iOS 5 is the fifth major release of the iOS

mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablet computer, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal computing, personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobi ...

developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to

iOS 4 iOS 4 is the fourth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iPhone OS 3. It was announced at the Apple Special Event on April 8, 2010, and was released on June 21, 2010. iOS 4 is the ...

. It was announced at the company's

Worldwide Developers Conference The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in t ...

on June 6, 2011, and was released on October 12, 2011. It was succeeded by

iOS 6 iOS 6 is the sixth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc, being the successor to iOS 5. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, 2012, and was released on September 19, 20 ...

on September 19, 2012. iOS 5 revamped notifications, adding temporary banners that appear at the top of screen and introducing the

Notification Center Notification Center is a feature in iOS and macOS that provides an overview of alerts from applications. It displays notifications until the user completes an associated action, rather than requiring instant resolution. Users may choose what ...

, a central location for all recent notifications. The operating system also added

iCloud iCloud is a cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to the cloud, inclu ...

, Apple's

cloud storage service A file-hosting service, cloud-storage service, online file-storage provider, or cyberlocker is an internet hosting service specifically designed to host user files. It allows users to upload files that could be accessed over the internet afte ...

for synchronization of content and data across iCloud-enabled devices, and

iMessage iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms: macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Core features of iMessage, available on all supported platforms, in ...

, Apple's

instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and tri ...

service. For the first time, system software updates could be installed wirelessly, without requiring a computer and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

. iOS 5 also featured deep integration with

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, introduced multitasking gestures on

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, ...

s, and added an easily accessible camera shortcut from the lock screen. iOS 5 was the subject of criticism for

iPhone 4S The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone, succ ...

users, as the initial release had poor battery life, failures of

SIM card A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout) A GSM mobile phone file:Simkarte NFC SecureElement.jpg, T-Mobile nano-SIM card with NFC capabilities in the SIM tray of an iPhone 6s file:Tf sim both sides.png, A TracFone Wireless SIM card ha ...

s, and echoes during phone calls. These problems were fixed in subsequent releases.

History

Introduction and initial release

iOS 5 was introduced at the

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in t ...

on June 6, 2011, with a

beta version A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

available for developers later that day. iOS 5 was officially released on October 12, 2011.

Updates

System features

Notifications

In previous iOS versions, notifications popped up on the screen as dialog boxes, interrupting the current activity. In iOS 5, notifications are revamped, and show up as a temporary banner at the top of the screen. Recent notifications can also be accessed by pulling a "

" down from the top of the screen. Users who prefer the old notification system can keep it by choosing the appropriate option in the Settings menu.

iCloud

iOS 5 introduces

, Apple's

. The new service allows users to synchronize their music, pictures, videos, and application data across all of their iCloud-enabled devices for free.

Wireless updates

iOS 5 enables

wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

system updates on supported devices, meaning a computer and

aren't necessary to update devices. Both activation of new devices and updates can be done wirelessly.

Twitter integration

iOS 5 features deep

integration. Users are able to sign in to Twitter directly from the Settings menu. Photos can be "tweeted" directly from the Photos or Camera apps, and users are also able to tweet from the

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an impor ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, and

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

apps.

Multitasking

Multitasking gestures debut on iPad with the release of iOS 5. Multitasking allows users to jump between apps without double-tapping the home button or first going to the home screen. Multitasking gestures were only available on the

iPad 2 The iPad 2 is a tablet designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. Compared to the first iPad, as the second model in the iPad line, it gained a faster dual core A5 processor, a lighter build structure, and was the first iPad to feature V ...

Keyboard

The iPad keyboard could be undocked from the bottom of the screen, and could be split into two half-keyboards.

Siri

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer qu ...

, Apple's voice assistant, is supported on the

only. It was later extended to other devices in

App features

Photos and Camera

The first iOS 5 release allowed the Camera app to be easily accessed from the lock screen for the first time. Users double-clicked the home button, a camera icon would appear next to the "Slide to unlock" message, and users would click on it to directly access the camera. The iOS 5.1 update streamlined the process, dropping the home button double-click procedure, but requiring users to swipe up the camera icon. For security purposes when the device is locked with a passcode, this method of accessing the camera only allows access to the Camera app, and no other features of the device. Pressing the volume-up button allows the user to take a picture.

Messages

, a new

service built into the Messages app, allowed anyone with an iOS 5 device to send both basic and multimedia messages to anyone else with a compatible iOS 5 device. In contrast to

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

, messages sent through iMessage use the Internet rather than regular cellular texting, but also in contrast to regular SMS, Android and

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy ...

devices are not compatible with the service. iMessages are synchronized across the user's devices, and are color-coded blue, with regular SMS in green.

Mail

The iOS

Mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

app included rich text formatting, better indent control, flagging of messages, and the ability to drag addresses between To, CC, and BCC lines.

Reminders

Reminders allows users to create lists of tasks with alerts that can either be date-based or location-based.

Newsstand

Newsstand does not act as a native app, but rather a special folder. When selected, it shows icons for all of the periodicals that the user has subscribed to, such as newspapers and magazines. New issues are downloaded automatically.

Music and Videos

The iPod app was replaced by separate Music and Videos apps.

Problems

Initial upgrade issues

The initial October 2011 release of iOS 5 saw significant upgrade issues, with errors during installation and Apple server overload.

iPhone 4S battery life

Following user complaints, Apple officially confirmed that iOS 5 had poor battery life for some

users, and stated that an upcoming software update would fix the issues. The iOS 5.0.1 update fixed bugs related to battery issues.

Wi-Fi connectivity drops

In November 2011, ''

Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editor ...

'' reported that the iOS 5 update caused

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 ...

connection drops for some users. The report also wrote that "The recent iOS 5.0.1 update certainly hasn't fixed the matter, either", and questioned whether the events were unrelated or part of a larger issue.

SIM card failure

Some iPhone 4S users reported issues with the SIM card in iOS 5, being given error messages about "Invalid SIM" and "SIM Failure". Apple released a second software build of the 5.0.1 update designed to fix SIM card issues.

Phone call echo

Some iPhone 4S users reported the random appearance of echoes during phone calls made with earphones in the initial release of iOS 5. The other party in the call was sometimes unable to hear the conversation due to this problem.

Reception

Many aspects of iOS 5 received positive reviews, including the new notification center, the ability to sync and update wirelessly, iMessage, and more. Richmond Shane of ''Telegraph'' said "iOS 5 is a brilliant upgrade to an already brilliant operating system. Different people look for different things in a mobile operating system. That's why some people prefer BlackBerry, Android or Windows Mobile. I value ease of use and attention to detail in design. With iOS 5, Apple continues to deliver the best user experience available." Richard Goodwin of ''Know Your Mobile'' said "All in all, we reckon iOS 5 is everything it needs to be a more. We can't wait to get our teeth stuck into it as soon as it's released in the Autumn of 2011."

Supported devices

With this release, Apple dropped support for older devices, specifically the

iPhone 3G The iPhone 3G (also known as iPhone 2) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc.; it is the second generation of iPhone, successor to the original iPhone, and was introduced on June 9, 2008, at the WWDC 2008 at the Mosc ...

and the second-generation iPod Touch.

iPhone

iPhone 3GS The iPhone 3GS (originally styled iPhone 3G S) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the third generation iPhone and the successor to the iPhone 3G. It was unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the WWDC 2009 which took pl ...

iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...

iPod Touch

iPod Touch (3rd generation) The third generation iPod Touch (marketed as "the new iPod touch", and colloquially known as the iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 3, or iPod 3) is a multi-touch mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-based user interface ...

iPod Touch (4th generation) The fourth generation iPod Touch (marketed as "the new iPod touch", and colloquially known as the iPod Touch 4G, iPod Touch 4, or iPod 4) is a multi-touch mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-based user interfac ...

iPad

iPad (1st generation) The first-generation iPad ( ) (retrospectively referred to unofficially as the iPad 1, or original iPad) is a tablet computer designed and marketed by Apple Inc. as the first device in the iPad lineup of tablet computers. The device features ...

iPad (3rd generation) The iPad (3rd generation) (marketed as The new iPad, colloquially referred to as the iPad 3) is a tablet computer, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. The third device in the iPad line of tablets, it added a Retina Display, the new Apple A5X ...

Apple TV

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancesto ...

(2nd generation) *

(3rd generation)

References

External links

* {{Apple *5 2011 software Products introduced in 2011 Mobile operating systems Tablet operating systems Proprietary operating systems