Top 6 iOS 7 Features That Will Improve Your Life; Do You Like Apple's Big Change? [POLL]

Yesterday Apple finally released their long-awaited iOS 7 to the public and there have been mixed reviews for the new operating system. On social networking sites, forums and websites people are either in love with Apple's iOS 7 software or they absolutely hate it. The new software is now available with an OTA (over the air) update and is available for newer iOS devices. There are many changes to iOS 7 from iOS 6 that Apple hasn't highlighted.

By far the biggest iOS 7 feature is its overall all-new "flat" design, which brings the operating system up to modern times. The overall look is improved, however, the features are few. There are many improvements under the hood like better background app management to help preserve battery life and little changes like app management and sharing functions with friends. Overall we feel like this update was a much needed improvement for Apple and is definitely a step in the right direction.

While many websites have featured many of the new functions and services since its announcement at WWDC this past June, none have really highlighted some of the features that will help you immensely when using an iPhone, iPod or iPad. We have gathered up some of the features that we believe can improve your life and make your experience with your iOS device a little easier. Without further ado here is our list of features that will vastly improve your life!

Block a number

Creepers, stalkers and crazy ex's beware. In Apple's new iOS 7 you can now block a number in your contacts. To do so, you head to the person's contact page and scroll to the bottom. There, you'll see an option to block a number's call, SMS and iMessage and even FaceTime requests. The contact must remain in our phone so the person can remain blocked.

App switching and killing live previews

When you double-click your home button to see your open applications, you will now see what each of those applications is up to. Simple swipe left or right to browse through your open apps. To close one, swipe up and it closes out the app for you.

Swipe right instead of using the back arrow

In most apps you no longer have to reach all the way up to the top left to hit the back arrow. Now, you just simple swipe from left to right to go back to the latest page.

'Spotlight' search is now at the top of the home screen

Instead of swiping to the far left screen to search through "Spotlight" now users only need to swipe down on the home screen to pull up the "Spotlight" search bar.

View text history when the reply window is full

This has probably happened to all of us before you type a really long response to a friend and before you want to send you need to double check what your friend has said but can't because you only have the option to send or erase because your text history is blocked from your long-winded message.

Well now you can view text history before sending, Swipe down from the contacts name to hide the keyboard without getting rid of your message.

View times for every text message

You can now swipe left to peek at each text messages timestamp. Now you can keep track of who is or isn't ignoring your text messages and you'll have proof to back up your arguments.

If you haven't downloaded the new iOS yet you can do so for free by following these instructions. Go to settings > General > Software Update. Make sure your data is backed up to iCloud or iTunes before you download the new software.

Related: iOS 7 Release News: Once You Download iOS 7 You Cannot Downgrade [VIDEO]