iOS 6.1: Getting up-to-date

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

Last week, Apple released iOS 6.0.1, to combat some bugs in the iOS 6.0 release. Around the same time, they also posted iOS 6.1 for developers to try out. So, I updated my iPhone out of curiosity. There are 2 additions to iOS that come with 6.1 that most blogs have already picked up on, but I'll go over them anyway. They both have to do with catching up with the rest of iOS.

iOS 6: Officially here!

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

Yesterday, iOS 6 was released to the public. As I mentioned in the last iOS 6 blog, it's basically the same as the GM version released a week ago. There's (hopefully) been more bug fixes and optimization, but no new huge features. Apple continues to update the App Store layouts, though, so I'll cover some new changes that have been made public in the last few days.

iOS 6: Golden Master update

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

As part of Apple's September event today, the GM, or Golden Master version of iOS 6 beta was released to developers. It took awhile to fight everyone else downloading it, but I finally got a hold of a copy for my iPhone and iPad. The build ID is now 10A403, in case anyone was actually wondering.

The big thing I immediately noticed was Panorama Mode in my iPhone 4S's Camera app. It had been in the framework of iOS since around version 5, and until now, the only way to enable it was to jailbreak and install a tweak or manually edit it in. Now, with the promise of Panorama Mode enabled by default in the new iPhone 5, I guess Apple figured that it was time to give iPhone 4Ss it as well. Unless, of course, it's just a bug. Wishful thinking, though.

iOS: App Store layout updates

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

Looks like Apple's gearing up for the scheduled release of iOS 6. Some of the webapp-based parts of the App Store on iOS 6 beta 4 is being renovated. And Genius for apps, which was previously "unavailable on iOS 6," can now be enabled, but still doesn't do much.

iOS 6: Shared Photo Streams

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

In iOS 5, Apple introduced iCloud, and along with it, Photo Stream. Photo Stream is basically a photo syncing feature. If you take a photo on your iPhone, it'll appear on your iPad and on your computer, or on any device you have set up with Photo Stream. You can add a photo to Photo Stream from any device and it'll show up on all your other devices. That's nice and all, but here's why I don't use it: lack of filtering. No matter where the photo came from (saved from a website, received in a text, taken by the device) it's synced to all your devices. No matter what. You can delete photos from Photo Stream, but it'd be really neat if I could choose what photos are in Photo Stream before they're added.

Now, with iOS 6 comes Shared Photo Streams. That's right, Shared Photo Streams. They're essentially albums you create and choose to share with certain people. If you add a photo to that Stream album, it shows up on everyone's devices that you're sharing the Stream with. Then everyone can comment on and "like" the photos in the Stream, like Facebook.

iOS 6: iPad favorite features

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

Shortly after getting it, I updated my iPad to iOS 6. I was looking forward to certain features like Siri and the new Clock app. Just like on my iPhone, I'm going to run through my favorite new features in iOS 6 on my iPad.

Clock
Even the icon is a step up from the iPhone’s. The first section, World Clock, has a world map displaying the time and weather in up to 6 places around the globe. A shadow also shows where in the world is dark at the current time.

iOS 6: Updating my iPad

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

I got an iPad, and updated it to iOS 6. I was looking forward to things like Facebook integration in Contacts and Calender, the cool Clock app I had seen screenshots of, and most of all I wanted Siri on my iPad. I did get all those features, and as it turned out, even more that I hadn't heard about.

Just like on my iPhone, after I updated, I got a little setup process.

iOS 6: New stuff in beta 4

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

I finally was able to update to iOS 6 beta 4, and one new feature immediately showed up. When a new iOS device is set up running iOS 5 or higher, it goes through this setup process on the device. It appears that a similar process will occur after updating.

iOS 6: Betas 3 & 4

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

I didn't post anything about iOS 6 beta 3 because it was a very minor update. The changelog included some settings for the Maps app, the foundation for @me.com email addresses to be converted to @icloud.com addresses, and other little things. One I don't like at all is when opening the Passbook app, the brightness setting is changed to 75%. It's supposed to help with showing coupons, card info, etc. that's stored in Passbook even if the screen would have been too dark to make it out. That would be great and all, except the brightness stays at 75% even after exiting Passbook. So, every time you open Passbook, you have to go into Settings and change the brightness back. The build ID for beta 3 is 10A5155d. And just today, beta 4 build 10A5376e was released. Currently, my iPhone cannot even connect to Apple's servers to perform the update, so I can't exactly say what's new (if anything). My guess is that Apple's cleaning up a little before the official release in just over a month. There's always more bugs and back-end problems to fix. 9to5Mac has a rather technical changelog, so you can read through that until some actual UI changes emerge.

iOS 6: New Maps app navigation

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

Something I didn’t go over in my past iOS 6 posts is the new Maps app’s vastly improved navigation features. I didn’t really try to go over it because every time I used it, I was driving, and couldn’t really spare much time to go around and get screenshots. Anyway, onto the actual navigation. The Maps app looks like the standard maps layout with the skinny streets and the pulsating blue dot for your location. But when you put in directions and tap Start, the whole app transforms into something that looks a little like a Tom Tom or other dedicated road navigation app. I like it. The little blue dot turns into an arrow following a blue line. The top toolbar gains an ETA and duration in time and miles, along with an End and Overview. The status bar, top toolbar, and buttons at the bottom can be hidden by tapping anywhere on the screen. The only interaction that works while in navigation mode is being able to slightly zoom in and out. The Overview button will pause navigation and return the map to more of the original mode, with the route outlined. By default the navigation mode is in 3D, which is beneficial to view upcoming streets (which names’ are displayed on a popup off to the side of the street you’re on).

iOS 6: Beta 2

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

Earlier today, Apple released the second beta for iOS 6. As soon as I heard the news, I did a backup & sync with iTunes, just in case something went wrong, and then updated using the OTA (over the air) delta updating system that was added in iOS 5. I discovered something I think is new: the setting icon becomes animated while updating. Not the actual Settings app icon, but the one in the Settings app.

 It felt like the update took awhile, but that may have been my impatience. Despite that little inconvenience, the update completed without a problem. The only big new things I've noticed are performance enhancements and bug fixes. Things don't lag or crash as often as they used to. One of my favorite bug fixes is one I mentioned in my first iOS 6 blog post: keyboard clicks not being registered and producing a sound. They all do now! Other than that, there's nothing notably new in the second beta. The build ID is new, from 10A5316k (beta 1) to 10A5338d. I'll report anything else I find here.

iOS 6: More neat features

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

In my last blog, I highlighted some of my favorite features of iOS 6. Those weren't all of the good new features, however. Here's some more notably good ones, however small. Clicking on any of the images below will enlarge them.

Reminders

The Reminders app always seemed like it lacked something that would make it more useful than any other reminder app you could download from the App Store. In iOS 6, Reminders got much better location integration. Instead of only being able to use your home or work address, Reminders now allows custom locations to be set. In the screenshot to the left, I have a notification set when I arrive at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. I probably won't ever get that notification, but the location can be set to anywhere.

iOS 6: Favorites of the beta

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

The iOS 6 beta is full of "over 200" new features. In fact, there's a list being compiled on a great Apple fan forum called iFans, and you can find the nearing-200 feature list here, and an amazing overview of iOS 6's big new features here. 200+ features do seem like a lot, so I thought I'd go over a few of my favorites. Clicking on any of the images below will enlarge them.

Do Not Disturb

A neat little feature added in Settings is called Do Not Disturb. When enabled, the device will continue to receive notifications normally, but it won't make a noise, vibrate, or even light up. It's very nice for overnight, instead of having to turn on airplane mode or something else.

When enabled, a moon icon is displayed next to the time in the status bar. Specific times can be set for Do Not Disturb to be automatically enabled and disabled. Other nice settings include allowing a specific contact group to be able to reach you by having their notifications work normally. Also, if someone calls twice within 3 minutes, the second call will ring. That's toggle-able also.

iOS 6: Should YOU update to the beta?

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, including my introductory one, click here.

In my first iOS 6 post, I said that I was using the iOS 6 beta easily on a daily basis. Does that mean that anyone who updates could easily use it? Official answer: only if your device's UDID is registered with the Apple Developer program. Unofficial answer? That's a little bit trickier.

iOS 6: Beta update

To check out more blog posts about iOS 6, click here.

WWDC 2012 was kicked off last Monday. It stands for World Wide Developer's Conference, and it's a week-long event hosted by Apple for developers to get informed about Apple's new line of products. On Monday, the Apple exec team presented a keynote showing off all the new hardware and software, including the next major update to iOS, chronologically named iOS 6. Its official release date is sometime in the fall, but Apple began distributing a beta for iOS 6, meant for developers to mess with and get their apps working with. I don't necessarily make apps, but I too enjoy testing out new features, so I got my iPhone's UDID (Unique Device Identifier) registered with Apple's developer program, and upgraded to iOS 6. I did the same thing with iOS 5 when its betas were released, and it was fairly buggy. With that in mind, I didn't think I'd actually be using iOS 6 betas a lot. I figured it'd be just as buggy and would crash just as often as my experiences on the iOS 5 betas. However, I was wrong. After an entire day, my only complaints are the instability of the new Maps app (which I can get over seeing as it's new), the lack of a jailbreak (which I relied on before updating for those extra helpful features, and also root access), and some keyboard clicks not making a sound (it's slowly driving me insane). Other than that, I can use iOS 6 on a daily basis with ease. It only has been a day and a half since I updated, so I'll see how things start to change. The first beta expires in about a month, so another beta will have to be released by then. I plan on continuing to update to the latest betas until the official release, and hope it works out well.