Complete List of New Features in iOS 5 Beta 1

When iOS 5 was previewed during WWDC we were shown only 10 key features but, developer preview of beta 1 has reveled many more interesting details. The blogosphere has been busy reporting on all new features being discovered by users who have access to iOS 5 beta 1. According to Apple the fifth version of iOS is one of the most extensive updates they’ve worked on. The software update is expected to be available this fall for free and will be compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, third and fourth gen iPod touch, iPad 1 and iPad 2.

It’s important to note that many new features introduced in iOS5 are just for iPad. TechZoom did a great job in publishing a complete list of new features in iOS 5 and here’s a run down of all the known features.

  1. Notification Center: New Notification System.
  2. Improved app notifications at the top
  3. Lock screen notifications. Swipe will open related app.
  4. Notification options in settings menu to choose for each app.
  5. Notification sorting by app, time etc.
  6. iMessage: Text messaging between iOS devices over Wi-Fi or 3G
  7. Newsstand: Similar to iBooks to store, auto-download magazine subscriptions & new issues.
  8. Reminders: A list of reminders with Geo-fence and integrated with Calendar app
  9. Twitter Integration: Log in to Twitter from settings once and Tweet anything from Safri, Photos, YouTube etc. Similar to login & sharing used by Mail.app
  10. AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2: Duplicate the iPad screen on television wirelessly
  11. iCloud integration: A new free service with more than 5GB data to be shared between iOS devices
  12. Open Camera.app from lock screen: Double tapping on Home button will open the Camera.app from lock screen
  13. Take pictures from lock screen: Volume up button can be used to take pictures
  14. Camera Grid: For more precise focus and accurate photography. This feature was available on Camera+ app
  15. Camera Zoom: Pinch-to-zoom Gesture like Photos.app on Camera.app
  16. One tap Auto Focus and Auto Exposure
  17. Lock Auto Exposure & Auto Focus for consistency.
  18. Swipe Left to open camera roll
  19. Crop Photos: Not available on 3GS
  20. Enhance Color tones of photos: Not available on 3GS
  21. Rotate Photos
  22. Red-eye removal: Remove, correct Red-eye within Photos.app
  23. Photo Stream via iCloud over all your iOS devices
  24. Organize photos within Camera Roll
  25. Tabbed Browsing in Safari: For iPad only
  26. Safari Reader
  27. Safari Reading List: Save web pages for offline reading
  28. Improved Performance: Like it was enhanced in 4.3.3
  29. Private Browsing: Similar to Firefox / Incognito on Chrome.
  30. Website specific data can be deleted
  31. Cut the cord: Activate and setup iOS device without a Mac or PC
  32. Over-The-Air (OTA) iOS Software Updates: Again, no need of a computer & cord
  33. Delta Software Updates: Upgrade only changed files. No need to download & install entire OS.
  34. Wi-Fi Sync: Sync iOS device with PC or Mac over Wi-Fi
  35. Backup and Restore from iCloud account
  36. Sync Exchange tasks
  37. Downloads: See a list of downloaded apps from App Store from any of your iOS device
  38. Rich Text Formatting for Composing Mail (Bold, Italics, Underline, etc.)
  39. Improved offline support for Mail.app
  40. Indentation Control
  41. Drag-able email addresses: Drag, arrange email addresses in To, CC, BCC fields
  42. Improved mail search: Full content search in Mail
  43. Flag Emails
  44. S/MIME Security
  45. Profile picture for Game Center
  46. Friend recommendations for Game Center
  47. Games recommendation
  48. Friends-of-friends list
  49. App Store in Game Center: App store integrated within Game Center to find & buy new Apps / Games
  50. New Achievements like Points
  51. Play turn-based games within Game Center
  52. Swipe-Up with 4-5 fingers for multitasking bar (iPad only)
  53. Swipe-Left or Swipe-Right with 4-5 fingers to switch between running apps (iPad only)
  54. Pinch with 4-5 fingers for the home screen (iPad only)
  55. New Split keyboard: For easier typing on iPad
  56. New Keyboard Shortcuts
  57. Emoji Emoticons: Emoticons like we see in IMs now for iOS devices. Mostly with iMessage!
  58. LED Flash for incoming calls and notifications for better accessibility
  59. Custom vibration for incoming calls for better accessibility
  60. VoiceOver improvements including custom element labeling
  61. Custom tones for Calendars, Mail, and Voicemail (Nothing known for SMS tone)
  62. Year view on Calendar: iPad only
  63. Week view on Calendar: For iPhone & iPod
  64. New Music App: Redesigned only for iPad
  65. Music & Video: Two separate apps for iPhone (Instead of Video inside iPod app)
  66. Scroll for long song titles
  67. Song description: Tap & hold on a song title for description
  68. Smart Playlists: Sync smart playlists from iTunes.
  69. Weather Forecasts updates hourly
  70. On-location Weather: Determines current location. Custom locations can still be added.
  71. Alternate routes in Maps
  72. Print Maps: Print location, direction maps
  73. Twitter Pictures: Use Twitter pictures for contacts with integrated Twitter
  74. Auto Download in backgroud: Newstand issues, apps can be downloaded in background once subscribed.
  75. Sync in background: Now possible to use iOS device while it is still syncing in background
  76. Links in background: Safari links, iTunes links can be opened in background
  77. Space usage: Determine space used by each app, supported file types under settings
  78. iCloud usage: Determine space used on iCloud under settings
  79. Change device name: Change iOS device name on-the-go via settings
  80. Some GUI Improvements
  81. Personal Dictionary: Create & store own words for re-use
  82. Built-in Dictionary: Built-in dictionary app
  83. iTunes Tone Store: Choose, Buy, Install custom tones
  84. Improved FaceTime video quality
  85. VoiceOver Item Chooser
  86. Speak Text: Speak text based on selection
  87. Delete recent calls: Delete single or one-by-one recent call list
  88. Delete app data: Delete saved games, saved data for specific apps / games
  89. Time mid-call invitation alerts
  90. Download Multiple Apps: Now its possible to download and install multiple apps instead of one-by-one.
  91. Delete songs: Check to Delete songs / playlists on iOS device
  92. New Keyboard Shortcuts: Type OMG and it will type Oh My God.
  93. Custom Text Tones: Custom SMS tones.
  94. Auto Sync backup: It takes backup of the file on the device. Hence restoring from scratch is made easy. No need to grab all apps one-by-one. Saves lot of time.
  95. ‘Install’ link instead of Price if the app is already bought.
  96. Silent Switch: Shows volume level along with the Bell icon while switching back from Silent to Ringer (Currently it shows only the Bell icon)
  97. Hotmail accounts have new icons & folders
  98. Sync events, contacts, notes with predefined accounts under Mail.app (Like Hotmail, Gmail etc)
  99. Marked Apps: All apps that are downloaded on iOS device for your account are marked as FREE (Free to download if they’re & free to download because you’ve already purchased them)
  100. Arabic language support for VoiceOver
  101. Icon Badges: Option to turn ON or OFF icon badges for apps. (Red circle with update)
  102. Accessible input for mobility
  103. Assistive Touch Gestures: Allows us to use iPhone with adaptive accessories while controlling touch sensitivity.
  104. FaceTime over 3G: Yes, it is now possible. Not yet available for developers though.
  105. Unsecured call notifications: Device prompts for confirmation for calls saying network is not encrypted!
  106. Mid-call Invitation Alert: If the phone is busy, we can still receive a placed conference call.
  107. Free @me.com email address: Yes. With iCloud integration, all iOS 5 users will get @me.com email ID
  108. Custom Gestures: Create and save custom gestures. Mainly for motor-disables persons for use with AssistiveTouch accessories
  109. Swipe-Left can let you browse through day-view one-by-one in Calendar
  110. FaceTime without Sim card: FaceTime can now be activated and used either via a phone number or email address (Apple ID)
  111. Unknown Caller details: When you receive a call from number that is not on your contacts – the display also shows city name associated with the area code. Currently it shows in recent calls list only.
  112. Vibrate Alert for sent & received emails (What is they come-and-go the same time? Confusing?)
  113. Real-Time stock updates
  114. Multiple Mark Read: Can now select & mark multiple emails as read.
  115. Pause Timer: It’s possible to pause the Timer instead of ‘Cancel’
  116. New German Keyboard: Easy access to Germanic umlaut
  117. 1080p Playback support for iPad.
  118. Social Networking Integration: Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, MySpace along with Twitter (Options under Settings.app but not sure if integrated throughout the OS like Twitter)
  119. Headphone Balance: Option to choose Left & Right balance for headphones under Accessibility
  120. Cellular Network for App Store: Option to Enable or Disable using Cellular Network (GPRS, 3G) to download apps from the App Store.
  121. Disable In-App Purchase: Ability to completely disable In-App purchases
  122. iTunes Password Prompt: It is now possible to set frequency for iTunes Password prompt to appear.
  123. Storage Usage Clean Up: We can not only see what files have taken up the space but we can empty that space with single wipe like Apps, Game’s saved data, Music, Videos etc.
  124. Equalizer Presets
  125. Improved Sound Check for music
  126. RSA ID is now available when setting up VPN. This is for performing two-factor authentication for a user to a network resource.
  127. Folders for Mail: Yes. Possible for any allowed mail account including new Hotmail.
  128. Find My iPhone: This is available as a part of iCloud integration with an option to disable it.
  129. Scrolling Titles for YouTube videos
  130. Double tap the home button on YouTube while watching a video to see who uploadedthat video
  131. HD YouTube video if connected to 3G
  132. Take pictures using headphone remote: If you have headphone with remote them it is possible to take picture using Volume UP button.
  133. Animated GIF image support for iMessage. Does not animate in Photos.app
  134. Hold and drag events from within different dates or time
  135. Tapping and holding back button in Safari will show-up visited website history (iPad only)
  136. Current time on Calendar if in landscape mode
  137. New voices for Voice-Over
  138. Option to display Stock & Weather widgets in Notification Center
  139. Add family relations to contacts.
  140. Restrictions with password required for purchases if enabled
  141. Enable / Disable option for voice-dial if the phone is set to security with pass-code lock.
  142. Purchase history on app store
  143. Automatically set time for iPod Touch
  144. Auto Correct & Spell Check are independent options.
  145. Broadcast song information on devices (like car stereo) when connected over Bluetooth
  146. New keyboard with prominent  #(hash-tag) and @ (mention) buttons for Twitter app like we have a prominent ‘.com’ button for Safari address bar.
  147. iPod app renamed to Music
  148. Enhanced Mail.app even in offline mode and sync back when online.
  149. Help center: Learn more about every option under settings app to explore more about it
  150. New notification alerts within mail app if you forgot to write a subject line (Similar to Gmail!)

Many developers who installed iOS 5 beta believe that Apple might have not yet added all 200 features in recently released beta. Hence, the list above may not reach the 200 mark.

If you found a feature not listed above then leave a comment below and share it with us.

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