10 ways the iPhone has changed our world in the last 10 years

Our world today moves fast, and it’s only speeding up – it’s likely the 21st century will be looked at as a time when the world was available at our fingertips at all times.

There’s one device in particular that’s been pivotal in this new pace of life – the Apple iPhone, which changed technology, computing, and impacted our lifestyles in ways that few might have predicted.

While it sparked a whole slew of similar products and operating systems, the original iPhone handset was the one that paved the way for everything that came after.

Ten years on from the day that Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone in one of his iconic presentations, here are ten ways it’s changed our world in the last decade.

1) Apps

One of the main keys to the success of the iPhone were apps – which didn’t arrive until the launch of iOS 2.0. Apps meant that developers could create their own iPhone-accessible software and put it out there for people to use, and users could download extra functionality and games for their phones.

Now apps allow us to do… well, pretty much anything: book a taxi, order a pizza, edit a photo, download music, stream TV, and catch virtual Pokemon.

2) Selfies

Gone are the days of grainy self-portrait photos taken in mirror reflections (sorry Tom Hardy). The iPhone 4 brought the front-facing camera to smartphones in 2010, accounting for the majority of the photos currently clogging up your Instagram.

3) Emojis

Emoticons were always a thing, but Emoji took the art of sending smiley faces to another level. The ever-expanding set of Unicode chracters was named in 2015 as the fast growing language in the world, allowing us to communicate in ways that words sometimes can't.

4) Full internet access

Remember WAP? Waiting five minutes for a low-res version of MySpace or Google to load? The iPhone saw an end to that with a full mobile version of Apple’s Safari browser that meant you could do nearly everything you wanted to on the internet.

It also changed the way the web was built – now most websites are designed in mobile-responsive code to fit the size of your screen, and Adobe Flash (famously not supported by Apple) has hugely decreased in prevalence.

5) GPS maps

The arrival of GPS technology crossed with the arrival of apps meant never getting lost again. The Google Maps app, and later Apple’s own Maps and Citymapper mean we always know where we’re meant to be going and exactly how to get there.

6) Autocorrect

Back in the pre-iPhone days, you had to press the #1 key three times to type a ‘C’. Nowadays we jab vaguely on a digital QWERTY keyboard, and autocorrect takes care of the rest – 90% of the time typing exactly what we intended, and 10% of the time giving us embarrassing gaffes sure to go viral online.

7) Finger-accurate touch screens

Touch screens were around back when the iPhone was first announced, but they often required a stylus to be used effectively and accurately. Steve Jobs was keen to stress the quality of the finger-activated multi-touch screen at the iPhone launch. Now the stylus in Apple’s tablet range is an artist’s design implement to be used on the tooled-up iPad Pro.

8) Instant music access

The arrival of iTunes on PC and Mac was a huge moment in music downloads – and the iPhone only increased the ability to instantly hear the latest songs. The iTunes Store app meant that iPhone users could download songs straight to their phone without the need to plug it into their computer first, while the Spotify app and Apple Music mean subscribers can listen to any song, anywhere.

9) Apple Pay

It’s not been around for long, but the Apple Pay system is already looking like it could be a catalyst to the world becoming cash-free. iPhone owners who connect their bank card to their mobile can pay for TfL travel and shopping by waving their handset in front of a contactless pay point.