The wait is finally over! Go download iOS 5 and all of the glory that comes along with it. It’s officially available as a free download on iTunes. Just plug in your iDevice, click update, and enjoy. Of course once you do that, you’ll have to wait for the update to actually download and install. Mine says about an hour is remaining. Yikes.
So what are the benefits of downloading this highly-anticipated software update? Well for starters, Notification Center serves to make notifications on iOS much less annoying. Drag from the top to see all of your recent notifications (as well as new stock and weather widgets) and enjoy a subtle, distraction-free animation when new ones come in. iMessage is essentially BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) but way better. It’s a free messaging system for anyone with an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iOS 5.
Those are just two highlights, but luckily Apple says iOS 5 delivers over 200 new features. There’s Newsstand for better organization of magazine subscriptions, built-in Twitter integration, a new Reminders app, enhanced camera functionality, native photo editing, tabbed browsing and multitasking gestures on iPad, Wi-Fi sync to iTunes, and the list goes on and on. And on. Plus, don’t forget everything that comes with iCloud.
Remember, you must upgrade to iTunes 10.5 first for compatibility reasons. You must also own an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, and third or fourth-generation iPod touch. Happy downloading!