My First Impressions of iOS 5 beta

On Monday, Apple announced a ton of new software including Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud. I was able to get my hands on a developer build of iOS 5, and thought I would share my thoughts now that I’ve had it for a few days!

iOS 5 won’t be available to the public until “the fall.”

 

 

Here are some great things about iOS 5:

1. Background Syncing – You can now use your iPhone as it syncs new music, etc. No More “Sync In Progress” screen. This wasn’t really mentioned in the Keynote, and definitely one of the hidden gems! Instead you see a syncing arrow Just to the right of your service bars.
2. Notification Center – This seems SO natural that it’s going to be silly when you look back at how notifications were implemented in iOS 1-4. It really works great and feels like a huge upgrade.
3. iMessages – I’ve been able to exchange iMessages with a friend who also has iOS 5 installed and it’s brilliant. Each time you type a name in to the To field in Messages, it determines whether that user is using iMessages, and automatically adjusts your messages to send an iMessage rather than a text. This is going to save people tons of money on texting overages, etc. Fantastic service!
4. Reminders – I set a geo fence reminder to call a friend when I physically arrived home today. Literally the moment I turned on to the street near my house, my reminders were set. This is one of those features that seems like the future/Jetsons.
5. Photo Editing – Say goodbye to Photoshop Express! This feature is not only seamless but another one of those features that seems long overdue.

Here are some not so great things about iOS 5 beta:

1. Maps is pretty much nonfunctional. It freezes almost every time I open it and don’t even try to find your location.
2. iCloud is not turned on for everyone yet. Or am I doing it wrong?
3. WiFi sync doesn’t work.
4. I’ve had trouble uploading music from iTunes. It just won’t upload sometimes.
5. Newstand app won’t go in to folders. As far as I know this is the only app that has ever done this.

I totally understand everything I complained about is because it’s still in beta, but…come on already! If you use iOS 5 beta, leave comments about your thoughts. I’m interested in hearing what other users think!

About these ads