Apple seeds iOS 7 beta 5 to developers: Tweaks to icons, Control Center and more!

A little over a week after iOS 7 beta 4, Apple has seeded iOS 7 beta 5 to developers. It is available over-the-air via Software Update. The previous beta brought several minor interface and performance tweaks to the operating system, and beta 5 will likely continue doing that.

A new Apple TV seed is also available:

Notes

• You can now use an iOS 7 device to set up an Apple TV after restoring or resetting all settings. (iPhone 4 and iPad 2 are not supported.)

We will continuously update this post with discovered changes.

– All Settings icons redesigned (left is new) :

– More Yahoo presence:

– New Twitter icon in iOS 7:

– Can now disable Control Center while in apps:

– Major performance improvements across the system

– Camera swipe access from Lock screen is easier

– New slide to power off design:

– New in-call icons:

– New option to pull down on a banner

– Some transparency, blur, UI animation changes across the system.

Apple releases iOS 7 beta 4 to developers

As expected, Apple has released the fourth beta of iOS 7 this morning. The update comes three weeks after the release of beta 3—longer than the the time period between previous betas due to a lengthy Developer Center outage caused by a security breach.

Beta 4 is available now to all registered Apple developers via OTA (over the air update), which can be installed by visiting the Software Update section in the Settings app of devices that currently have iOS 7 installed. And it should post soon to the dev portal…

The previous beta brought about a number of UI tweaks and changes in apps like Music, Mail, Weather and the Notification Center. There were also several performance improvements made, making the firmware faster and more reliable than previous releases.

The fourth beta is available for compatible iPhones, iPads and iPod touch models. We’re currently installing it ourselves, and will be reporting back with any new stuff we find. So make sure you keep checking back with this post throughout the day for changes.

We will keep updating this post with a running change log of findings (below):

Lock screen is no longer confusing:

– Call button in Phone dialer is tweaked:

– Phone answer buttons tweaked:

Spotlight:

HDR in camera re-located:

– You can now swipe between panels in Notification Center

– Tweaks to image download in Mail.app:

– Safari graphics tweaks:

Tweaked filters UI (and added for some older iPhone models):

Search bar in Reminders:

– Readers reporting minor keyboard tweaks

– Improved back buttons in setup:

– New AirPlay icons:

– Slight UI tweak to Newsstand:

– Shuffle all songs is back:

– Improved animations and transparency in folders on the Home screen.

– New iPad resolution changing button while running iPhone-only apps:

– Completed uploads notifications:

–  Siri Q/A

Icon comparison: iOS 6 vs iOS 7 and another 25 iOS 7 features Apple didn’t talk about!

Apple’s new look and feel in iOS 7 is certainly polarizing, that much is clear. While approximately half of those who took part in our informal iOS 7 makeover poll said they loved the new design, nearly a third think the new interface will take some time getting used to. While the vast majority seem to support the facelift, a lot of people have taken issue with the new iOS 7 icons.

Complaints range from the icons being too colourful and out of place to being completely different from each other to resembling a terrible Photoshop job by a 14-yer-old. We’ll let you be the judge: here’s a side-by-side comparison of iOS 6 vs iOS 7 icons…

Here’s the full infographic:

Notice that the icons in iOS 7 use really vivid colors, almost as if Apple designed them for an AMOLED display.

Who knows, maybe the oversaturated nature of iOS 7 icons is in preparation for the next iPhone and iPad?

After all, the rumor mill has been saying for quite some time that future iDevices will adopt Sharp’s IGZO panels and those provide more vivid colors and deeper blacks

 

 

25 iOS 7 features Apple didn’t talk about:

• Enterprise single sign-on
• View PDF annotations
• Inclinometer
• Long MMS support
• Per app VPN
• Maps bookmark syncing
• Phone, FaceTime and Message blocking
• Smart download of TV episodes
• Notification sync
• Night mode for Maps
• WiFi HotSpot 2.0
• Scan to acquire Passbook passes
• Turn-by-turn walking directions
• FaceTime audio
• New smart Mailboxes
• Managed app configuration
• App Store Volume Purchase
• Tencent Weibo
• Chinese English bilingual dictionary
• Handwriting recognition for multiple Chinese characters
• Improved Mail search
• Streamline MDM enrollment
• Do Not Track option in Safari
• Italian, Korean and Dutch dictionaries
• Clock app icon now displays real time.