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Pocket Gamer's ultimate iOS 7 wish list

Put us in 7th heaven, Apple

Pocket Gamer's ultimate iOS 7 wish list
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iOS

Every June, some of the top bods at Apple pile into San Francisco's Moscone West center for the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference.

At this annual event, the Cupertino outfit usually gives everyone a sneak peek at the next major iteration of its popular mobile operating system.

This June, then, we're hoping to briefly see iOS 7 in action.

iOS 5 and iOS 6 included a lot of sought-after features for the iPhone and iPad, but - being as greedy as we are - Apple's mobile OS could still do with some refinements here and some improvements there.

Here are seven features we really, really, really want to see in iOS 7. So much so, in fact, that we've penned an open letter to Jony Ive, Apple's SVP of industrial design and recently appointed human interface overlord, in the hope that he'll grant us all of our iOS 7 wishes.


"Dear Jony, Please find below Pocket Gamer's iOS 7 wish list. We would be extremely grateful if you took a few minutes out of your busy schedule to cast an eye or two over our list of seven fantasy iOS 7 features. Oh, and to incorporate all of our recommended changes and additions into the next version of iOS. (Congratulations on that Blue Peter gold badge, by the way.) Anyway, here's our #1 fantasy iOS 7 feature... Redesigned Game Center app

We've been banging on about an update to Game Center for a good couple of years, but the Game Center features we crave still aren't present in Apple's Xbox Live-style social service.

For starters, we want to see customisable avatars similar to those found on Microsoft's aforementioned Xbox Live service. And we'd quite like an in-app chat lobby where we can taunt our friends and see who's up for some multiplayer gaming.

We'd also love to see a live feed of people's activity. So that we'd be able to see what games our friends are currently playing, as well as the achievements they've recently unlocked and the high scores they've nabbed.

Game Center needs a redesign, too. It's purple, green, and brown skin offends my eyes.

Better iCloud support

Apple is continuously adding new features to its cloud-based storage and syncing service, but iCloud remains far from perfect.

Personally, I hate having to delete a notification on my iPhone 5 and then having to delete the same notification a couple of hours later when I pick up my iPad.

Delete a notification on one device, and it should disappear from all of your iOS-powered gadgets.

Similarly, having to download app updates on multiple devices is a bit of a pain in the backside. Download an update on one device, and it should be downloaded on them all.

A redesigned UI

Apple's iPhone and iPad UI may be clean and extremely simple to master, but - after so many years - it's become somewhat stale. That whole grid of apps setup looks, well, a bit dull nowadays.

Would it kill Apple to allow us to apply themes? Would the company collapse if it introduced a Home screen that scrolls vertically as well as horizontally? We think not.

Some live tiles or icons wouldn't go amiss, either. We'd probably use Apple's Weather app a lot more if we could view the latest forecast right on our Home screens.

Overhauled Photos app

Apple should ditch its existing Photos app for the iPhone and iPad and pre-install its iPhoto app on every new device that it ships.

Failing that, the Cupertino-based tech giant should update the existing default iOS Photos app.

We'd like more freedom to move our best snaps back and forth between our Camera Roll and any folder that we see fit.

The ability to tag peoples's ugly mugs and add location data to photos would be great, too.

Better multitasking

Multitasking on the iPhone and iPad works fine. It could be better, though.

We'd happily sacrifice 40 virgins just for the ability to close every app that's currently open on our devices with a single tap or gesture.

We'd also love to be able to preview open apps. Say, in thumbnail form. Or how about a simplified iOS version of Mission Control for OS X? Yeah, sounds good to me, Jony.

Ability to choose default apps

Currently, if you attempt to compose an email from your device's Photos app or click on a location link inside an iMessage, you're taken to Apple's in-built Mail and Maps apps, respectively.

It'd be cool if we could make our devices open third-party apps (from the likes of Google) instead.

Just saying.

Better App Store

Apple's App Store was overhauled fairly recently, but there's still a bunch of features missing from it.

Unlike our Android-loving cousins, we still can't try apps before we buy them. Sure, many apps have free 'Lite' versions available, but we need a better solution.

On Mac or PC, Apple's iTunes Store has a handy "wish list" feature that enables you to keep a note of the movies, music, apps, and books you may want to purchase in the future.

This would be a great addition to both the iPhone and iPad's App Store AND iTunes clients. Apple could even send out a push notification every time something on your wish list drops in price.

So, there you have it, Jony. We don't ask for much. Sort of.


Yours faithfully, Pocket Gamer"
Anthony Usher
Anthony Usher
Anthony is a Liverpool, UK-based writer who fell in love with gaming while playing Super Mario World on his SNES back in the early '90s. When he isn't busy grooming his beard, you can find him replaying Resident Evil or Final Fantasy VII for the umpteenth time. Aside from gaming, Anthony likes hiking, MMA, and pretending he’s a Viking.