June 21, 2010: Apple releases iOS 4, which introduces a range of productivity features as well as the FaceTime videotelephony service. The iOS 4 launch represents a big step forward for Apple’s flourishing mobile devices.
Due to the arrival of the first-gen iPad earlier in the year, iOS 4 also brings a transition from the mobile operating system’s original name, “iPhone OS.”
iOS 4 release brings important updates to iPhone, iPad
Apple CEO Steve Jobs first showed off iOS 4 at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7, 2010, alongside the iPhone 4. The new mobile OS made it exceedingly clear that the iPhone was now a productivity tool in its own right, rather than simply an entertainment device.
iOS 4 ladled on new features, including spell-checking, Bluetooth keyboard compatibility and Home Screen backgrounds. Most crucially, however, it brought multitasking to the iPhone for the first time. The update gave users the ability to keep certain apps running in the background while using others (for instance, playing music while reading a website). It also made it easy to skip between different open apps.
FaceTime, Game Center and iBooks
In addition, the iOS 4 launch brought a host of other neat innovations. These included Home Screen folders and a new unified Mail inbox capable of managing different accounts. A new geolocation feature made it easier to sort your images (an early precursor to the AI filtering that arrived in iOS 10, and was supercharged by Apple Intelligence in iOS 18).
Apple’s new software for iPhone and iPad also added a zoom mode and tap-to-focus features for the camera, plus web and Wikipedia results in Universal Search.
However, iOS 4’s biggest talking point was the addition of FaceTime. Apple’s proprietary videotelephony app, which allowed iPhone and iPad users to communicate in real time using audio and video, earned good reviews from most people. But the deaf community in particular embraced the new technology, which worked well with sign language. (Apple emphasized this capability in a FaceTime ad at the time, which you can watch below.)
Some new iOS 4 features proved controversial
Not everything about the iOS 4 launch proved successful, however. It also introduced two controversial new apps: Game Center and iBooks.
A social network for gamers, Game Center never really caught on. Apple quietly killed the Game Center app in 2016, although it continues to function as a social gaming network. And Cupertino gave the idea another try in iOS 26 by introducing the Games app.
iBooks, meanwhile, showcased Apple’s new excitement about e-books. That ultimately landed the company in hot water after Cupertino colluded with publishers to fix e-book prices.
iOS 4 was a very important update
Do you remember the iOS 4 launch? What were your thoughts on it? Leave your comments below.
