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This is what iOS 7 will look like on Apple’s iPad with retina display, iPad 2 and iPad mini.
Apple unveiled its new iOS mobile software last week, but hasn’t really shown off how it will look on the iPad tablet. iOS 7 will come to the iPad at the same time as it hits the iPhone later in the year, but the beta version — available to download now — is only for the iPhone 5.
There’s only one picture (the one above) on Apple’s website of the iPad line-up with the colourful, cleaner, new-look iOS 7 on board. But developers spotted by 9to5Mac, have given us a glimpse of iOS 7 on the iPad by running the new software on the iOS Simulator, a developer tool designed for app-builders to road-test their nascent apps.
The iPad version of the new software still looks similar to the way the current iPad relates to the iPhone: a grid of four icons by five, with a fixed tray at the bottom.
The biggest difference is that some features, most notably the Control Centre, cover up less of the screen. Control Centre is a bar of quick access buttons and shortcuts — letting you quickly toggle Wi-Fi or flight mode, for instance — that you drag up from the bottom of the screen. It covers most of the iPhone screen, but is wider and shorter on the iPad and takes up less space.
There also appears to be a red icon in the tablet homescreen that doesn’t show up on the phone, which looks like an icon for Photo Booth.
Fingers crossed that as we see more of iOS 7, there are some changes to help the software make the most of the larger screen.
To try out the iOS 7 beta for the iPhone 5 you need to register with Apple as a developer. The software goes public this autumn, and will work on the retina iPad, iPad 2 and iPad mini.
What do you think of iOS 7? Should Apple have taken the opportunity to make some changes specific to the tablet, or should it stay consistent with the iPhone? Table your motions in the comments or on our Facebook page.
