The Apple keynote that ended a few minutes ago was one of the best iPhone-focused keynotes I’ve ever seen. Let me say this straight up: with the iPhone OS 4 Apple is going to completely reivent the iPhone experience, but let’s keep my impressions for later. Let’s focus on the features now.
In case you missed it, the iPhone OS 4 comes with more than 100 new features, built around 7 “tentpole” features that will lead the way towards a fresh, brand new iPhone. If you watched the keynote online (and we’d like to thank everyone who attended MacStories’ live chat. You guys have been awesome) you should now know what Apple has in store for us, but we’d like to recap anyway.
Check out all the new stuff that’s coming to an iPhone near you after the break.
- Multitasking
“It’s easy to do this in a way that drains battery life, and a way that reduces performance of the foreground app. If you don’t do it right, your phone will feel sluggish.”
That’s right folks, iPhone OS 4 has multitasking. To be exact, iPhone OS 4 will able to run 3rd party applications in the background and let you quickly switch between them. Just like we predicted some weeks ago. You don’t see multiple windows at the same time (why would you?), but you can access all your previously backgrounded apps by bringing on top a dock with all those apps inside it. It’s simple, and it’s damn useful. Just imagine the new possibilities: you can now leave Tweetie running, listen to Pandora and read some articles in Instapaper at the same time. It’s awesome. Some people argued about the UI Apple has adopted for the quick app switching, but I think it’s easy to the eyes and consistent. The application running in the foreground simply stretches to let the dock appear, and you don’t have nothing to do but tap on an icon and go to another app.
- iBooks
iPhone OS 4.0 now comes with the same iBooks app you have on your iPad. Apple also mentioned books and status will be kept synced across devices. The UI is the same, the reading experience is the same. We can’t wait to see it in action. Oh and yes, Winnie the Pooh is still included.
- Wallpapers
You can now choose custom wallpapers for your homescreen, just like on the iPad. A long awaited feature.
- Folders
Too many apps on your iPhone? Fine, there’s a folder of that. Just like Categories has allowed us for years, you can now group multiple applications inside a single folder and you’re done. The folder’s icon will have a sort of “mosaic” with the apps thumbnails on it, and it can be moved anywhere on your iPhone, thus becoming also some sort of Stack. To create a folder, just drag an icon over another icon and a new folder will be created. Simple and easy. I love this feature.
- Game Center
The Game Center is Apple’s response to services like Xbox Live from Microsoft. Is a social gaming platform, where you can invite friends, unlock achievements, check leaderboards. We should say goodbye to stuff like the Plus network.
- iAd
With the much rumored iAd platform Apple plans to take over mobile advertisement. Unlike competitors like Google, Apple’s ad will be focused on interactions and emotions, providing good quality content depending on the app you’re in. Ads will be embeddable in apps, and they can contain pictures, videos, sounds and even sub-applications. The Toy Story ad Steve demoed is a perfect example for this. All ads run in HTML5, which is a clear stab at Adobe’s back (no Flash). Steve also mentioned that Apple will host all the ads, but there won’t be a real approval process, as advertisers are paying for this stuff. He defined it a “light touch”.
Mail will feel like a completely revamped app. As promised weeks ago, Mail on iPhone OS 4.0 will have a unified inbox, enabling you to check all your incoming mails in a single place. But it doesn’t stop here. Threaded messages, extended Exchange support, file and delete mail search results. The best mobile mail client just got a lot better.
Other features:
- 5x digital zoom
- IMAP notes
- Spell check
- Bluetooth keyboards
- Web search suggestions
- Search sms
- Create playlists
- In-app sms
- Places in photos
To sum up, the iPhone OS 4.0 is a great step forward for Apple, bringing some great innovations and new features to us. There’s a lot of stuff to talk about, a lot of functions to discuss.
What are you missing from this new OS? I personally would have liked a lot an Apple-made RSS app, extended lockscreen controls and even more statusbar goodness, but I’m seriously satisfied anyway. What about you?
