Sunday 16 June 2013
iOS 7: the Lock screen
The iOS 7 Lock screen is another significant departure from its predecessors when it comes to looks. The overall functionality remains similar, but it’s a whole new ball game when it comes to visuals.
First and foremost, the font for the clock and the date has been replaced with a thinner variety of font. You’ll also notice that the clock, status bar, and slide to unlock backgrounds have been nixed for a cleaner look that doesn’t obscure the Lock screen wallpaper.
Take a look inside as I go hands-on with the new iOS 7 Lock screen, including demonstrations on how to enable or disable the new and improved Notification Center, and the new Control Center options.
The first thing I notified about the new Lock screen is the new fade in animation. Instead of being met with an abrupt look at the Lock screen like on the current version of iOS, the iOS 7 Lock screen fades into view in a sleek manner. I don’t know any other way to explain it other than the fact that it makes the device feel more high end.
One of the cool new features about the iOS 7 Lock screen is the new way that slide to unlock works. In previous versions of iOS, you could only slide to unlock on the actual slide to unlock knob. In iOS 7, it’s now possible to slide to unlock using any portion of the Lock screen. That may sound a bit arbitrary, but this about it; this makes it so that you don’t necessarily have to even be looking at your device to successfully unlock it.
Another big feature is the ability to invoke Notification Center directly from the Lock screen. In past iterations of iOS, the only way you could invoke Notification Center via the Lock screen was by means of a jailbreak tweak. Not only can you use Notification Center from the Lock screen, but you can also take advantage of the new Control Center feature. This makes it entirely possible to toggle important functions like Airplane mode, Bluetooth, etc., without needing to unlock your device.
Like the clock, status bar, and slide to unlock features, incoming notifications that appear on the Lock screen have also been revamped. Gone are the days of that ugly Lock screen bubble when receiving a singular notification, and gone are the days of the backgrounds on your Lock screen notifications. Instead, Lock screen notifications when there are more than one of them are separated by a thin, unobtrusive line. You can still slide on the notification to perform an action, such as reply to an incoming message notification.
One of the final big differences between iOS 7 and iOS 6 when it comes to the Lock screen, is the album art and Lock screen music controls. On iOS 7, the album art isn’t zoomed in like on earlier versions of the OS, so it can be framed by the Lock screen wallpaper.
There’s also a lack on any track details or artist details without invoking the Music controls with a double press of the Home button. Before, all of these details appeared on the screen whether you invoked the Music controls or not. Lastly, there’s a new track scrubber option found on iOS 7's new Lock screen music controls, which has been long awaited, and will surely be a welcomed addition.
There are other subtle differences between the new Lock screen compared to previous iterations of the Lock screen. What have you noticed? Does anything in particular stand out to you?
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