Claim: Apple Inc.'s consumer software includes the iOS operating system and it is acclaimed.

iOS -LRB- formerly iPhone OS -RRB- is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware . It is the operating system that presently powers many of the company 's mobile devices , including the iPhone , iPad , and iPod Touch . It is the second most popular mobile operating system globally after Android . iPad tablets are also the second most popular , by sales , against Android since 2013 .   Originally unveiled in 2007 for the iPhone , iOS has been extended to support other Apple devices such as the iPod Touch -LRB- September 2007 -RRB- and the iPad -LRB- January 2010 -RRB- . , Apple 's App Store contains more than 2.2 million iOS applications , 1 million of which are native for iPads . These mobile apps have collectively been downloaded more than 130 billion times .   The iOS user interface is based upon direct manipulation , using multi-touch gestures . Interface control elements consist of sliders , switches , and buttons . Interaction with the OS includes gestures such as swipe , tap , pinch , and reverse pinch , all of which have specific definitions within the context of the iOS operating system and its multi-touch interface . Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device -LRB- one common result is the undo command -RRB- or rotating it in three dimensions -LRB- one common result is switching between portrait and landscape mode -RRB- . Apple has been significantly praised for incorporating thorough accessibility functions into iOS , enabling users with vision and hearing disabilities to properly use its products .   Major versions of iOS are released annually . The current version , iOS 10 , was released on September 13 , 2016 . It is available for the iPhone 5 and later iPhone models , the fourth-generation iPad , the iPad Air and iPad Air 2 , the iPad Pro , the iPad Mini 2 and later iPad Mini models , and the sixth-generation iPod Touch . In iOS , there are four abstraction layers : the Core OS , Core Services , Media , and Cocoa Touch layers .