Apple iOS 7 Beta 3 Changes System Font - And Developers Go Wild With Relief

Apple's new iPhone and iPad operating system iOS 7 has come in for a lot of heated criticism - amid similar levels of praise - since it was unveiled and released to developers last month.

But it's clear that Apple is a long way from finished.

In the second version of the software the Californian computer giant made a raft of significant changes to the beta shown off at WWDC in June.

And now the third beta version is out - and they're at it again.

Most obviously Apple has changed the font in iOS 7 from Helvetica Neue Light to Regular.

It might sound like a small change -- but it's one that designers have welcomed with open arms. Below is a comparison Gif by Panic Software's Cabel Maxfield Sasser:

In a post titled 'A Thicker Hope' developer Marco Arment said that the change "has a huge effect".

He said:

"With Ive's new role leading UI design, I was afraid that we were in for a long series of such failures. And with iOS 7 being unveiled so publicly and confidently, I really didn't think any decisions as significant as the system font would change before release. Now, we know otherwise."

Of course it's still possible that the font could change back - but it does look like Apple is listening.

"All betas are works in progress, but iOS 7 is far more so than usual. They're still playing with this stuff," said John Gruber at Daring Fireball.

Now, about those icons...