With its easy-to-use interface, amazing features, and rock-solid stability, iOS is the foundation of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. And even as others try to catch up, the technologies and features built into iOS keep your Apple devices years ahead.
Elegant and intuitive interface.
You know how to use iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch from the first time you pick them up. That’s because the revolutionary Multi‑Touch interface in iOS was designed for your finger. And the simple, beautiful Home screen is the easiest place to
start. From built-in apps to over 900,000 more apps and games available on the App Store.1 From making a FaceTime call
to editing a video with iMovie. Everything you touch is easy, intuitive, and fun.
Amazing features and built-in apps.
iOS and an ever-expanding collection of features and built-in apps make iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch even more powerful, innovative, and fun to use. Here are just a few.
Siri
Siri lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, check the latest scores, and more.2 Ask Siri to do things just by talking. Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back. Learn more about Siri
Maps
Apple-designed from the ground up (and the sky down), this built-in app shows you incredible detail — even on full zoom. Maps keeps street names where they belong and keeps you heading in the right direction with spoken turn-by-turn navigation and real-time traffic updates.3 Learn more about Maps
Music
Listen to music everywhere. See it, too: You can browse your collection by album art. And since iTunes in the Cloud lets you access the music you purchase on every device you use, you’ll never find yourself without a song. It’s all part of iCloud and iTunes.
FaceTime
With a tap, you can make video calls over Wi‑Fi from your iOS device to someone else’s. You can even make FaceTime calls over cellular networks on your iPhone or iPad. And be there in person, even when you’re not.4
Messages
Messages includes iMessage, a messaging service that’s even better than texting because it’s free over Wi‑Fi for you and anyone using an iOS device or Mac. And it’s unlimited.5 So text all you want, and send photos, videos, locations, and contacts, too. Or ask Siri to do it for you.
Safari
It’s the world’s most popular mobile browser. And it gets even better with iOS 6. Not only can you remove clutter from web pages with Reader, now you can save your Reading List for offline perusing. iCloud Tabs keeps track of which pages you have open on your devices, so you can start browsing on one device and pick up where you left off on another device.
AirPlay
AirPlay lets you wirelessly stream what’s on your iOS device to your HDTV and speakers via Apple TV. Or mirror exactly what’s on your display to the big screen.6 Vacation photos, blockbusters, the latest games — you choose how to go big. Learn more about AirPlay
Game Center
Game Center lets you expand your social gaming network, turning friends into opponents and opponents into friends. Or go up against people you don’t know in a multiplayer game. It’s your world. Everyone else is just playing in it.
Hardware and software made for each other.
Because Apple makes both the hardware and the operating system for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, everything is designed to work together. So apps take full advantage of hardware features such as the Retina display, the Multi-Touch interface, the accelerometer, the three-axis gyro, accelerated graphics, and more. FaceTime is a perfect example. It uses both front and back cameras, the display, the microphone, and your Wi‑Fi connection.
The world’s largest — and smartest — collection of apps.
With thousands of apps in practically every category, iOS is the platform for the world’s largest collection of mobile apps. And every app starts with the right DNA. That’s because Apple gives third-party developers a rich set of tools and APIs to create apps and games designed to take advantage of the technology inside every iOS device. With all those apps in one place, they’re easy to access, easy to search, and easy to buy using the same account you use for iTunes. Just browse the App Store on your device and download them with a tap.
Learn more about apps from the App Store
iCloud. Your content. On all your devices.
iCloud stores your music, photos, apps, mail, contacts, calendars, documents, and more and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices.7 So if you buy a song, take a photo, or edit a calendar event on your iPad, iCloud makes sure it appears on your Mac, iPhone, and iPod touch, too. You don’t have to do a thing. Learn more about iCloud
Easy to update.
iOS updates are free. And they’re available to download wirelessly on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch the moment they’re released. Your device even alerts you when it’s time to get the latest version. So you won’t miss out on all the amazing features in new updates.
Safety and security by design.
iOS provides built-in security from the moment you turn on your device. Low-level hardware and firmware features are designed to protect against malware and viruses, while high-level OS features help to secure access to personal information and corporate data. To guard your privacy, apps requesting location information or data from Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, and Photos must first get your permission. You can set a passcode lock to prevent unauthorized access to your device and configure it to delete all your data after too many unsuccessful passcode attempts. This passcode also automatically encrypts and protects your stored email as well as allows third-party apps to encrypt their stored data. iOS supports encrypted network communication that apps can use to protect your sensitive information during transmission. And, in case your device is lost or stolen, Find My iPhone allows you to locate it on a map and remotely delete all your data. When you get it back, you can restore everything from your last backup.
Accessibility built in.
Accessibility features like Guided Access, VoiceOver, and AssistiveTouch help people with disabilities experience more of what an iOS device has to offer. For example, the built-in VoiceOver screen-reading technology allows those who are blind or have low vision to hear a description of the item they’re touching on the screen. iOS also offers out-of-the-box support for over 30 wireless braille displays and many other award-winning accessibility features, such as dynamic screen magnification, playback of closed-captioned video, mono audio, white on black text, and more.
Works all over the world.
iOS devices are made to be used around the world. Take your pick of 30 languages and easily switch between them. Because the keyboard is software based, you can select from over 50 different layouts with support for language-specific features including diacritic marks on characters and contextual character options for Japanese. In addition, the built-in dictionaries support over 50 languages, VoiceOver reads screens in more than 35 languages, and Voice Control understands over 20 languages.
New features for China.
iOS 6 also delivers an amazingly accurate experience to Chinese speakers, with precision text input, a comprehensive Chinese dictionary, and handwriting recognition support for over 30,000 Chinese characters.
Ready for business.
Businesses around the world are choosing iOS devices for their enterprise-ready features and powerful security. iOS works with Microsoft Exchange and standards-based servers to deliver over-the-air push email, calendar, and contacts. iOS protects your data by encrypting information in three separate areas: in transmission, at rest on the device, and when backed up to iTunes. You can securely access private corporate networks through industry-standard VPN protocols. And companies can easily deploy iPhone across an enterprise using configuration profiles. Learn more about Apple in Business
Ready to learn.
With iOS, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch become incredible learning tools. Keep track of all your classes and activities using Calendar. Be on time for appointments and study groups thanks to alerts from Reminders. Jot down or dictate lists and ideas with the Notes app. Do research on the web or write an email — even attach a photo or document — with built-in Wi‑Fi. Record interviews, reading samples, study guides, or class lectures with Voice Memos. Or find help defining a word, locating the lumbar spine, or practicing French vocabulary from any number of education apps in the App Store. Learn more about Apple in Education