VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple Inc.'s macOS, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and iPod operating systems. By using VoiceOver, the user can access their Macintosh or iOS device based on spoken descriptions and, in the case of the Mac, the keyboard. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind and low-vision users, as well as for users with dyslexia.
iOS is a mobile operating system based on macOS and on components of the Mach microkernel and FreeBSD, a Unix-like operating system, developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its smartphones. It was unveiled in January 2007 for the first-generation iPhone, launched in June 2007.
SpringBoard is the standard application that manages the iPhone's home screen. Other tasks include starting WindowServer, launching and bootstrapping applications and setting some of the device's settings on startup.
iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. and was first released as iPhone OS in June 2007, coinciding with the launch of the first generation iPhone. iPhone OS was renamed iOS following the release of the iPad, starting with iOS 4. With iOS 13, Apple began offering a separate operating system, iPadOS, for the iPad. iOS is also the foundation of the newer audioOS and tvOS, and shares some of its code with macOS. New iOS versions are released every year alongside new iPhone models. From its launch in 2007 until 2010, this occurred in June or July, since then, new major versions are released in September or October. Since the launch of the iPhone in June 2007, there have been 17 major releases of iOS. The current major version of iOS is iOS 17, released in September 2023.
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 released on June 21, 2010. iOS 4 was the first version branded as "iOS" rather than "iPhone OS", due to the release of the iPad. It was succeeded by iOS 5 on October 12, 2011.
iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was originally forked from iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, and given a new name to reflect the diverging features of the two product lines, particularly the iPad's multitasking capabilities. It was introduced as iPadOS 13 in 2019, reflecting its status as the successor to iOS 12 for the iPad, at the company's 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference.
Messages is an text messaging software application developed by Apple Inc. for its macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS operating systems.
iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 18 of that year. It was succeeded by iOS 8 on September 17, 2014.
The iPad Air 2 is the second-generation iPad Air tablet computer designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced on October 16, 2014, alongside the iPad Mini 3, both of which were released on October 22, 2014. The iPad Air 2 is thinner, lighter and faster than its predecessor, the first-generation iPad Air, and features Touch ID with the height, width and screen size the same as the iPad Air.
iOS 9 is the ninth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 8. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, and was released on September 16, 2015. It was succeeded by iOS 10 on September 13, 2016.
The iPad Mini 4 is the fourth-generation iPad Mini tablet computer designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It was announced along with the iPad Pro on September 9, 2015, and released the same day. The iPad Mini 4, which replaced the iPad Mini 3, was discontinued on March 18, 2019, when it was replaced by the fifth-generation iPad Mini. It features most of the hardware similar to the iPad Air 2 including its laminated display and design.
iOS 11 is the eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5, 2017, and was released on September 19, 2017. It was succeeded by iOS 12 on September 17, 2018.
iOS 12 is the twelfth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. Aesthetically similar to its predecessor, iOS 11, it focuses more on performance than on new features, quality improvements and security updates. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, iOS 12 was released to the public on September 17, 2018. It was succeeded for the iPhone and iPod Touch by iOS 13 on September 19, 2019, and for the iPad by iPadOS 13 on September 24, 2019. Security updates for iOS 12 continued for four years after the releases of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 for devices unable to run the newer versions. The last update, 12.5.7, was released on January 23, 2023.
iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for the iPhone, iPod Touch and HomePod. The successor to iOS 12, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 3, 2019, and released on September 19, 2019. It was succeeded by iOS 14, released on September 16, 2020.
macOS Catalina is the sixteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. It is the successor to macOS Mojave and was announced at WWDC 2019 on June 3, 2019 and released to the public on October 7, 2019. Catalina is the first version of macOS to support only 64-bit applications and the first to include Activation Lock. It is also the last version of macOS to have the major version number of 10; its successor, Big Sur, released on November 12, 2020, is version 11. In order to increase web compatibility, Safari, Chromium and Firefox have frozen the OS in the user agent running in subsequent releases of macOS at 10.15.7 Catalina.
iPadOS 13 is the first major release of the iPadOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iOS 12 on those devices, it was announced at the company's 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 3, 2019, as a derivation from iOS, with a greater emphasis on multitasking and tablet-centric features. It was released on September 24, 2019. It was succeeded by iPadOS 14, released on September 16, 2020.
iOS 14 is the fourteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPod Touch lines. Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 22, 2020 as the successor to iOS 13, it was released to the public on September 16, 2020. It was succeeded by iOS 15 on September 20, 2021.
iPadOS 15 is the third major release of the iPadOS operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iPadOS 14, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 7, 2021 along with iOS 15, macOS Monterey, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15. It was released to the public on September 20, 2021. It was succeeded by iPadOS 16, which was released on October 24, 2022.
iOS 15 is the fifteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPhone and iPod Touch lines of products. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7, 2021, as the successor to iOS 14 and released to the public on September 20, 2021.
iPadOS 16 is the fourth major release of the iPadOS operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. The successor to iPadOS 15, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 6, 2022, along with iOS 16, macOS Ventura, watchOS 9, and tvOS 16. It received numerous new features, improving multitasking and many other aspects of the operating system, most notably on iPads with Apple's M1 SoC and later.
