Control Center (or Control Centre in most countries) is a feature of
Apple Inc.'s
iOS operating system, introduced as part of
iOS 7
iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 1 ...
, released on September 18, 2013.
It gives
iOS devices direct access to important settings for the device by swiping a finger up from the bottom of the display (or a swipe down from the top right corner on iPhone X and newer, and on all iPad models starting with iOS 12 or iPadOS). It is similar to the SBSettings tweak for
iOS jailbreaking.
The Control Center was also added to Macs in
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ...
, released on November 12, 2020.
Usage
Control Center gives
iOS users quick access to commonly used controls and apps. By swiping up from any screen – including the Lock screen (if the control center is set to be accessed from the lock screen) – users can do such things as switch on
Airplane mode, turn
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
on or off, adjust the display brightness and similar basic functions of the device.
Since iOS 7, it has also included an integrated flashlight function to operate the reverse camera's flash
LED as a
flashlight
A flashlight (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or torch (British English, UK, Australian English, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, b ...
.
The flashlight feature is only available on iPhone and iPod Touch, and
iPad Pro
The iPad Pro is a premium model of Apple's iPad tablet computer. It runs iPadOS, a tablet-optimized version of the iOS operating system.
The original iPad Pro was introduced in September 2015, and ran iOS 9. The second-generation iPad P ...
. Beginning with iOS 9.3, a Night Shift toggle became available through the Control Center on all iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad models that have an
Apple A7 chip or later.
Other functions are offered, such as the ability to turn
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
, and Do Not Disturb on or off; lock the screen's orientation; play, pause, or skip a song, see what is playing; connect to
AirPlay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
-enabled devices; and quickly access the clock, calculator, and camera apps.
Users also have access to
AirDrop
An airdrop is a type of airlift in which items including weapons, equipment, humanitarian aid or leaflets are delivered by military or civilian aircraft without their landing. Developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible tr ...
, previously only available on Macs and newly added to
iPhone,
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, ...
, and
iPod Touch
The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a musi ...
models using the
Lightning connector
Lightning is a proprietary computer bus and power connector created and designed by Apple Inc. and introduced on , to replace its predecessor, the 30-pin dock connector. The Lightning connector is used to connect Apple mobile devices like iPho ...
in
iOS 7
iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 1 ...
, as a method of transferring files between Apple devices.
Design
In iOS 7 through iOS 9, Control Center featured a single-paged slide up panel with a blurred background, which provided a layer of translucency over the content below. The design for the most part remained the same, aside from a few small, occasional changes. Due to the intense resources needed to create a blurred effect, iPhone 4, iPad 2, and iPad 3 do not feature a translucent background, and instead feature a grey background with slight transparency without blur.
In
iOS 10
iOS 10 is the tenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 9. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 13, 2016, and was released on September ...
, Control Center morphed into a card-like design with a white background, and was separated into three separate cards accessible by swiping horizontally. The first card consisted of main device controls, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb, while the second page was dedicated to media controls, and the third page for controlling HomeKit enabled devices linked in the Home application.
Control Center received a significant redesign in
iOS 11
iOS 11 is the iOS version history, eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers C ...
, unifying its different pages into one and allowing users to
3D Touch
Force Touch is a haptic technology developed by Apple Inc. that enables trackpads and touchscreens to distinguish between various levels of force being applied to their surfaces. It uses pressure sensors to add another method of input to Apple's ...
(or long press on devices without 3D Touch)
the icons for additional options, and vertical sliders allow users to adjust volume and brightness.
Control Center is customizable via the Settings app, and allows for a wider range of settings features to be shown,
including cellular service, Low Power Mode, and a shortcut to the
Notes
Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music
* ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian
* ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versio ...
app.
iOS 12
iOS 12 is the twelfth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. Aesthetically similar to its predecessor, iOS 11, it focuses more on performance than on new features, quality improvements and security updates. Anno ...
, released in 2018, brought a few new additions to Control Center, with Do Not Disturb being updated to allow
3D Touch
Force Touch is a haptic technology developed by Apple Inc. that enables trackpads and touchscreens to distinguish between various levels of force being applied to their surfaces. It uses pressure sensors to add another method of input to Apple's ...
ing or long pressing the icon to access a menu of preset durations of a Do Not Disturb session. With the 2020 release of
iOS 14 and
iPadOS 14
iPadOS 14 is the second major release of the iPadOS operating system developed by Apple for their iPad line of tablet computers. It was announced on June 22, 2020 at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) as the successor to i ...
, Control Center received a few other new additions, like sleep tracking, sound recognition and a
Shazam toggle. While in 2021, Control Center received a new Focus option and a new Keyboard Brightness option in
iOS 15 and
iPadOS 15
iPadOS 15 is the third major release of the iPadOS operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iPadOS 14, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 7, 2 ...
. And in 2022, with the release of
iOS 16
iOS 16 is the 16th and current major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPhone line of products. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 6, 2022, as the successor to ...
and
iPadOS 16
iPadOS 16 is the fourth and current major release of the iPadOS operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iPadOS 15, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on ...
, Control Center's sound recognition
Shazam feature now integrates its history with the main Shazam application's history, instead of the histories being separated.
Reception
Control Center has received generally positive reviews. In contrast for the user having to access the Settings application to change most preferences, Darrell Etherington of
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical.
Goi ...
thought that "separating
ontrol Centerfrom that function and making it accessible throughout the iOS user interface via a simple swipe up from bottom is a really big improvement."
The iOS 11 update was criticized for changing the way the buttons for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work; more specifically, the toggles would disconnect devices from Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, while leaving the radios on. The
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ...
stated that this change not only hurt battery life, but was also bad for security, describing the buttons as turning Wi-Fi and Bluetooth "off-ish" (greyed out, but not crossed out, as it would appear if switched off directly from the Settings app), as well as further criticizing the connections resuming at 5:00 am every day.
References
External links
Control Centeron Apple
*
{{macOS
IOS software
MacOS software