Behind a layer of gloss and gradients, Apple has added some serious new functionality into iOS 7. This is no better demonstrated than by Control Center, perhaps the handiest new feature to grace the latest update to Apple’s mobile operating system.
Accessed with a simple swipe up from the bottom of the display (as opposed to a swipe down from the top, which opens Notification Center), Control Center puts a host of common smartphone functions right at your fingertips. You no longer have to dive into the Settings menu to toggle things like WiFi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb as well as adjust screen brightness. And AirDrop, don’t overlook AirDrop. But Control Center does much more than that.
How often do you use your phone as a flashlight? Nope, you don’t need to download an app to access the LED flash of your phone to illuminate your surroundings. Just tap a button in Control Center. Easy to find in the dark, instant light. Same goes for access to the Clock app, calculator, and camera. You can even set Control Center to be accessible from the lockscreen, allowing you to jump directly into any of those aforementioned apps.
And sandwiched between these toggles and app shortcuts? There’s your music playback controls. Play, pause, or skip. Scrub through a track and adjust volume. It’s like having an iTunes mini player right in your phone’s dock.
While iOS has long been lauded for it’s simplicity and ease of use, accessing controls for these various apps and services has not always been intuitive, or at least not intuitively tied to a central hub. Control Center solves that problem and does so beautifully. Yes, it even looks good. It’s semi-transparent background will absorb the colors of your wallpaper or the app running behind it (yes, you can open Control Center while running apps) for some extra visual pizazz.
If there is a drawback, it’s that adding a second gesture on top of swiping down for notifications means if you are bit overzealous you might find Control Center sliding open when you don’t want it to. But over time usage habits will adjust and Control Center will be a vital part of your iOS experience. I guarantee it.
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