Apple released today the new version of its mobile operating system, iOS 6. As in last year, the new version of iOS was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June and released right before the new iPhone. As a reminder, the new iPhone 5 will be released on Friday, September 21st.
Just like the iPhone 5, iOS 6 isn’t much of a revolutionary upgrade, but more like an evolution of a solid platform. It has some new features, most notably the new Maps app, and some welcome updates, but it won’t really blow away most people (well, maybe 3D Maps will). The free update is available for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 2, 3rd generation iPad and 4th generation iPod Touch. And, of course, will be shipped with the new iPhone 5 and the 5th generation iPod Touch.
I am reviewing iOS 6 running on a 32GB iPhone 4S and on a 64GB 3rd generation iPad (WiFi + 4G LTE).
New Features
Apple Maps
Let’s start with the new Maps app. As you may have seen in the press, Apple ditched Google Maps in favor of its own solution and you will see it for the first time in iOS 6.
Like Google Maps, it uses a vector-based engine so that panning, zooming and other user interactions are naturally responsive. The map view also features traffic updates, which pairs very nicely with the new Siri-voiced turn-by-turn navigation. Whenever there is too much traffic in the way, the Maps app will ask for a reroute. This features requires a permanent internet connection — no offline mode for now, which is unfortunate.
Turn-by-turn navigation, powered by TomTom (left) and Traffic data.
Another cool feature is Flyover, which gives you photo-realistic 3D views of cities. You are free to move, pan and zoom in this mode, just like the 3D views found in Google Earth. The 3D renderings in iOS 6 are overall better than the ones found in Google Earth, but Google’s solution is faster to load. In iOS 6 on the Retina Display iPad, it is a bandwidth hog. Even on 20 Mbps+ networks, it will take a while to load all the buildings and textures. Beware of data caps when using this over LTE.
Flyover shows a 3D rendering of the Sagrada Família, in Barcelona
Of course, there is local search in the new Maps app (powered by Yelp), and Siri is also integrated to it, so you can ask directions and about locations.
Local search in the new Maps app, powered by Yelp.
The bad: some features like Flyover, traffic updates and turn-by-turn navigation are not available everywhere in the world just yet: as examples, Flyover doesn’t work in Paris, traffic updates don’t work in São Paulo, and transit directions will rely on 3rd party apps. Also, since Yelp powers most of the local search, that feature will only work properly in countries served by Yelp.
It will take a while until Apple provides support for all mapping features in all countries — remember: Google has a huge head start on maps, so it’s expected that Apple will run into trouble by making this switch. For the locations left out, the lack of a Google Maps app will be felt for sure. This is iOS 6’s Achilles’ Heel: despite being a very strong move that makes sense in the long run, adopting Apple’s own mapping technology in iOS 6 will cause user experience regressions, and that’s the worst kind of problem to have in a product upgrade.
Some gaps in Flyover: no 3D rendering in Paris (left) and Canary Wharf plus incomplete rendering in London.
In addition, some new features like Flyover and turn-by-turn navigation are available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, 3rd generation iPad and 5th generation iPod Touch only. The iPhone 4 and the 4th generation iPod Touch are out, unfortunately. The A4 processor is showing up its age, it seems.
Siri Enhancements
Siri is a bit better in iOS 6, making it a better competitor against Jelly Bean’s Google Now feature. Now it supports: game scores, movie information, restaurant information/reservations, post to Facebook and Twitter, and launch apps, in addition to the features it already supported in iOS 5. Plus, it works in more countries and supports more languages.
Siri can get you movie information and game scores (go Giants!).
It is still a beta, though, and sometimes, it doesn’t work at all. In my testing, I got the impression that voice recognition is a bit better when compared to iOS 5, but it is far from perfect, and it feels worse than Google’s solution. It seems to me that voice recognition is Siri’s worst problem, since when the voice command is parsed correctly, the AI works really well.
Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, 3rd generation iPad and 5th generation iPod Touch. Yup, you read that right… Siri is now available on the iPad.
Siri comes to the iPad in iOS 6.
Facebook integration
Starting in iOS 6, Facebook is integrated to the OS, which means you may share to Facebook from pretty much anywhere: from the Notification Center, Safari, Photos, etc. There is also integration with your Calendar (for birthdays and events) and Contacts if you wish. I will pass that, thanks. I don’t want Facebook anywhere near my calendar and contacts. As with Twitter, integration of your Facebook account to the OS is optional. And even if you decide to link your account, you may individually turn on/off authorization for Calendar, Contacts, iTunes and App Store.
Facebook integrated to the Notification Center (top) and Safari
For Facebook, this is a big win. If you remember Twitter, its signups went up 25% after the iOS integration last year. Moreover, when social networks are deeply integrated into the OS, user engagement usually rises, and Facebook relies on user data to make money.
Shared Photo Streams
While we are talking about sharing stuff, there is a new feature in Photo Stream called Shared Photo Streams. You may now create shareable albums in Photo Stream, and people may ‘like’ and comment on your photos, just like on Facebook. In order to access this feature, just proceed as you normally would when sharing a photo, and you will see the option to share via Photo Stream. Then, create a new Shared Photo Stream, or add the photo to an existing one. Add an optional caption, and that’s it. It is important to notice that Shared Photo Streams do not count against your iCloud storage quota.
Shared Photo Streams allows photo sharing with friends. Notice the new sharing options on the left.
Anyone on the shared list whose device is running iOS 6 will get a notification and is able to access the Shared Photo Stream via the Photos app, in the new Photo Stream tab.
Each Shared Photo Stream can be shared with a different group of people. Your friends can comment and ‘like’ your photos.
In addition to iOS 6, Shared Photo Streams are also supported by iPhoto on Mountain Lion and can be shared via web, so anyone can see it on a web browser.
Shared Photo Stream viewed in Safari
In-Camera Panoramas
Still on the photo subject, there is nice addition to the Camera app: Panoramas. Of course, there are a bunch of 3rd party apps out there that do this already, but having this in-camera will satisfy many non-power users out there. This feature lets you take a panorama up to 240º.
Panorama for dummies. It is really easy to use.
It is really simple to use. When you select Panorama in Options, the Panorama wizard opens. Tap the shutter button and then you have to smoothly move the phone from left to right and keep the arrow in the center line. If you want to move from right to left, just tap the right side of the rectangle. As you move the phone, the camera will continuously capture the image. When you’re done, just tap the shutter button again. Unlike some 3rd party apps, the in-camera Panorama will automatically crop the picture to fit in a rectangle. This is by far the easiest Panorama app to use.
Final result, mixing different exposures.
As you can see, the panorama feature works quite nicely. It even does light compensation when you have very different exposure scenarios, like in the photo above. There are some occasional glitches when the camera is moved too fast, or when there are complex textures in the scene. Overall, I found the results obtained using this feature better than the ones I have been getting in the Photosynth app. The Panorama feature is available only on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and 5th generation iPod Touch, probably due to the fact that these are the only Apple devices that have image stabilization.
Passbook
Another new feature is Passbook. It is actually a new app which stores your tickets, gift cards, coupons, boarding passes, etc. Passbook is time and location based, so it will alert you based on timed triggers or geofences. And whenever a ticket is already used/expired, you may just shred and discard it.
Don’t be mistaken, this is not a mobile payment system like Google Wallet, so you can’t magically pay for stuff by approaching your phone to the register. Despite that fact, I think Passbook is the hidden gem inside iOS. Apple doesn’t usually do things at random, and I believe they have an agenda for it. And given the number of partners that already declared support for the feature, this could be huge for the iOS ecosystem in the future.
Phone
The Phone app has received a few welcome updates. The first new feature is the auto-reply options. Let’s say you’re in a meeting and receive a call. You may either reply it with a text message or drop it and set a time or location based callback reminder.
When you receive a call, slide up to show the new reply options.
Do Not Disturb
Another very welcome feature that was lacking is the Do Not Disturb mode. You can activate and configure it in the Settings app. It can be either manually activated/deactivated, or scheduled. You can also allow some calls to bypass the Do Not Disturb mode.
New Settings and the Do Not Disturb option.
Side note: as you can see in the screenshot above, we can finally control Bluetooth without going through a tapping spree to get to it.
Facetime over 3G
The last new phone-related feature is FaceTime over 3G. This feature is a long-awaited one, and it is now available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and the 3rd generation iPad. Remember that Facetime uses a lot of data, so beware of data caps in your data plan.
Another app that was upgraded is Mail. It now has the VIP inbox first introduced in OS X Mountain Lion, and it finally allows you to attach photos inline (just tap and hold to show up the options) and pull-to-refresh to get new mail. Another missing feature that was added is per-account signatures.
The new Mail screen, showing the VIP inbox. Also notice the new small flag icon, which allows easier access to the flag messages feature.
You can now add images inline when composing messages, finally. Now I can easily share penguin shots via e-mail.
Safari
And last, but not the least, Safari. The web browser has 3 new major features: full-screen landscape, iCloud tabs, which lets you access open tabs across devices, and offline reading lists (now full pages are saved for offline reading, not just links).
New Safari full-screen landscape mode on the iPhone.
New iCloud tabs showing the tabs open on all of my devices.
These are the main new features of iOS 6. According to Apple, there are over 200 new features in iOS 6, but these are the ones I find most important.
YouTube
And there is also a no-feature in iOS 6: the YouTube native app is gone, so you will have to download the new Google-made YouTube app from the App Store. This was a change for the best. The old, Apple-maintained, YouTube app was buried deep in iOS, and any updates required an OS upgrade. Having Google maintaining the app is a good thing, since they will be able to update it whenever necessary, resulting in a better experience for consumers.
Bye-bye YouTube. If you want it back, go to the App Store
Minor changes
Other minor changes you will easily notice:
- New keypad design in the Phone app.
- Notification Center now shows date and day of the week in the Calendar bar.
- Music player app: new buttons, cleaner UI in the song browser and orange-colored indicators for Shuffle and Repeat.
- New Privacy options in Settings.
The other stuff
The Stores are remodeled in iOS 6. The new UI is cleaner, faster and easier to use than the previous one in iOS 5. Most users will probably like it.
iOS is available as an over-the-air update, so you just need to open Settings then go to General and Software Update. In normal circumstances, updating should be painless. Whoever wants to update the old school way via iTunes will also be able to do that. Just don’t forget to update iTunes to 10.7 so it’s compatible with iOS 6.
Obvious remark, but here it goes anyway: backup your device, either using iCloud or iTunes, before you upgrade. If anything goes wrong during the update, a full restore will probably be necessary.
Conclusions
iOS 6 is very welcome update for iOS. It doesn’t blow me away, nor it should. Like I said in my iPhone 5 announcement coverage, the iPhone has already reached maturity, so we should expect that product line to behave more like the Mac, with incremental upgrades only, and a major redesign every now and then. The same goes for iOS. Although some features are already dated (like the springboard that reminds me of a Lotus Notes workspace), iOS is now a very mature operating system and I don’t expect Apple to fiddle much with it. The user experience is consistent across devices and it has a solid and well-known visual identity. Upgrade after upgrade, the users still feel home, and this is very important for consumers.
Overall iOS 6 is a decent upgrade over iOS 5, closing many of the gaps I pointed out in my iOS 5 review. Now I am finally running out of items in my iOS wishlist.
by Carlos Eduardo Seo