The Apple iPhone line of Internet and multimedia enabled smartphones uses the iOS (formerly known as iPhone OS) operating system, also developed by Apple Inc. It also runs on similar devices made by Apple, the multi touch based LCD screen being the pattern that makes them similar. It also runs on Apple TV, but in this case it uses a different interface.
Such devices are the iPod portable media player and the Apple iPad tablet computer. The version history for the iOS began on June 29, 2007 when the first generation of iPhones was released. Apple provides various updates for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and it delivers them via iTunes. Other iPods are updated this way as well. Updating via iTunes is considered to be an advantage that the iPhone has over other mobile phones. By releasing these updates, Apple manages to fix certain bugs and security problems, but also add new features to the software. The Apple iOS operating system did not have a name until the release of the 2008 iPhone software development kit (iPhone SDK) on March, 6.
Until coming up with a name for it, the operating system was simply called “OS X”, making a reference to the iOS’ s origins, the Mac OS X Machintosh intended operating system. The decision of changing the name of the device from iPhone OS to iOS was taken on June 7, 2010 when Apple realized that they were no longer developing a software intended just for the iPhone, but for all touch screen enabled devices from Apple. The current update for the iOS is 4.2.1 for the iPod Touch and iPhone, and 4.2. On April 8, Apple organized a preview of the new iOS 4.0, which they released on June 21, 2010. The device has over 1500 new Apps, one of them being the highly anticipated multi tasking feature. Apple currently provides both iPhone and iPod Touch users with the same model of iOS, and iPhone users had a slight advantage because they got their updates for free, while iPod Touch users had to pay in order to see the second and third major updates run on their iPods.
Charging the iPod Touch for updates stopped as soon as the new iOS 4 was released. On November 18, 2010, Apple released the 4.2 software update which was the first one to be general released to the market. The 4.2.1 update replaces the 4.2 update. The difference between those two is that the iPhone 4.2.1 has all of the advantages of the 4.2 version, but none of its problems. s with other iOS releases, not all updates are equipped with the same features. Designed for the iPad, the 4.2 enabled users to use iOS 4’s key features such as creating folders, multi tasking, or Game Center.