iOS 5 includes more than 200 new features for your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
Here's a quick look at a few of our favorites. Watch the video
Notification Center
iMessage
Newsstand
Reminders
Twitter
Camera
Photos
Safari
PC Free
More features Notification Center
All your alerts. All in one place.
You get all kinds of notifications on your iOS device: new email, texts, friend requests, and more. With Notification Center, you can keep track of them all in one convenient location. Just swipe down from the top of any screen to enter Notification Center. Choose which notifications you want to see. Even see a stock ticker and the current weather. New notifications appear briefly at the top of your screen, without interrupting what you’re doing. And the Lock screen displays notifications so you can act on them with just a swipe. Notification Center is the best way to stay on top of your life’s breaking news.
No more interruptions
Notifications appear at the top of your screen and disappear quickly.
One-swipe access
Swipe down to reveal Notification Center.
See more at a glance
View stocks and weather, too.
Overview Lock Screen Notifications Back to top iMessage
iPad and iPod touch join the conversation.
With iMessage, we’ve created a new messaging service for all iOS 5 users. You can send unlimited text messages via Wi-Fi or 3G from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to anyone with one of those devices. iMessage is built into the Messages app, so you can send text, photos, videos, locations, and contacts. Keep everyone in the loop with group messaging. Track your messages with delivery receipts and optional read receipts, see when someone’s typing, and enjoy secure encryption for text messages. Even start a conversation on one of your iOS devices and pick up where you left off on another.
Send more than text
Send photos, videos, contacts, or locations.
See when they’re typing
Ellipsis points appear when someone’s responding.
Start here, finish there
Begin a conversation on one iOS device and pick it up on another.
Back to top Newsstand
A custom newsstand for all your subscriptions.
Read all about it. All in one place. iOS 5 organizes your magazine and newspaper app subscriptions in Newsstand: a folder that lets you access your favorite publications quickly and easily. There’s also a new place on the App Store just for newspaper and magazine subscriptions. And you can get to it straight from Newsstand. New purchases go directly to your Newsstand folder. Then, as new issues become available, Newsstand automatically updates them in the background — complete with the latest covers. It’s kind of like having the paper delivered to your front door. Only better.
All the news
Newsstand keeps your subscriptions in one place.
Read the latest
Alerts tell you when new issues arrive.
Shop for more
Tap to shop the App Store for new subscriptions.
Newsstand Folder Shop for Subscriptions Back to top Reminders
A better way to do to-dos.
Next time you think to yourself, “Don’t forget to...,” just pull out your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and jot it down. Reminders lets you organize your life in to-do lists — complete with due dates and locations. Say you need to remember to pick up milk during your next grocery trip. Since Reminders can be location based, you’ll get an alert as soon as you pull into the supermarket parking lot. Reminders also works with iCal, Outlook, and iCloud, so changes you make update automatically on all your devices and calendars.
See what’s next
View reminders by date.
Make a list
Reminders appear in a clean, ordered list.
List Views Location Reminders Back to top Twitter
Integrated right into iOS 5.
iOS 5 makes it even easier to tweet from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Sign in once in Settings, and suddenly you can tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, or Maps. Want to mention or @reply to a friend? Contacts applies your friends’ Twitter usernames and profile pictures. So you can start typing a name and iOS 5 does the rest. You can even add a location to any tweet, no matter which app you’re tweeting from.
Single sign-on
Sign in once and tweet as you go.
Tweet from your apps
Twitter is integrated systemwide.
Add a location
Say where you’re tweeting from.
Overview Tweeting a Photo App Integration Back to top Camera
Capture the moment at a moment’s notice.
Since your iPhone is always with you, it’s often the best way to capture those unexpected moments. That’s why you’ll love the new camera features in iOS 5. You can open the Camera app right from the Lock screen. Use grid lines, pinch-to-zoom gestures, and single-tap focus and exposure locks to compose a picture on the fly. Then press the volume-up button to snap your photo in the nick of time. If you have Photo Stream enabled in iCloud, your photos automatically download to all your other devices.
Access from Lock screen
Open the Camera app with one tap.
Shutter button
Press the volume-up button to take a picture.
Quick Access Composition Back to top Photos
Enhanced photo enhancements.
Turn your snapshots into frame-worthy photos in just a few taps. Crop, rotate, enhance, and remove red-eye without leaving the Photos app. Even organize your photos in albums — right on your device. With iCloud, you can push new photos to all your iOS devices. So if you’re taking photos on your iPhone, iCloud automatically sends copies to your iPad, where you can quickly touch them up before showing them off.
Edit onscreen
Tap to enhance your photo or remove red-eye.
Crop and rotate
Adjust your photos with ease.
Edit and Crop Auto-Enhance Remove Red-Eye Back to top Safari
Even better site-seeing.
iOS 5 brings even more web-browsing features to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Safari Reader displays web articles sans ads or clutter so you can read without distractions. Reading List lets you save interesting articles to peruse later, while iCloud keeps your list updated across all your devices. On iPad, tabbed browsing helps you keep track of multiple web pages and switch between them with ease. And iOS 5 improves Safari performance on all your iOS devices.
Reading List
Tap to save a page to read later.
Tabbed browsing
Move between sites using tabs on iPad.
Reader
Tap to read articles without clutter.
Overview Reader Reading List Back to top PC Free
Independence for all iOS devices.
With iOS 5, you no longer need a computer to own an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Activate and set up your device wirelessly, right out of the box. Download free iOS software updates directly on your device. Do more with your apps — like editing your photos or adding new email folders — on your device, without the need for a Mac or PC. And back up and restore your device automatically using iCloud.
Back to top Mail
Your inbox is about to receive some great new features. Format text using bold, italic, or underlined fonts. Create indents in the text of your message. Drag to rearrange names in address fields. Flag important messages. Even add and delete mailbox folders on the fly. If you’re looking for a specific email, you can now search in the body of messages. And with iCloud, you get a free email account that stays up to date on all your devices.
CalendarGet more perspective on your schedule with year view on iPad and week view on iPhone and iPod touch. Tap to create an event and drag to adjust the time and duration. Add, rename, and delete calendars directly from your device. And view event attachments without leaving the Calendar app. iCloud lets you share calendars with friends and family, and it keeps your events in sync on all your devices.
Back to top Game CenteriOS is the world’s most popular gaming platform. With iOS 5, you can get your game face on with even more Game Center features. Post a profile picture. Meet your match with new friend recommendations based on the games you play and the players you already know. Discover new games without leaving Game Center. And size up an opponent on the spot with new overall achievement scores.1
Wi-Fi SyncWirelessly sync your iOS device to your Mac or PC over a shared Wi-Fi connection. Every time you connect your iOS device to a power source (say, overnight for charging), it automatically syncs and backs up any new content to iTunes. So you always have your movies, TV shows, home videos, and photo albums everywhere you want them.
Back to top Multitasking Gestures for iPad 2iOS 5 includes a few new moves and shortcuts to help you get around even quicker on your iPad 2: Using four or five fingers, swipe up to reveal the multitasking bar, pinch to return to the Home screen, and swipe left or right to switch between apps.
AirPlay MirroringWow your audience in the board room, classroom, or living room. AirPlay now supports video mirroring. Which means you can wirelessly — and securely — stream whatever’s on your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S to your HDTV via Apple TV. Everyone in the room sees exactly what’s on your iPad or iPhone display up on the big screen — even when you rotate your device from portrait to landscape or zoom in and out.2
Accessibility
iOS 5 comes with innovative new features that make it easier for people with mobility, hearing, vision, and cognitive disabilities to get the most from their iOS devices. iOS 5 works with specialized hardware accessories. The LED flash and custom vibration settings let you see and feel when someone’s calling. And improvements to VoiceOver include custom element labeling. These are just a few of the ways iOS 5 continues making advances in the field of accessibility. Learn more about iOS 5 and accessibility
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
iPod touch 3rd generation
iPod touch 4th generation
iOS 5 is compatible with:
