iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. and was first released in June 2007 alongside the first generation iPhone. iPhone OS was renamed iOS following the release of the iPad starting with iOS 4. With iOS 13, Apple began offering a separate operating system, iPadOS, for the iPad. iOS is also the foundation of watchOS and tvOS, and shares some of its code with macOS. New iOS versions are released yearly, alongside new iPhone models. From the launch of the iPhone in 2007 until the launch of iPhone 4 in 2010, this occurred in June or July; since then, new major versions are usually released in September, with the exception of iOS 5, which released in October 2011. Since the launch of the iPhone in June 2007, there have been twenty major versions of iOS, with the current major version being iOS 27 which was released on September 14, 2026.
Overview
+ Overview of iOS versions Version Initial release date Latest version Latest release date Device end-of-life iPad iPhone iPod Touch iPhone OS 1 rowspan="4" colspan="2" rowspan="2" iPhone OS 2 iPhone OS 3 1st 1st iOS 4 3G 2nd iOS 5 1st 3rd iOS 6 rowspan="3" 3GS 4th iOS 7 4 iOS 8 colspan="2" iOS 9 2, 3rd, Mini 4s 5th iOS 10 4th 5, 5c iOS 11 colspan="3" iOS 12 Air (1st), Mini 2, Mini 3 5s, 6 6th iOS 13 rowspan="9" colspan="2" rowspan="2" iOS 14 iOS 15 6s, SE (1st), 7 7th iOS 16 8, X rowspan="6" iOS 17 iOS 18 XS, XR iOS 26 rowspan="1" iOS 27 rowspan="2"
Releases iPhone OS 1
iPhone OS 1 was announced on January 9, 2007, alongside the first-generation iPhone, with both releasing on June 29. The operating system lacked an official name upon release, with Steve Jobs being quoted as saying "iPhone runs OS X"; however it was later referred to as iPhone Software. During the development phase of iPhone OS 1, there were around 16 or 17 concepts that were developed. Many on the team were skeptical of the feasibility of a touchscreen keyboard, and believed that users would prefer hardware keyboards. A number of different user interfaces were prototyped, including one that involved a multi-touch click-wheel.
iPhone OS 1 laid the groundwork of the iPhone's operating system, including a grid-based Home Screen called SpringBoard, and a set of 16 built-in apps, including Text, for sending Short Message Service (SMS) messages; a YouTube app for watching videos hosted on the platform; and Maps, an app built around Google Maps with support for route directions, traffic conditions in supported regions, and support for finding and contacting businesses. It also featured a version of Safari, the web browser from Mac OS X, built around the iPhone's touchscreen interface. Other apps included iPod, for playback of music synced from a Mac or PC; Mail, for composing, viewing, and receiving emails; Phone, for taking or making calls, viewing or adding contacts, and listening to voicemails; and Settings, for customizing the behavior of iPhone OS and its built-in apps, among others. Support for multi-touch gestures, such as pinch-to-zoom, double tap, and scrolling via flicking and dragging was also included. However, the operating system was criticized for not supporting content made with Adobe Flash, lacking support for cut, copy and paste features, as well as its lack of support for Bluetooth stereo headphones. It also lacked support for third-party native apps, having support only for web apps, which was criticized by reviewers and developers, including John Carmack.
iPhone OS 1.1 was released alongside the first-generation iPod Touch on September 5 as an update exclusive to the device, and added the iTunes Music Store which allowed users to purchase and download music directly onto their iPod Touch. iPhone OS 1.1.1, released on September 27, brought the iTunes Music Store to the iPhone alongside other changes, including louder audio receiver and loudspeaker volume, support for viewing Mail attachments in both portrait and landscape orientations, the ability to adjust the volume of alerts, additional intervals for passcode locking, and an option in Settings that allows turning on or off double tapping the space bar on the built-in software keyboard to automatically insert a period and space. Less significant changes included support for changing the order of stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather, and the ability to disable EDGE and GPRS while roaming. iPhone OS 1.1.2 was released on November 9, adding additional language support and fixing a TIFF security vulnerability.
iPhone OS 1.1.3 was released on January 15, 2008 and added several new features, particularly in Maps, such as a hybrid map view combining the satellite view and street and place labels, the ability to triangulate the user's current location via the use of Wi-Fi and cellular towers as well as the ability to drop pins to specific locations. The Home Screen additionally received several enhancements, including support for rearranging icons, adding shortcuts to websites from Safari, and up to eight individual Home Screen pages. Other changes include increasing the amount of SMS messages that can be stored to 75,000 messages from 1,000 messages, and adding support in Text for sending a message to multiple recipients. Apps were also changed to run from the user mobile instead of the root superuser. iPhone OS 1.1.4 was released on February 26 as the last iPhone OS 1 update for the original iPhone, while iPhone OS 1.1.5 was released on July 15 as the last iPhone OS 1 update for the first-generation iPod Touch.
iPhone OS 2
iPhone OS 2 was announced on March 6, 2008 and was released alongside the iPhone 3G on July 11 as a paid update on iPod Touch and a free update on prior iPhone models. It introduced the App Store, a digital storefront allowing users to purchase or download apps directly onto an iPhone or iPod Touch. A software development kit, the iPhone SDK, was released alongside the update and included a set of tools and application programming interfaces (APIs) allowing third-party developers to create native applications. A number of features for enterprise environments were also introduced, including support for Microsoft Exchange through ActiveSync for push emails, contacts and calendars; support for the IPsec VPN protocol; and the ability to remotely wipe a device if marked as lost or stolen. Several new features were added to Mail, including support for viewing Microsoft Office and iWork attachments; the ability to delete or move multiple emails at once; support for blind carbon copy; and the ability to select an outgoing email when composing messages. Other new features included a scientific mode in Calculator while in landscape, a search function for Contacts, and Restrictions, a parental controls system that allows users to, via a 4-digit passcode, lock down certain functionality of the operating system, i.e. disabling access to Safari or disabling playback of explicit music. Several technical and security features were also added, including Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 and IEEE 802.1X support; and the ability to re-enable Wi-Fi while in Airplane Mode.
iPhone OS 2.1 was released on September 12 and added the ability to create Genius playlists, the ability to turn on the forced deletion of all data stored on an iPhone or iPod Touch after ten incorrect passcode attempts, and the ability to disable access to the Camera app from within Restrictions. The update also included numerous bug fixes and technical improvements, including fixes for issues that could cause calls to drop or fail to initialize, improved speed when installing third-party apps from the App Store, improved battery life, reliability improvements when fetching email from IMAP or POP accounts, and hang and crash fixes for when users have a large number of installed third-party apps. iPhone OS 2.1.1 was released alongside the second-generation iPod Touch as an exclusive update unavailable to other iPhone OS 2 devices.
iPhone OS 2.2 was released on November 20 and added new features to Maps, including integration with Google Street View, support for directions when taking public transit or walking, and the ability to share a location by email. Dropped pins were also changed to display the dropped pin's address when tapped. Several changes were also made to Mail, including fixes for isolated issues with regard to scheduled fetching of emails, and improvements to wide HTML email format handling. Other changes made in the update include improved performance and stability within Safari, the ability to download podcasts from the iTunes Store over either Wi-Fi or cellular data, improved sound quality of visual voicemail messages, and the ability to go back to the first Home Screen from any other Home Screen by pressing the Home button. An option in Settings was also added that allows users to turn off the software keyboard's autocorrection feature. iPhone OS 2.2.1 was released on January 27, 2009, as the final version of iPhone OS 2 and contained several fixes, including a fix for SMS messages failing to send.
iPhone OS 3
iPhone OS 3 was announced on March 17, 2009 and was released on June 17 alongside the iPhone 3GS. No devices were dropped with this release, but not all features were supported on the original iPhone. It added support for cut, copy and paste, a feature that was previously only available through jailbreaking. Spotlight, the search feature from Mac OS X, was added, allowing users to search for items on their device such as applications, notes, emails, calendar events and music stored on-device; as was Voice Memos, an app that allows users to capture and record audio. The update also included expanded support for landscape orientation including for the software keyboard, adding it to apps like Notes, Mail, and Messages after it was previously only available in apps like Safari and Calculator, with Calculator having previously received support for landscape in iPhone OS 2.0. The Stocks app also received support for landscape when viewing stock history charts. Other major features added with the update included the ability to record video from within the Camera app on the iPhone 3GS; support for sending and receiving Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages on the iPhone 3G and later in the renamed Messages app; expanded support for Bluetooth including stereo headsets; the ability to purchase movies, TV shows, music videos and audiobooks from the iTunes Store app; and the ability for users to shake their device to shuffle the songs in their music library. iPhone OS 3.0.1 was released on July 31 and brought with it a fix for an issue where a maliciously crafted SMS message could lead to arbitrary code execution.
iPhone OS 3.1 was released on September 9 and added support for purchasing ringtones via the iTunes Store, further expanding on the functionality added to the app in iPhone OS 3.0. It also updated the Genius feature to support recommending apps based on the apps currently installed on a user's device. Other features added include support for using Voice Control with a Bluetooth headsets on the iPhone 3GS; the ability for the ability to redeem iTunes gift cards through the App Store; the ability to save videos received from Mail or MMS to the device's camera roll; the option to save a trimmed video as a separate video rather than overwriting the original video; and support for remotely locking an iPhone with a passcode through MobileMe. The update also included various improvements such as better Wi-Fi performance on the iPhone 3G when Bluetooth is enabled; the ability to paste phone numbers directly into the dialpad in the Phone app; improved support for calendar and invitation syncing over Microsoft Exchange; support in Safari for warning when a fraudulent website is visited; and an option to use the Home Button on the iPhone 3GS to toggle on accessibility features. It also fixed an issue where certain app icons were unable to be displayed correctly.