15 iOS 7 app updates you will love

It’s that time of the year again, folks! A new version of iOS is out and this event is pretty important because of a complete overhaul in design that the update brought along. Jony Ive and his team have designed a splendid flat, colourful interface for iOS this time round.

That’s all good, but what good is a revamped OS if the apps don’t look as pretty? Well, most major applications have already released updates that have adhered to Apple’s new design guidelines. Here’s a list of some big applications you will love with iOS 7:

Facebook
First up is the big daddy of apps: Facebook. In a drastic overhaul to its application for iOS 7, you will now be able to switch between News Feed, Notifications and Messages from the bottom of the screen. Yes, the left-hand sliding pane is now out. As you scroll through images and your News Feed or messages, a translucent bar on top will keep changing dynamically. Also, if you want to get back to the News Feed while you’re still in a story, swipe to your right. The best part? The revamped app is available for iOS 5 and iOS 6 too..

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Facebook revamps for iOS 7,6 and 5

Pocket
The read-it-later app now not only has a brand new design, but new features as well. There’s Instant Background Sync that will let Pocket sync in the background, even when the app is closed and the app is a lot faster when it comes to scrolling through and between stories. To stick with the iOS redesign, there’s a refined layout and the app will now open up Auto-fullscreen in the Article View for a better reading experience.

Twitter
This one’s not too drastic, but Twitter has bowed to the iOS 7 diktat to make tweaks to its application. There’s a neat new flat toolbar on top of the screen and smaller Tabs on the bottom of the screen. If you’ve been a long time Twitter user, this may seem like a bare minimum change to you, but if rumours are to be believed, a huge new UI change is coming to Twitter on both iOS and Android soon. 

Not a major change

Chrome
iOS may belong to Apple but Google has wasted no time in updating its browser app for the latest iteration of the OS. Besides a flat new icon and settings interface, Chrome, like Twitter too has not seen a drastic change in design. The update, though, is bringing along improvements to the fullscreen behaviour, especially for iPads running iOS 7.

Nike+ Running
The popular running application has been refined to work better with iOS 7 now, of course. The application still wears more-or-less the same look it did earlier but has major improvements in tow. The app has an improved locking mechanism for the app. If you’re tracking your run with the app you can hold down the lock button on the bottom of the screen in order to lock and unlock your phone quickly.

Shortcuts for iOS 7

Yahoo! and Yahoo! Weather
The Internet giant has updated two of its apps to get the iOS 7 treatment today. First up, the Yahoo! app has been updated and will also show you breaking news and the ability to save articles, if you’re in the US. The app has received new slideshows and videos, quite in the spirit of iOS 7.

Yahoo’s new logo has come to its beautiful weather application. The weather app has also been announced for iOS 7. As far as the design goes, the app had iOS 7 elements for the longest time already.

Kindle
Don’t you just love major app updates? Especially ones that coincide with OS updates and revamps? Amazon has bumped up Kindle for iOS to version 4.0, a major change that’s more than just a tweak to the UI. Of course, the app embraces iOS whole heartedly with its UI change. The app now has slide-out menus in Library and Reader that combine key controls and are great with touch. The controls are also flatter now and the app also has translucency effects you will love. There’s a whole new Collections feature in the app too that will help you easily categorise books, docs and magazines with a few taps.

Feature filled!

Quora
The app has been revamped from ground-up says the service. Besides an iOS 7 look, the app is bringing along better browsing functions like swiping to go back, swiping between feeds, tapping the Quora logo for access to notifications and more. You will now have five different views in the Quora app – Top Stories, Questions and Answers, Open Questions, Blogs, and Reviews. This will let you choose what information you get from the app. You will also now be able to open and vote right from the feed.

Flipboard
There are flatter icons, controls and images and there are also some beautiful new features added to Flipboard to prep it for iOS 7. You can use the Parallax feature to bring your magazine covers to life or just scroll through them. Privacy has been an important topic addressed by Flipboard in this update. You can not only delete unwanted comments from your magazine, you can also make use of the new report functions to label unwanted comments and users too.

Flip with iOS 7

Shazam
The music recognition service too has gone ahead and taken the opportunity to update its app to the next level. Besides a whole new refreshed app, you can now mention friends and places when you post to Facebook, a reminder for your most recent music discoveries as well as the ability to buy multiple tracks together. There’s also an improvement to Shazam’s recognition technology for faster display.

Evernote
Never one to ditch a chance to cram its application with all features possible, Evernote has completely changed the way its app works on iOS 7. The app is now much better with a smarter layout that shows only features you need, quick jump to recent notes and a new audio recorder that lets you type while you listen. Evernote also improves on letting you use features a lot faster than before. You can now also add arrows, shapes and text to images and PDFs. Your notes will be kept up to date with background sync and you can share them using AirDrop.

More features!

Alien Blue
This Reddit application has received a massive update too. There’s a whole new design and inbox notifications. Alien Blue also brings along major improvements like Canvas support for GIFs and videos, support for TV-Out and Apple TV, comment link previews and more. You can check out the whole list of tweaks and improvements to Alien Blue on the App Store.

Foursquare
Nothing too major here, but Foursquare has jumped onto the iOS 7 bandwagon. There’s a brand new icon, and updated UI and fixes to work well with the new OS from Apple. If you’re on iOS 6, don’t fret, Foursquare has tweaked the app to make it work better with your phones. Foursquare says that there are bigger updates in store for iOS 7 users, so watch out.

More updates coming soon

Instapaper
The on-the-go reading application has gone flat now. The new look was something Instapaper fans had been waiting for and we think they won’t be disappointed. A bunch of improvements like filtering articles by reading time, sorting of Read Later articles through filters, better parsing for videos and improves sepia and darker splash screens are coming to Instapaper.

Aviary
The gorgeous photo-editing application has a whole flat and translucent look to it. There’s a new Supply Shop for all your Effects, Frame and Sticker needs in one store. You’ll probably love the application as much as you will the images you edit on it.

Very pretty!

While this list is not exhaustive, we’ve tried to cram in all major applications that found an update with the release of iOS 7. Stay tuned for more of these app updates as and when they’re rolled out.