AppleAfter clicking and clicking (and clicking and clicking and clinking) the "Check for Update" button in iTunes, iOS 7, Apple's completely redesigned iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad software, is here.
Finally.
iOS 7 marks the biggest makeover the iPhone has seen in probably forever. Now that you have it downloaded (you do have it downloaded, right?), we wanted to give you a place to explore it with us.
Below, some of the things we love and hate about iOS 7. Chime in with your best and worst in the comments!
Best: The New Design! The overhaul is jarring, yes. And while it takes some time to get used to (we, like a lot of you, hated all those bright colors at first), we love it now. The design is clean, the look is minimalist and 3D is the way of the future, right?
In terms of in-app design, our favorites makeovers belong to 1. The music app, which just looks so pretty, assuming you have all your album art in place. (P.S. As for the new iTunes Radio, it's no big win. Just keep using Pandora.) And 2. Photo albums, which are even more organized now.
Best: Control Center! Notification Center has been upgraded, but the addition of a Control Center is the bigger deal. No more digging around in Settings: In one swipe, you can control WiFi, turn your phone on airplane mode, adjust brightness, etc. Also, if you've ever downloaded a flashlight app (or, like us, just switch your camera to video mode and turn the flash on), no more. There's a handy button for that too.
Best: Unlimited Tabs! If you use your phone to seriously surf the web, you know the annoyance (at best) or madness-inducing rage (more appropriately) of making sure you never have more than 8 tabs open (lest they just start disappearing). Safari doesn't do that anymore. Hallelujah!
Eh: New Camera! Or "improved" camera, at least. The camera itself seems to work a bit better, but the flashier news is the ability to take square pictures and add filters to them. Also known as Instagram.
Eh: Apple Maps! We haven't used it too much yet, but Maps has supposedly worked out many of its issues from yester-updates. But it still hasn't reincorporated public transit or improved its traffic settings. Alternate apps, like Google Maps or Waze, are far more helpful.
Worst: Siri! In iOS 7, Siri is still the worst. Did you expect that to change?
(Oh, and you still can't delete the Stocks app.)