iOS 6 Boring or Not?

[Shadrack]

Nothing significant for you at least. More languages for Siri it's a godsend for the rest of us in the world.

I'm sure it is, but supporting more languages should be an incremental update thing not a major highlight of a new version IMO. But I currently have no Siri, so either way for me....

[AJerman]

Definitely seems like a smaller incremental update rather than something that warrants a major version number increase. Not too impressed.

[f0rk_b0mb]

I was talking about this over Twitter last night. While the updates are 'nice', it's barely even worthy of a full incremental number update, i know numbers don't really mean much these days but iOS5.5 would of been more fitting... nothing has really changed. That being said, i've not used it yet.

iOS 5.5 would have been a great name! I want my widgets/live icons! *throws temper tantrum*

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I think Apple might be playing it a little too safe with iOS

While I fully agree, and as a result see them as sort of "falling behind", they have the most elegant user experience and would be damned if they messed an update up now.

[funkydude]

Where you guys hoping for strippers and a keg? It's a mobiles OS, how exciting can it get? From what I read, I am happy about it when it comes to the masses. Siri on iPad isa something I am looking forward to very much.

You'd imagine something like that from the 'worlds most advanced mobile operating system', no?

[Calum Veteran]

Considering how great iOS 5 currently is, all I was bothered about was the lack of Facebook integration, and Apple now appear to have made me happy in that regard, so I don't deem this update boring. The other announced features are very much welcomed by me.

[Calum Veteran]

You'd imagine something like that from the 'worlds most advanced mobile operating system', no?

No. "World's most advanced operating system" does not scream something like "Strippers and a keg," to me.

[shifts]

I just hope that some of the features demoed will be usable in the UK for once. Siri sports searches and turn by turn nagivation are extremely suspect of being usable in the UK.

[tsupersonic]

Absolutely. The UI is extremely boring, and there is no liveliness in the device. I haven't tested iOS 6 yet, but from the looks of it, it looks like it's just as fun as watching grass grow. iOS 6 brings nothing exciting in terms of change, though I do like the new maps app (extremely overdue). Just my take on it.

[Vice]

I just hope that some of the features demoed will be usable in the UK for once. Siri sports searches and turn by turn nagivation are extremely suspect of being usable in the UK.

Scott Forstall said at the conference that the sports features of Siri do support the British Premier league. He didn't elaborate on other sports or leagues however.

I suspect that the driving thing will work in the UK too but that is just a hunch on my part.

[funkydude]

No. "World's most advanced operating system" does not scream something like "Strippers and a keg," to me.

owww :(

[Melfster]

Of course the iOS 6 is not going to be the big deal this time around. Apple is concentrating on the iphone 5 hardware which should be a big jump. Also I think we are reaching the point of diminishing returns in smartphone development. Even and android ics 4.0 was a bit underwhelming.

[Chasethebase Veteran]

Scott Forstall said at the conference that the sports features of Siri do support the British Premier league. He didn't elaborate on other sports or leagues however.

I suspect that the driving thing will work in the UK too but that is just a hunch on my part.

I'd love it to support Formula 1

"Who has won the Monaco GP the most times?"

"That would be Ayrton Senna, with 6 wins in total."

Just as an example.

[FalseAgent]

It may be boring, but iOS 6 still is solid with many useful features. Gizmodo has a nice list here - The Best iOS 6 Features Nobody Is Talking About

You guys may have noticed that the status bar was blue in some areas during Apple's Keynote. It's an interesting new feature (I personally think it looks weird) - Adaptive status bar in iOS 6

I can't wait to see what Microsoft has in store for Windows Phone 8 (yeah, WP fan here).

[Hardcore Til I Die]

I think I would find it less boring if I only owned iOS devices, but as my Android phones have had a lot of the new features for a number of years, there's nothing impressive for me at all. It's nice that Apple is catching up, but there's nothing that doesn't already exist on competing mobile OSes.

Where are some of the most requested features: -

1. Shortcuts to wifi, Bluetooth etc.

2. Ability to access custom user dictionary and add words rather than "train" the keyboard (having to type "rofl" 50 times to get it to stop correcting is freaking annoying and very unintuitive)

[SMELTN]

ok so, are we sure this is everything? I mean this is just the first "beta" version. Maybe they haven't made the UI changes yet, or added the stuff for the new iPhone.

[statm1]

The redesign of the stores should come to the whole of iOS. The "skin" that iOS has always had is just ancient and should be changed up for once. Such as the background with the blue and white vertical lines in the settings app, etc.

Here's hoping for a UI change that is being held back for when the next iPhone is announced.

[kiddingguy]

Ah well, we'll just wait and see what iOS6 bring in full during fall.

I think it's just a nice upgrade to an already perfect and stable iOS 5.

[PyX]

I like it. It has always been vivid IMO. So many great graphics, so many colors, so many animations, everything is crystal crisp.

For those who wanted UI changes, there there has been a lot in iOS6 so far. The Music app and the Weather app got a bunch of changes, and all other apps had a few GUI changes too (the top bar is now purple instead of black, buttons have been slightly redesigned, etc.).

I love it. Just concerned by the fact that it?s not faster on my iPhone 3GS. It may be even a little slower in some cases (Music app, texting).

[Manish]

Where are some of the most requested features: -

2. Ability to access custom user dictionary and add words rather than "train" the keyboard (having to type "rofl" 50 times to get it to stop correcting is freaking annoying and very unintuitive)

http://coregeek.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/add-words-to-ios-5-auto-correct-dictionary/

Not perfect, but it definitely works.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Looking forward to better Facebooik integration :)

[OOOOOOOO]

Boring. Massively underwhelming.

It took them until version SIX of ios to allow us to attach files from the compose email screen, and you can STILL only attach pictures and videos...not iWork or other documents.

Big yawn from me.

Oh and the "worlds best Facebook integration" is a lie. The htc desire, released two years ago, had better.

Shame the HTC Desire is a pile of crap. Which means, by default, anything it does, is done badly ;)

[Malisk]

The update isn't very hot in my eyes. Actually, the Maps app will most likely lose features and get worse quality for me. The international coverage in their new maps (including satellite photography) as well as how they look is definitely a turn for the worse compared to Google Maps. Also, lost street view for everyone. And Transit support. Thankfully, Google seems to aim to get a Google Maps app submitted, but I still would have liked basic features for ~$200+ phones in 2012 integrated in the native app.

Facebook integration was nice, but as basic as the Twitter integration. It would definitely be nice if I could for example share photos in my album on Facebook/Twitter and then see replies to my photos as I browsed them in the iOS photo gallery view. iPhoto for iOS has this feature - why not the standard app? So much to do here. Integration in iOS seems to be more about letting status updates fly off your phone and less about social networks enriching your phone. The rare exception would be Facebook support in the Calendar app. Wow!

Shared Photo Albums sounded nice until I realized I already share my photos on Facebook, and these are then also available on Macs running Mountain Lion, but also on so many other systems than that... :p Well, Shared Photo Albums do support uploading to the web for "general use", but what in the world is the point? "Yes, let's share this album on a web page with no social network so there can be no feedback." Sounds like an idea worthy of 2012 to you? What's going on there. This is Web 1.0 stuff, back how it worked in pre-2000.

Finally, I doubt Passbook will see reasonable enough support in the real world to be useful, but maybe I'm a pessimist. We'll see.

OK, enough whining. There were some marginally useful ideas here for me, like posting a status update to Facebook without tapping on the Facebook app in my dock, or being able to reply with a message that I'm unavailable if someone's calling me. But these aren't huge news or improvements.

[Vice]

I installed it yesterday on my iPhone 4S and I have to admit there isn't much there in the way of new features.

Some things I noticed straight away:

New iPod Skin, New App Store Layout and Skin, New iTunes Store Layout and Skin. The top menu bar that shows your battery/3G/Time etc changes colour depending on the top menu of the app you're in. You can now Tweet from the Notifications Menu.

The new 3D maps look very realistic even the trees are 3D and it does at points look photo realistic. When you zoom in there is a lot of pixelation however. When you have hybrid map turned on which means you get places names, street routes + satellite maps and 3D the whole map becomes incredibly laggy. Sub 1FPS when panning and zooming. If you turn Hybrid off and turn just satellite on which means you get images + 3D then it's smooth with no lag. I think this is just a performance problem they will need to fix before release.

Everything seems quite stable I've not had any problems running it so far. I noticed inside the App Store that when you update apps it no longer asks for your iTunes password and it updates apps without ever leaving the Store. A nice feature I've wanted for ages. You can now also Launch apps straight from the App Store. I suppose this is for when you just buy an app and you want to launch it straight away.

Assortment of Pictures (Click any to view large):

[Chris123NT]

My favorite feature is the do not disturb mode. It's nice to be able to have the phone still on but not be bothered by bull**** while i try to sleep