Evolution of Apple’s mobile operating system from iPhone OS to iOS 8.

Apple’s iOS system has come a long way since it came out. IOS system was originally called iPhone OS, and gradually evolved into an iOS system with many fans and made iPhone a great success. Every evolution of the iOS system will lead to an innovation of the mobile platform at that time, and many features will soon be used for reference by other platforms. In fact, from the iPhone OS to the current iOS 8, many users have forgotten the whole development process. Now let’s review how Apple’s operating system has evolved over the years.

iPhone OS

Apple’s first smartphone, Apple iPhone, is built with the first generation of iPhone OS operating system, and this system has also laid the most basic concept for the entire iOS system. Therefore, many features that seem to be taken for granted now all appeared on the iPhone OS. Different from other operating systems at that time, all the interactions of iPhone OS were based on the touch screen, and there was no physical keyboard or other forms. However, from now on, the iPhone OS system still has many defects, such as no app store (the concept of app store did not exist at that time) and no screenshots. But Apple’s first generation operating system has shown great potential. The latest version number of iPhone OS system is 1.1.5, and the second generation iPhone OS 2 system was released after approval.

iPhone OS 2

Apple’s iPhone OS 2 system debuted in 2008 and filled many functional gaps in the previous generation system. One of the most important changes is the App Store, which allows the first generation of iPhone and iPhone 3G users to download and install applications and games. Of course, many other new functions have been added to the iPhone OS 2 system, such as independent contact application (the previous generation contact application was designed in dial-up application), global search function and scientific calculator with more functions, and users can also solve some more complicated problems through the iPhone OS 2 system.

iPhone OS 3(iOS 3)

In 2009, Apple released the third version of the mobile operating system. Although this system is not groundbreaking, it has brought a lot of functions that we are very familiar with today. Among them, the most popular ones are video recording, video editing, MMS messages, voice commands (supporting iPhone 3Gs), copy and paste, Spotlight search, horizontal keyboard for email and messages, and some default applications. Including voice memos, compasses and so on. In addition, because Apple’s first generation iPad tablet was released in 2010 and used the same platform as iPhone, Apple had to rename its mobile operating system later. Therefore, starting from the iPhone OS version 3.2, we finally ushered in the iOS system.

iOS 4

IOS 4 came out in mid-2010, which brought some new changes to the whole platform. Among them, the most important thing is to support custom wallpaper and multi-tasking function, while multi-tasking already existed in many competitors at that time. At the same time, iOS 4 system has added more transitional animation effects than its predecessor, as well as automatic keyboard correction function, unified email inbox and Exchange service support. In addition to becoming the most advanced operating system at that time, iOS 4 was also the first system version that began to "abandon" its old devices. At that time, the first generation of iPhone did not support the upgrade of iOS 4, and the last version of iOS 4.2.1 also supported the second generation of iPhone 3G.

iOS 5

IOS 5 system was released in 2011, and brought more than 200 new features, which is absolutely an amazing number, and it also includes many major functions. For example, notification center, Siri voice assistant, iMessage, iCloud, system universal dictionary, deeply integrated Twitter, game center and so on. In addition, the default Safari browser of the system also includes reading mode, including multi-tags and reading list.

In addition, mail and camera applications have also ushered in some changes, and iOS 5 has also added a number of new system pre-installed applications, including iBook can subscribe to different online magazines or newspapers, as well as the optimization of reminder and mail functions. In addition, iOS 5 is also the first system that supports users to upgrade wirelessly through OTA. Overall, iOS 5 can basically be regarded as one of the biggest changes in the iOS system so far.

iOS 6

IOS 6 was released in 2012, and a series of improvements were made to iOS 5. Including smarter Siri (which can provide more detailed information including movies, competitions, restaurants and applications), deeply integrated Facebook (which can share maps and picture data directly in applications), brand-new Apple Maps (which was not very successful at first), quick reply by hanging up the phone, do not disturb mode, Passbook (saving boarding passes and coupons), improved Safari browser (supporting offline reading), photo stream and improved email application.

Previously, Google services integrated by iOS system disappeared in iOS 6, such as Google Maps and YouTube. Undoubtedly, Apple’s move aims to further reduce its dependence on Google’s business (of course, users can still download these two applications in the App Store). Finally, the iOS 6 system also introduced a large number of privacy settings, allowing users to have greater rights in privacy settings.

iOS 7

Almost from the first generation of iPhone OS system, Apple’s mobile operating system looks very similar in style, and this simulated design has a unified style in interface, icons and typesetting. However, since iOS 7, Apple has completely subverted the design of the iOS system and brought a new look. Compared with before, iOS 7 is more vivid and lively. The flat style first appeared in the iOS system, giving up the previous style concept.

In addition to the great changes in visual effects, iOS 7 has also brought a lot of new features. Including control center, notification center preview, improved multitasking, enhanced photo application, AirDrop, improved Safari (full-screen browsing and tabs up and down), iTunes broadcasting, Siri sound improvement, contacts, calendar and weather application improvement, etc.

In addition, the camera application in iOS 7 has also added continuous shooting and slow-motion video functions, and it can support up to 120fps quality. At the same time, the album has also added some classification functions, and don’t forget that there is also a square photo shooting function that supports Instagram style.

iOS 8

Apple’s latest generation of iOS 8 was released in mid-2014, which can be regarded as Apple’s most open generation system so far. IOS 8 has added support for third-party input methods and widget functions of the notification center, and the addition of these functions makes the iOS system make up for the gap with the Android system.

In other improvements, iOS 8 has added new interactive functions in the notification center, including mute and quick reply, and the multi-tasking interface has become more user-friendly. In addition to supporting the third-party input method mentioned above, iOS 8 also introduces the input suggestion function of words and phrases. In addition, the improved Spotlight search function also greatly improves the usability.

Finally, the new system has further improved the photo application and Siri voice assistant (supporting seamless integration into OS X Yosemite system), as well as the ambitious new plan of HealthKit. It can integrate all data related to fitness and health and carry a new big data platform.