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Release appearance

iOS 7.0 Public

Full article
Public release

Recorded context

About this appearance

The public iOS 7 release combined a system-wide redesign with new quick controls, background behavior, sharing, media, security, accessibility, and administration capabilities.

Date
Sep 18, 2013
Availability
available
Revision
No

Release notes

What changed

Original editorial synthesis. Linked references appear with the claims they support and in the source ledger.

The most visible change was structural rather than cosmetic alone: Apple rebuilt the interface around new typography, color, translucency, and motion while adding Control Center and a lock-screen-accessible Notification Center with a Today view.[1][2]

Under that surface, iOS 7 expanded multitasking and nearby sharing, reorganized photos, modernized Safari and Siri, added Activation Lock and FaceTime Audio, and introduced new accessibility, enterprise, and education controls alongside extensive security fixes.[3][4]

Source ledger

References

Sources are linked to the claims they support. Publication and access dates are shown when available.

  1. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — New design, Control Center, and Notification Center

    Back to text ↑
  2. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · Redesigned interface, Control Center, and Notification Center

    Back to text ↑
  3. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Multitasking through Education features

    Back to text ↑
  4. About the security content of iOS 7

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · iOS 7 security content

    Back to text ↑
  5. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · Activation Lock and FaceTime Audio

  7. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · App Store improvements

  8. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · Availability beginning September 18, 2013

  10. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · Completely redesigned user interface

  11. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · Control Center and Notification Center

  12. About the security content of iOS 7

    Apple Support · 2026-07-30 · Data Protection, IOKit, Kernel, Safari, and WebKit entries

  13. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · Improved Multitasking

  14. Apple security updates (2013)

    Apple Support · Apple · 2026-07-30 · iOS 7 — 18 Sept 2013

  15. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Accessibility features

  16. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — AirDrop

  17. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — App Store improvements

  18. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Camera and Photos improvements

  19. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Control Center and Notification Center improvements

  20. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Enterprise and Education features

  21. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Find My iPhone Activation Lock and communication features

  22. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Multitasking improvements

  23. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — New design

  24. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7 — Safari, iTunes Radio, and Siri improvements

  25. About iOS 7 Updates

    Apple Support · Apple · 2013-09-18T00:00:00.000Z · iOS 7

  26. iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18

    Apple Newsroom · 2013-09-10T00:00:00Z · Safari, Siri, and iTunes Radio

Release changes

Changed in this release

Features, fixes, removals, and regressions first observed in this release record.

security · introduced

Activation Lock and communication controls

documentedconfirmed

The release required account authentication for disabling Find My iPhone, erasing or reactivating a device, and signing out of iCloud; it also added data-based FaceTime calls and blocking across Phone, Messages, and FaceTime.

  1. [1] iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18 · Activation Lock and FaceTime Audio
  2. [2] About iOS 7 Updates · iOS 7 — Find My iPhone Activation Lock and communication features

feature · introduced

Expanded accessibility controls

documentedconfirmed

Users gained switch-based device control, customizable captions, VoiceOver handwriting and Nemeth Braille output, premium speech voices, and expanded hearing-aid support on compatible hardware.

  1. [1] About iOS 7 Updates · iOS 7 — Accessibility features

enhancement · changed

Enterprise and education management expansion

documentedconfirmed

The release added managed open-in rules, per-app VPN, enterprise single sign-on, remote managed-app configuration, streamlined MDM enrollment, web filtering, and additional AirPlay classroom controls.

  1. [1] About iOS 7 Updates · iOS 7 — Enterprise and Education features

security · fixed

Security foundation repairs

documentedconfirmed

Representative fixes tightened passcode-attempt enforcement, prevented background apps from injecting interface events, corrected several kernel and content-processing defects, and addressed browser memory-safety issues.

  1. [1] About the security content of iOS 7 · Data Protection, IOKit, Kernel, Safari, and WebKit entries

feature · introduced

Safari, Siri, and iTunes Radio expansion

documentedconfirmed

Safari combined search and addresses and added new tab and shared-link views; Siri gained new voices, integrated reference and web results, and settings control; iTunes Radio offered curated and user-created stations.

  1. [1] About iOS 7 Updates · iOS 7 — Safari, iTunes Radio, and Siri improvements
  2. [2] iOS 7 With Completely Redesigned User Interface & Great New Features Available September 18 · Safari, Siri, and iTunes Radio