iOS7 History

The launch of iOS 6 in September 2012 was controversial due to licensing conflicts that resulted in the Google Maps application being replaced with Apple's own mapping software. Upon launch, users who had upgraded reported several errors regarding the service's accuracy and completeness, leading CEO Tim Cook to publicly apologize and suggest iOS 6 users use other mapping applications available in the App Store. Consequently, on October 29, 2012, Scott Forstall was dismissed as Senior Vice President (SVP) of iOS and his responsibilities divided among Jony Ive, who became the company-wide SVP for Human Interface, Craig Federighi, whose role as SVP for Mac Software Engineering was expanded to include iOS, Eddy Cue, who gained leadership for Maps and Siri under his duties as SVP for Internet Software and Services, and Bob Mansfield, who returned from his recent retirement to become SVP for Technologies. Forstall's departure was attributed to his refusal to sign a letter admitting to responsibility for errors in the Maps service and contrast with other executives over design choices. Ive is considered to be a proponent of minimalistic design compared to Forstall and former CEO Steve Jobs, who supported skeuomorphic design. In September 2012, Fast Company published a feature on the skeuomorphism controversy within Apple, citing designer complaints over the faux-leather in iCal—designed to imitate seating in Jobs' personal airliner—and Jobs' support of casino-like elements within Game Center in iOS 4.1. Almost immediately after Ive's appointment, speculation started that Ive would seek to remove skeuomorphic elements within the operating system. On June 10, 2013, iOS 7 Beta 1 was announced and released to registered developers in the iOS Developer Program after the WWDC keynote speech,supporting the iPhone 4 onwards, and iPod Touch (5th generation). iOS 7 Beta 2 was released to developers on June 24, 2013, adding support for the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini. iOS 7 Beta 3 was released on July 8, 2013. Up until iOS 7's fourth beta, Apple followed a biweekly release pattern, but iOS 7 Beta 4 broke this pattern by being released on July 29, 2013—three weeks after its precedent beta, instead of the usual two. Speculation suggests iOS 7 Beta 4 was delayed by one week because of the hacking attempt towards Apple's developer servers that took place only four days before its expected release date. The last beta, iOS 7 Beta 6, was released on August 15, 2013, bringing fixes toiTunes in the Cloud, as well as speed and stability improvements. On September 10, 2013, at their iPhone event, Apple announced that iOS 7 would be publicly released on September 18, 2013, for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, also releasing the iOS 7 Golden Master to registered developers shortly afterwards, in order for them to complete final software testing before its full public release. An update to the operating system was released for the iPhone 5S model after reports that the iPhone 5S would prompt for a password instead of accepting the fingerprint of the user. An update was also made available for the 5C model. On October 22, 2013 Apple released an update that introduced new animations to the home screen when a user selects the reduced motion option in the accessibility settings. These new animations are to solve problems of people feeling motion sickness when using iOS 7