Apple iOS 5 review

There's a lot to like about the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, but some rough edges remain as we discover in our review.

IT Pro Verdict

Even if iOS 5 wasn't filled to the rafters with new and improved features, it's hard to argue against installing it since it's free of charge. For existing iOS owners it's not a question of whether to upgrade, but when to upgrade. This will depend on whether the apps you depend on are compatible with iOS 5 and, if not, when they will be updated and have made their way through Apple's approval process. However, it's a different story for dedicated users of rival mobile operating systems. Although we think iOS 5 is on balance the best mobile OS currently available, Apple is not budging on its design decisions such as no access to the file system. If you've been dissatisfied with iOS before, there's nothing here to change your mind.

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Mac OS X Lion users will feel right at home in the iCloud web apps.

Photo Stream is a mixed bag. This feature automatically backs up photos taken on your iOS device to all your other iOS devices and to your computers too. While handy, it only backs up your 1000 most recent photos, so you have to manually save photos you want to keep on your computer to prevent them from being automatically deleted. There's no obvious way to share photos with other users, as you can with rival services such as Flickr, either.

We have mixed feelings about iCloud. It's a good start, but many elements of it need refinement, especially as Google and Microsoft integrate the cloud ever more tightly into their rival operating systems. If you have security concerns about iCloud, it can be disabled entirely but sadly you can't selectively enable it for only some apps.

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