With the recent release of iOS 14, the iPhone
received some pretty cool additions like home screen widgets and pinned conversations, along
with some overdue features like compact calls. And to celebrate the 14th year of iOS, we’re
going to take a look back at every single version to see just how far the operating
system has come. This is Greg with Apple Explained, and I want
to thank Audible for sponsoring this video. If you guys want to help decide which topics
I cover, make sure you’re subscribed and voting polls like this one will show up in
your mobile activity feed. Alright so let’s go back to when it all
began in 2007, with the original release of iOS. Back then, things were quite a bit different. Apple didn’t even have a name for the iPhone’s
operating system, they simply said it ran a version of Mac OS X. But once the second version was released,
everyone began referring to the original as iPhone OS 1. So what were its headlining features? Well, Steve Jobs himself said the iPhone’s
“killer app”, or the biggest attraction of the device, was its ability to make calls
quickly and easily. Which is pretty funny considering making calls
with our iPhones is something most of us try to avoid doing today. But back in 2007 the average smartphone like
the blackberry was a headache to use, so being able to make a call in seconds was a huge
improvement. Also, iPhone OS 1 had a built in, full featured
iPod. That meant customer no longer had to spend
$300 on a smartphone, then 200 more on a separate iPod, and carry around both devices. And like many other smartphones at the time,
iPhone OS 1 included several apps like calendar, weather, safari, maps, youtube, mail, and
notes. Now iPhone OS 2 come out a year later in 2008
and introduced the App Store. Which is probably one of the biggest additions
of any iOS release in history. The App Store completely changed the smartphone
game. Allowing third party developers to create
secure, optimized apps for the iPhone on a scale never seen before in the mobile device
industry. iPhone OS 2 also featured the iTunes Store,
a scientific calculator, which still exists today if you just rotate your phone, the ability
to save images to the camera roll, push email, iWork support, and parental controls. Now during this time jailbreaking became a
widespread phenomenon since many users wanted convenient time saving features that Google
was already implementing on Android before Apple, like cut, copy, and paste. And while that feature did come to iPhone
OS 3 in 2009, many users found themselves reaching the limitations of iPhone OS very
quickly. Which jailbreaking helped solve, by side-stepping
Apple’s restrictions and allowing unauthorized features to be added to the operating system. And it took Apple quite a while to implement
features from the jailbreak community, a trend that would continue throughout the history
of iOS. But as I mentioned they did finally introduced
cut, copy, paste in iPhone OS 3. Along with MMS support, spotlight search,
tethering, autofill, find my iPhone, the controversial in app purchase capability, and voice memos. Now in 2010 Apple officially changed the name
of the iPhone’s operating system from iPhone OS to simply iOS since it was being used by
other products like the iPad. And iOS 4 introduced some crucial features
like app folders, an app switcher, retina support for the new iPhone 4, game center,
facetime, VPN support, orientation lock, and perhaps one of the most long awaited features,
custom home screen wallpaper. Which, for some reason, Apple waited three
years to implement. Now iBooks also debuted on iOS 4, although
I’ve always preferred to listen to audiobooks instead. Which is why I’m happy that Audible is sponsoring
this video. I actually used Audible to listen to several
Apple related audiobooks like Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, and what I love about
audiobooks is that I can listen to them in the background while doing other things like
driving or doing chores. And right now is the best time to sign up
for Audible since they’re offering unlimited access to their original audiobooks catalogue
and guided-wellness programs. And if you don’t want to spend any money,
you don’t have to. Because Audible recently launched stories.audible.com
where anyone can stream hundreds of titles completely free, no signups, no logins, and
even no ads. So if you want to check out everything Audible
has to offer go to www.audible.com/appleexplained or text appleexplained to 500500 to get one
free audiobook, unlimited monthly Audible originals and a 30 day free trial. Alright now iOS 5 came in 2011, and represented
a really significant advancement for the platform, since it finally allowed the iPhone to operate
independent of a computer. Previously, users had to plug their iPhones
to a Mac or PC in order to activate it and set everything up. This was very similar to how iPods operated,
but iOS 5 elevated iPhone from being a companion device, to a standalone product. This version also featured notification center,
newsstand which was later removed, tabbed browsing, the lock screen camera shortcut,
and delta over the air updates. Siri was also part of iOS 5, but initially
only available on the iPhone 4s. An improved Siri came to other models with
iOS 6, and introduced panorama photos, passbook, and do not disturb mode. Now this version of iOS was one of the most
controversial ever, and that was for two reasons: Apple removing the native YouTube app, and
replacing the native Google Maps app with their own version. You see Apple and Google weren’t on the
friendliest of terms in 2012 compared to 2007, since iOS and Android were fierce competitors
by that time, and maybe because Steve Jobs said he’d spend every last penny of Apple’s
cash to destroy Android since he considered it a stolen product. So needless to say, Apple and Google didn’t
renew their initial five-year agreement to continue including YouTube and Google Maps
on iOS. So Apple had to introduce their own maps app,
likely much earlier than they anticipated, and it was nothing short of a disaster. There were endless memes created of Apple
Maps poor renders and inaccurate directions. The app received so much criticism that Tim
Cook publicly apologized and recommended using third party apps like Waze. This apology was not only a divisive move
in the tech community, but also within Apple’s own leadership. Scott Forstall, Apple’s vice president of
iPhone Software, was one of the people who felt Apple had nothing to apologize for. He refused to sign Tim Cook’s apology letter,
and was forced out of the company less than a month later. Craig Federighi took over as head of iOS development,
and Jonathan Ive expanded his hardware design role to include software also. This had a huge impact on the following iOS
release. Because while Scott Forstall was a big believer
in skeuomorphic user interfaces, Jonathan Ive and his team believed in removing as many
unnecessary elements as possible, leaving the software to exist in its purest form. And iOS 7 was proof that Ive was taking the
operating system in a completely new direction. With a flat, colorful interface that used
parallax effects to establish depth instead of shadows, reflections, and texture. Now, I said iOS 6 was controversial, but it
paled in comparison to iOS 7. Its flat user interface was extremely polarizing,
since some people thought it looked too much like Android. Also, the icons were criticized for being
too simple. So simple, in fact, they could be recreated
using nothing but Microsoft Word. Also, the bright colorful gradients used throughout
the OS were blinding to some users. And perhaps worst of all, the parallax effect
used to create depth could actually cause people to feel nauseous and dizzy. Which is why Apple adding the reduce motion
option in settings. So while the interface was iOS 7’s most
dramatic change, there were also important new features like control center, airdrop,
and dynamic wallpaper. Now after a couple years of divisive iOS releases,
things settled down a little with iOS 8 in 2014. It introduced some highly-requested features
like interactive notifications, audio and video messages, widgets, a QuickType keyboard,
time-lapse recording, voice activated Siri, and Apple pay. This was also the year when Apple released
their much anticipated Apple Music streaming service, and introduced Car Play along with
the Health app. iOS 9 in 2015 was a more modest update featuring
a refined Siri, the news app, the wallet app which replaced passbook, a new system font
cal San Fransisco, low power mode, night shift, and 3D Touch support for the new iPhone 6s. Now the following year Apple began refining
the iPhone’s user interface with iOS 10. It featured a redesigned lock screen and control
center, plus redesigned notifications. There were even more 3D Touch capabilities
added, effects were brought to iMessage, you could raise your iPhone to wake it up, and
the home app was added to control smart products like bulbs or thermostats. iOS 11 was released in 2017 and focused on
refinements rather than new features. Control center, notifications, Siri, the dock,
and the App Store were all updated, along with a few brand new features like Do Not
Disturb while driving and Emergency SOS. iOS 12 added grouped notifications, group
facetime calls, memoji, screen time, the measure app, Siri shortcuts, battery usage details,
and the Apple TV app. Now in 2019 something really interesting happened
that I think many people may not have noticed, but signified something really important about
Apple’s hardware. You see, beginning with the iPhone 6s, Apple
included 3D Touch hardware that allowed the device to sense pressure on the display, allowing
for additional functionality like peak and pop, and app shortcuts. The technology originated on the Apple Watch
in 2015, and 3D Touch was the headlining feature of iPhone 6s. But it had one fatal flaw, you couldn’t
see it. Unlike the right click button on a mouse,
3D Touch was completely invisible and difficult to discover since people rarely press firmly
on their iPhone’s display. So as a result, it was rarely used, with most
people not knowing the feature even existed. And this was a huge problem because 3D Touch
required an additional hardware component built into the display, which took up space
and made the device thicker. So in iOS 13, Apple took a more sensible approach. Retain most of the features of 3D Touch, but
make it entirely software based. And they called this new feature Haptic Touch. It’s triggered by simply tapping and holding
your finger on the display, instead of a hard press. That not only made it more intuitive for users,
but also allowed Apple to remove hardware inside the display, which happened with the
iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. Now iOS 13 featured more than just Haptic
Touch, it also featured the highly anticipated dark mode, a QuickPath keyboard, audio sharing,
advanced photo and video editing, sign-in with apple, Memoji stickers, and USB drive
support. Lastly, iOS 14 was just recently released,
and included some pretty cool additions. Like home screen widgets, app library, carkey,
a compact UI for incoming calls and Siri, the ability to set a default email and browser
app, back tap, picture in picture video, and pinned conversations. Alright guys that is the history of iOS, thanks
for watching until the end. If you want more Apple explanations, check
out my Apple Explained Podcast channel that I upload to every Friday, where I discuss
the week’s top Apple-related headlines.
