The Evolution Of Apple iOS In 5 Steps

In 1998 when Steve Jobs introduced the iMac, he told the world that the ‘i’ in Apple’s products stood for a number of things: the internet, the individual, and inspiration. But the evolution of Apple’s individuality was arguably transformed, not by its computing, but by its investment in mobile devices – creating computers for the palm of your hand.

The iPhone 5 had 2.7 times the processing power of the 1985 Cray-2 supercomputer. But the origins of Apple’s iOS operating system have come a long way from its original iteration.

iPhone OS: The Original

Meet the original iPhone operating system – before Apple even added the ‘i’. When it was released on June 29 2007 it only had a few apps, including mail, iPod, calendar, Safari and text. At this point, Steve Jobs still refused to entertain the idea of including third-party developers in Apple’s app creation – meaning there was no app store or iTunes store in iPhone version 1. However, this decision was thankfully swayed and in March 2008, Apple agreed to allow external developers to create apps on its system.

iOS 2.0: ‘There’s an app for that’

On July 11 2008, Apple created the App Store, allowing support for third-party apps. This was an unprecedented move in terms of democratizing the ability to create services. In a bold demand-supply move, this pushed the iPhone miles ahead of mobile competition that had yet to adapt to the route of mobile applications. Today, more than two million apps have been created and distributed through the App Store, leading to the prevalence of the catchphrase: ‘There’s an app for that.’

Another momentous change in the iOS 2.0 update was the creation of an emoji keyboard for messages. Our obsession with emoji is at an all time high, having changed the way we fundamentally communicate with each other, from 😞 to 😊.

iOS 4: FaceTime and iBooks

On June 17th 2010, Apple introduced FaceTime. Video chatting services weren’t new, but they were new to mobiles – giving users the ability to not only talk to, but physically see whoever they were speaking to from across the world, directly through Apple’s interface.

Another new feature in this OS was the arrival of iBooks – the first native support for eBooks on iOS devices. With the new support for switching between applications, you could change between your music playlists and book choices without having to lose your place in either.

iOS 6.0: User adaptability

The sixth iteration of the iPhone’s operating system brought with it much needed changes to its services for users with disabilities. Improvements were introduced for users with vision, hearing, learning and mobility difficulties. In addition, control of touch points in iPhone software was introduced to help students with disabilities stay focused while using applications.

iOS 10: The Mother of All Releases

At the World Developer Conference in 2016, Apple CEO Tim Cook described the iOS 10 update as the “mother of all releases”. The update turned iMessage into a solo platform, as well as creating a new App Store so third-party developers could plug into one of the biggest messaging apps in the world. SiriKit opened Apple’s AI assistant to third party developers, with further introductions of artificial intelligence across the operating system. The most notable of which was the new Photos app. The new update meant that artificial intelligence could analyse photos based on location, time and people included. A new app also opened up access to smart home technologies – showing Apple’s marked interest in improving connectivity across its products.