The latest iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 7, features flatter designs, new push notifications that send notes to users’ lock screens, and a more seamless integration with mobile apps, among other features.
App developers everywhere — including those working in the real estate space on popular apps from Zillow, ZipRealty, Trulia, realtor.com and Redfin — are ramping up now to take advantage of the operating system’s new features and make sure their apps are optimized for iOS 7 when it becomes available to consumers sometime this fall.
Jeremy Wacksman, vice president of consumer and mobile marketing at Zillow, pointed out that on first look, the enhanced notifications feature of the new operating system is particularly attractive to Zillow. A new listing that’s pushed out to a user’s iOS device as soon as it comes on Zillow’s system now, for example, can become even more visible with Apple’s new system.
Wacksman also pointed out the system’s enhanced syncing capability across devices and “multitasking” feature as things the popular real estate search app maker is excited about with the upgrade. If consumers look at a listing on their iPhone or iPad, he said, their MacBook would know they saw it.
The multitasking feature will allow Zillow’s servers to more frequently update a user’s app, Wacksman said.
“The user interface and visual changes in iOS 7 are both a dramatic shift and quite beautiful,” said Mark Silva, director of mobile development at ZipRealty. Silva said ZipRealty plans to upgrade its app to take advantage of iOS 7’s new features.
Trulia, realtor.com and Redfin said they’ll have apps updated to iOS 7 ready as well when it launches to consumers.
Editor’s note: This story has been revised to indicate that iOS 7 will allow Zillow’s push notifications to Apple devices, which it does now, to become more visible.
