You’ve updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 7, now what? There are several changes and new features in this upgrade. Here are a few I thought you and your students might need to know.
1) Closing Apps: Back in the day, you would double tap the home button to bring up all the icons of the apps you had open. Then you would hold down on one icon until the app jiggled. You would tap on the x on the apps and they would close. NOW, you double tap the home button and instead of just the icons of the apps, you see little screenshots of each app. To close them you have to swipe the screenshot up, like you are flinging it off the page and it will close. Sometimes you may have to tap the screenshot first and then swipe. Also, a neat feature is you can swipe multiple apps at once by using two or three fingers you can close several apps at once. This new way of closing apps is not my fave. I find it is sometimes hard to get the swiping thing to work, but I am getting better at it.
2) Wish List for Apps: I do like this new feature! Now when I look at an app in the App Store and I really don’t want to install it right in the moment, I can tap on Wish List and keep a list going of apps I may want to add later. Love this!
3) Camera Crazy: The camera has a new look and several new features. One thing is now you can take multiple pictures quickly by simply holding down on the shutter button. This is important for the classroom because if kids hold down when they take a picture, they may take 10 pics at once.
4) iPad Pics Now Instagram Wannabe: Now you can use filters with your pictures taken on the iPad or iPhone. Take a picture. Tap on Edit at the top right hand corner of the screen and then tap on Filters at the bottom of the picture. Go all Hipster on your pics!
5) No More Hide and Seek: With so many apps on your device you may forget where you put something. No worries, just drag down the Search bar at the top of the iPad and type in what you are looking for. I really like this because even with my best intentions of organizing things there seems to be some things I have grouped in a weird place.
6) Bookmark sites for Later: The icon for bookmarking a site just looks a little different.
7) Get a Little Help from Your Friends: Tweet! Tweet! This is the coolest! If you follow people on Twitter now you can use your Safari to access the links everyone is tweeting. Isn’t that the best! Head over to the icon for showing your bookmarks. Choose the @ sign and check it out… there is a running list of your Twitter friends and their favorite links being tweeted.
