In iOS 7 everything looks different – the icons, the wallpapers and colors – but everything is pretty much in the same place. That means even though everything is brighter and swooshier, your apps are still on the homescreen and you can swipe down from the top to get to your notifications.

PROS
-Fun animations and transitions
-Parallax design moves software as you move the phone
-All Apple apps can be hidden now in folders

CONS
-Some icons are pretty ugly
-Folders now take up whole screen

Search is in a different spot now. You can’t swipe to the left anymore to get to search or Apple’s spotlight. Instead you can swipe down from the center of the homescreen to get to the search field.

PROS
-Search is more organized
-More search settings options

CONS
-Only accessible from the homescreen
-Hard to discover

You know all those times you’ve spent digging through the settings menu to just lower the brightness on your phone or just turn on Wi-Fi? Apple has finally made things easier. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen on any screen (including in apps) and you’ve got Control Center, a panel with easy access to settings and other apps.

PROS
-Weather is hidden in notifications tray
-Saves a lot of time
-Includes a built-in flashlight

CONS
-You can’t customize what appears
-No shortcut to more advanced wireless settings

Don’t worry, you still can view all your open apps in the same way by double-tapping on the home button, but now there is an improved layout. Each app appears as a small card. You can close the app by swiping the card upward.

PROS
-Gives you glimpse of what is happening inside the open app
-Easy to close apps

CONS
-No way to kill all open apps

The snarky personal assistant in your phone has gotten an upgrade with stronger and clearer voices, including a male version too. Siri is also smarter – it can check more sources and help with more tasks, like playing voicemail or searching Wikipedia. That said, he or she still doesn’t always understand you.

PROS
-New voices are more appealing
-Refreshed interface is clean
-Still snarky

CONS
-Doesn’t always answer questions correctly

All of Apple’s apps have been given a makeover, including Notes, Photos, Weather and the Camera app. All of them are now cleaner without the textures or distracting backgrounds. The photo and camera apps in particular have been given lots of new features. Apps can also auto-update now, so no more red bubble alerts if you don’t want them.

PROS
-Safari design is slick, address bar is now a search bar
-Photo organization tools are useful

CONS
-Auto-app updates push changes you might not want

Sure, you can text a photo to a friend or email yourself a recording, but Apple’s making things a bit easier with its new sharing technology. With Airdrop, you can drop a photo or select file to a nearby friend using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The thing is Apple takes care of the tech in the background; you just select the photo, select the friend and drop it to them.

PROS
-Really simple to set up and use

CONS
-Doesn’t work with all file types and in all apps
-Only works with Airdrop-supported iPhones, Macs