Apple's iOS 7.1 brings animation updates, UI tweaks for Phone, calendar, and more

Posted:
in iPhone edited March 2014
New features like CarPlay and long-awaited enhancements to Siri and Touch ID headlined Monday's iOS 7.1 update, but Apple also made several aesthetic changes as designers continue to refine the mobile operating system's user interface.

Phone

iOS 7.1


Perhaps fittingly, the iPhone's "Phone" app received the most attention. Every button that was previously rectangular is now circular, and many have been given new icons in the makeover.

When using the dial pad to make a call manually, the "place call" button now swivels and smoothly morphs into the "end call" button. In addition, call waiting controls have been reformatted and moved to the bottom of the display.

Physics, Motion, and Accessibility

iOS 7.1


Apple also made a significant number of tweaks to iOS 7's physics and motion settings. Zooming in and out of folders and apps is now much faster, and many of the in-app transitions are sped up.

Notification Center and Control Center now sport much more pronounced "bounces" when being opened, a jarring change from the easing present in iOS 7.0.x. Apple has expanded the array of accessibility options -- enabling the "Reduce Motion" option has a more noticeable impact than in previous revisions, and a new "Button Shapes" option adds shaded outlines around tappable areas.

Miscellaneous

iOS 7.1


The "Calendar" app now sports a dedicated list view button, which will take users directly to their full appointment list when looking at a specific day. Pressing the same button in month view provides an updated split-screen view with the calendar on top and appointment list below.

iOS 7.1


The lock screen's "slide to unlock" text is much more prominent, and the keyboard displayed when using an alphanumeric pass code has been tweaked. Additionally, the system keyboard itself has slightly redesigned shift and caps lock keys.

iOS 7.1


Using the Touch ID sensor to identify an already-enrolled finger now causes the finger's entry to be continuously highlighted, rather than flashing as it did before. Siri, meanwhile, sports a new hold to talk mode that allows users to hold down the home button while speaking and release it to signal Siri to stop listening, useful in loud or busy surroundings.

Finally, the "Camera" app now has an intelligent "Auto HDR" feature. When enabled, the camera will analyze the scene and automatically shoot in HDR if it feels conditions warrant it.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 98
    mikrazmikraz Posts: 10member
    BRING BACK FULL SIZE CONTACT INFO PICTURES (without some crazy 'resizing' workaround).. please.
  • Reply 2 of 98
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,575member
    FairPlay my iPhone 4s & iPad 3 feel a lot more responsive, finally close to iOS 6 performance.
  • Reply 3 of 98
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Originally Posted by mikraz View Post

    BRING BACK FULL SIZE CONTACT INFO PICTURES (without some crazy 'resizing' workaround).. please.


     


    Oh, did they remove that? It’s one of the things I’ve always loved about the iPhone’s concept, from day one. Nonsense.

  • Reply 4 of 98
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    [QUOTE]Siri, meanwhile, sports a new hold to talk mode that allows users to hold down the home button while speaking and release it to signal Siri to stop listening, useful in loud or busy surroundings.[/QUOTE]

    I don't get how that has anything to do with loud or busy surroundings. It's just a way to force Siri from searching before you've finished what you've got to say. And I'm glad they've added that because it used constantly do it for me as I like to speak at a relaxed pace.
  • Reply 5 of 98
    elliots11elliots11 Posts: 290member

    The calendar thing is huge, I love split view and missed it.  Glad they brought it back.  I'll probably do this update pretty quick instead of waiting on bug reports just to get that.  Hopefully they added back the ability to see a pic when you're on a call as well, I used that for info sometimes.

  • Reply 6 of 98
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    So far, talking minutes here, performance is much better on my iPad 3. More importantly Safari hasn't crashed yet on on A I forums. ????????????????????
  • Reply 7 of 98
    mikrazmikraz Posts: 10member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     
     

    Oh, did they remove that? It’s one of the things I’ve always loved about the iPhone’s concept, from day one. Nonsense.


    They sure did... it would seem that, irregardless whether you take the photo from your iphone, a saved file on your phone and/or mac alike. Keeping in mind that I never sync'd to Facebook contacts at all and made no adjustment when iOS 7 was installed initially— So, Yes, that was something I too loved about the update.

     

    Now when you try to resize a contact photo - it always just wants to constrain the photo in a small circle ... bummer.

     

    Jonny Ive has got all bubbles on the brain.. sheesh. The next iPhone is gonna be completely round - you watch.

  • Reply 8 of 98
    They also darkened the text on the keyboard as well. First thing I noticed actually
  • Reply 9 of 98
    phone-ui-guyphone-ui-guy Posts: 1,019member
    After the update I got prompted that I have to use a cable to re-enable wifi sync again. One of those little hidden gems in the update. Sigh....
  • Reply 10 of 98
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by elliots11 View Post

     

    The calendar thing is huge, I love split view and missed it.  Glad they brought it back.  I'll probably do this update pretty quick instead of waiting on bug reports just to get that.  Hopefully they added back the ability to see a pic when you're on a call as well, I used that for info sometimes.


     

    Personally have never been affected by anecdotal bug reports. I basically ignore them. Tons of people out there who don’t know what they are talking about but are always quick to blame their hosed systems on Apple’s software. Some threads get humongous but are complete nonsense.

  • Reply 11 of 98
    rcfarcfa Posts: 1,124member
    How about AI would finally get in the habit of posting build numbers with such news?
  • Reply 12 of 98
    caskeycaskey Posts: 37member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post





    I don't get how that has anything to do with loud or busy surroundings. It's just a way to force Siri from searching before you've finished what you've got to say. And I'm glad they've added that because it used constantly do it for me as I like to speak at a relaxed pace.

    I think the reasoning is that if it's noisy in the background Siri would sometimes not realize that you stopped talking and would try to decipher what is being said in the background as part of your inquiry.

  • Reply 13 of 98
    wurm5150wurm5150 Posts: 763member
    The show button shape is hideous, lazily implemented..seems like Apple just did for the sake of those complaining about the text based buttons..
  • Reply 14 of 98
    Maybe I just can't see it, but there is no month view button to see a whole month on my iPhone 5....
    Could it be the change only applies to newer iPhones ?
    It would have been nice to be a bit more precise guys....
  • Reply 15 of 98
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    wurm5150 wrote: »
    The show button shape is hideous, lazily implemented..seems like Apple just did for the sake of those complaining about the text based buttons..

    Yes. And the text seems off centre. By a pixel or two. Very obvious in the back "button/shape" in mail.
  • Reply 16 of 98
    How is it that the only way to delete music directly from an iPhone is song-by-song? Why hasn't Apple fixed this yet...to make it possible to delete whole albums, or all music by a single artist? Currently, it is either "delete all music," or, do it song-by-song. It is maddening. I was really hoping this update would rectify this. Please tell me I am missing something?!
  • Reply 17 of 98
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    rcfa wrote: »
    How about AI would finally get in the habit of posting build numbers with such news?

    I'm curious, how would that matter for IOS unless you were a dev tester and had multiple builds of 7.1? Are there different build numbers based on iDevice feature/carrier?
  • Reply 18 of 98
    konqerrorkonqerror Posts: 685member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Phone-UI-Guy View Post



    After the update I got prompted that I have to use a cable to re-enable wifi sync again. One of those little hidden gems in the update. Sigh....

     

    I don't think that's ever happened before in an update, I suspect its a conscious change due to a security issue.

  • Reply 19 of 98
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    peterpaul wrote: »
    How is it that the only way to delete music directly from an iPhone is song-by-song? Why hasn't Apple fixed this yet...to make it possible to delete whole albums, or all music by a single artist? Currently, it is either "delete all music," or, do it song-by-song. It is maddening. I was really hoping this update would rectify this. Please tell me I am missing something?!

    i don't believe your missing anything. Submit it as a feature request.
  • Reply 20 of 98
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    After the update I got prompted that I have to use a cable to re-enable wifi sync again. One of those little hidden gems in the update. Sigh....

    I had one device that complained that it couldn't reach iTunes to wifi sync after the update; something I never saw in incremental 7.1 beta updates. I gonna check it and see if that resulted in disabling wifi sync.
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