Developer(s) Apple Inc. Platform iOS | Operating system License Same as iOS 7 | |
Stable release iOS 10.0.1 / September 13, 2016; 5 months ago (2016-09-13) Website Archived November 1, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. | ||
Control Center (or Control Centre in some countries) is a feature of Apple Inc.'s iOS operating system, introduced as part of iOS 7, released on September 18, 2013. It gives iOS devices direct access to important settings for the device by swiping a finger up from the bottom of the display. It is similar to the SBSettings tweak for iOS jailbreaking.
Contents
Usage
Control Center gives iOS users quick access to commonly used controls and apps. By swiping up from any screen – including the Lock screen (if the control center is set to be accessed from the lock screen) – users can do such things as switch on Airplane mode, turn Wi-Fi on or off, adjust the display brightness and similar basic functions of the device. It also includes a new integrated flashlight function to operate the reverse camera's flash LED as a flashlight. The flashlight feature is only available on iPhones and the iPod Touch, but not available on iPads. Night shift is available on iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads that are on iOS 9.3 or higher. On the iPhone 4 the control center is not transparent.
Other functions offered are the ability to turn on or off Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb; lock the screen’s orientation; play, pause, or skip a song, and see what is playing; connect to AirPlay-enabled devices; and quickly access the clock, calculator, and camera apps. Users also have access to AirDrop, previously only available on Macs and newly added to iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch using the Lightning connector in iOS 7, as a method of transferring files between Apple devices.
Reception
Control Center has received generally positive reviews. In contrast for the user having to access the Settings applications to change most preferences, Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch thought that "separating [Control Center] from that function and making it accessible throughout the iOS user interface via a simple swipe up from bottom is a really big improvement."