Apple iOS 6 Preview
Mark Adams / Sep 10th, 2012 No Comments
iOS 6
It won’t be long now, iOS 6 for Apple devices is coming very soon. What will the new Operating System bring us? Well apparently there will be a wealth of new features, and a few surprises on the way. Here I take a look at what will definitely be in iOS 6 and what might just be in there.
Maps
Apple have ditched Google Maps and instead created a whole new World of mapping software with Maps. It’s been written and designed from the ground up to work exclusively with Apple devices and has some great features.
Siri
Android has a voice activated search engine, and it’s pretty cool, but everyone knows that Siri takes that a step further and Siri is genuinely a useful tool and it has a sense of humour. Siri in iOS 6 is set to take things a step even further, the native app now understands more languages which makes it instantly have a larger audience.
This time Siri really takes it’s time to listen to you and bring you the information that you need. Restaurants, movies and sports have all been optimised to bring you up to the minute information based on your needs and your location. Full cinema listings will be brought up on asking Siri about what films are available and where. Again, if you can get over the embarrassment of actually talking to your phone, then Siri could well become a useful everyday piece of software that really makes a difference.
Apple has chosen Facebook to be integrated into its Operating System, so everything you do on your Apple device can be uploaded to the social network. All your contacts will be integrated and will drop the information onto your Apple iPhone, meaning you never have an excuse to miss a birthday or a meeting ever again. There will be options to “like” your favourite apps or games etc, and these will be uploaded straight to your Facebook account. It all sounds rather cool again, and something that some Android phones have done for years, but again it could be a case that Apple has taken it to the next level.
Shared Photo Streams
Apple seems to be going the whole-hog for letting you share information from your iPhone or iPad, and once again this enhanced feature means you will be able to share photos and videos to those people who you want to share with. People will be able to comment on your photos and videos, and you will get notifications once they have been commented on. You can view your shared photos on Apple TV, and this seems to be only the start for sharing capabilities that Apple want to push on its customers.
Passbook
All your electronic tickets in one place. Passbook looks set to be the future of holding electronic boarding passes and vouchers. In theory this could be a great feature once again, and it all depends on the take-up from independent companies who want to use the feature. Definitely one to watch out for.
Facetime
Apple has improved the Facetime application by allowing you to now use the service over your network as opposed to just over wi-fi. A great enhancement to a great application.
Apple have improved on their already brilliant email application buy streamlining the user interface and generally tweaking and updating the app. It should now be even easier to send and view emails, add attachments and get the most out of email while on the move. They have also added a nice little VIP section which means you will never miss your emails from important people again. Everything of course makes use of iCloud if you so wish, so there’s no excuse not to get that email if you’re not on an iOS device.
Internet
The browser has been tweaked in iOS6, making the experience even better than normal. The stock Safari browser on iOS has always been pretty good, and no-where near as bad as some people make out, and with added iCloud features the experience is even better. iCloud tabs keeps track of where you left off on one device, so you can pick up another device and carry on from where you left off. You can add pages to reading lists to read while offline, and now you can view the web-pages in full-screen mode. It’s all looking impressive and hopefully will make a great browser even better.
Other possible editions to iOS 6
And there’s a lot of speculation that there may be other editions to iOS 6, but we’ll have to wait and see until release if these come to light. There’s the hint of no Apple ID required for free apps, which would be very helpful, plus extra rows of icons on the iPhone’s screen, making the most of the new higher resolutions. Also there’s talk of an option that allows your device to switch from wi-fi to phone network should you lose signal on wi-fi, again another great feature.
Whatever iOS6 brings, I’m sure it’s going to please the hoards of Apple iOS fans out there, and with the additional features and enhancements that I have just mentioned, iOS6 looks like it is just going to be going from strength to strength.
Mark Adams
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