoother Reading List browsing. Heck, even the consolidated tab view has me excited (I’m a tab browser by nature). I only hope they finally increase the tab limit for the iPhone.

Pretty much all of us are looking forward to the improvements to Find My Phone as well. And hoping we never have to use them! Still, giving users the ability to create a custom message that will display on the lock screen, even after a remote erase, brings some peace of mind. As does being able to reactivate the phone so easily (input your Apple ID and password and you’re done) if it’s returned or found. Generally being unable to do *anything* to the phone without the use of your Apple ID and password is nice, really.

I also very much like the idea behind AirDrop. We snap a lot of cat photos at home and being able to share them so easily will be a major boon. Now nothing will stop me from bombarding my wife with adorable kitties while she’s at work! Now I just need Maps to be relevant again and I’ll be all set.

We’ve saved the best for last, though. And because this list is alphabetical by last name. So, what is Jeff Scott’s most anticipated iOS 7 feature? “iOS 8.”

Nah, just kidding. He’s looking forward to the Control Center as much as the rest of us. Also “some parts of the refreshed design, game controllers, and increased security through the iCloud required login when wiping a device.”

And what is he hoping against hope for? Lots of stuff. “I want the AMOLED screen that only lights up needed pixels,” he says, “I want the 44MP camera on the Nokia 1040, multi-user stuff, greater customization options, and widgets. I want developers to be able to trick out a few, simple things, like notifications. I want iCloud to be the end-all cloud service for all of my digital needs, and the iCloud price needs to drop through the floor. But we already know none of that is coming.”

So tell us, what are you all most looking forward to? Is there anything you aren’t sure of that you’d like to see make it into iOS 7? Anything you’d prefer to see left out? Chime in below and tell us your thoughts!