Apple adds new wallpapers, ringtones, & alert tones in iOS 7 GM

The golden master version of iOS 7, the final preview release before the operating system is made available to the public, brings a number of new wallpapers, ringtones and alert tones.

Apple on Tuesday released the GM, or Golden Master, seed of iOS 7 to developers, and with it continued their tradition of overhauling the default wallpaper collection with each successive iOS version. Additionally, the updated seed brought the first wide release of the new ringtones and alert sounds the company demonstrated at their iPhone 5s and 5c introduction earlier in the day.

Two wallpapers have been held over from previous iOS versions — the "lotus blossom," an iOS mainstay since the first generation iPhone, and the "blue wave," which made its first appearance in iOS 4 — but the collection is otherwise all-new. As in the past, the selections are roughly evenly split between natural photography and computer-generated images, with the color-matched backgrounds that will ship with the iPhone 5c comprising approximately 30 percent of the latter group.

Apple also added several new dynamic wallpapers. The dynamic wallpapers, a new iOS 7 feature that allows wallpapers to be moving, rather than static, images, are offered in seven different colors but are otherwise identical.

The updated ringtones and alert tones found in the new seed are starkly divergent from those in previous iOS versions, a nod to the larger user experience overhaul undertaken by Apple in iOS 7. While the previous audio cues were based mostly on physical instruments, the new sounds appear to be purely electronic creations. For users who prefer the older sounds, Apple has retained them in a "Classic" subcategory.