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"iOS" redirects here. For Cisco's network operating system, see Cisco IOS.

iOS
File:IPhone OS 3.1 Software Update.png
File:IPhonehomescreen.PNG
iOS version 3.0 on the iPhone 3GS
DeveloperApple Inc.
Written inC, C++, Objective-C
OS familyMac OS X/Unix-like
Working stateCurrent
Latest release18.1[1] (October 28, 2024; 19 days ago (2024-10-28)) [±]
Latest preview18.2 beta 3[2] (November 11, 2024; 5 days ago (2024-11-11)) [±] ,
PlatformsARMv6, ARMv7-A (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad)
Kernel typeHybrid (Darwin)
Default
user interface		Cocoa Touch (Multi-touch, GUI)
LicenseProprietary EULA except for open source components
Official websiteiPhone Developer Program

iOS (previously named iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the default operating system of the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the iPad.

It is derived from Mac OS X, with which it shares the Darwin foundation, and is therefore a Unix-like operating system by nature. iOS has four abstraction layers: the Core OS layer, the Core Services layer, the Media layer, and the Cocoa Touch layer. The operating system uses roughly 500 megabytes of the device's storage.[3]

History

See also: History of the iPhone

iPhone OS was unveiled with the iPhone at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9, 2007, and released in June of that year.[4] Initially, Apple had no plans to allow third party applications. Under pressure, it announced support for web applications and eventually a software development kit (SDK) for the OS,[5]. The first beta was made available on March 6, 2008, at which time iOS was officially named, as "iPhone OS". Prior Apple marketing literature simply stated that the "iPhone uses OS X".[6]

Interest in the SDK was high due to the explosive growth of iOS platforms. The previous September, Apple had released the iPod Touch, a device featuring the iPod (media) capabilities of the iPhone without the video phone hardware. Apple also sold more than one million iPhone units during the 2007 holiday season.[7] Both devices have since seen three generations of improved hardware. On January 27, 2010, Apple announced the iPad, featuring a larger screen than the iPhone and iPod Touch, and promoted for web browsing, media consumption, and reading iBooks.[8] The iPhone is now advertised as a mobile assistant, and the iPod Touch as a gaming platform. All three are produced by Apple, who does not permit iOS to run on third-party hardware.

As of April 8, 2010, there were more than 185,000 applications available for iOS in the App Store, with over four billion downloads.[9] The 4.0 edition announced in April 2010 introduced multitasking as well as several business-oriented features, including encryption for email and attachments.[10] It has not yet been released to the public.

At the WWDC 2010 keynote on June 7, 2010, Apple announced the renaming of iPhone OS to iOS,[11] scheduled to be released June 21st 2010[12].

User interface

The user interface of iOS is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. The response to user input is immediate and provides a fluid interface. Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as swiping, tapping, pinching, and reverse pinching. Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it in three dimensions (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode).

A home screen (rendered by "SpringBoard") with application icons, and a dock at the bottom of the screen, showing icons for the applications the user accesses the most, is presented when the device is turned on or whenever the home button is pressed. The screen has a status bar across the top to display data, such as time, battery level, and signal strength. The rest of the screen is devoted to the current application and can change to one color to the next. There is no concept of starting or quitting applications, only opening an application from the home screen, and leaving the application to return to the home screen. It is possible to force an application to quit by holding down the power button until the "slide to power off" slider appears, and then holding the home button down, however. While some multitasking is permitted it is not obtrusive or obvious. However, it is limited to Apple's own applications, a limitation that will be lifted with the introduction of OS 4.0. Third-party applications are quit when left, but from the 3.0 software update, notifications can be pushed from Apple's servers to the iPhone or iPod Touch. Many of the included applications were designed to work together; allowing for the sharing or cross-propagation of data from one application to another (e.g., a phone number can be selected from an email and saved as a contact or dialed for a phone call.) The iPad includes a similar interface, except that the dock is "3D" and the background is interchangeable.

Application support

The central processing unit (CPU) used in the iPhone and iPod Touch is an ARM-based processor instead of the x86 (and previous PowerPC or MC680x0) processors used in Apple's Macintosh computers, and it uses OpenGL ES 1.1[13] rendering by the PowerVR 3D graphics hardware accelerator co-processor.[14] Mac OS X applications cannot be copied to and run on an iOS device. The applications must be written and compiled specifically for the iOS and the ARM architecture. The Safari web browser supports Web applications as with other web browsers. Authorized third-party native applications are available for devices running iPhone OS 2.0 and later through Apple's App Store.

Included applications

In version 3.0, the iPhone home screen contains these default applications: Messages (Text messaging, MMS), Calendar, Photos (with video viewer on 3GS), Camera (Video recording and auto-focus enabled in iPhone 3GS), YouTube, Stocks (Yahoo! Finance), Maps (Google Maps, with Assisted GPS on iPhone 3G and 3GS), Weather (Yahoo! Weather), Clock (with stopwatch, alarm clock and timer), Calculator (with scientific version), Voice Memos, Notes, Settings, iTunes (with access to the iTunes Music Store and iTunes Podcast Directory), App Store, Compass (iPhone 3GS), Contacts (with landscape support), and the Nike + iPod app (iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 2nd generation) that interfaces with the optional Nike + iPod sensor. Four other applications delineate the iPhone's main purposes: Phone, Mail, Safari, and iPod.[15][16]

The iPod Touch retains many of the same applications that are present by default on the iPhone, with the exception of the Phone, Messages, Compass and Camera apps. The "iPod" App present on the iPhone is split into two apps on the iPod Touch: Music, and Videos. The bottom row of applications is also used to delineate the iPod Touch's main purposes: Music, Videos, Safari, and App Store (Dock Layout was changed in 3.1 Update).

Web applications

At the 2007 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Apple announced that the iPhone and iPod Touch would support Web applications created by third-party developers using technologies such as Ajax through the Safari web browser.[17] Apple Inc.'s position was that web applications were capable of providing a sufficient user experience to obviate any need for jailbreaking. Additionally, they determined that making native applications other than their own were unnecessary. However, the aforementioned web applications were unsuccessful,[citation needed] because the JavaScript engine running in Mobile Safari was not powerful enough to run applications satisfactorily.[citation needed]

Unsupported third-party native applications

The iPhone and iPod Touch can only officially install full programs through the App Store.[18] However, from version 1.0 unauthorized third-party native applications are available.[19] Such applications face the possibility of being broken by any iOS update, though Apple has stated it will not design software updates specifically to break native applications (other than applications that perform SIM unlocking).[20] The main distribution methods for these applications are the Cydia, Icy, Rock, and Installer utilities, which can be installed on the iPhone after jailbreaking.

iPhone SDK

Main article: iPhone SDK
File:IPhone SDK - New Project.png
iPhone SDK included in Xcode 3.1 final.

On October 17, 2007, in an open letter posted to Apple's "Hot News" weblog, Steve Jobs announced that a software development kit (SDK) would be made available to third-party developers in February 2008.[21] The SDK was released on March 6, 2008, and allows developers to make applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as test them in an "iPhone simulator". However, loading an application onto the devices is only possible after paying an iPhone Developer Program fee. Since the release of Xcode 3.1, Xcode is the development environment for the iPhone SDK. iPhone applications, like iOS and Mac OS X, are written in Objective-C.[22]

Developers are able to set any price above a set minimum for their applications to be distributed through the App Store, of which they will receive a 70% share. Alternately, they may opt to release the application for free and need not pay any costs to release or distribute the application except for the membership fee.[23]

Since its release, there has been some controversy regarding the refund policy in the fine print of the Developer Agreement with Apple. According to the agreement that developers must agree to, if someone purchases an app from the app store, 30% of the price goes to Apple, and 70% to the developer. If a refund is granted to the customer (at Apple's discretion), the 30% is returned to the customer from Apple, and 70% from the developer; however, Apple can then take another 30% of the cost from the developer to make up for Apple's loss.[24]

Hacking and jailbreaking

Main article: Jailbreaking for iOS

The iOS has been subject to a variety of different hacks for a variety of reasons, centered around adding functionality not supported by Apple.

With the advent of iPhone OS 2.0, the focus of the jailbreaking community has shifted somewhat. Prior to iPhone OS 2.0's release, jailbreaking was the only way to allow third-party applications on the device. Now with iPhone 2.0, native applications are allowed under Apple's SDK terms, although certain functionality is disallowed on the device. These disallowed functions include background processes, and the ability to alter the applications written for the device by Apple. Some began attempts to disable Apple's kill switch,[25]

There has been a notable shift away from jailbreaking with the new App Store's debut, although there has still been substantial interest from the jailbreaking community, especially with the release of PwnageTool from the "iPhone Dev Team" which was released soon after firmware 2.0 for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Some jailbreakers also attempt to pirate paid App Store applications; this new focus has caused some strife within the jailbreaking community.

The other major focus of jailbreaking since 2.0 has been to reverse the SIM Lock that is forced onto most iPhones. The first generation iPhone can be fully unlocked with the "iPhone Dev Team"'s BootNeuter application, and the iPhone 3G can be unlocked with a new beta effort dubbed "yellowsn0w"[26] later to become ultrasn0w to work on newer baseband as Apple patched the baseband by release 2.2.1 and QuickPwn 2.2.1.

More recently, many efforts have been focused on broadening the Bluetooth capabilities of the iPhone. However, many of the efforts stopped due to the preview of the iPhone OS 3.0 on March 17, 2009, which included among other features, enhanced Bluetooth capabilities.

Within days of the official release of iPhone OS 3.0, updated instructions and applications to jailbreak and unlock 3G iPhones running the new OS were released by the "iPhone Dev Team".[27]

The "iPhone Dev Team" stated that the exploits that allowed a jailbreak of the iPod Touch 2G and an unlock of the iPhone 3G will respectively allow the same capabilities on the iPhone 3GS.[28]

On July 3, 2009 geohot released purplera1n,[29] an application to jailbreak an iPhone 3GS running OS 3.0. The "iPhone Dev Team" subsequently released updated versions of the redsn0w jailbreak and ultrasn0w unlock for the iPhone 3GS.[30]

The "iPhone Dev Team" released an update to their PwnageTool program on October 2, 2009, to enable the jailbreaking of iPhone OS 3.1 on the iPhone 3GS.

On October 11, 2009, GeoHot (George Hotz) released blackra1n which enabled users to jailbreak firmware versions of up to 3.1.2, among all other iDevices, the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3G (tethered support). blackra1n supports iPhone 3GS which has 3.1.2 installed out-of-the-box. blackra1n currently does not support jailbreaking with the 3.1.3 firmware.[31] [1]

On May 4, 2010, SpiritJB was released, jailbreaking iPhone OS 3.0 onwards, including an untethered jailbreak for 3.1.2, 3.1.3, and 3.2.[32]

Digital rights controversy

The iOS's closed and proprietary nature has garnered criticism, particularly by digital rights advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, computer engineer and activist Brewster Kahle, Internet-law specialist Jonathan Zittrain, and the Free Software Foundation who protested the iPad's introductory event and have targeted the iPad with their "Defective by Design" campaign.[33][34][35][36][37] Competitor Microsoft, via a PR spokesman, has also criticized Apple's control over its platform.[38]

At issue are restrictions imposed by the iPad's design, namely DRM intended to lock purchased media to Apple's platform, the development model (requiring a yearly subscription to develop for the iPad), the centralized approval process for apps, as well as Apple's general control and lockdown of the platform itself. Particularly at issue is the ability for Apple (or any other authority that can persuade Apple) to remotely disable or delete apps, media, or data on the iPad at will.

Critics assert that the iPad represents a "thoughtfully designed, deeply cynical thing", which may constitute a step in transforming computers from general-purpose machines into centrally-controlled media consumption devices.[39] Moreover, many in the tech community have expressed concern that the locked-down iPad represents a growing trend in computing, particularly Apple's shift away from machines that hobbyists can "tinker with" and note the potential for such restrictions to stifle software innovation.[40]

However, there are some outside of Apple who have voiced support for the iPad's closed model. Facebook developer Joe Hewitt, who had previously protested against Apple's control over its hardware as a "horrible precedent", has subsequently argued the locked apps in the iPad are akin to Web applications and provide added security.[41]

See also

Notes


References

  1. ^ Clover, Juli (October 28, 2024). "Apple Releases iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 With Apple Intelligence". MacRumors. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  2. ^ Clover, Juli (November 11, 2024). "Apple Releases Third Betas of iOS 18.2 and More With Genmoji, Image Playground and ChatGPT Integration". MacRumors. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  3. ^ Haslam, Karen (January 12, 2007). "Macworld Expo: Optimised OS X sits on 'versatile' flash". Macworld. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
  4. ^ Honan, Matthew (January 9, 2007). "Apple unveils iPhone". Macworld. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  5. ^ Gonsalves, Antone (October 11, 2007). "Apple Launches iPhone Web Apps Directory". InformationWeek. Retrieved February 16, 2010.
  6. ^ iPhone - Features - OS X - Apple Inc., Archived version from 2007-10-06
  7. ^ Apple Inc. (22 October 2007). Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results. Press release. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  8. ^ "Apple Launches iPhone Web Apps Directory". Apple. January 27, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
  9. ^ "Apple Previews iOS 4" (Press release). Apple Inc. April 8, 2010. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  10. ^ "Get a sneak peak into the future of iOS". Apple. April 8, 2010. Archived from the original on April 8, 2010.
  11. ^ http://engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-os-4-renamed-ios-gets-1500-new-features/
  12. ^ http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/steve-jobs-live-from-wwdc-2010/
  13. ^ "OpenGL and Mobile Devices: Round 2 (OpenGL ES for the iPhone and iPod Touch)". Dr. Dobb's Journal.
  14. ^ "iPhone Dev Center". Apple Inc.
  15. ^ "iPhone Applications". Apple Inc. July 10, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
  16. ^ "iPhone OS 3.1 Software Update". Apple Inc.
  17. ^ Ziegler, Chris. Apple announces third-party software details for iPhone, Engadget, (2007-06-11). Accessed 2007-06-20
  18. ^ Baig, Edward C. Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype, USA Today, (2007-06-26)Template:Accessdate
  19. ^ Healey, Jon (August 6, 2007). "Hacking the iPhone". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 6, 2007.
  20. ^ Apple's Joswiak: We Don't Hate iPhone Coders
  21. ^ Jobs, Steve (October 17, 2007). "Third Party Applications on the iPhone". Apple Inc.
  22. ^ "Did Apple Make A Mistake Choosing Objective-C For iPhone SDK? at Simon's Blog". Psynixis.com. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  23. ^ "Introducing the iPhone Developer Program". Apple Inc.
  24. ^ "iPhone developers could be bankrupted".
  25. ^ Apple iPhone 'kill switch' discovered - Telegraph
  26. ^ Don't eat yellowsn0w!
  27. ^ "Ultra's Now!". iPhone Dev Team. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  28. ^ "24Kpwn lives on, in the iPhone 3GS!". "iPhone Dev Team". Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  29. ^ "On the iPhone: I make it ra1n". geohot. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  30. ^ "What's old is new again". "iPhone Dev Team". Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  31. ^ "On the iPhone: blackra1n hits". Iphonejtag.blogspot.com. January 30, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  32. ^ "SpiritJB". Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  33. ^ Defective By Design's online protest petition
  34. ^ ARS Technica story on iPad protests
  35. ^ NPR's The Diane Rehm Show on the iPad
  36. ^ The Financial Times
  37. ^ Bobbie Johnson (February 1, 2010). "Apple iPad will choke innovation, say open internet advocates". The Guardian. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  38. ^ Microsoft PR spokesman condemns iPad for being "locked down"
  39. ^ Alex Payne on why the iPad is a "cynical thing"
  40. ^ Slashdot story on Apple's trend away from "Tinkering"
  41. ^ Hewitt argues in favor of iPad's closed nature

Bibliography

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