My review:
Also in this update is the new iRadio, which operates almost exactly like Pandora. There is also a button at the top to download the song you are currently listening to (ensuring you buy it from iTunes, of course). After using this quite a bit, I like it more than Pandora. It stays on the right songs much better and plays what I actually want to hear.
At the current point, Siri is operating terribly. That is one aspect I'm sure they are still working on. Every time I have tried to use it, it crashes. They also have not released the new voice(s). If you rely on Siri much I would not recommend upgrading just yet.
One other small thing I don't like is the keyboard. Overall I am very impressed with it, but the caps key is hard to distinguish between on and off. Here's what I mean: The first picture is caps ON and the second is OFF.
Ready to try it out for yourself?
Disclaimer-please back up all your information on your phone and computer before updating to iOS7! I don't want you to lose anything important. I am not responsible for any viruses or loss of data.
With these procedures, I used a MacBook Pro running OSX Mountain Lion and iPhone 4S running iOS 6.1.3
1. Back up EVERYTHING. On your Mac, attach a hard drive and back up to time machine (just in case!). On your iPhone, back up to iCloud (settings, iCloud, storage and backup, back up now). Make sure that you sync all your data (at least contacts, calendar, notes, and photos) because this update will erase it all from your phone. If you have not previously been using photo stream, save your photos currently on your phone before you erase. This backup requires wi-fi and your phone must be plugged in. It could take a while to complete.
2. Restore your iPhone. You can do this in settings, general, and at the bottom hit reset. You want to erase all content and settings.
3. While your phone is working on that, pull out your computer. If you're running on Mac, I know you'll need to download either Chrome or Firefox. I used Firefox for mine. Windows should require Chrome.
4. Go to this website using one of those browsers. Click the link under "Un-official links" that applies to your hardware. Using Firefox, it had me download an extension before the actual download began. This file should have an ending of .dmg
5. Once that is downloaded, open it from the downloads folder and you should see a file ending in .ipsw. Drag that file onto your desktop.
6. When your phone is restored and ready for you to start fresh, plug it into your computer. Click the button for "Update" while holding the "Option" key on a Mac. (I think it is the ctrl key on Windows) Then select the file you saved to your desktop as the new update for your phone.
7. Set up your iPhone as a new phone and once it is all done, you can just turn iCloud back on to get all of your data back on your phone.
8. Once your phone is up and running, I suggest powering it off completely for a few minutes by holding the power button for at least 5 seconds and sliding to power off. This will keep you from experiencing many bugs. Also make sure you go slow with downloading apps back onto your phone; mine required that I wait until one app was completely installed before I tried to download another.
9. That's it! If you have any problems or if I missed something, please let me know. You can leave a comment below or you can find my email in the "About Mr. Kelly tab." The phone number listed is a fake, so don't try that!
What's iOS7 have to do with education?
1. Airdrop: This feature is only available in the newest devices, but I obviously don't even have the hardware because I'm not yet in the classroom. When I'm teaching, students can work on parts of a research project and they can use Airdrop to send their classmates their work for a report. This saves them the hassle of creating and using an email account.
2. Guided Access: Probably my favorite, because I imagined this when I first got an iPod touch. This feature would allow me to have the students open an app and then by clicking the home button three times, they can no longer switch to anything else without a password. This would easily help students stay on task.
3. iRadio: I can use this to play music for students without having to purchase mass amounts of music.
4. Camera: There is now a feature to take square pictures. I want my kids to take a picture every day that represents their learning for that day and record it on an app so they can look back at the end of the year and see everything they've gained. The app automatically crops everything to a square so it looks good in a calendar, so this feature would keep things from getting cut out.