iOS 6: Announcement

Well, even if Apple’s announcement wasn’t a surprise but what is surprising is the lack of ‘adventure‘ in iOS 6.
From Apple’s own website we can gather quickly that this isn’t going to change the world. A little bit of catchup with functions in Android, a little bit of going their own way and the tiniest slither of innovation.
For the full list visit the iOS 6 page but here are my highlights.

Maps:

Going their own way [sic] with in-house mapping rather than Google means no licensing and greater control.
the really big feature here is Turn-by-Turn navigate, annoyingly missing from iOS 5 & before. Early indications are that it’s ‘on track‘ except I new to check whether it works ‘offline‘. It is perfectly possible to be GPS on an 3G off, especially in the UK so offline maps is a must for proper navigation.

Phone:

Interesting. Apple have added the ability to ‘busy‘ a call with a custom message. You can even set a reminder to call that person back. Better still, ‘Do not disturb‘, allowing you to select who you receive calls from during busy periods.
All of these from the ‘Answer Call‘ popup, excellent.
Little bit of innovation in all that. What you really want is for that to work on SMS too! Then you’re really cooking!

Facebook:

Finally a bit of catch up. Integrating Facebook into any mobile OS should be a no-brainer, but Apple have tried to hold off on this (and the earlier Twitter integration). Some nice features include the ability to like a song iTunes. Now if that was also integrated with the Music app… … 🙂

Accessibility:

I’m not qualified to comment in these but if the improvements are as good as they are touted then iOS devices will gain a wider audience as a direct consequence. For example, integrating VoiceOver with Maps, that’s pretty cool.

Other Changes:

To be honest, you probably don’t care. A couple are seriously pointless. iCloud photo sharing (Shared Photo Streaming) with other iOS users? Really? Mail VIP list? Eh? Passbook for tickets? Somebody wake me up… please.
I’m sure they show technical advances but I just couldn’t give a monkey.

Summary:

All in all, unless Apple change the look dramatically then most users will be underwhelmed by iOS 6.
Note that although compatible with iPhone 3GS functionality is limited and not all features will be available. From the iOS 6 page it appears the original iPad is not supported at all.