iPad iOS 7 Update

For staff who use the iPads I have updated the iOS operating system on them during the holidays to the latest iOS 7. This is a major iOS update. I have updated the iOS operating system previously but no one would have noticed, this time you will notice. The most obvious change is the formatting. Colours and fonts have changed and the Apple supplied apps like notes, photos, contacts, settings etc icons have all changed. Other less obvious changes (but frustrating if you don’t know) include:

1. The search function is not in the same place – put your finger on the screen and swipe down and the search bar will appear.

2. The Control Centre is at the bottom of the screen. Place your finger at base of iPad and swipe up to access music player, volume, airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, lock screen clock camera and brightness. AirDrop (see below) and AirPlay are also accessed in the Control Centre.

3. The photos app is much more organised than it used to be and can sort photos by date or by year.

4. Closing apps. On the old version of iOS you could double click the home button and hold down apps which appeared at the bottom of the screen until they wobbled and then closed them. On the new iOS 7 you still double click the home button which makes all the apps that are running in the background on your iPad appear but in a different format to the previous iOS. To close the app using the new iOS place your finger on the open apps screen (this will make sense when you see it) and swipe up.

5. AirDrop – this is new to iOS 7 and is a great feature. You can now transfer files including photos, video and written documents simply and quickly between devices running AirDrop. If you want an image on one iPad to be put across many iPads you can do this easily and quickly. You may want to collect a piece of written work off a students iPad, this can also be done quickly using AirDrop. Transfer using AirDrop can be done across iPhone, Mac computers and iPads.

(Really looking forward to see how AirDrop can help with transfer of documents (created in Pages and Keynote) between student MacBooks and teacher iPads/MacBooks and vice versa when we get our 1:1 MacBook program up and running)

Check out the video below demonstrating AirDrop. A quick tip is that both devices must have AirDrop enabled for the process to work.

 

These are some basic but important changes to know and if you are using the iPads with students. Hopefully this information will assist you to help the students when they first experience the new iOS 7 on the school iPads.