When I bought my first iPhone (it was iPhone 4s), I was very glad that I finally got a modern smartphone that can do a lot of cool things. Siri also just appeared with iOS 5 at that time (albeit in English, but still), and then I felt that I was finally holding a device that looked into the future. Since then, I upgraded to new iPhones every couple of years, and it was interesting to watch the growth of functionality in iOS. Apple’s mobile operating system has made a big leap forward, but I still remember how many third-party applications opened up opportunities on the iPhone that Apple wanted to hide until a certain point.
Apple makes it easy for us to download too many apps
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IPhone Flashlight
Before the Control Center and a button for turning on appeared in iOS 7 flashlightThe iPhone flash could not work as a flashlight without the help of any third-party software. You had to download the app to use the flashlight on the iPhone.
I remember how I went camping with my friends many years ago, and we decided to take a walk around the camp at night. An ordinary flashlight, out of spite, failed just at the moment when we decided to return. It was very dark, and we could not find the way back to the camp. Fortunately, my friend pulled out his iPhone, launched the flashlight app and lit the way so that we could continue our journey.
Я был настолько удивлен этой возможностью, что в тот момент, когда я вернулся домой из похода, я скачал около 10 различных приложений для фонарика, чтобы протестировать их все. Тогда я понял, как важно иметь под рукой всю функциональность твоего устройства.
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Admit who had such an application?
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Shazam на iPhone
Еще один пример того, как Apple «убила» сторонние приложения - Shazam. Несмотря на то, что технически Shazam все еще существует, с тех пор, как Apple интегрировала сервис в Siri (а затем приобрела компанию), магия использования Shazam как бы исчезла.
I remember sitting in bars with my friends, and when someone asked what kind of melody was playing, it was enough to get an iPhone, launch Shazam and get an answer. At first, many were surprised at how it works (there were even memes about the Chinese who “on that wire” listen to each melody and recognize it), but then Shazam became a part of everyday life. And when it integrated with iOS and Siri, many people began to use an iPhone to recognize music, because now you do not need to download another application. Just ask Siri!
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Shazam used to be with many on iPhones. Now replaced by Siri
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Apple has done an amazing job of turning iOS into what it is today, and partly because of the developers, who in their turn created amazing applications to extend the functionality of the iPhone. So, for example, in 2017 Apple bought the Workflow appby making it free. And then changed its name to “Shortcuts”, and now many iOS users use it to automate tasks.
Probably. Apple will continue to borrow good ideas that third-party application developers will come up with and will find a way to implement them in iOS. In the end, this is how iOS will remain competitive in the market and attract consumers – we always want the latest feature to be at hand. The advent of features like Flashlight, Siri, and Shazam on iOS has proven to be very useful, but to be honest, sometimes I even miss the old days.
I’m sure that if I started using iPhone 4s running iOS 5 now, I would probably want to throw it on the wall. Nevertheless, he gave that feeling of surprise when you find in App Store some application for the functionality of the iPhone, and then show it to friends and relatives. And that was a cool feeling. Can you recall examples of such applications? Tell us in the comments and in our Telegram chat.
No doubt, the future of iOS is very encouraging, but don’t think that its past was dull.
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