iPads in Education - Getting Used to iOS 7

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There are many changes that come with updating to iOS 7 on your iOS devices.  I have found that some take some getting used to (like the brightness of the new icons!), and others are welcome changes.  Here are a few items you might want to look for or know about at first blush:

  • Updates to the Notification Center - there are some nice additions to this, if it is something you use.  I find it more useful now than I did before because I can "highlight" those need to know items.
  • Updated Siri - Siri's better in many ways: you know if the mic is working by the wave motion; the voice is a little more natural sounding; the interpretations are better; and you can pick a male voice now.
  • Ability to close more than one app at a time - this is a huge plus for me.  I can close 3 apps at a time on my iPad, and 2 on my iPhone (if you don't know how yet, double-click the home button then swipe the windows up to close the app)
  • Appearance - I'm still adjusting to the look of the new icons; spent a week knowing something was moving on my phone before I realized it was the background picture moving by the orientation of the phone; like that the folder background color is now gray; love that I have dots to show my cellular strength instead of the stairstep bars. 
  • Accessing search - you no longer need to go to a special screen for search!  From any app screen, swipe down anywhere but the top (which will pull notifications) and you get the search screen.
As for management of devices using iOS 7 - that is a whole series of posts as we adjust to a host of changes, perhaps coming in the near future.

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