iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS)[10] is a mobile operating system developed by Apple exclusively for its smartphones. It was unveiled in January 2007 for the first-generation iPhone,[11] launched in June 2007.
For other uses, see IOS (disambiguation).Developer
Current
Closed, with open-source components
June 29, 2007
41 languages[7]
- ARMv8-A (iOS 7 and later)
- ARMv7-A (iPhone OS 3 – iOS 10.3.4)
- ARMv6 (iPhone OS 1 – iOS 4.2.1)
Proprietary software except for open-source components
It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone. It was also used on iPads (introduced: January 2010; availability: April 2010) until iPadOS was introduced in 2019, and on the iPod Touch devices, which were discontinued in mid-2022.[12] It is the world's second-most widely installed mobile operating system, after Android. It is the basis for three other operating systems made by Apple: iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS.[13]
As of December 2023, Apple's App Store contains more than 3.8 million iOS applications.[14] These mobile apps have collectively been downloaded more than 130 billion times.
iOS is based on macOS. Like macOS, it includes components of the Mach microkernel and FreeBSD.[15][16] It is a Unix-like operating system. Although some parts of iOS are open source under the Apple Public Source License[17] and other licenses,[18] iOS is proprietary software.[19][20]
Major versions of iOS are released annually. The current stable version, iOS 17, was released to the public on September 18, 2023.[21]
Features
Interface
The iOS user interface is based upon direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures such as swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch. Interface control elements include sliders, switches, and buttons.[78] Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it in three dimensions (one common result is switching between portrait and landscape mode). Various accessibility described in § Accessibility functions enable users with vision and hearing disabilities to properly use iOS.[79]
iOS devices boot to the lock screen. The lock screen shows the time and a user's lock screen widgets, which display timely information from apps. [80] Upon unlock, a user is directed to the home screen, which is the primary navigation and information "hub" on iOS devices, analogous to the desktop found on personal computers. iOS home screens are typically made up of app icons and widgets; app icons launch the associated app, whereas widgets display live, auto-updating content, such as a weather forecast, the user's email inbox, or a news ticker directly on the home screen.[81]
Along the top of the screen is a status bar, showing information about the device and its connectivity. The Control Center can be "pulled" down from the top right of the notch or Dynamic Island (on iPhones with Face ID) or can be "pulled" up from the bottom to top of the screen (on iPhones with Touch ID), giving access to various toggles to manage the device more quickly without having to open the Settings. It is possible to manage brightness, volume, wireless connections, music player, etc.[82]
Scrolling from the top left to the bottom (or top to bottom on iPhones with Touch ID) will open the Notification Center, which in the latest versions of iOS is very similar to the lock screen. It displays notifications in chronological order and groups them by application. From the notifications of some apps it is possible to interact directly, for example by replying to a message directly from it. Notifications are sent in two modes, critical alerts that are displayed on the lock screen and signaled by a distinctive sound and vibration (e.g. emergency alerts or severe weather alerts), accompanied by a warning banner and the app badge icon, and standard alerts which use a default sound and vibration. Both can be found in the Notification Center, and show for a set amount of time on the lock screen (unless the user has Notification Center allowed when locked). [83][84]
On iPhones with Touch ID, screenshots can be created with the simultaneous press of the home and power buttons. In comparison to Android, which requires the buttons to be held down, a short press does suffice on iOS.[85] On iPhone with Face ID, screenshots are captured using the volume-up and power buttons instead.[86]
The camera application used a skeuomorphic closing camera shutter animation prior to iOS 7. Since then, it uses a simple short blackout effect.[87] Notable additions over time include HDR photography and the option to save both normal and high dynamic range photographs simultaneously where the former prevents ghosting effects from moving objects (since iPhone 5 on iOS 6), automatic HDR adjustment (since iOS 7.1), "live photo" with short video bundled to each photo if enabled (iPhone 6s, iOS 9), and a digital zoom shortcut (iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 10).[88][89][90] Some camera settings such as video resolution and frame rate are not adjustable through the camera interface itself, but are outsourced to the system settings.[91]
A new feature in iOS 13 called "context menus" shows related actions when you touch and hold an item. When the context menu is displayed, the background is blurred.[92]
To choose from a few options, a selection control is used. Selectors can appear anchored at the bottom or in line with the content (called date selectors). Date selectors take on the appearance of any other selection control, but with a column for day, month, and optionally year.
Alerts appear in the center of the screen, but there are also alerts that scroll up from the bottom of the screen (called "action panels"). Destructive actions (such as eliminating any element) are colored red.
The official font of iOS is San Francisco. It is designed for small text readability, and is used throughout the operating system, including third-party apps.[92]
The icons are 180x180px in size for iPhones with a larger screen, usually models over 6 inches, including iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 8 Plus, while they are 120x120px on iPhones with smaller displays.[93]
Hardware
The main hardware platform for iOS is the ARM architecture (the ARMv7, ARMv8-A, ARMv8.2-A, ARMv8.3-A). iOS releases before iOS 7 can only be run on iOS devices with 32-bit ARM processors (ARMv6 and ARMv7-A architectures). In 2013, iOS 7 was released with full 64-bit support (which includes a native 64-bit kernel, libraries, drivers as well as all built-in applications),[175] after Apple announced that they were switching to 64-bit ARMv8-A processors with the introduction of the Apple A7 chip.[176] 64-bit support was also enforced for all apps in the App Store; All new apps submitted to the App Store with a deadline of February 2015, and all app updates submitted to the App Store with a deadline of June 1, 2015.[177] iOS 11 drops support for all iOS devices with 32-bit ARM processors as well as 32-bit applications,[178][179] making iOS 64-bit only.[180]
Digital rights management
The closed and proprietary nature of iOS has garnered criticism, particularly by digital rights advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, computer engineer and activist Brewster Kahle, Internet-law specialist Jonathan Zittrain, and the Free Software Foundation who protested the iPad's introductory event and have targeted the iPad with their "Defective by Design" campaign.[227][228][229][230] Competitor Microsoft, via a PR spokesman, criticized Apple's control over its platform.[231]
At issue are restrictions imposed by the design of iOS, namely digital rights management (DRM) intended to lock purchased media to Apple's platform, the development model (requiring a yearly subscription to distribute apps developed for the iOS), the centralized approval process for apps, as well as Apple's general control and lockdown of the platform itself. Particularly at issue is the ability for Apple to remotely disable or delete apps at will.[232]
Some in the tech community have expressed concern that the locked-down iOS represents a growing trend in Apple's approach to computing, particularly Apple's shift away from machines that hobbyists can "tinker with" and note the potential for such restrictions to stifle software innovation.[233][234]
Former Facebook developer Joe Hewitt protested against Apple's control over its hardware as a "horrible precedent" but praised iOS's sandboxing of apps.[235]