iOS 7
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iOS 7
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| Developer | Apple |
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| Announced | June 10, 2013 (WWDC) |
| Initial release | September 18, 2013 |
| Final release | 7.1.2 (June 30, 2014) |
| Launch devices | iPhone 5s · iPhone 5c |
| Preceded by | iOS 6 |
| Succeeded by | iOS 8 |
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iOS
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iOS 7 is the seventh major release of iOS, released on September 18, 2013, ahead of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. It remains the most sweeping visual redesign in the platform's history: under Jony Ive's newly unified design authority, six years of glossy, textured skeuomorphism — felt, leather, linen, green-felt Game Center — were replaced in one release by a flat, translucent, typography-first interface built on layered depth, parallax, and the new dynamic type system.
The redesign polarized on arrival — icons were mocked, thin fonts strained eyes, and full-screen zoom animations literally motion-sickened some users (Apple added Reduce Motion in response) — and then, within a year, became simply what software looked like, as the entire industry moved flat alongside it.
1 Features✎
Control Center — the swipe-up panel for brightness, toggles, flashlight, and music — led the functional additions, with AirDrop for local file sharing, smarter multitasking for all apps (with the card-based app switcher), iTunes Radio, automatic app updates, Activation Lock (which measurably cut iPhone theft), FaceTime Audio, and Touch ID integration on the 5s. iOS 7.1 (March 2014) refined the visuals, sped up animations, and shipped CarPlay support.
2 Supported devices✎
iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPhone 4s, and iPhone 4 (in reduced form — no Control Center blur, no parallax), plus iPad 2 and later and the fifth-generation iPod touch. The iPhone 3GS and fourth-generation iPod touch were dropped.
3 Legacy✎
iOS 7 is the platform's aesthetic constitution: every release since — through the Liquid Glass overhaul of iOS 26 — has iterated within the flat, layered, translucent language it established. Control Center became as fundamental as the home screen, Activation Lock rewrote the stolen-phone economy, and the redesign's rocky-then-total acceptance became the template argument for every big software redesign since: they scream, then they forget.