אפל מוציאה עדכוני תוכנה דרך iTunes, בדומה לדרך בה מכשירי הiPod שאינם iPod touch מעודכנים. החל מהשחרור המשמעותי החמישי של iOS או iOS 5, אפל משחררת עדכוני תוכנה בשיטת הדלתא (רק מה שחסר מתעדכן, במקום להוריד מחדש את כל התוכנה) ושולחת אותם ישירות למכשיר, במקום דרך iTunes. עדכוני אבטחה ותיקוני באגים גם יוצאים בדרכים אלה (כמו גרסה 4.3.4 לתקן חור אבטחה בספארי).
iOS 4 הייתה עדכון התוכנה הראשון שלא הגיע לחלק מהמכשירים (האייפון והאייפוד טאץ' המקורי), בגלל דרישות מעבד גבוהות שעדכון זה דרש.עדכון זה כלל תמיכה בריבוי משימות, תיקיות במסך הבית ורקעים במסך הבית, שיפורים לדואר אלקטרוני במכשיר ושיפורים לאפליקציית הiPod. עדכון זה יצא ביחד עם הiPhone 4,
החל מiOS 5, שהייתה זמינה למפתחים כגרסת בטא החל מה6 ביוני2011, חיבור USB ל-iTunes כבר לא נדרש להפעלה ראשונית של המכשיר, גיבוי וסנכרון מידע מסתנכרן ישירות לiCloud, ניתן למחוק שירים ישירות מהמכשיר וההגדרה הראשונית קורית במכשיר עצמו, תקשורת פנימית דרך שרתי אפל בין מכשירים שמריצים את iOS שנקרא iMessage ו-Twitter מוטמע ברחבי המערכת. כמו כן, מערכת ההתראות שונתה לחלוטין ועוצבה בהשראת Android. עדכון זה יצא ביחד עם הiPhone 4S. לאייפון 4S גם יש שליטה קולית משופרת שנקראת Siri.
ל-iOS לא היה באמת שם עד שיצא תוכנת הפיתוח ל-iPhone, שנקראת iPhone SDK, ואז מערכת ההפעלה קיבלה שם - iPhone OS. לפני זה, אפל פשוט קראה למערכת הפעלה OS X (על שם מערכת ההפעלה Mac OS X, מערכת האם של iOS). שמה של iPhone OS שונה ל-iOS ב7 ביוני, 2010 מכיוון שבתקופה זו האייפון כבר לא היה המכשיר היחיד שמריץ את מערכת ההפעלה.
נכון ל15 באוקטובר, 2011 גרסה 3.1.3 היא הגרסה הנוכחית לאייפון המקורי ולאייפוד טאץ' המקורי, גרסה 4.2.1 לאייפון 3G ולאייפוד טאץ' 2G, וגרסה 5.0 היא הנוכחית ל-iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPad 2, iPod touch 3G ן- iPod touch 4G.
נקרא לעתים קרובות "עדכון ינואר 08' או "עדכון התוכנה של ינואר"[4]
עדכון חינמי למשתמשי אייפון
שדרוג של 20ֿ$ למשתמשי iPod touch
דואר אלקטרוני, מפות, מניות, מזג אוויר ופתקים ל-iPod touch
פרטי אנשי הקשר מהשיחות האחרונות עכשיו זמינים לרוב השיחות האחרונות
ניתן לקבוע את המיקום המשוער של הטלפון לפי שילוש של אנטנות סלולריות ותקשורת Wi-Fi מSkyhook Wireless. הקומבינציה של שתי הדרכים לקבוע את המיקום עוזרת לשים סיכה ווירטואלית על המיקום המשוער של האייפון על המפה.
אפשר לשנות את מקומם של אייקונים במסך הבית ולהזיז אותם לדפים נוספים במסך הבית.
כרטיסי מתנה בiTunes ניתנים למימוש בiTunes שעל המכשיר.
סרטים שמורדים דרך אייטונס עכשיו מתעדכנים לפי פרקים.
השדרוג המשמעותי השני של iOS. שוחרר ביחד עם iPhone 3G, וכלל שדרוגים רבים הכוללים אתה הApp store', שיפורים ל-iPod ושיפורים כללים. לגרסה זו היו 9 גרסאות בטא, כשהראשונה נקראת גרסה 1.2 בטא 1.
Application updates downloaded from iTunes have new finder naming convention
Bug Fixes and Performance Enhancements
Security fix to prevent from bypassing the double home button exploit
Fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes for users with lots of third party applications
Faster installation and updating of 3rd party applications
Updating applications keeps their icons in place on the home screen.
Improvements to Mail stability
Improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
Faster loading and searching of contacts
Auto-correct now appears above the text instead of below (fixing a usability problem people were having where auto-correct would appear above the first row of keys).
Smoother browsing in Safari, particularly when scrolling up/down on a web page
Significantly better battery life for most users[16]
Decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls[16]
Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display.
Some Bluetooth headsets which didn't originally work with visual voicemail on previous firmware versions have been reported to be working on 2.1.[דרוש מקור]
The 12/24 hour clock which has been available in previous versions is now usable to UK iPhone users.[דרוש מקור]
Improved way of creating the "Application Map" on reboot fixes the "ALoD" issue.[דרוש מקור]
Third-party application settings are loaded after loading the main Settings.[דרוש מקור]
With the UK English keyboard setting, when entering URLs, holding down the '.com' button would bring up shortcuts to other TLDs, but for some reason it would drop '.net' to make room for '.co.uk'. 2.1 adds '.net' for the UK English keyboard.[דרוש מקור]
Apple have fixed the grammar in the App Store when all apps up to date. Prior to 2.1, the update page would display the text "All Apps Are Up-To-Date." (hyphenated with a period). The update page now displays the text "All Apps Are Up to Date".[דרוש מקור]
Double tapping (the standard gesture for zooming) didn't work in prior firmware versions in the Mail application. The only way to zoom into content (e.g. a HTML attachment/web page) was to use the 'pinch' method. 2.1 now adds the functionality of double tapping to zoom in the Mail application.[דרוש מקור]
Triple-click on the control button of headphones now jumps music to previous track played.
SMS app can alert up to two additional times if you don’t acknowledge an incoming text message. (will play the alert sound/vibrate again after a period of time as if a new message just came in).[15]
When receiving a text message, it used to display "Sender — Text Message" when the message preview was off, e.g. "Pete — Text Message". After updating to 2.1, it now just displays "New Text Message".[דרוש מקור]
Update Supporting Languages
Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts. (After 5 attempts, the device will disable itself for 1 minute. After the 6th attempt, it will disable itself for 5 minutes. In the 10th attempt, it will wipe all data.)[15]
The camera can now be turned off within the restrictions page.[15]
When taking a screen-shot of your phone, there is now the camera shutter noise
Pause apps by clicking the icon while it downloads/installs[דרוש מקור]
Updated apps now keep their original position in the Home Screen.[דרוש מקור]
iPod volume/application volume setting is now independent of the phone ringer volume setting.[דרוש מקור]
iPhone never gets locked when placed in dock and play music.
New application features
Genius playlist creation
More information provided within iPod Music lists (artist and album are now shown below song title when selecting music in addition to remaining time on podcasts)
More information is provided for audiobooks, such as displaying time left in active audiobook.[15]
New podcasts & videos had "filled" blue bubbles next to them to indicate that they were new, but with 2.1, if you have "half-played" a podcast or video, it will include a half filled blue bubble.[15]
Sound from iPod now "fade out" if you start syncing device with iTunes.[17]
Options to load & display earlier text message in a conversation.[דרוש מקור]
EXIF data information now remains on photos/pictures when emailed from your iPhone. Sites such as Flickr are now able to show geotag and other information.[דרוש מקור]
When location services is switched off in the Settings menu, the Maps application reminds you to manually turn it back on from the Settings menu when using GPS. Originally, you would have the option to turn it on when the notification appeared.[דרוש מקור]
Bookmarked home screen apps open in full screen.[18]
Only available in the iPod touch
Settings for individual speaker sounds. Sounds can no longer be turned off en masse. All sounds must be turned off individually to mute sounds.
3.0 became available with the iPhone 3GS. It was released on June 17, 2009. This release added much requested features such as copy and paste, and MMS. Not all features were available on the original iPhone. Devices running 2.x were upgradeable to this firmware.[27][28]
Features that iPhone users got in 2.2 have been added for the iPod touch (such as Google Street View, public transit and walking directions, display address of dropped pin, share location via email, and cache of recent locations). Changed behavior when routing directions and showing steps.
Stocks
Landscape mode that enabled viewing detailed price and change information by dragging one or two fingers across the full-screen chart.
Metadata display for detailed information about the symbol, including full company/fund name, market capitalization, price to earning ratio, dividend yield, and statistics about the day and year price range.
Table of news stories from various internet sources related to the selected symbol.
YouTube
Can now log into account
View subscriptions, Favorites, My Videos, History, and Playlists
Comment on videos, rate videos
Phone
Recent Calls now show more details (call length, etc.)
Ability to change/set "own number" (my number) in the SIM card. Will be displayed in the Contacts list and iTunes, as well as possibly used for MMS identification.
Camera now has a thumbnail of the previous photo captured. The thumbnail also acts as a shortcut to "Camera Roll" allowing for view/delete of photos without exiting the camera app
Camera now has autofocus. To change what is being focused on, simply tap on what you wish to now have the camera focus. (iPhone 3GS only)
AVRCP: Play/Pause/Stop for iPod app (no Next/Back yet)
Device side audio control still enabled but does not effect audio stream
PBAP: wireless phone book access (for use with vehicle head units)
PAN: personal networking for tethering and ad-hoc connections between mobile devices (multi-player gaming)
iPod
Shake to shuffle songs in iPod app
Search through iPod
Scrubbing through tracks can now be done at 4 variable rates as user moves finger down the screen, and the speed is displayed on screen ("Hi-Speed", "Half Speed", "Quarter Speed", "Fine")
(When Bluetooth is enabled and a paired audio device is present) Audio output menu added to "Now Playing" screen and Home button iPod controls
Location dot while playing video/music now glows while you scrub the track/video
Podcasts
More details shown: time remaining, etc.
Can be played at "½x", 1x, or "2x" speed (actual speeds are 0.8x, 1x, and 1.5x)
USB tethering auto activated when connected to USB on iTunes 8.2+ (if tethering is enabled in iPhone settings and by phone's carrier)
iTunes 8.2 now includes a USB driver for iPhone tethering
Full access to iPhone possible while tethered
(In Windows) iPhone shows up as a standard ethernet connection
Accessibility settings (for the visually/aurally impaired) (iPhone 3GS only)[33]
VoiceOver gesture-based screen reader. touch screen to hear a description of the item under your finger, then double-tap, drag, or flick to control iPhone. Speaks 21 languages and works with all apps
Zoom, magnifies entire screen on any app up to 5 times normal size. Move left, right, up, and down to view any portion of the screen close-up
White on Black, changes display to white on black (instead of the normal black on white), works in any app, and alongside with Zoom and VoiceOver
Mono Audio, if users hearing is limited in one ear, routes both right- and left-channel audio into both earbuds, so you can hear both channels in either ear
Speak Auto-text, works with VoiceOver to automatically speak auto-corrections and auto-capitalizations
Other
Device automatically connects and authenticates to Wi-Fi hotspots which require username and password (e.g. Starbucks, McDonalds)
Locate Me for the iPod touch accuracy improved.
Restrictions have been updated and now block “Current Location” and allows setting what content is appropriate for iPod music/videos/TV shows and apps.
11 home screen pages instead of 9. Now can store 180 apps. (Including native applications. i.e. Phone, iPod, Safari)[34]
Speed optimizations during keyboard input and use of the included App Store application.[דרוש מקור]
Holding the home button will no longer force quit an unresponsive application. To force quit an application in 3.0 hold the sleep/wake button until the red power off slider appears. Then hold down the home button to quit the unresponsive application.
Screen captures are no longer numbered separately from photos taken with the camera application; all new images in the camera roll now use a common numbering sequence.
On iPod touch 2G the Voice Memos app now successfully records audio if you plug your microphone after you have started the application
Numbers inside Notes have more options when tap and hold is triggered: Call, Text Message, Create New Contact, Add to Existing Contact
Voice Control over Bluetooth is now available, allowing users to initiate calls and control music playback via Bluetooth headsets (however, voice control while plugged in to car audio systems no longer works)
APIs allow third party apps to access videos and edit them
Gives programmers their choice of video recording quality
A pair of new app interface classes that are known to relate to graphics, but which haven't had their functions identified
New camera APIs
Calendar event alerts will be shown also with a pop-up, much like push notifications
Xcode 3.1.3 has also been released and is said by people aware of the update to improve facilities for creating a new project as well as setting a target configuration.[דרוש מקור]
Enables connectivity to devices for developmental purposes wirelessly instead of requiring tethering via the dock connector
Ability to save videos from Mail or MMS
Ability to copy and paste full quality videos from camera into email
Final release supported on first generation devices (Original iPhone and iPod touch)
Improves accuracy of reported battery level on iPhone 3GS
Resolves issue where third-party apps would not launch in some instances
Fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when using the Japanese Kana keyboard
Fixes security bugs in CoreAudio, ImageIO, Recovery Mode and WebKit[37]
Uses a new baseband which patches the exploit previously used by blacksn0w to unlock the iPhone 3G/3GS.
In Cydia, there are apps which allow the downgrading of the iPhone 3G baseband to work with unlocks, only if the phone has the old baseband bootloader 5.8.
Includes new frameworks for recognizing custom gestures, custom keyboards etc.
Allows display output to an externally connected display for compatible 3rd party apps
Allows user to change home screen background
Adds Terrain view in Maps application
Location-based services rely on Apple's own databases instead services of Google and Skyhook Wireless.[39]
Allows transferring files between a computer and the device for a shared (per app) document store that all applications can access (iOS file sharing). Only available for the iPad.
Allows use of Apple Bluetooth keyboard (possibly other keyboards)
Includes a built in dictionary which can be used in iWork and iBooks (possibly other apps too)
The Dock is now able to hold up to six icons
The iPod App allows the user to create and name custom playlists
Safari's new thumbnail view allows the user to navigate to up to nine active pages (similar to Top Sites on Safari for Mac OS X)
Places in the Photos App allows the user to view their photos by location (requires iPhoto '09)
iOS 4 was made available to the public for the iPhone and iPod touch on June 21, 2010. This is the first major iOS release to drop support for some devices. It is also the first major iOS release that iPod touch users do not have to pay for.
The iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2nd Gen. have limited features, while the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3rd Gen. & iPod touch 4th Gen. have all features enabled. The iPhone and iPod touch 1st Gen. are not capable of running iOS 4.0 and above.
iPad compatibility was added with the release of iOS 4.2.1 on November 22, 2010.
Table of versions: iOS 4.x
Version
Build
Baseband
Release date
Features
iPhone and iPod touch (2nd generation and higher) only
iOS 4 features for iPad (multitasking, folders, etc.)
Up to 4,400 icons instead of 220 (20 apps a folder)
Updated carrier signal strength display (3G iPad only)
Increase in the length of the smaller signal bars
The method in which signal strength is calculated has been enhanced
Additions to the multitasking tray
Brightness
Volume control
AirPlay controls
Screen rotation lock switch
Physical iPad screen rotation lock switch is converted into a sound/silent switch in iOS 4.2 (just like on the iPhones), with a virtual screen rotation lock switch added to the multitasking tray.
More than 30 new keyboards and dictionaries, including Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew
Fixes glitch that can let a user get into the phone app while the phone is locked via "emergency call" by dialing a random number and quickly pressing the lock button after dialing that call[59]
Fixes the alarm bug caused by daylight saving time changing, affected on a part of iPhone and iPod touch owners living in various countries[60]
Improved iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G performance[61]
Ability to cancel and delete an app which is currently downloading. Before iOS 4.3, it was only possible to delete an app which had already downloaded.
Stream from an iTunes library to iOS using Home Sharing
In-app purchases always ask for a password, even if one has previously been entered
Internal system clock gets network time updated more frequently via NITZ (part of the official GSM standard since phase 2+ release 96) and gives a more accurate time for the device, it updates about every five days.
iPhone only
Personal Hotspot feature (Wi-Fihotspot with up to 5 simultaneous devices (Wi-Fihotspot iPhone 4 only[64])) on supported carriers.
Ability to set amount of times a text tone repeats (up to 10 times)
In field test mode refresh button has been removed & updated information has been displayed in bottom of the screen (it updates every 4–6 seconds)
Slideshow options moved to Photos app
New look for taking a picture for a Contact
When receiving a text message, the iPhone now vibrates 2 times
iOS 5 was previewed to the public on June 6, 2011.[65]This is also the second major iOS update to drop support for older devices, in this case; the iPhone 3G and the iPod Touch 2nd Generation (MB & MC models). It was released for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM and CDMA), iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, and iPad 2 on 12 October, 2011 at 10am Pacific Time (5pm GMT).[66]
Table of versions: iOS 5.x
Version
Build
Baseband
Release date
Features
iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch 3rd and 4th generation, iPad and iPad 2
All notifications concentrated to Notification center: swipe downwards from the status bar to open it. Notification center shows a list of all notifications and widgets (widgets available only on iPhone and iPod touch).
Notification order can be arranged.
Choose Notification Type: Banner notifications, the classic pop-up notifications, or no notification at all (selectable on an app-by-app basis).
Notification list on lock screen. Swipe an icon to unlock and go to the specific notification.
Notifications announcing earthquakes with 2 minutes early (only in Japan).[67][68]
iMessage/Messages
Messaging between all iOS devices running iOS 5 through Wi-Fi or 3G. Allows to send text, photos, videos, contacts, and locations.
All iMessages and conversations will be synced between all iOS devices linked under a single Apple ID. You can start a conversation on one device and continue it on another.
Can message between multiple people simultaneously (group messaging).
Shows when other person(s) is typing.
Delivery receipts.
Optional read receipts (enable from Settings).
Animated GIF image support for iMessage.
Repeat alerts up to 10 times.
Ability to set how much time a message alert has to be shown again if you don’t respond to the phone when it notifies of a new message.
The name of the person that responds appears in small light blue text directly above the response when SMS is sent to a group.
Slight redesign for text messages. Font & time-stamp layout.
The keyboard (after being used to type an SMS/MMS/iMessage) can be hidden by scrolling down the part of the screen that contains the messages.
Newsstand
A new icon on Springboard, which opens to an iBooks-inspired folder which shows all papers and magazines downloaded from the App Store.
Subscriptions to newspapers and magazines available for browsing and downloading in a dedicated section of the App Store, stored in the Newsstand folder.
Reminders
"To-Do list" functionality in Reminders app.
Date-based reminder notifications.
Location-based reminder notifications that can be set to when you leave, or arrive a specified area (available on iDevices with integrated GPS only).
Twitter integration:
Tweeting from native applications: Photos, Camera, YouTube, Maps, and Safari using new Tweet Sheet which supports multiple accounts.
Music
iPod app now split into Music and Video (iPhone and iPad only).
Ability to play content while the device is synchronizing with iTunes.
Ability to delete songs from device (by swiping over the corresponding song).
Tap and hold on a song to view extended song information.
Long names scrolling in now playing.
Album artwork now displays in full resolution (Retina Display only) on Now Playing screen.
Broadcast song information on devices (like car stereo) when connected over Bluetooth.
Improved Sound Check for Music.
“Group by Album Artist” option for Music.
Camera
Volume-up key as shutter release button to take photos (also works using headphone remote volume up button). Also works for starting/stopping recording of videos.
Shortcut to Camera App from Lockscreen created, accessed by double-clicking the home button.
Grid composition aide (3x3).
Spread to zoom-in, pinch to zoom-out.
Swipe left to reveal camera roll.
Tap and hold to lock/unlock Auto Exposure and Auto Focus.
Options button added, HDR toggle and Grid composition aide toggle.
New Camera Button on Photos.app that takes us back to Camera instead of a ‘Done’ button (on OS prior to this) to close the Camera Roll.
Face Detection and Video Stabilization. (iPhone 4S only)
Maps
Print maps.
Alternate routes.
Traffic.
Calendar
Can now create, rename, and delete calendars right on the device.
Tap and hold or double-tap to create a new event.
Tap and hold in “all-day events” to create a new all-day event.
Drag appointments to a new time slot.
Drag handles to change start and end times.
When creating a new Event, users will notice a new field titled “Invitees.” Selecting the Invitees option takes the user to a screen where you can input multiple email addresses to invite multiple people to an event, and once all emails have been added and the event saved, emails will be sent out to all Invitees. When the Invitee has chosen between “Accept” “Decline” and “Maybe” the reply is sent up into the iCloud servers and is reflected for all other Invitees to see. The Calendar event on your device will list those who have accepted the event. All users of iOS 5 devices will get a notification when the event is nearing.
Ability to specify a time zone to events.
Ability to add URLs to events.
Current time on Calendar if in landscape mode.
Navigate in day view by swiping.
Event attachments can now be viewed directly in the app.
Share calendars through iCloud with friends and family. Any edits made by any subscribers to that calendar will be updated and pushed to all subscribers of that calendar (this can probably be disabled by the creator of the calendar/locked so no one else can make edits).
Japanese or Buddhist calendars support.
Mail
Rich text formatting (bold, italics and underline).
Indentation control.
Ability to mark multiple mail items as read.
Ability to flag emails.
Draggable mail address in the recipients field.
Alert if the subject line is blank.
Search now includes body of messages.
Delete mails while in Airplane mode.
Exchange Activesync Email can now be deleted offline.
Can create new email folders.
Mail Sidebar.
S/MIME support.
Ability to show 1000 recent messages. 25 message option removed.
Ability to create additional @me.com email address within the Mail settings.
Ability to Increase Quote Level in Mail Settings.
New and updated tiny icons on Mail for Windows Live Mail, Gmail, Exchange etc.
Hotmail accounts now have new icons & folders.
While reading an email you can swipe right would open a list of messages and swipe left would bring back to the open email message again.
If you have multiple email accounts configured in Mail.app, swipe left or right from one’s mailboxes folder list, it will take you to another account’s mailboxes.
Support for three popular Chinese email services: Tencent’s QQ Mail, and Netease’s 163.com & 126.com mail inboxes.[69]
Photos
Built-in basic photo editing: crop, red-eye, auto-enhance and rotate photos.
Ability to create and edit local photo albums folders (only those that aren't synced with iTunes).
Ability to sync pictures taken on one iOS device automatically with other iOS 5 devices using Photo Stream.
Ability to select all when adding pictures to an album.
Slight re-design for video time-line under Photos app.
Safari
Safari Reader: On certain web articles, a new 'Reader' icon will appear in the address bar which will bring up a new window sheet over the current page sans any ads or clutter. Previous or following pages in the article normally required to open a new link will show up uniformly, only separated by a page break.
Ability to change font size in reader mode.
Reading List: a new area of the bookmarks window has been added purposed for pages you might want to read later called the 'Reading List.' New pages can be added from a new option in the action menu.
Items from the Reading List can be synced to iCloud to be pushed to all of your other iOS devices.
Safari bookmarks can be synced to iCloud.
Ability to open pages in background or in new page (change via settings).
Ability to replace a word with a word from a list of similarly spelled words spellings when typing in a text box on a web page.
Private Browsing (interface colors change from blue to black. Change via settings).
Ability to remove custom Website Data.
CSS fixed position support.
Slight fade out at end of long URLs (instead of ellipses).
iTunes, iBooks (books and progress), App Store, Photo, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Mail, Safari bookmarks and Reading List items, device settings, app data, iWork and backup data saved in iCloud and automatically or manually downloaded to all linked devices (iOS and Mac/Windows PCs).
All iMessages and conversations will be synced between all iOS devices linked under a single Apple ID. You can start a conversation on one device and continue it on another.
Backup homescreen layout on iCloud.
Document sync.
Ability to buy more storage.
Free upgrade to 256 kbps bit-rate for purchased songs if backing up on iCloud.
File names in iCloud Storage are case-sensitive.
Documents / Data can now be selected to sync with iCloud account.
Option to disable iCloud Sync via cellular network to save cost especially if roaming.
Points in Game Center: shows you how many points you have on the home screen of Game Center.
Sort and View friends on the basis of Points.
Friend Recommendations.
Games can be purchased from within Game Center.
Game Recommendations.
New Friend requests screen.
Native Support for turn based games.
Settings
Help Center: Learn more about every option under settings app to explore more about it.
System Services.
Hearing Aid Mode.
Ability to rename your device.
Ability to set up an AirPort base station or Time Capsule devices.
Ability to organize Notification Center items "Manually" or "By Time".
Can select which apps can be included in Notification Center.
Can select which type of notifications will be used for each app: banner notifications, the classic pop-up style notifications, or no notification.
Ability to turn off app badges.
On the “Ringtone” and “Text Tone” page, instead of showing “new”, they are all in one category now.
Custom sounds for New Message, New Voicemail, New Mail, Sent Mail and Reminders alerts.
Ability to purchase text, e-mail and voicemail alert tones.
Under “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”, on the bottom it shows “Reminders” and gives an option to Sync.
In the “Messages” section, the “Alerts”, “Show Preview” and “Repeat Alert” options have been removed.
The Usage screen is improved and now shows how much of the memory is consumed by each app.
Storage usage clean up.
Backup to iCloud shortcut added.
Photo Stream settings.
Settings to automatically download new purchases that have been made on other devices (for music, apps and books). This can also be enabled or disabled for use on cellular when not connected to Wi-Fi.
Twitter sign-in OS-wide with support for multiple Twitter accounts.
Ability to set left or right for mono audio.
Ability to turn on and off sending of iOS diagnostic data to Apple.
Keyboard
Ability to create keyboard shortcuts (autotext) to replace custom phrases. By default includes “omw” which expands to “On my way!”.
New keyboard available for Emoji emoticons.
Define your own words in Offline Dictionary.
New keyboard with prominent # (hash-tag) and @ (mention) buttons for Twitter app similar to the ‘.com’ button when entering an address into the Safari address bar.
New Chinese-Pinyin keyboard spreading.
Quick Chinese input method.
List of associated words show on the top of Chinese input keyboard.
Function to convert voice to text.
PC-Free
iTunes/USB no longer required to activate new devices via a computer.
New welcome screen when using the device for the first time (or after resetting a device).
Ability to start fresh with no need to tether it to iTunes. Option to restore all data on a device through a simple iCloud sign in.
Ability to wirelessly sync to iTunes over Wi-Fi added (an initial tethered sync is required to pair them together and the setting must be enabled in iTunes).
OTA delta software updates: from iOS 5 forward, devices can now self-update the system software right on the device itself through Wi-Fi or 3G. No iTunes needed.
YouTube
Ability to play 480p/720p videos over 3G (iPhone only).[70]
Scrolling titles for YouTube videos.
FaceTime
Improved video quality.
Ability to set your FaceTime caller ID to be your email or your phone number.
Ability to mirror the FaceTime call on large screen.[71]
iTunes/App Store
iTunes Tone Store.
New Purchased History section.
Genius support for finding songs and apps similar to ones users have purchased previously.
Ability to completely disable in-App purchases.
iTunes password prompt.
Restrictions with password required for purchases if enabled.
Shows "Install" instead of price for previously purchased apps. Shows "Installed" for installed apps.
Additional “iForgot” button on App Store if a user has forgotten their Apple ID password.
Simultaneous App downloads.
Custom tones for almost everything under ‘Sounds’ with ‘Buy more tones’ button.
Music app now has a ‘Store’ button that goes to the iTunes Store.
Contacts
Add family relations ("related names") to contacts.
Add social media info in to contacts.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver item chooser.
VoiceOver action support.
Arabic language support for VoiceOver.
Option to speak text selection.
New voices for VoiceOver.
Bluetooth
AVRCP 1.4 supported (sends track and artist info to supported devices).
Minor improvements / bug fixes
New rounded UISwitch graphic.
Ability to use the device while syncing.
Spotlight search now includes Reminders and searches through SMS messages.
Built-in system-wide dictionary (press and hold on a word gives the option to copy or define. Define brings up a view with definition of the selected word).
Ability to delete app data.
Fixed a bug that caused a song to crash for a second while switching to another application in the multitasking bar.
Apps fade to homescreen when they crash, rather than flicking off.
Multiple downloads run simultaneously instead of sequentially.
Option to automatically set the time (new for Wi-Fi only devices).
Switching the ringer switch to "on", the indicator now shows the volume level bar (iPhone and iPad only)
iPhone & iPod touch only
Notification Center
Option to display Stock & Weather widgets in Notification Center. Swipe weather left or right to get five day forecast.
^"Apple Introduces the New iPhone 3G". Apple. 2008-06-09. iPhone 2.0 software will be available on July 11 as a free software update via iTunes 7.7 or later for all iPhone customers