IOS On the Iphone 4: I took the update!

So after about 40 minutes of watching my iphone tell me “Estimated Time Remaining: 2 Minutes” and an extensive and agonizing wait watching my iphone reboot itself, TWICE, i finally updated to IOS 6.

IOS 6 is mostly for the new iphone 5, or the iphone 4s. If you have the 4s, your’e a lucky one, because guess what? You get about 80% of all the awesome features that were boasted on the Iphone 5. I’ll go over these awesome things later. So if you have the 4, don’t be sad, you can still update too, which is what i did. You’ll get about 65% of the cool new features. You can’t update if your’e jailbroken, so you’ll have to reboot the system to get it.

So IOS 6 comes with a ton of new features (200 to be exact!) These features aren’t as flashy as they areconvenient. I’ll just briefly describe the most obvious changes from IOS 5 to 6 on my Iphone 4:

MAPS is not run by google anymore. Apple has completely made it’s own maps program, and its… crazy. I already loved Maps on IOS 5, because it came extremely handy when wanting to see a real-time view of where i’m going. Now it’s even better. Facebook and Twitter posts can now be done in rapid speed by having access to the notification bar. Calanders and Contacts can be synced to Facebook, so your events and birthdays will show. Passbook is a new app, which allows all your coupons and gift cards to be collected and displayed in one place. Privacy modes, call ignoring, quick texting and do not disturb are new setting features.

Maps

  • Turn-by-turn Navigation with Siri Voice powered by Tom Tom (iPhone 4S and iPad 2 or later, voice directions for iPhone 4S and 3rd generation iPad only)
  • Maps are now Apple-sourced instead of using Google sources.
  • Flyover view for maps gives 3D satellite view (iPhone 4S and iPad 2 or later)
  • Satellite view
  • Lock Screen integration for turn-by-turn navigation (iPhone 4S and iPad 2 or later, voice directions for iPhone 4S and 3rd generation iPad only)
  • Yelp! integration available for businesses near the user gives provides reviews and information on the business. Allows the user to launch Yelp! from Maps
  • Info cards of businesses
  • Real-time traffic information
  • New Map icon

Facebook Integration

  • Facebook integrated into core applications on iOS 6; similar to Twitter integration in iOS 5
  • Integrated into Notification Center
  • Integrated in Siri and APIs for third-party apps
  • Address book can sync contact information from friends on Facebook
  • Facebook Events and birthdays in Calendar
  • Like button is available in the App Store and iTunes Store. So you can like songs, albums, shows, movies, and apps.

Passbook

  • New app that manages a user’s boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, etc. in one app.
  • Store coupons and gift cards in a wallet-like app
  • Airplane boarding passes for flights; updates boarding pass information in real time if changes are made
  • Passbok is time and location enabled, so passes and tickets appear on the lock screen when necessary. You can swipe the notification to access the pass.

Notification System

  • Status of Notifications synced across iOS devices (also mentioned under iCloud)
  • “Tap to Tweet” and “Tap to Post” widgets
  • Message previews can now be toggled off and on for alerts
  • Customize notifications for each mail account
  • “Do Not Disturb” toggle, which allows you to suppress all incoming calls (diverted to voicemail) and notifications.

Photos

  • Shared Photo Streams. Photos can be shared with other contacts. Photos shared can be commented on and liked. If you share photos with people who don’t have Apple devices, they can view photos on the web.
  • Get notifications when family and friends share a photo.
  • Share photo streams don’t count against iCloud storage
  • New sharing menu

Phone

  • Sliding Phone shortcut (like sliding camera shortcut) that allows you to either “Reply with Message” or “Remind me Later” when you get a call.
  • Reply with Message –  You can use one of the preset messages such as “I’ll call you later.”, “I’m on my way.”, “What’s up?” or respond with a custom message to inform the caller than you can’t talk right now.
  • Remind me Later – you can be reminded in an hour, when you get home, when you get to work or when you leave (which sets a geofence around your current locations so that when you leave the meeting or building, you will be reminded to call the person)
  • Do not disturb toggle, which allows you to suppress all incoming calls unless callers are in your Favorites or from people in a group that you’ve  created in your Contact list. You can also schedule the time when you do not want to be disturbed.
  • New white themed UI for dial pad.

Mail

  • Create a VIP list so emails from important people are starred and can be access via the new Mail app
  • Customize notifications and alert tones for VIP lists
  • New Mailbox for flagged emails
  • Attach photos and videos within the Mail app
  • Added Pull-to-Refresh to update Mail accounts
  • Open password-protected Microsoft Office documents
  • Create a signature per email account
  • Customize notifications for each email account

Safari

  • iCloud tabs – allows users to view a list of tabs opened in the Safari web browser across multiple iOS devices and Macs, so you can pick up from where you left off on any device
  • Safari saves the web pages and not just the links, so you can read the contents of a webpage without an internet connection
  • Fullscreen mode in landscape
  • Smart App Banners: Banners on mobile webpages prompt users to download the website’s native App Store counterpart in the App Store
  • Faster JavaScript engine
  • Apps in search results
  • Support for photo upload via Camera Roll
  • Support up to 24 open tabs on iPad
  • New Sharing menu with 3 new shortcuts to copy the URL, share the link on Facebook and share the link using Message app
  • The overscroll background is now the hatched Notification Center pattern.

FaceTime

  • Make FaceTime calls over cellular network (iPhone 4S & 3rd generation iPad only)

Music

  • New streamlined UI with white and black themes (iPhone/iPod touch only)
  • The reflection on the new metallic slider’s virtual knob changes if you tilt your iPhone from side to side. It uses the gyroscope/accelerometer data.
  • Late Night Mode equalizer

Contacts

  • Search All Fields
  • Custom vibrations for text messages per contact

Reminders

  • Manual reorder of reminders
  • Manual location entry for reminders
  • Displays badges for outstanding tasks
  • Location based reminders for iPad

App Store

  • Revamped user interface
  • Applications can be purchased from within apps
  • Installing a app no longer takes the user to the home screen. The app will download and install while continuing to browse the store.
  • Previously purchased app or updating an app no longer requires the iTunes password to be entered
  • Top 25 tab renamed as Top Charts

iTunes

  • Revamped user interface
  • Content can be purchased from within apps

Settings

  • “Bluetooth” moved to top of Settings list
  • Added “Do Not Disturb” mode, allowing users to avoid calls and notifications unless calling parties are on the user’s Favorites group
  • Toggles for Government warnings and AMBER alerts
  • New Settings for Privacy Controls
  • Brightness and Wallpaper Settings have been merged
  • Settings for “Store” is now Settings for “iTunes and App Stores”
  • Settings for Reminders (this used to available in Mail, Contacts, Calendars)
  • A slightly changed Icon

Accessibilty

Guided Access:
  • Allows user to lock exiting of the app in Single App Mode.
  • Allows users to disable certain controls within a specific app.

iCloud

  • Status of Notifications synced across iOS devices
  • iCloud tabs in Safari
  • Personal Dictionary synchronization

Clock

  • Alarm can be set to any song in Music app
  • Clock app added to iPad
  • A slightly changed Icon

Weather

  • A cleaner and slick new UI

Game Center

  • Game Center challenges
  • Facebook friends integration

Camera

  • HDR improvements
  • Darker theme

Find My iPhone:

  • Lost Mode: If iPhone is lost, Lost Mode triggers an alert sound, and prompts the person that finds the iPhone to call a specific number set by the owner remotely

Find My Friends:

  • Find My Friends app to get geofencing notification system. This will let you set up an alert for contacts in your Find My Friends app; when they leave or arrive at a given location, you’ll receive an alert or banner notification.

Security

  • Kernel ASLR added

Usage

  • Time since Last Full Charge for iPod and iPad.

Other

  • Additional features for China
  • VoiceOver improvements
  • Global Network proxy for HTTP
  • IPv6 support for Wi-Fi and LTE
  • Word highlights for speech support
  • Auto Correction for every keyboard
  • Bluetooth Map support
  • Improved keyboard layouts
  • New Thai Keyboard (Full Keyboard)
  • French, German, and Spanish Dictionaries
  • “Made for iPhone” hearing aids
  • “New” label over freshly installed apps
  • Status bar reflects the colour of the top-most banner in third-party apps (more details here)
  • Spotlight lists name of folder an app is located in
  • Spotlight displays a small black logo next to the name of Apps built by Apple
  • Support for US Government Wireless Emergency Alerts
  • Spinning wheel graphic has been finally optimized for Retina Display
  • When you start or end a quote, the keyboard automatically switches to capital letters after the first and last quotation marks
  • If you add an Emoji icon after a sentence and you ended that sentence with a period, the keyboard will switch to capitals here

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