Apple will be finally releasing their most eagerly awaited next generation mobile operating system – iOS 5 tomorrow, October 12th, which includes more than 200 new features for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
We have compiled a list of our top 25 features in iOS 5, including some of the hidden features.
We'll try to keep this list of features as brief as possible and provide a link wherever possible for more details about the feature.
- Revamped Notification system with Notification Center, Lock screen display and lots more - more details here and here
- Siri - Apple's new intelligent personal assistant that is currently exclusively available only on iPhone 4S - more details here and here
- Integration with iCloud - Apple's new Cloud based service
- iOS 5 includes two new features that will allow Apple to finally cut the cord and usher us in the post-PC era. The first one is PC Free - more details here
- The second one is Wi-Fi sync, will sync and backup content such as movies, TV shows, home videos, and photo albums from your iOS device to your Mac or PC whenever its using the same Wi-Fi connection and the iOS device is connected to a power source - more details here
- iMessage - Apple's new messaging service For iPhone, iPad And iPod Touch users - more details here
- iOS software updates can be downloaded over-the-air (OTA). The iOS software updates will be delta updates, so instead of downloading the entire OS, you just download what has changed. This probably falls under the PC Free feature, but in our opinion this is one of the major new features of iOS 5. Video
- Earthquake Early Warning Notifications For iPhone Users In Japan - more details here
- Improved Camera app - more details here
- Improved Photos app - more details here
- A new Reminders app that allows you to store list of things to do that can be associated with a date and also assigned to a location - more details here
- A new Newsstand app that essentially organizes your magazine and newspaper app subscriptions in one place to access them easily and quickly - more details here
- Twitter is deeply integrated in iOS 5 and several apps including Camera, Photos, Maps, and Safari - more details here
- Mobile Safari gets a number of new features such as Reader, Reading List, full tabbed browsing for iPad users and ability to tweet from Safari - more details here
- Mail app gets a number of new features and improvements such as rich text formatting, ability to flag important messages, access to built-in dictionary etc. - more details here and here
- With the improved Game Center app, you will be able to add your photo to your Game Center profile, see friends of friends, compare yourself with your friends with Achievement points per game and lots more - details here
- AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 - more details here
- New Multitasking gestures for iPad - more details here
- AssistiveTouch feature that allows you to use your iOS device if you have difficulty touching the screen or if you require an adaptive accessory - more details here
- Nitro Javascript Engine Performance Improvements To Home Screen Web Apps - more details here
- iOS 5 also brings number of improvements to Calendar app such as ability to see year view on the iPad and week view on the iPhone and iPod Touch, ability to view event attachments directly within the Calendar app and other iCloud features - more details here
- FaceTime - Apple's video calling feature gets number of improvements such as improved video quality and FaceTime calls over 3G - more details here and here
- Download multiple apps simultaneously over Wi-Fi And 3G - more details here
- Weather app also gets a number of improvements in iOS 5 - more details here
- Music App gets some minor improvements - more details here
Bonus feature:
- New First Boot Animation - more details here
You can checkout the video by Apple introducing iOS 5:
If these new features and improvements are not good enough and you want to jailbreak iOS 5 then checkout the latest status update on jailbreaking iOS 5 here.
TechZoom has done the laborious job of compiling an exhaustive list of most of the 200+ features, follow this link to check them out.
Update 1:
We should have included these features:
- iOS 5 now allows you to set custom tones for tweets, voicemails, emails, calendar and Reminder alerts
- You can create a shortcut for a word or phrase via Settings->General->Keyword->Add New Shortcut
We may have inadvertently missed out a major feature in our top 25 features list so please feel free to point it out in the comments and don't forget to let us know which are your favorite features.
i don’t think facetime works over 3g…at least from what i’ve read elsewhere
get the Tango app, it allows facetime over 3G!
Can’t wait!!! First
Ok… not first, but still can’t wait for iOS 5 to drop.
Fuck you
freaking jealous bastard
Change your name to SuperIdiot since you couldn’t control yourself and just had to say “first.”
Will Siri work on iPad2 ?
pretty excited about this. But it means I’ll have to live with an un-jailbroken phone to check these new features out. I think it’ll be well worth-it though.
Pretty pumped for imessage and the real-time typing indicator, so when my wife goes “Oh, I texted you back.”…I go oh..really, cause you’re not typing… BAM!
Don’t think you’ll be without jailbreak for long. I’m on gm and have jailbreak. Ios5 features are awesome!
To be honest I only used to jailbreak my iphone so I could install the lock screen info app along with a few other tweeks (ssh and root access). But, with each new iOS apple finds a way to integrate these things so I’m slowly finding less and less reasons to jailbreak my phone. However, having root access will always be the main reason for me to do this.
@superfreak…did you seriously just say first? who still does that? grow tfu.
@Dan Bradley – i’ve been using ios5 since last week…iMessage is very cool…but i’m still not sure the “received” means that they actually READ your message or that it was just sent successfully. there is a small “…” bubble when they’re typing though which is cool.
so in imessage does it now show you the exact times for sending and receiving messages? One thing I never liked about the message is app is that it would show all text messages under the same time if there were sent within the same 10-15 minute window. Not a big issue but I hope this is updated in iOS 5
@RONxBURGUNDY – Nice, glad to hear you like it. I’m looking forward to it, even cooler, is that I’ll be able to update at work through the WiFi, I won’t even need my computer.
Will the update be available at 12 am ? Or later during the day ?
I”ll stick with my galaxy s2. Iphone suck!!
Funny to see you here… lol!!!
Why are u even on this site. If you say iPhones suck go somewhere else
that’s funny coz I’m selling my SGSII when my iPhone 4S arrives – I bought it thinking it must be good with all the big talk from android users but it needs a lot of work, sick of apps crashing and fighting the os.
FaceTime without Sim card: FaceTime can now be activated and used either via a phone number or email address (Apple ID)
LOOKING FOR THIS>>COOL
“iOS 5 now allows you to set custom tones for tweets, voicemails, emails, calendar and Reminder alerts”
Are texts included too?
I hope text is included in custom tones! Just spent last 2 hours converting my many mp3 text tones into aiff and .caf extensions!! Ready for ios5
Just wat I was looking for
No update for me yet. Don’t wanna lose mywi or bitessms. Ios5 features are kickin’ though.
It’s awesome if really siri comes with iOS 5 update for iphone 4 users but one thing i’m worried about is what happens when i try to update using itunes and i’m asked to insert activation sim which i don’t have.I use Gevey sim on my iphone 4 and i will be glad if someone explains how i will get pass this issue
hope thay have an unlocking update for ultrasnow
Does Anyone know if it’s going to give us the option to change SMS bubble colors?
imessages are sent in blue bubbles sms messages sent in green bubbles
Jessica- highly doubt it
These features are best experienced than read about!
5 hours to go and counting……..
Still no iOS 5 yet – still waiting
what time is the download going to be available? UK time?
2.5 more hours to go. Unless you’re like me and have to wait until you get home from work.
released !!!!!!!!
Oh really?
Are you serious??
Can someone confirm this one? It’s number 58 on the big list of 200 features. I believe this one may have been based on speculation but it would be awesome if its actually a feature
“LED Flash for incoming calls and notifications for better accessibility”
it is true, i’ve been using it.
it’s under Settings > General > Accessibility > LED Flash for Alerts\
more or less it makes you camera flash go off.
what time will ios5 drop ?
10 am pst / 1pm est so 4( more mins
10 MORE MINS
released !!!!!!!!!
lucky!!!!!
ios 5 is out
nu är den släpt håller på och laddar ner den nu
no idea what you just said….all i know is i’m downloading iOS 5 while typing this…
everyone must be on right now b/c it’s sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwww…………
in spain is not out,like always spain is the last in everything…..
I updated my son’s iphone 3GS and found that my printing functionality to my network shared printers are broken and can no longer do so. I will not be upgrading my wifes and my iphone 4′s to the latest ios5. It now seems to require an “AirPrinter”. I am not about to purchase new printers because they don’t want to print to any network printer. Nice one Apple. Dooh!
Daaaaaaaayum!
This is a good compilation and the links provide a nice bunch of details that covers almost every feature you have briefed here. thanks for bringing the latest to the users.
The maps now give you multiple routes to choose from when getting directions. They typically give 2 to 3 options. I don’t think you have discussed this, and I do not think any other sources have mentioned this either. Hope this help with the list of new features!
eh… just found it mentioned on CNET.. sorry.
iOS 5 is awesome!! I love the notification center where you just swipe down from the top of the screen and it appears. Waiting to see what amazing thing they will do next.
I have problem on 1080p vids mirroring Airplay, as I think via the mirroring then maybe I don’t need to do so much converting with Enolsoft video converter and could make the Apple TV to be a HTV centre on the go. That’s so great!