[@NickyColman]

Tomorrow, the world expects to see the release, or at least a teaser, of the next version of Apple's iOS operating system, iOS 5.

So, what is everyone expecting/hoping to see?

Expecting

Notifications
Its been 5 years since iOS 1 (then iPhone OS) first debuted and whilst certain areas have improved with each release, notifications have remained stagnant. Annoying inflexible pop-ups often ruin the otherwise fluid experience of iOS.

Apple know this, how can they not?! I dont think they would be so incompetent to leave one of the weakest areas of iOS without any major overhaul.

I fully expect (read: demand) Apple to revamp the iOS notification system in this release.

More money-making schemes
I reckon tomorrow we'll see Apple unveil more options to buy, upgrade, rent apps etc. More ways to cream money from the devs. lol.

iCloud
Its inevitable. Its happening. You know it, I know it, Apple knows it. iCloud is coming. But what we dont know is - What the hell is it going to do?? Simple Cloud-Storage? A new iTunes rental/streaming service similar to Spotify? Some hybrid creation? Something different altogether?

And how will MobileMe fit into this? Is MobileMe going to be part of the iCloud? Or a separate service?

Questions! Questions! Questions!


Hoping

Social Integration
One area I would love to see improvement on, is social integration with iOS. Eg; links/hooks to Twitter/Facebook/Flickr etc built directly in to iOS, much like Google have achieved with Android.

Deeper Apps
Similar to the above, I hope we see a new breed of apps that can go deeper into the OS than ever before. For example, install the Instagram app & see a "Share with Instagram" option appear in the Photos app.

Widgets
I like the IDEA of widgets, but so far, I dont like the implementation of widgets on other OS'. Widgets offer at-a-glance information, features, quick links etc that can shave vital seconds from a user experience. The problem with widgets is that they are a drain on battery life and can be counter-productive if they need to be managed frequently.

I want widgets, but I want widgets done the Apple way.

Quick Actions[I]
Similar to Widgets, I want Apple to create the option of placing a quick action on your iPhone/iPad's Homescreen. WiFi Off for example. One tap and wifi is off. Another tap and its on again. No raking through the settings menu. Same for Bluetooth, Location, Profiles (?) etc. It would be SO easy to do.

[I]Own message tones
Apple, if you're listening, give us the option to change our message tones! PLEASE!

Lock Screen info
Twitter info, message alerts, missed call notifications - all of these displayed on your lock screen with the option to jump straight to the associated app.

Tweeked download process
One thing I despise about downloading multiple apps from the App Store is the way in which the App Store closes after each app begins installing. If im downloading a few apps at a time, it can get tedious flicking screens constantly. Add to this, the 15 minute timeout between entertain your Apple ID password.

Open FaceTime
I'm not sure how much of this is related to hardware constraints, but I would really like FaceTime to be opened up to other handsets, devices & services.



What about you? What do you expect to see unveiled tomorrow?

[Ben]

It'll be an exciting day for all of us who are well and truly submersed in the Apple ecosystem. iOS, being iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, is exciting enough, but we've also got the prospect of a more iOS-like OS X with the unveiling of Lion.

An API for FaceTime would definitely be cool but I'm not sure it'll happen. I suppose what I really want is notifications to be completely overhauled. Widgets don't bother me too much. MobileMe becoming iCloud could affect me massively though, so I really hope they do a good job!

Here we go again...

[DBMandrake]

What I'd like to see is iOS 5 being available for the 3GS! :mad:

There have been several rumours to suggest that the 3GS will be left behind at 4.3.3, leaving only the iPhone 4, iPad 1 and 2, and the latest iPod touch to get the update.

While I understand why the 3G has been left behind (severe shortage of ram at 128MB and a relatively slow 412Mhz CPU) there's no excuse to leave the 3GS behind.

The 3GS has the same 256MB of ram as the iPad 1, and you can be sure the iPad 1 will get the update. The 3GS also has the exact same GPU (graphics processor) as the iPhone 4, and whilst the CPU in the 3GS is slower than the iPhone 4 it's only about 30% slower and is of the same ARM Cortex A8 family. (While the 3G had an older family processor with more limited instruction set)

In short, there is no technical reason for the 3GS not to get the update, either performance or functionality wise, so if it doesn't get the update it will purely be a decision on Apple's part to try to prematurely obsolete the 3GS, a model that is still selling right now as last years model.

I really hope this doesn't happen and the 3GS sees iOS 5, but I have a horrible gut feeling that the rumours are right, and I won't be celebrating tomorrow when we see Apple's announcement... :(

As to what I'd like to see if the 3GS does get the update:

1) At the top of my list is a Palm Pre / Android style notification system to replace those damn modal popup dialogues... back when the only thing that used them were SMS messages they were excusable, albeit annoying, now that everything uses them for notifications its just a joke. We need something unobtrusive and non-modal that slides down from the edge of the screen but doesn't significantly interfere with what you're doing, with a list of recent alerts that you can bring up with a single tap and scroll through, then activate an individual item.

2) Related to point 1 - do something useful with the lock screen alert dialogues. At the very least a scrolling list of alerts that have occurred while the screen was locked.

3) Please please please, fix support for multiple iTunes app store accounts on the same phone. I have both a New Zealand iTunes account (for apps I bought before I moved) and a UK iTunes account for recently bought apps.

There is no way to transfer apps that I bought from the New Zealand app store to the UK one - I checked at the time, and if I had changed my existing iTunes account from New Zealand to the UK, all apps I had bought would have been "orphened" - in other words even if an app was available in both countries I would no longer be able to get any updates for already purchased apps. :mad: (I talked to 2nd level support at Apple to confirm this, and it's also on their website)

Because of this I still have to keep my NZ account active, so every time I try to update apps on my iPhone and there are updates for both iTunes stores it's a nightmare of being prompted for multiple itunes account passwords, errors, failed updates, manually logging in and out of each store etc. Without going into all the gorey details, having two iTunes accounts from different countries is horribly horribly broken, usually resulting in 10-15 minutes of pulled hair and frustration, 5-6 attempts at entering and re-entering passwords, switching back and forth between the two stores etc...

Until recently updates through iTunes on a PC/Mac handled two different stores fairly gracefully, but that's now broken too - if there are updates available for apps from both stores it's impossible for me to use the "Update All" option, without getting "This app has already been purchased but has not been downloaded" followed by the whole process aborting. I can only update apps one at a time.

This seems to be the way iOS / iTunes has gone in the last year, getting more and more buggy, and it's 100% obvious to me that the iOS App store, both in iOS and in iTunes on a PC/Mac has NOT been tested with multiple iTunes accounts which are from different countries... :(

That's my wishlist anyway, notifications, and fix multiple iTunes account handling. Sadly I think we've got more chance of seeing a brand new notification system than existing iTunes store functionality being fixed! ;)

[Ben]

What do we think then, boys and girls?

Not only did the iPhone 3GS get the update, but it sounds like they've completely 'fixed' notifications and, by making iCloud free, suddenly empowered iOS into being a super-sync'd super-slyk superstar!

Completely thrown by the whole iMessage concept (WhatsApp is better in that it's cross-platform, surely, unless Apple will open the iMessage API up to third parties)? Otherwise WWDC appears to have been pretty mind-blowing all-round, and that's without announcing a single piece of new hardware. Gasp.

[hecatae]

so who is registered as an iOS dev and already downloaded iOS 5?

would like to know if any functions missing on 3GS

[miffed]

Does look good , the notification bar may be swiped from Android (although apples version looks more functional)

iCloud looks great , but I am loathed to leave Google ! at the moment I can flit between Android and iOS , run both at the same time and keep them all synced.

Poor old Steve is looking understandably frail :(

[Ben]

Steve looked really ill I thought :( Sounded so tired and fragile, too.

[Hands0n]

so who is registered as an iOS dev and already downloaded iOS 5?

would like to know if any functions missing on 3GS

I'm not but one fella on Twitter (N301DQ) suggests "Google "find UDID iPhone" and that should point you in the right direction."
Some other stuff here --> http://tinyurl.com/3hzd4bc

Just be careful ... plenty of opportunity to brick it sounds like.

[DBMandrake]

With developer betas you need an apple developer account, and your iDevice needs to be registered with apple (through that account) as a development device to be able to run the beta firmware. Without this a beta firmware will fail to run. This is different to a gold master which will run on any device, if you can get your hands on it somehow... ;)

It's also impossible to downgrade from a beta to the previous stable release, so unless you're a registered iOS developer who has their device registered, trying to install a beta firmware will essentially brick your iDevice until the gold master or public release comes out, since you can't go back to the previous version...

If you have a spare iPod touch that you don't mind having bricked for a couple of months if something goes wrong, until the final version of iOS 5 comes out by all means try it, but I wouldn't suggest it on a primary iPhone :)

[Hands0n]

An overnight trade has sprung up with "firms" selling the right credentials based upon your iOS device's UDID. They receive them in packs of 100 from Apple and are able to sell individual "Activations" - a typical on-line seller is this one here --> http://iosactivations.com/ Even with their own unique domainname. These people are damned quick.

As DBMandrake rightly says, you should only go into this if you really (a) know what you are doing and (b) want to do it. But to be absolutely sure, this will not be the full iOS 5 experience. At best it will be a preview, nothing more.

Me? I'm waiting for the official release later this year. I feel no kudos in owning a £600 brick, gorgeous though it is :D

[Hands0n]

Oh, no sooner than I sent the above I found a link to Gizmodo that tells how to install iOS 5 without needing UDID activations etc.

This method utilises an exploit --> http://gizmodo.com/5809621/how-to-upgrade-to-ios-5-today-without-any-developer-account

Same caveats as above apply

[Ben]

Here's a list of the 'little things' that have changed in iOS 5. It's AMAZING.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1165140

Yes. I said AMAZING. :)

[DBMandrake]

Oh, no sooner than I sent the above I found a link to Gizmodo that tells how to install iOS 5 without needing UDID activations etc.

This method utilises an exploit --> http://gizmodo.com/5809621/how-to-upgrade-to-ios-5-today-without-any-developer-account

Same caveats as above apply

A big cavet is that the developer betas are all time limited, and stop working some time after the next beta release is due out. This exploit will almost certainly be patched in Beta 2, leaving those that installed Beta 1 relying on this method without an upgrade path to Beta 2 once Beta 1 expires, resulting in a bricked phone until the gold master comes out.

I for one will wait for the Gold Master at least :)

PS yes it does look great, and I'm surprised nobody on the 'net has commented on the new "retro look" on/off switches in iOS 5... I presume this is a system wide change ?

[Ben]

Indeed I've seen the new look sliders noted, I like :)

I'll be waiting for GM also; I put that on my 1st gen iPad and it didn't cause me any problems with future updates etc so I'll stick with what I know. I just hope we're not waiting too long... sounds like there's plenty of bugs to be slain yet.

[miffed]

A big cavet is that the developer betas are all time limited, and stop working some time after the next beta release is due out. This exploit will almost certainly be patched in Beta 2, leaving those that installed Beta 1 relying on this method without an upgrade path to Beta 2 once Beta 1 expires, resulting in a bricked phone until the gold master comes out.

I for one will wait for the Gold Master at least :)

PS yes it does look great, and I'm surprised nobody on the 'net has commented on the new "retro look" on/off switches in iOS 5... I presume this is a system wide change ?

LOL , I just logged on specifically to bring this up , as this is exactly thing that was scaring me from having a go with iOS 5 so its great to see my fears aren't without foundation ! , experience has taught me that iOS Betas do stop working totally when they expire. I have saved my SHSH Blobs with Tiny umbrella , but I am not sure whether this would guarantee me a downgrade path or not

Must resist ....for now

.....In other news I took the Lion Beta off my 1st gen MBA as it was struggling and I was getting browser crashes (all browsers ) all the time

I have just installed it on my iMac (2.8ghz C2D , last one before the Nvidia ones ) Not sure if it is a newer Beta (installed 3 updates , can't remember how many on the MBA ) but it absolutely flies , no probs at all , except that the forward and back buttons have dissappeared from Safari , and you have to swipe with 3 fingers to go back / forward - This is great BUT you also swipe with 3 fingers to change desktops ! so it is purely pot luck as to whether your swipe will take you back a page , or onto a different desktop / dashboard !!

But the bottom line is , I'd love to get the iPad and iPhone onto iOS 5 so I can get a feel for how this all comes together.

[Hands0n]

I am eagerly awaiting the new trio of iOS 5, Lion and iCloud.

Watching the Apple Keynote the whole 172 minutes was spent gawping like the local village idiot and thinking "Wow!" throughout. These are major and significant updates to all three elements of Apple's. Regardless of whether or not Apple has copied other manufacturers, they have put their own quality seal on each item and feature. It isn't as if the rest of the world and his dog didn't copy some element of Apple's recent success in the mobile business. And at least they were honest enough to admit that MobileMe was not one of their better products.

iCloud and the tight integration across iOS 5 and OS X 10 Lion are completely relevant updates to Apple's ecosystem.

[miffed]

I have had this conversation with quite a few people since the Keynote "Hey , Apple STOLE all those features from everyone else"

WTF ? Do they remember what Mobile phones looked like before the iPhone ?

[hecatae]

I have had this conversation with quite a few people since the Keynote "Hey , Apple STOLE all those features from everyone else"

WTF ? Do they remember what Mobile phones looked like before the iPhone ?

Yes the HTC Magician was magical

[@NickyColman]

Unlike the rest of you, I jumped straight into iOS 5 the very next day! (legally might I add).

For me, iOS 5 beta 1 is incredibly stable. I've never taken part in the Developer Program before but I am happy to report no major issues, aside from the odd graphical glitch here & there.

iMessage(s) works great. Got it set up and running already. Apple need to launch a Mac iMessage client ASAP!

Anyone got any questions relating to iOS 5 they'd like me to answer?

[Hands0n]

Nice one NickyColman - My own interest relates to the overall ecosystem link betwixt iOS 5, OS X 10.6 and iCloud. It has become vital to me to have the synergy across the devices and cloud, something I come to expect and use all of the time. I also use one of my Macs to link MobileMe to Google's cloud so that syncing of Mail, Calendar and Contacts is seamless. Change a contact on my Android and it changes in the Apple ecosystem and vice versa. Very powerful and also enabling, new devices pick up all of my essential information in moments and without intervention from me.