Apple says that it has added over 200 new features to iOS 6, but only the new mapping system comes close to altering the experience in the same way that apps, multitasking, or Siri did. Has Apple maintained its lead over the rest of the smartphone pack when it comes to features and elegance, or is it too busy polishing when it should be pushing ahead? Read on for the full review.
iOS 6 looks nearly identical to iOS 5. There are a few subtle tweaks here and there: the most obivous change is that status bar can change its hue to more closely match the currently open app, and a few of the core apps have also gotten a light reskinning. The phone keypad, for example, has been brightened up a bit.
Multitasking still consists of a list of icons toggled by double-tapping the home button, notifications are still collated atop a linen background in the notification center, and notification "toasts" still occlude the topmost part of apps when they appear. Apple is not changing for change’s sake,
When it comes to speed, iOS 6 doesn’t feel terribly different from iOS 5 on the iPhone 4S or even the iPhone 4. The 4S was always a snappy performer, but aside from the browser, iOS 6 doesn’t really do anything to improve upon that. On the flip side, it doesn’t make it any slower either, which can be a good thing in its own right — especially for the iPhone 4. Likewise, battery life isn't noticeably different from iOS 5 to iOS 6 on either the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S.
As with other iOS updates, not all of the new features that are available on the iPhone 5 will work on older devices. The iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS miss out on Siri, turn-by-turn navigation and flyover in Maps, panoramic mode in the camera, and Facetime over cellular.
iOS 6: Phone and FaceTime
iOS 6’s biggest "new" feature is its completely overhauled Maps app. The new Maps app doesn’t look terribly different from earlier versions on first glance, but underneath its familiar skin, Maps features an all new brain. Gone is the Google Maps data that used to be the backbone of Maps in iOS, replaced by an amalgam of data from a host of companies that Apple has partnered with, like TomTom, Axciom, DigitalGlobe, and others. As a result, though Maps may look familiar, the experience for longtime users of the app can be drastically different in iOS 6 than it was in iOS 5 and earlier.
Siri, Apple’s so-called voice-controlled virtual personal assistant, made its big debut with iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S last year. Ahead of the unveiling of iOS 6 at Apple’s WWDC earlier this year, CEO Tim Cook said the company was "doubling down" on Siri and putting a ton of work into it. This time around, Siri's been extended to the third-generation iPad and fifth-generation iPod touch, and is available in a number of new locales. Siri's also gained new powers and performance improvements over the version available in iOS 5. Though still technically considered a "beta," Siri in iOS 6 is faster, more responsive, and has more personality than ever before.
Siri now includes the ability to directly display sports scores and standings, provide movie listing information including showtimes, reviews, and trailers, make restaurant reservations through OpenTable, post updates to Facebook and Twitter, and launch third-party apps. The new sports integration is great for solving barroom arguments, and the movie listings are more convenient and useful than the generic web searches that Siri used to perform.
