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- A look back at how far the iPhone's software has come
A look back at how far the iPhone's software has come
The first iPhone's operating system had no official name, but Steve Jobs said it was a version of OS X onstage in 2007 because it shared code with the Mac's operating system.
The first iPhone's OS was pretty basic. No App Store. No folders. No multitasking. It was still revolutionary because it introduced the concept of "multi-touch" screens to the world. Now every smartphone has a touchscreen.
It also combined "An iPod, a phone, and an Internet communicator," as Jobs explained.
It wasn't until a year later (in 2008) that the iPhone added the App Store in Phone OS 2. Billions of downloads later, the App Store has arguably been the most important part of the iPhone's success.
There were some important software updates a year later in Phone OS 3: push notifications, multimedia messages (this was before iMessage), Spotlight search, cellular data tethering, and the ability to copy and paste.
The iPhone 4's release in 2010 came with two big software features: app multitasking and FaceTime. It also introduced the concept of app folders. Apple dropped the "Phone" and started calling its mobile software just "iOS 4."
iOS 5 was a big update in 2012. It introduced iMessage, Siri, iCloud, and Notification Center.
It wasn't until iOS 6 in 2012 that Apple parted ways with Google Maps for its own mapping service, which was widely panned at first.
iOS 7 marked a complete visual redesign. There are other additions, like AirDrop and Control Center, but the biggest change by far was the overall aesthetic of the operating system.
2014's iOS 8 was mostly about under the hood improvements. Apple opened up keyboards and Notification Center widgets to app developers. It also started letting apps talk to each other in more advanced ways.
A later version of iOS 8 introduced Apple Pay.
Apple Music was unveiled to the world alongside iOS 9 last summer.
Besides Apple Music, iOS 9 didn't bring much new stuff to the table. Transit directions were added to Maps, Siri became a little smarter with contextually aware tech called Proactive, and the Notes app got upgraded with some new features.
Apple is announcing iOS 10 at its big developer conference on June 13. Stay tuned for what's next.
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