7 things I wish iOS 7 could do

I'm looking forward to the day that Apple releases iOS 7. I really am. I've played with the betas and know what's coming, but it's still hard to shift that Christmas morning feeling when Apple finally pushes out the final product to all the good iPhone and iPads (and iPod touches) out there.

But despite my overall excitement regarding iOS 7, I know that it is missing a number of key features that I wish Apple would add.

Here's a list of 7 features I wish Apple would add to iOS.

Multi-user accounts

I don't often lend my iPhone or iPad to anyone, but when I do I wish there was a way to create a separate user account – like a guest account – where people would be prevented from snooping though stuff, deleting stuff, and causing various kinds of mayhem.

I understand apple's resistance to multi-user accounts – they stifle the need for each person to buy a separate device – but given sales and maturity of both iDevices and iOS, surely we can move beyond this now?

Turbo-boost WebKit

Native Apple apps have access to the Nitro JavaScript engine, which is much faster than the engine third-party apps that use. This gives Apple's apps an advantage over the competition.

If I wanted to jailbreak my stuff then there's a way around this – using an app called Nitrous – but I don't want to do this so I'm stuck waiting for Apple to change its policies.

Ability to change the default browser

The only time I use Safari on my iPhone or iPad is when I click on a link sent to me via email or iMessage. My preferred browser of choice – and the browser that is home to all my bookmarks – is Google Chrome.

Please Apple, give me the option to choose which browser I want to use as default. Isn't it enough that I've bought your devices? You let me choose on my Mac, so why not my iPhone and iPad?

Delete preinstalled junk apps

Stocks, Weather, Newsstand, Calculator, Clock, Game Center, Contacts – all apps I never use because I have better third-party replacements. And yet they all continue to clutter up my UI.

Sure, I can pop them into a folder, and brush that folder under the rug somewhere, but they're still there.

Why?

Pleas give me a way to delete the junk that I no longer need. All you need to do is offer them as a download for anyone who accidentally deleted something they later need. It's not rocket science.

Renaming/reassigning icons

I have three apps on my iPhone and iPad called Angry Birds. All three are different games, but the name is the same (Even Siri can't tell them apart). Other apps have names that are truncated, or goofy names that make then hard to spot.

Other apps have an icon that I can never seem to recognize, so I end up searching for it every time I need it.

Why not give users the ability to rename apps. And while you're at it, how about allowing devs to specify alternative icons that we can choose from?  

Widgets

OK, I'll admit it. I like Android widgets. There, I said it.

I wish Apple would give third-party developers the ability to build widgets for iOS. That way we could have access to apps and features without having to run a separate app.

Come on Apple, you know it makes sense.

Custom skins and icon themes

Apple, if you are serious about coming out with a gold iPhone, then what about allowing users to customize their iPhones and iPads with themes and icon packs. Sure it would look gaudy – but no worse than a gold iPhone – and you could make 30 percent off every sale made.

Sounds like a winner to me.