APPLE’S latest software release for iPhones and iPads did not go down well with fans but is a test design which may prove popular when finished.

And with the announcement of its autumn range of software products Apple reached another, unspoken milestone – it began a new era without the guiding influence of Steve Jobs.

The new software comprises iOS7 for iPhones and iPads, and the bizarrely-named Mac OS X Mavericks for computers.

Both releases borrow heavily from their rivals and both feature a renewed emphasis on colour and minimalism.

And both got panned by pretty much everyone.

The phone software, in particular, was slammed for sporting amateurish-looking icons that look like they were put together in a hurry.

Buried in the small print, though, were some new features that will be a big hit, assuming they work.

One is ‘call blocking’, which does what you’d expect: shuts pesky nuisance callers out of your phone forever.

Another, the ‘activation lock’, means your phone is useless to thieves, even if they connect it to another computer and wipe it.

Without your secret password to revive it, the phone is locked forever.

The desktop file transfer system, AirDrop, also moves over to mobile devices in this release, making photo and file sharing simple.

All the new stuff is still only available to software developers as it undergoes beta tests, which are an essential way of getting feedback from real people.

That’s the point of beta testing – you get a chance to fix what’s broken. The final release in the autumn might end up looking somewhat different. The critics certainly hope so.