iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
iPod touch 3rd generation
iPod touch 4th generation
iPad
iPad 2
With iOS 5, we’ve added over 200 new features — taking a mobile operating system that was already years ahead of anything else and moving it even further ahead.
All your alerts. All in one place.
You get all kinds of notifications on your iOS device: new email, texts, friend requests and more. With Notification Centre, you can keep track of them all in one convenient location. Just swipe down from the top of any screen to enter Notification Centre. Choose which notifications you want to see. Even see a stock ticker and the current weather. New notifications appear briefly at the top of your screen, without interrupting what you’re doing. And the Lock screen displays notifications so you can act on them with just a swipe. Notification Centre is the best way to stay on top of your life’s breaking news.
No more interruptions
Notifications don’t interrupt you and disappear quickly.
One-swipe access
Swipe down to reveal Notification Centre.
See more at a glance
View stocks and weather too.
Swipe to listen
Check voicemail with a swipe from the Lock screen.
Get there fast
Swipe to respond to a notification from the Lock screen.
Subtle notifications
Tap a notification to respond from any app.
iPad and iPod touch join the conversation.
With iMessage, we’ve created a new messaging service for all iOS 5 users. You can send unlimited text messages via Wi-Fi or 3G from your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to anyone with one of those devices. iMessage is built into the Messages app, so you can send text, photos, videos, locations and contacts. Keep everyone in the loop with group messaging. Track your messages with delivery receipts and optional read receipts, see when someone’s typing and enjoy secure encryption for text messages. Even start a conversation on one of your iOS devices and pick up where you left off on another.
Send more than text
Send photos, videos, contacts or locations.
See when they’re typing
Ellipsis points appear when someone’s responding.
Start here, finish there
Begin a conversation on one iOS device and pick it up on another.
A custom newsstand for all your subscriptions.
Read all about it. All in one place. iOS 5 organises your magazine and newspaper app subscriptions in Newsstand: a folder that lets you access your favourite publications quickly and easily. There’s also a new place on the App Store just for newspaper and magazine subscriptions. And you can get to it straight from Newsstand. New purchases go directly to your Newsstand folder. Then, as new issues become available, Newsstand automatically updates them in the background — complete with the latest covers. It’s kind of like having the paper delivered to your front door. Only better.
All the news
Newsstand keeps your subscriptions in one place.
Read the latest
Alerts tell you when new issues arrive.
Shop for more
Tap to shop at the App Store for new subscriptions.
Browse the store
Search for titles, view ratings and more.
Ready to read
Buy a new subscription and it appears in Newsstand.
A better way to do to-dos.
Next time you think to yourself, “Don’t forget to...”, just pull out your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and jot it down. Reminders lets you organise your life in to-do lists — complete with deadlines and locations. Say you need to remember to pick up milk during your next shopping trip. Since Reminders can be location based, you’ll get an alert as soon as you pull into the supermarket car park. Reminders also works with iCal, Outlook and iCloud, so changes you make update automatically on all your devices and calendars.
See what’s next
View reminders by date.
Make a list
Reminders appear in a clean, ordered list.
Make a list
Add items to your to-do list.
Set locations
Choose to be reminded at a particular time or place.
Get alerts
An alert appears when you’re near a destination.
Integrated into iOS 5.
iOS 5 makes it even easier to tweet from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Sign in once in Settings, and suddenly you can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube or Maps. Want to mention or @reply to a friend? Contacts applies your friends’ Twitter usernames and profile pictures. So you can start typing a name and iOS 5 does the rest. You can even add a location to any tweet, no matter which app you’re tweeting from.
Single sign-on
Sign in once and tweet as you go.
Tweet from your apps
Twitter is integrated system-wide.
Add a location
Say where you’re tweeting from.
Take a photo
Use the camera to take a snapshot.
Tap Tweet
It’s built into the Camera app.
Tweet your photo
Add some text and tap Send.
Capture the moment at a moment’s notice.
Since your iPhone is always with you, it’s often the best way to capture those unexpected moments. That’s why you’ll love the new camera features in iOS 5. You can open the Camera app straight from the Lock screen. Use grid lines, pinch-to-zoom gestures, and single-tap focus and exposure locks to compose a picture on the fly. Then press the volume-up button to snap your photo in the nick of time. If you have Photo Stream enabled in iCloud, your photos automatically download to all your other devices.
Access from Lock screen
Open the Camera app with one tap.
Shutter button
Press the volume-up button to take a picture.
Autofocus and auto-exposure
Touch and hold to lock focus and exposure.
Grid lines
Turn on grid lines to help you compose a shot.
Pinch to zoom
Just pinch your fingers to zoom in.
Enhanced photo enhancements.
Turn your snapshots into frame-worthy photos in just a few taps. Crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eye without leaving the Photos app. Even organise your photos in albums — right on your device. With iCloud, you can push new photos to all your iOS devices. So if you’re taking photos on your iPhone, iCloud automatically sends copies to your iPad, where you can quickly touch them up before showing them off.
Edit onscreen
Tap to enhance your photo or remove red-eye.
Crop and rotate
Adjust your photos with ease.
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Even better site-seeing.
iOS 5 brings even more web-browsing features to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Safari Reader displays web articles without ads or clutter so you can read without distractions. Reading List lets you save interesting articles to peruse later, while iCloud keeps your list updated across all your devices. On iPad, tabbed browsing helps you keep track of multiple web pages and switch between them with ease. And iOS 5 improves Safari performance on all your iOS devices.
Reading List
Tap to save a page to read later.
Tabbed browsing
Move between sites using tabs on iPad.
Reader
Tap to read articles without clutter.
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Reader lets you view web articles free of clutter.
Save for later
One tap saves a page to your Reading List.
One list everywhere
Your Reading List automatically appears on all your devices.
Independence for all iOS devices.
With iOS 5, you no longer need a computer to own an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. Activate and set up your device wirelessly, straight out of the box. Download free iOS software updates directly on your device. Do more with your apps — like editing your photos or adding new email folders — on your device, without the need for a Mac or PC. And back up and restore your device automatically using iCloud.
Your inbox is about to receive some great new features. Format text using bold, italic or underlined fonts. Create indents in the text of your message. Drag to rearrange names in address fields. Flag important messages. Even add and delete mailbox folders on the fly. If you’re looking for a specific email, you can now search in the body of messages. And with iCloud, you get a free email account that stays up to date on all your devices.
Get more perspective on your schedule with year view on iPad and week view on iPhone and iPod touch. Tap to create an event and drag to adjust the time and duration. Add, rename and delete calendars directly from your device. And view event attachments without leaving the Calendar app. iCloud lets you share calendars with friends and family, and it keeps your events in sync on all your devices.
iOS is the world’s most popular gaming platform. With iOS 5, you can get your game face on with even more Game Center features. Post a profile picture. Meet your match with new friend recommendations based on the games you play and the players you already know. Discover new games without leaving Game Center. And size up an opponent on the spot with new overall achievement scores.1
Wirelessly sync your iOS device to your Mac or PC over a shared Wi-Fi connection. Every time you connect your iOS device to a power source (say, overnight for charging), it automatically syncs and backs up any new content to iTunes. So you always have your home videos and photo albums everywhere you want them.
iOS 5 includes a few new moves and shortcuts to help you get around even quicker on your iPad 2: using four or five fingers, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, pinch to return to the Home screen and swipe left or right to switch between apps.
iOS 5 comes with innovative new features that make it easier for people with mobility, hearing, vision and cognitive disabilities to get the most from their iOS devices. iOS 5 works with specialised hardware accessories. The LED flash and custom vibration settings let you see and feel when someone’s calling. And improvements to VoiceOver include custom element labelling. These are just a few of the ways iOS 5 continues making advances in the field of accessibility.