Apple iOS 5 Review
by Vivek Gowri, Andrew Cunningham, Saumitra Bhagwat & Brian Klug on October 18, 2011 3:05 AM ESTiTunes Wi-Fi Sync
Another much requested feature that finally makes its debut in iOS 5 is wireless syncing. Apple calls it iTunes Wi-Fi Sync and its introduced under the PC Free initiative that ironically has a USB cable and a pair of scissors as its marketing icon. Unfortunately, iTunes Wi-Fi Sync asks that your phone be connected to a power source for the feature to work. This shouldn’t be too hard to grasp considering the massive power drain issues people would have inevitably faced had it not been otherwise.
As long as your Mac/PC and your iOS device are on the same network, iTunes Wi-Fi Sync automatically kicks in and syncs your device. A new iTunes Wi-Fi Sync option under General Settings lets users follow the syncing process as it goes along and a new sync icon in the status bar notifies users when their device is syncing from anywhere in the OS. iTunes Wi-Fi sync also enables one device to be synced to more than one PC or Mac. Users have granular control over what gets synced with each machine; for example, if you have a machine at work and one at home, you could have your music synced only on the home machine as long as both computers are authorized with your Apple ID.
Documents in the Cloud
As a supplement to some of iCloud features, Apple has released a new set of APIs that let developers build in iCloud functionality into their apps. So for example, if you create documents or spreadsheets using programs other than iWork for iOS, then developers can leverage these new APIs and allow their apps to backup documents to iCloud, which are then pushed to all your other devices automatically. You can read more about this feature and its integration into the iCloud.com site in our companion piece about iCloud on the desktop.
Photo Stream
Photo Stream essentially allows users to backup and store up to 1,000 recent photos imported or taken on their iOS devices and have them pushed down to their Mac and other iOS devices. A new version of iPhoto (9.2) with Photo Stream makes sure the latest photos from your iOS devices can be viewed and saved on your Mac. iCloud saves your photos uploaded via Photo Stream for 30 days before discarding them - otherwise, you can delete all of your Photo Stream photos in the Advanced settings on iCloud.com, or you can wait for them to disappear. There's no way to delete individual photos from the stream in a way that will propagate across all of your devices, which seems like a pretty serious oversight - any photo taken, no matter how embarrassing or compromising, is automatically sent to every other Photo Stream enabled device you've got. In this case, the feature works a little too well. Photo Stream also works with the newest Apple TV update and makes the stream visible there as well.
Photo Stream at this point only syncs photos when you're connected to WiFi, so you have a bit of of time to delete things before they're synced. For users with no WiFi, this restriction does diminish the functionality of Photo Stream, and at present unfortunately there's no way to force photos to sync over cellular data for users with unlimited data plans. At least not without a jailbreak, yet.
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willstay - Monday, October 24, 2011 - link
Exactly. Few of my friends complain that if they miss that email chirp, and that email notifications do not show upfront, they are going to have to actually run the email app to see if there are new emails (or remember unread counter from previous).LED notification is better suited for this kind of notification. Unfortunately my phone doesn't have one but comes with amoled screen and there I found free app that actually displays contact pic of person I missed call/text/email/yahoo/viber/whatsapp from. A quick glance from afar and I know if I missed anything.
steven75 - Monday, October 31, 2011 - link
While I sympathize with your issue, I've been an iPhone user since 2007 and not even a single time has this been a problem for me.The fact is, my phone lives in my pocket even while at home. If I'm the shower, the phone is on the counter in the bathroom, usually because I'm listening to music or a podcast on it.
sigmatau - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
I for one will never, ever install one more piece of Apple software on my "PC". They can thank itunes (and quicktime) for that. Buggy, almost malware-like acting crap.Stuka87 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Go away troll. If you don't care for Apple, don't bother commenting on an Apple article.The0ne - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
I totally agree with you. What we need is segregation, a separation of Windows and Mac users. Screw the Linux users cause really they suck anyways. I'll go as far as to suggest we segregate idiots from average to knowledgeable users as well. All future reviews and articles should specify exactly what type of users should be allow. We all know people don't cross-platform use PCs, less know about them and the apps.Doing it this way it would be way way more fair. I'm serious, lets do it!
sigmatau - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
LOL why? Maybe they will rethink their magic and make it more magical! I'm so glad to get rid of my 3gs for a GS2.I've owned computers for almost 20 years. In all that time, I have never, ever used software that blatently prevented simple common sense functions. I guess it is Apples form of computer DRM.
simi13 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
I only use iTunes for music, on Windows.Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Well... itunes is pretty godawful.Bansaku - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - link
Uhm, I have been using iTunes, Safari, Quicktime and Software update in Windows since XP, and have found it to be 100% stable, NO bugs, and works like it does on my iMac. I call BS, Troll!anubis44 - Saturday, October 22, 2011 - link
MobiusStrip, your point is well-taken. It would be nice for Apple to make incessant missed call bitching an option, but I take issue with your attitude. Only an a$$hole needs other people and machines to prod them in the a$$ every 5 minutes to do things. Try taking responsibility and check your godam phone for messages after your shower/bubble bath/whatever. No wonder the Chinese are leaving the West in their dust. With such lazy a$$holes like you being broadly representative of our spoiled, self-entitled civilization. Try being pro-active and less reactive in your life and you'll see amazing things happen before you know it.