The sound of iOS 7

I've been running iOS 7 on my iPhone for about a month now, largely for testing our iOS 7 compatible version of Flipboard, and just at noticeable as the visual and spatial navigation changes are the updated sounds and ringtones. It's like the iPhone got a new voice. 

Alan Hanson at The Awl reviews the top 5 new ringtones of iOS 7.  On Constellation:

It is twilight. You are living inside of a prism beam. You are slowly falling through a prism beam without worry and with a satiated stomach. All of your childhood pets are running toward you in slow motion and they are hungry for your love. Your favorite blanket is playing your favorite instrument on a bed of newly fallen autumn leaves. Insects do not exist and yet, the ecosystem remains beautifully balanced. Your boss who respects you very much enters your line of vision and unrolls a long scroll. She reads from the scroll. She reads all of your favorite words, slowly, then disintegrates and is carried off by a warm wind. You have never had a parking ticket. Your dentist is in awe of your brushing habits.

If you think that sounds overblown, go listen to Constellation . I've never switched from the default ringtone before iOS 7 came along, but now the default ringtone has even changed. RIP Marimba, you were the reigning rooster's crow of a digital generation.

I never browsed the list of ringtones in my iPhone in much detail before, but the Awl article raised my curiosity. Many of the new options, and there are many, strike me as more New Agey in nature. Uplift could be the start of an Enya song.  Many of the are more melodic and tune-like than alert-based in nature. For once, I may opt for one of the former.