I think they were changed, when I looked last the 4 had lower Sunspider and higher Browsermark scores, and it also had N/A beside the other two, now the 4S has the N/A and better scores.
Seriously, whatever I have seen so far, Apple maps are absolute failure in India. It's actually pathetic in terms of actual data. Forget about features, they simply don't have data. It's so bad that I can't even think why they should launch iOS 6 here? Comparison with google maps?? just forget it.. and all those fancy 3D flyover, well probably by 2025 if we are lucky..
With the increasingly more powerful hardware that runs Ipad and Iphone it only seems like a question of when, we will se Ipads and Iphones running OSX with something like a device-dependent skin and some under-hood tuning to fit the device. IOS feels aged in many ways and a merge in to something new seems natural.
iOS is OS X. The took Mac OS X, brought down to it's core elements and built up iOS from that. At one point Apple advertised it as OS X Leopard and OS X Phone; I think at MacWorld 2008.
You won't see the Aqua GUi, printer drivers, etc. on iOS because it doesn't make any sense. There is no advantage to have a user plug a mouse into their iPhone so they can navigate with a pointer. The UI was designed for touch. Why even consider scrapping that?
You obviously don't use the Mail App with Exchange. It still needs some work. My users have huge numbers of heavily nested folders (100s of folders, up to 5 levels deep) that they use to organize emails. When synced with Exchange, App pulls the entire list of folders and displays them fully expanded; you cannot hide/minimize nested folders! You cannot rearrange folders and moving emails between them is clunky at best.
With more and more business users relying on iPhones for work, I would like to see a slew of improvements made to Mail's Exchange support.
I agree upto a point. Our advice to users is not to nest folders and store the emails to SharePoint, as well as minimise folders. This seems to trip up alot of devices though to be fair, which seem to have problems with Folders in Exchange. Being able to set Out of Office through the mail.app would be a go send also.
"For now the sacrifice seems worth it as the payoff is something that works very well, but I worry about what happens down the road if you're forced to buy a device not because it's the best device for you, but because buying an alternative would hurt the experience on another, unrelated device"
This is exactly what I fear. And I think we're closer to it than one might think
Apples walled garden offers zero choices for consumers when it comes to shopping for content elsewhere. The simple truth is that Apple controls each IProduct users access, and is expanding those controls continually, should be very concerning for its followers.
While I use two Android devices (Phone & Tablet), Google does not restrict/control my ability/freedom to shop for content outside their market place. Part of what makes an open market great is not limiting consumers options and allows price competitiveness. Consumers win.
Apple's currently in trouble (along with four publishing companies) for imposing price controls/fixing. Do you really care about Apples 30% share or are you more interested in getting the same product at the lowest price? At the end of the day....everyone wants their money to go as far as it can for them.
When you have options and time...you shop for the lowest price. Apple has eliminated ts collective users options/choices and wants to inflict its will on others...ie restricting Amazon's price structure and the economies of scale in selling the same books at a reduced price to consumers.
It simply amazes me how so many of the general public continue to willingly give up their freedom of choice. Do they really just want to be controlled and told what to do and how to hold their phone?
Microsoft NEVER EVER prevented a user from installing and using a different web-browser in Windows...yet they have been sued for millions all over the world....
. Apple builds a walled garden and forces its followers to shop ONLY at its market and even fixes prices so its sure to get its 30% cut on purchases....
...YET the DOJ continues to sit on their thumbs and does nothing.
What is wrong with this country?
OK I'm done with my rant.
btw. I wonder if the driver had followed Google Maps instead of Apples route....would he have avoided the traffic and arrived sooner? Just a thought.
I'm glad somebody else is as baffled as I am about consumers' willingness to do the same. Eventually they will either wake up or get what they deserve.
That's not actually true. The only thing you're limited to buying from Apple is apps. Everything else can be bought elsewhere and read, or played. That's true for books, music, video of any kind, including Tv shows and movies, PDF's, etc.
I would rather buy Apps from the Apple Store and have some confidence that the products have been reviewed for functionality and are virus-free. I gave up on Windows years ago after adding up the time I was spending on malware control using the mix of products that you seemed to need to do a complete job. Add to that the item and money spent to get rid of viruses on various family computers (the kids weren't as cautious as I was). No doubt the Windows world is much more secure these days but I'm not going back. I run the occasional Windows program on Parallels on a laptop (with virus protection). Other than Apps for iPhones, iPads, iPods (all Apple devices), I don't see what outside content I'm blocked from getting by Apple. I can buy any software I can run on OSX and run any Windows software using Boot Camp and a Windows installation or Windows emulation options. As to the agency pricing model Apple and its partner publishers were pushing for textbooks, lets wait for a court ruling on whether that amounts to collusive price fixing. Apple wasn't setting the prices, and the publishers (with some considerable support from authors) were making the case they needed more revenue than derived from Amazon discounted sales to survive. I'm not trying to take sides on that issue until I hear more on the merits of both positions.
lol, instead of teaching your kids how to not bork a computer you simply ran away from the problem. If you can afford a mac, you could have afforded to buy them their own shitty laptop, which they could infect to the point of failure and then learn how to deal with the mess themselves... or not. Seems the typical mac user is a lazy parent as well as user!
I think we are coming to the point where a computer should not be easily bork-able because it is essentially just an appliance which is reliable and easy to operate. This means things like OS drives and system files should be hidden to end users, but this would drive us technical types round the bend.
The solution to most infections is simply to reinstall and restore/repoint data, and buying them a shitty laptop which may get infected constantly will simply waste time that they could otherqwise spend doing something more useful. Unless you teach your kids how to reinstall Windows also, that's a lot of wasted hours.
Also quite a bit of how you don't get infected is not necessarily teachable, which I realised recently trying to explain it to someone les technical. I was downloading a link from Zdnet and on the page there were loads of ads and download managers that looked like the download button but when you clicked them they tried to install some stupid software. The actual download link was fairly hidden. This and the dangers of pop ups/cookies/add-ins is not an easy subject to teach, its something we have learnewd and now take for granted.
If my Windows 7 or 8 pc (self-built I might add) kept getting infected with malware in a way which was difficult to defend against using the standard approaches, I would 100% look at moving to another infrastructure. Not everybody has the knowledge or time to deal with the problem as we would. It does not denote laziness, simply different priorities than you own. If a curated app store does get around the danger of malware from unsafe install locations, it's not surprising that its incredibly popular with regular users and is now being adapted by most of the companies out there. Even Android only trusts known safe download locations by default.
The choice to shop where goods are sold cheaply is all good but it's not without downfall. But as someone pointed out your fury is bit misguided. With the exception of Apps, I can load onto my iPhone movies, books and songs that I got elsewhere. iTunes doesn't differentiate from items bought from its store or downloaded off Google Play- as long the format is compatible.
The irony to finding cheaper price elsewhere is that media whether it's from Google Play, Amazon or iTunes, are priced equally. So there's hardly any truth in that argument.
Your last statement hasn't quite been my experience, at least on the content I purchase. I do don't do a lot of video purchases, but the few I have purchased have generally been cheaper on Amazon. I also routinely find music to be cheaper on Amazon, along with more specials to be had.
Also, Apple may allow you to install media purchased from other sources, but it sure doesn't make such options a desired thing to do. Unsupported media formats require third party apps (for a price) along with the archaic way of transferring that content one-by-one, app by by, using iTunes, instead of allowing a true sync, as with supported content.
It is infinitely easier on Android to put the content you want on your device and consume it as you desire.
Again, not nitpicking, as your statements are accurate, but just point out that while Apple may "allow" something, they certainly don't make those "allowed" things something appealing to do.
I have a mac and an iphone and regularly buy content from Amazon - you're right, it is generally cheaper than itunes. It's also very easy to do, since Amazon supply a downloader for the mac which neatly places all your downloaded content directly in iTunes for you.
Of course once the content's in itunes, it syncs with the iphone as easily as anything else does.
What a can of worms that is. People are surprisingly easily manipulated. The pen is built around them, and they don't notice or care. Thus the the term - iSheep. But it's our nature, I suppose; not inherent to just iFans. Look at our country and "our" government...
I was going to comment and quote the same statement. I'm an avid tech junkie. i've owned a variety of mobile electronics devices. I recently purchased first an iPad and then a MacBook Pro to replace my Xoom and Dell laptop and now I find myself feeling almost "forced" (I know no one forces me to spend my money) to buy an iPhone 5 because trying to find cross platform applications to sync with my Galaxy Nexus (which I really like) is just tough. Add in that iOS doesn't permit data sharing in the background, it makes being completely on iOS (for iCloud) or completely on Android for things to work together. Obviously, the Galaxy Nexus can't access iCloud, so to have things just seemlessly work together, I have to give up the iPad or migrate to the iPhone.
It's obviously not the worse problem to have, but it sure is nice for things to work together. Right now, you really have to sign up for one or the other completely, for the best experience. Not to mention being on 2 different platforms means paying for the "same" app twice.
I know what you mean. I only had to read what was on the first page to see it. This is what first made me scratch my head...
"Today, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch make up a significant portion of Apple’s revenue, and as a result moving the platform along is more of a question of minimizing friction points rather than completely reinventing the OS. "
Why the hell not reinvent the wheel again? Oh right. Apple didn't reinvent it the first time around either. They 'stole' a bunch of ideas and put them together.
I have to agree. iOS does many things well, however "feeling fresh" is firmly at the bottom of that list. Visually, the experience has barely changed since the first iteration - yet the handsets cost, in essence, £1000 now...
Well if you come from iOS5 to iOS6 it feels pretty fresh. I would imagine that this is what they meant. The changes are nice improvements in my cursory glance round them so far on iPad3 and IP4S, with Siri having massively improved in the UK. Having demo-ed it this morning in the office, a few people pre-ordered the IP5...
I did buy a Samsung Galaxy 3 and kept it for a month, but didn't like the Android OS so went back to iPhone. Android does look nice (though obviously not as smooth) with some good ideas but I just felt that iOS is more integrated and some things just work more reliably. App choice was a big decider as well with a few of my favourite ones missing on Android, but the worst thing was the reception on the phone and the narrow ear-speaker which made me realise the 4S was actually quite good as a phone! If you feel restricted by the capabilities of the iPhone, then Android is probably a good bet, but I just bought it due to screen envy and wanting a new toy which then got bored after I finished playing.
Having gone from a WiMo phone back in 2007 to the first iPhone, and used Blackberrys, Sony P Series and others, I can say with certainty that anactoraaron's statement about "Apple didn't reinvent it the first time around either. They 'stole' a bunch of ideas and put them together. " is utter nonsense and the iPhone OS *was* completely revolutionary. People used to stop in the street and watch me using it, which seems unbelievable now, but true.
The best proof of this is that all phones now (barring perhaps Windows phone) operate and look like an iPhone. I concede though that if you never owned an iPhone/3G and went straight to Androids, perhaps they might even seem derrivative, but they were completely ground breaking when they were introduced.
I went from ios 5 to 6, and it certainly doesn't feel novel. We've been having incremental improvements over the past 5 years, and while it was incredible in 2007, ios feels dated now. It's gonna be windows phone for me now, that's a mobile os that feels "fresh".
Yes, windows phones are lovely - I adored my Lumia 800 (as a windows phone and as a physical handset) however lack of apps is a real and legitimate concern. If they can just drag more devs over I can really see windows being _the_ platform for "casual" phone users.
Gonna have to disagree with you here. Not only does the jump from 5 to 6 not feel significant, it doesn't feel that different from the very first iteration (superficially).
Since it reports itself as 'iOS 6 beta 4' it indicates you have a developer build of iOS installed. Did you lend your iDevice to someone with a development license, if so I assume they installed the development provisioning profile, and installed a dev buiild of iOS. If this is indeed how you got a dev build on your device, you may have to hand it back to whoever installed it for you, have them remove the provisioning profile.
Alternatively it might be possible to do it from the latest release of iTunes, but I'm not sure about that.
I bet you're also out looking for proof that water is wet and the sky is blue.
Of COURSE they want your money, they're a business; it's their job. Find me a company that doesn't want your money, and I'll show you one that's either heading toward bankruptcy or is supported by other, non-competitive factors such as donations/grants/etc. (like non-profits)
So, unless you think people would start donating hordes of money out of good will to keep Apple afloat, I don't think they're about to start giving you newly developed software for old products for free. What's the next step? FREE LIFETIME REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT ON ALL IPADS. COME GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT! PLEASE LEAVE SPARE CHANGE IN OUR DONATION BUCKET WHEN YOU LEAVE THE APPLE STORE.
gotta disagree with the author on the tablet web browsing. The convenience of web browsing on a tablet is one factor, instant access, easy finger gestures, it should be enhanced in the future so that we do away with the uneccessarry luggage like a keyboard and mouse. Even cutting and pasting have improved, i'm not sure what the author is talking about copying multiple links, mass email etc, the point of Ipad internet browsing is purely entertainment and should be improved upon. IOS does an amazing job on memory management, especially these websites that invades your browser with crazy advertising pop ups. Sinces Android foundation is from Java it might as well be the devil's advocate in crashing and freezing your device.
What if you are away from your tablet and are browsing the web, but then you have to stop or you want to save something for later. Then later you want to browse on your tablet instead, and you'd like to pick up where you left off or go back to what you'd saved. It seems like that's the point of the new Reading List syncing feature. How else would you do it besides emailing the links?
Some typing is still required when using the web, right? Typing on a touchscreen has improved a lot but is still like a bit like using a keyboard with gloves on. I don't know what my WPM is on a tablet but it must be must be at least cut by 70% or something. I have still occasionally switched to using my desktop when I need to figure something out on the web since it is just much faster. Also, depending on what I'm doing, I may need to look at several web pages, my own notes, or something else why writing an email or a writing something. This is more than just web browsing and although a tablet screen is bigger than a phone and closer to a desktop/laptop, the functionality just isn't there for doing something like that with a tablet. If you're really just "browsing" then a tablet is comfortable for that.
Only been using nav for 1 day, but the one annoyance that could likely drive me (no pun intended) back to Waze or Navigon is that when the voice guidance comes on, it talks on top of music and podcasts. Other navigation applications will stop playback from other applications, then resume when voice guidance is done.
it's frustrating when I'm listening to Brian and Anand, then having to rewind every time new voice guidance comes on in then middle of one of Brian's tangents!
I would like this feature when I'm listening to music, but not when I'm listening to talking heads.
Just upgraded my iphone 4 to iOS6. The maps app is nowhere close to what google offers so far. I knew there would be issues during the initial release due sheer volume I suppose.
Even without turn by turn directions or 3D flyover, the larger direction signs that show up are pretty good for navigation.
The standard maps are very ill configured and barely show any info. I'd have thought that with Tom Tom being a GPS company would have a rather comprehensive database already. My scaling is wrong and many areas are missing. No streetview means by default means I have to wait for google to release their app.
I think I was very impressed with the updates going from iOS4 to iOS5. Going from 5 to 6 however hasn't impressed overall that much yet.
The autobrightness is weird and isn't the same as before for some reason. I had issues with home sharing when it worked flawlessly before, infact was a huge improvement between updates up till now.
I do love the options now present when getting a call.
I'm dissapointed that this article completely glosses over the fact that the maps themselves look like absolute garbage. The way the roads are rendered and the colors used is god-awful compared to google maps, UI being Apple's main selling point. Its hard to tell road types apart close up and hard to read the map in general because of the way its rendered, with thin roads and all. I find it to be a piss-poor implementation and am dissapointed at the soft-white tinted glasses that appeared to be the filter this article went through.
I'm comparing what I'm seeing on iOS Map and Google Map- limiting to my milieu since I'm familiar with it- but what I'm seeing is quite comparable.
There are a few things on the iOS6 map that seems incomplete. For example, rail track- yes it's much, much narrower than the street but missing the required lines that cut across the track.
But the street itself- the iOS6 version seems better at replicating and differentiating the various width of the main thoroughfares and side-streets. When toggling between the layers of Standard and the Satellite maps, I can clearly see that Google map does a poorer job- it seems to replicate the traffic flow rather than the road itself (resulting in curvier turns when it's actually right-angled). Expectedly, it does a better job at marking various businesses around the neighbourhood. One area where the iOS version will improve over time.
Colour choice and preference are completely subjective but again except for a few choices of colours, both maps seems to me more similar than they're different (Skeuomorphism aside).
I disagree completely I'm afraid. I was quite worried updating to iOS 6 that the maps would be awful as many early previews of the dev version said, but on my device it runs really fast, we have brilliant 3D flyovers and the maps are accurate and scale nicely. I especially like the rotation and elevation two finger controls like on Android Google maps. Since using G Maps on Android I always though the iOS implementation was a poor cousin, so I think it is good that Apple have finally come up with something comparable and slick which will hopefully grow swiftly. Navigation is much less confusing and busy than the Android version from what I have seen so far. The Siri integration is the icing on the cake.
I do miss street view, buit rarely used the public transport navigation bit as Transport for London has a superior service available. At least now when Google release a mapping app it can be as Google want it to be and it will be up to the user whether they want Google tracking their every move and making money off of their browsing/map use.
I really enjoy reading the article. It is very informative. Thank you.
1. There are 2 authors listed for this piece. I just wanted to know who is the "I," "me," "mine," ... in this. That is very confusing.
2. "at present [Google] literally is the 9000 pound gorilla for maps." Literally? Literally? That is like a friend of mine said to me "I literally haven't seen you for a million years."
Same page, turn-by-turn: "Voice guidance volume, label size, and units are really the only options here — there seen any options for preferring highways or surface streets, avoiding tolls (though you are warned when given routes to select from) or other common standalone GPS options."
I'm assuming it's "there doesn't seem to be any options" or the like?
Alright, this morning upgraded the iPad 3 to i OS 6. Tested out the much touted Apple Maps. Pig in a poke, that's what it is. I could have as well bought a Bartholomew's maps and carried with me. This wretched thing won't show half the places even within 100 miles of Bangalore. Hmm... should have learnt the lessons... Apple cares two hoots for customers and foolish Apple buyers in this geography
"What iOS 6, Android 4.1 or Windows 8/RT/Phone 8 fail to do however is establish a single dominant winner in the market. This war is far from over, which is a great thing for pushing innovation."
Transit routing gone, no good replacements yet, location-search pretty bad (I tried a number of tests searches and found literally NOTHING I looked for). Now, taken as a whole, iOS6 is a nice upgrade, and there are plenty of features I find myslef really liking -- however, Maps needed to bake for longer...
Think about it. You use a map to
1) find something (data now terrible, fails) 2) to find a route to the thing you just found (can't route via the metro, so total fail here too)
In other words, the single two most important use-cases for using maps ina major metropolitan area (the areas where you'll find the highest density of iOS users) are now awful. Turn-by-turn directions are a nice addition IF you actually spend most opf your day driving somewhere. Which most city-dwellers in non-US countries don't, as public transport is usually pretty good...
Marks awarded for effort and ambition, and even looks. BUT... needs a ton of follow-through.
The satellite images are interesting. You can zoom further in on my house in the middle of a forest in Sweden than you can Seoul, the image is in greyscale for some reason but you get fairly close and it's also fairly recent. (A shame the road that goes by the house doesn't have a name or can be found with search even though the road itself is on the map.)
Another interesting thing that I noticed while looking around is that at least here in Sweden Apple seem to have a lot more current imagery than Google or even Eniro (local service) does (Eniro seem to mostly have the same as Google though). In Kalmar, a moderately sized city on the south eastern coast a bridge was constructed over the railroad about 2-3 years ago, in Google Maps there are just two piles of sand on both sides where the bridge will be, in Apples imagery the bridge is there.
Wouldn't it be swell for Google to now sue Apple over mundane features like dropping a pin in their maps app? Sweet vengeance over Apple suing OEMs over the bounce animation or showing a menu while tapping on numbers, ...
Not that I agree with such practices, but at least it would balance things out ;)
"one of the new OSes have done a great job of dealing with the problem of displaying content from two applications at once"
I know people will rip me for saying this, but the Blackberry Playbook actually does THE best job of multitasking. Having used on with my work I attempted to use a 3rd gen iPad and simply couldn't handle the lack of multitasking. Same with an ASUS Transformer.
There seems to be many people unhappy with the native maps app. I read about it yesterday in many forums but today many news sites seem to be reporting it as well.
Heck BusinessInsider has a step by step guide to get the website google maps on your home screen.
"and at present it [Google] literally is the 9000 pound gorilla for maps."
That is only true if the Google maps can connect to the Google servers. If that connection is not there a 5 year old navigation device with no updates beats it hands down.
Brian, you might wanna check Siri again in international location, I'm pretty sure Dubai will works just great now. From my experience in Jakarta Indonesia, last week I couldn't ask Siri for anything related to location based questions. However, yesterday, as iOS 6 officially launched, I can even ask Siri for nearest dentist and it even listing nearest food stall with delivery option. I'm very overwhelmed with how good Siri is righ now, for the first time, my investment in 4S paid off :)
The overwhelming theme I keep seeing as I read the various iOS 6 reviews is a tendency to make excuses for Apple. This article and Rene Ritchie's both say things to the nature of "It took a lot for Apple to do [x] so that is why this feature was [y]."
I can't help but point out that when it comes to Android, reviewers are a lot quicker to point out something that sucks and offer no excuse for why it's excusable, yet when it comes to Apple releasing another boring update to iOS, with the exception of Maps, all is more or less excused because, "Maps took a lot of work and time."
When I'm on Android-centric site, I get excuses for why Android is still the best. On an Apple-centric site, I get excuses for why Apple is the best. On AnandTech, I expect (and usually receive) more unbiased opinions. In this case, I don't get the bipartisan vibe though. It reaks of excuses. Just my opinion.
This is not the only article I've had this problem with. I had the same feeling while reading the article about the data&voice support. The worst thing is that I've used to rely on Anandtech being rather objective and declaring things as they are. I just hope that they won't invent a completely new camera into iPhone 5 when they review it like SlashGear did (unlike Engadget and Digital Photography Review).
I'd like to know that too, especially if it represents the cell tower data signal and not just wifi. I love having my iPhone voice bars represented in dB and would like the same for data as I do use data more often than voice.
I found a couple different ways. If you had it previously from a jailreak and restored from that backup, then it'll appear again. If you don't have that available there's a plist edit http://idevicecentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&p=...
I've never done a jailbreak. I used this method to hack the bars into dB:
FieldTest dial *3001#12345#* - you can then keep numerics instead of bars in the top left by force quitting FieldTest after launching it (hold down power/lock until power off appears, then hold the home button).
Perhaps I overlooked it at the iOS 6 announcement, but I'll admit to being disappointed for the lack of two main features for iPhone 4 (not 4S) owners - turn by turn navigation and panorama photos. I understand the graphical horsepower needed for 3D flyby, but sad that Apple chose to leave those of us out for the other two features, especially when there are a plethora of apps that do provide those abilities. Yes, I realize I can use them instead (in fact, must), but would prefer OS integration for convenience. Brian (or Saumitra) mentioned that there might be additional horsepower needed for the panorama feature, but there's nothing special about it that makes me think it's just a way to Apple to prod users to the latest phone.
iOS 6 maps are terrible period. I'm starting to believe the hype that AnandTech is putting an Apple spin on things instead of one that is aimed for the consumer. Terrible biased review of a bad product that lowers user experience. What happened to "it just work's"? Don't release something until it is ready. Apple has put their corporate intentions ahead of the user experience and that is wrong, and Anand's failure to mention that is damning.
Some of the free GPS apps require you to pay for spoken directions. Apple's new Maps app plays well with other GPS apps. If you set Maps to navigate to a destination, then switch to another GPS app without the ability to speak turn by turn directions, then the Maps will offer continue to give navigation updates as a badge with drop down text over the status bar spoken with Siri's voice. A great way to augment other "silent" free GPS apps.
I'd like to send a caller that I can't take right now to a pre-determined voice message: "Call you back ASAP", etc. instead of sending messages. Why?
* first of all it is not good to switch communication methods. If someone sends me a text I don't answer with an e-mail or a long form letter. * Second not every phone line is mobile, so text messages end up nowhere * There are users that do not use texts * last the communication is disrupted. If I call then I get what (I guess a busy sign) and I put down the phone and a few seconds later I get a text, informing me of the pre-canned message, so I have to pick up the phone to read the message.
If I get a voice answer, then I stay in the intended communication mode and optionally can leave a voice message (which some service at the convenience of the recipient can transcribe).
Wow, so it doesn't actually answer the call and play your prerecorded message? That's what I thought the article was saying. Yeah no point to sending a text message if someone is calling from a regular phone.
I'm more than halfway thru the article (currently on the Mail page) and I'm honestly not seeing this bias that a lot of comments are complaining of... And I'm hardly an Apple fan, I own exactly one Apple device (old 2nd gen IPod touch) and I've had three Android phones and a tablet (and I bought a second one as a gift even). Maybe it's more evident in the conclusion? Couple more pages to find out...
I'm not reading it as an Android vs iOS article tho, just as what it is, an update and overview on what's changed on iOS. Speaking of Android vs iOS, I've seen it mentioned here many times by various editors that they don't imagine a lot of people cross shopping between both ecosystems... And as far as existing customers I'd agree.
The smartphone and tablet markets are still growing rapidly tho and new buyers (who haven't owned either type of device before) are absolutely cross shopping IMO.
As others have written, the maps may be fine in the USA, but Apple do sell their products elsewhere. Here in small Denmark, it's horrible. The amount of errors are staggering, I spent less than 30 seconds browsing the maps in my local area and found at least 3 big errors. Later I browsed a bit more and apparently the second biggest hospital in the country doesn't exist. The navigation guides you on highways that's not going to open until 2016. I have an iPhone because I like Apples attention to detail - their products generally just work. In this case they failed big time.
Another thing: Isn't this the first time there aren't any new IOS features that's exclusive to the new model? I don't seem to lose any features by staying with my 4s.
video showing off the gps like wow test it on some residential roads without all these long ass red lights, do it on a day without rain dont enjoy hearing the wipers screeching. a little common sense would go a long way. you're an iphone user aren't you
You state that it's a new features that the status bar can be changed by apps, and specifically call out Twitter as one that can add status messages to it.
That was in iOS 5. It annoyed me when Twitter would put a status update in the status bar, because the status bar then lots its "tap to go to the top" function until Twitter's update went away.
Second, you state that the main Photo Stream and Shared Photo Streams are exclusionary, an either/or proposition. I beg to differ. My photos still get dumped into my main Photo Stream, while I can have multiple Shared Photo Streams (either invite-only or public.)
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
105 Comments
Back to Article
tipoo - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Pretty sure the 4S is faster than the 4 :)Ryan Smith - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I'm assuming you must be referring to the SunSpider results? In that case lower is better, so everything looks correct here.tipoo - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I think they were changed, when I looked last the 4 had lower Sunspider and higher Browsermark scores, and it also had N/A beside the other two, now the 4S has the N/A and better scores.Henk Poley - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Related, I consistently get a Sunspider 0.9.1 score of about 3000 +/- 1% on my iPhone 4 GSM. Typo? 33.. instead of 30.. ?dsumanik - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
blah blahThe new maps suck...they are a significant step down, in dataset AND functionality.
Users in the US might ALMOST get the same experience but everywhere else on the planet got screwed.
There are spelling errors, missing roads, improperly labeled cities and for the most part, significantly less detailed maps.
I live in a very remote community, in northern canada...there is a GOOGLE STREET VIEW picture of my house and street.
There is no way Apple will ever come up here to offer the same level of detail...im simply in too small of a market.
There isnt even color photos of my town.
LOL!
Jobs would never have let this slide until it was competitive... right now it simply is inferior in every single way.
mrgulabull - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
The "trouble building" you mention actually looks like that. It's the Walt Disney Concert Hall. If anything I'd say the 3d model is remarkably good.Here's an aerial shot from Google Maps
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=walt+disney+concert...
ratte - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
It's the building above that (the Dorothy Chandler pavillion) that looks badBrian Klug - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
OH wow, ok, well that's interesting... Fixing now.-Brian
nathanddrews - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
If you had seen the "Get Smart" movie, you would know. :Prd_nest - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Seriously, whatever I have seen so far, Apple maps are absolute failure in India. It's actually pathetic in terms of actual data. Forget about features, they simply don't have data. It's so bad that I can't even think why they should launch iOS 6 here? Comparison with google maps?? just forget it.. and all those fancy 3D flyover, well probably by 2025 if we are lucky..snoozemode - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
With the increasingly more powerful hardware that runs Ipad and Iphone it only seems like a question of when, we will se Ipads and Iphones running OSX with something like a device-dependent skin and some under-hood tuning to fit the device. IOS feels aged in many ways and a merge in to something new seems natural.solipsism - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
iOS is OS X. The took Mac OS X, brought down to it's core elements and built up iOS from that. At one point Apple advertised it as OS X Leopard and OS X Phone; I think at MacWorld 2008.You won't see the Aqua GUi, printer drivers, etc. on iOS because it doesn't make any sense. There is no advantage to have a user plug a mouse into their iPhone so they can navigate with a pointer. The UI was designed for touch. Why even consider scrapping that?
dcollins - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
You obviously don't use the Mail App with Exchange. It still needs some work. My users have huge numbers of heavily nested folders (100s of folders, up to 5 levels deep) that they use to organize emails. When synced with Exchange, App pulls the entire list of folders and displays them fully expanded; you cannot hide/minimize nested folders! You cannot rearrange folders and moving emails between them is clunky at best.With more and more business users relying on iPhones for work, I would like to see a slew of improvements made to Mail's Exchange support.
robinthakur - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I agree upto a point. Our advice to users is not to nest folders and store the emails to SharePoint, as well as minimise folders. This seems to trip up alot of devices though to be fair, which seem to have problems with Folders in Exchange. Being able to set Out of Office through the mail.app would be a go send also.dsumanik - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
or apple could just add collapsable folders.lol
yet another apple ifail
Stas - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
Give them a break. They have to invent them first.randomlinh - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
"For now the sacrifice seems worth it as the payoff is something that works very well, but I worry about what happens down the road if you're forced to buy a device not because it's the best device for you, but because buying an alternative would hurt the experience on another, unrelated device"This is exactly what I fear. And I think we're closer to it than one might think
tekzor - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
already happened with app storesGotThumbs - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Agreed.Apples walled garden offers zero choices for consumers when it comes to shopping for content elsewhere. The simple truth is that Apple controls each IProduct users access, and is expanding those controls continually, should be very concerning for its followers.
While I use two Android devices (Phone & Tablet), Google does not restrict/control my ability/freedom to shop for content outside their market place. Part of what makes an open market great is not limiting consumers options and allows price competitiveness. Consumers win.
Apple's currently in trouble (along with four publishing companies) for imposing price controls/fixing. Do you really care about Apples 30% share or are you more interested in getting the same product at the lowest price? At the end of the day....everyone wants their money to go as far as it can for them.
When you have options and time...you shop for the lowest price. Apple has eliminated ts collective users options/choices and wants to inflict its will on others...ie restricting Amazon's price structure and the economies of scale in selling the same books at a reduced price to consumers.
It simply amazes me how so many of the general public continue to willingly give up their freedom of choice. Do they really just want to be controlled and told what to do and how to hold their phone?
Microsoft NEVER EVER prevented a user from installing and using a different web-browser in Windows...yet they have been sued for millions all over the world....
. Apple builds a walled garden and forces its followers to shop ONLY at its market and even fixes prices so its sure to get its 30% cut on purchases....
...YET the DOJ continues to sit on their thumbs and does nothing.
What is wrong with this country?
OK I'm done with my rant.
btw. I wonder if the driver had followed Google Maps instead of Apples route....would he have avoided the traffic and arrived sooner? Just a thought.
Best wishes,
bplewis24 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I'm glad somebody else is as baffled as I am about consumers' willingness to do the same. Eventually they will either wake up or get what they deserve.melgross - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
That's not actually true. The only thing you're limited to buying from Apple is apps. Everything else can be bought elsewhere and read, or played. That's true for books, music, video of any kind, including Tv shows and movies, PDF's, etc.reuthermonkey1 - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Assuming that Apple continues to allow those 3rd party apps to exist in their App Store...GSRennie - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I would rather buy Apps from the Apple Store and have some confidence that the products have been reviewed for functionality and are virus-free. I gave up on Windows years ago after adding up the time I was spending on malware control using the mix of products that you seemed to need to do a complete job. Add to that the item and money spent to get rid of viruses on various family computers (the kids weren't as cautious as I was). No doubt the Windows world is much more secure these days but I'm not going back. I run the occasional Windows program on Parallels on a laptop (with virus protection). Other than Apps for iPhones, iPads, iPods (all Apple devices), I don't see what outside content I'm blocked from getting by Apple. I can buy any software I can run on OSX and run any Windows software using Boot Camp and a Windows installation or Windows emulation options. As to the agency pricing model Apple and its partner publishers were pushing for textbooks, lets wait for a court ruling on whether that amounts to collusive price fixing. Apple wasn't setting the prices, and the publishers (with some considerable support from authors) were making the case they needed more revenue than derived from Amazon discounted sales to survive. I'm not trying to take sides on that issue until I hear more on the merits of both positions.Sufo - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
lol, instead of teaching your kids how to not bork a computer you simply ran away from the problem. If you can afford a mac, you could have afforded to buy them their own shitty laptop, which they could infect to the point of failure and then learn how to deal with the mess themselves... or not. Seems the typical mac user is a lazy parent as well as user!robinthakur - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I think we are coming to the point where a computer should not be easily bork-able because it is essentially just an appliance which is reliable and easy to operate. This means things like OS drives and system files should be hidden to end users, but this would drive us technical types round the bend.The solution to most infections is simply to reinstall and restore/repoint data, and buying them a shitty laptop which may get infected constantly will simply waste time that they could otherqwise spend doing something more useful. Unless you teach your kids how to reinstall Windows also, that's a lot of wasted hours.
Also quite a bit of how you don't get infected is not necessarily teachable, which I realised recently trying to explain it to someone les technical. I was downloading a link from Zdnet and on the page there were loads of ads and download managers that looked like the download button but when you clicked them they tried to install some stupid software. The actual download link was fairly hidden. This and the dangers of pop ups/cookies/add-ins is not an easy subject to teach, its something we have learnewd and now take for granted.
If my Windows 7 or 8 pc (self-built I might add) kept getting infected with malware in a way which was difficult to defend against using the standard approaches, I would 100% look at moving to another infrastructure. Not everybody has the knowledge or time to deal with the problem as we would. It does not denote laziness, simply different priorities than you own. If a curated app store does get around the danger of malware from unsafe install locations, it's not surprising that its incredibly popular with regular users and is now being adapted by most of the companies out there. Even Android only trusts known safe download locations by default.
steven75 - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
Ah the classic "blame the user" mindset instead of the fact that Microsoft Windows is a perilous platform to use when it comes to security.MykeM - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
The choice to shop where goods are sold cheaply is all good but it's not without downfall. But as someone pointed out your fury is bit misguided. With the exception of Apps, I can load onto my iPhone movies, books and songs that I got elsewhere. iTunes doesn't differentiate from items bought from its store or downloaded off Google Play- as long the format is compatible.The irony to finding cheaper price elsewhere is that media whether it's from Google Play, Amazon or iTunes, are priced equally. So there's hardly any truth in that argument.
crankerchick - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Your last statement hasn't quite been my experience, at least on the content I purchase. I do don't do a lot of video purchases, but the few I have purchased have generally been cheaper on Amazon. I also routinely find music to be cheaper on Amazon, along with more specials to be had.Also, Apple may allow you to install media purchased from other sources, but it sure doesn't make such options a desired thing to do. Unsupported media formats require third party apps (for a price) along with the archaic way of transferring that content one-by-one, app by by, using iTunes, instead of allowing a true sync, as with supported content.
It is infinitely easier on Android to put the content you want on your device and consume it as you desire.
Again, not nitpicking, as your statements are accurate, but just point out that while Apple may "allow" something, they certainly don't make those "allowed" things something appealing to do.
Petri - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
I have a mac and an iphone and regularly buy content from Amazon - you're right, it is generally cheaper than itunes. It's also very easy to do, since Amazon supply a downloader for the mac which neatly places all your downloaded content directly in iTunes for you.Of course once the content's in itunes, it syncs with the iphone as easily as anything else does.
Stas - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
What a can of worms that is. People are surprisingly easily manipulated. The pen is built around them, and they don't notice or care. Thus the the term - iSheep. But it's our nature, I suppose; not inherent to just iFans. Look at our country and "our" government...crankerchick - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I was going to comment and quote the same statement. I'm an avid tech junkie. i've owned a variety of mobile electronics devices. I recently purchased first an iPad and then a MacBook Pro to replace my Xoom and Dell laptop and now I find myself feeling almost "forced" (I know no one forces me to spend my money) to buy an iPhone 5 because trying to find cross platform applications to sync with my Galaxy Nexus (which I really like) is just tough. Add in that iOS doesn't permit data sharing in the background, it makes being completely on iOS (for iCloud) or completely on Android for things to work together. Obviously, the Galaxy Nexus can't access iCloud, so to have things just seemlessly work together, I have to give up the iPad or migrate to the iPhone.It's obviously not the worse problem to have, but it sure is nice for things to work together. Right now, you really have to sign up for one or the other completely, for the best experience. Not to mention being on 2 different platforms means paying for the "same" app twice.
Fx1 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
When AT says on the internet that iOS STILL FEELS FRESH. You need to take a long hard look at your reporting because it stinks of Apple all over it.anactoraaron - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I know what you mean. I only had to read what was on the first page to see it. This is what first made me scratch my head..."Today, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch make up a significant portion of Apple’s revenue, and as a result moving the platform along is more of a question of minimizing friction points rather than completely reinventing the OS. "
Why the hell not reinvent the wheel again? Oh right. Apple didn't reinvent it the first time around either. They 'stole' a bunch of ideas and put them together.
steven75 - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
Yep, barely any phones these days look like that original 2007 iPhone.Oh no wait--THEY ALL DO!
Sufo - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I have to agree. iOS does many things well, however "feeling fresh" is firmly at the bottom of that list. Visually, the experience has barely changed since the first iteration - yet the handsets cost, in essence, £1000 now...robinthakur - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Well if you come from iOS5 to iOS6 it feels pretty fresh. I would imagine that this is what they meant. The changes are nice improvements in my cursory glance round them so far on iPad3 and IP4S, with Siri having massively improved in the UK. Having demo-ed it this morning in the office, a few people pre-ordered the IP5...I did buy a Samsung Galaxy 3 and kept it for a month, but didn't like the Android OS so went back to iPhone. Android does look nice (though obviously not as smooth) with some good ideas but I just felt that iOS is more integrated and some things just work more reliably. App choice was a big decider as well with a few of my favourite ones missing on Android, but the worst thing was the reception on the phone and the narrow ear-speaker which made me realise the 4S was actually quite good as a phone! If you feel restricted by the capabilities of the iPhone, then Android is probably a good bet, but I just bought it due to screen envy and wanting a new toy which then got bored after I finished playing.
Having gone from a WiMo phone back in 2007 to the first iPhone, and used Blackberrys, Sony P Series and others, I can say with certainty that anactoraaron's statement about "Apple didn't reinvent it the first time around either. They 'stole' a bunch of ideas and put them together. " is utter nonsense and the iPhone OS *was* completely revolutionary. People used to stop in the street and watch me using it, which seems unbelievable now, but true.
The best proof of this is that all phones now (barring perhaps Windows phone) operate and look like an iPhone. I concede though that if you never owned an iPhone/3G and went straight to Androids, perhaps they might even seem derrivative, but they were completely ground breaking when they were introduced.
maximumGPU - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I went from ios 5 to 6, and it certainly doesn't feel novel.We've been having incremental improvements over the past 5 years, and while it was incredible in 2007, ios feels dated now.
It's gonna be windows phone for me now, that's a mobile os that feels "fresh".
Sufo - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
Yes, windows phones are lovely - I adored my Lumia 800 (as a windows phone and as a physical handset) however lack of apps is a real and legitimate concern. If they can just drag more devs over I can really see windows being _the_ platform for "casual" phone users.Sufo - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
Gonna have to disagree with you here. Not only does the jump from 5 to 6 not feel significant, it doesn't feel that different from the very first iteration (superficially).Stas - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
Loading the front page of AT doesn't give it away? O.odayndrew - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
When I look for an update on my iPhone 4 under Settings->General->Software Update it gives me "iOS 6 beta 4". What gives?ajcarroll - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
You're got the developer profile installed. I think you'll need to remove the profile in xcode to install the final build.dayndrew - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I've never done any developer work of any kind for iOS. In fact, I have no idea what you mean by xcode. Do I need to do a reset?ajcarroll - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Since it reports itself as 'iOS 6 beta 4' it indicates you have a developer build of iOS installed. Did you lend your iDevice to someone with a development license, if so I assume they installed the development provisioning profile, and installed a dev buiild of iOS. If this is indeed how you got a dev build on your device, you may have to hand it back to whoever installed it for you, have them remove the provisioning profile.Alternatively it might be possible to do it from the latest release of iTunes, but I'm not sure about that.
pxavierperez - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
You can add additional pictures to an existing mail using the copy/paste command even in previous iOS.eg. copy photos from Camera Roll, then paste to already written mail in Mail.app.
ltcommanderdata - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Were there any improvements to graphics performance from new drivers?Brian Klug - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I ran GLBenchmark 2.5 before and after and didn't see any changes. If there are, they're things that don't directly impact performance.-Brian
PHlipMoD3 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Thanks Apple. No Siri on iPad2 - with no real reason for it not being present apart from the fact that this is not the 3rd gen iPad...Proof that Apple just want your money.
seapeople - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
I bet you're also out looking for proof that water is wet and the sky is blue.Of COURSE they want your money, they're a business; it's their job. Find me a company that doesn't want your money, and I'll show you one that's either heading toward bankruptcy or is supported by other, non-competitive factors such as donations/grants/etc. (like non-profits)
So, unless you think people would start donating hordes of money out of good will to keep Apple afloat, I don't think they're about to start giving you newly developed software for old products for free. What's the next step? FREE LIFETIME REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT ON ALL IPADS. COME GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT! PLEASE LEAVE SPARE CHANGE IN OUR DONATION BUCKET WHEN YOU LEAVE THE APPLE STORE.
steven75 - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
No real reason other than the processing required, the mic hardware, and noise cancelling chip.Yep, no "real" reason except for the hardware the iPad 2 doesn't have.
Hyper72 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Mobile Safari reports as:Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 6_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A403 Safari/8536.25
iCab Mobile reports:
Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3
anandtech02148 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
gotta disagree with the author on the tablet web browsing.The convenience of web browsing on a tablet is one factor, instant access, easy finger gestures, it should be enhanced in the future so that we do away with the uneccessarry luggage like a keyboard and mouse. Even cutting and pasting have improved, i'm not sure what the author is talking about copying multiple links, mass email etc, the point of Ipad internet browsing is purely entertainment and should be improved upon. IOS does an amazing job on memory management, especially these websites that invades your browser with crazy advertising pop ups. Sinces Android foundation is from Java it might as well be the devil's advocate in crashing and freezing your device.
mikato - Thursday, September 27, 2012 - link
What if you are away from your tablet and are browsing the web, but then you have to stop or you want to save something for later. Then later you want to browse on your tablet instead, and you'd like to pick up where you left off or go back to what you'd saved. It seems like that's the point of the new Reading List syncing feature. How else would you do it besides emailing the links?Some typing is still required when using the web, right? Typing on a touchscreen has improved a lot but is still like a bit like using a keyboard with gloves on. I don't know what my WPM is on a tablet but it must be must be at least cut by 70% or something. I have still occasionally switched to using my desktop when I need to figure something out on the web since it is just much faster. Also, depending on what I'm doing, I may need to look at several web pages, my own notes, or something else why writing an email or a writing something. This is more than just web browsing and although a tablet screen is bigger than a phone and closer to a desktop/laptop, the functionality just isn't there for doing something like that with a tablet. If you're really just "browsing" then a tablet is comfortable for that.
JeremysBrain - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Only been using nav for 1 day, but the one annoyance that could likely drive me (no pun intended) back to Waze or Navigon is that when the voice guidance comes on, it talks on top of music and podcasts. Other navigation applications will stop playback from other applications, then resume when voice guidance is done.it's frustrating when I'm listening to Brian and Anand, then having to rewind every time new voice guidance comes on in then middle of one of Brian's tangents!
I would like this feature when I'm listening to music, but not when I'm listening to talking heads.
faizoff - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Just upgraded my iphone 4 to iOS6. The maps app is nowhere close to what google offers so far. I knew there would be issues during the initial release due sheer volume I suppose.Even without turn by turn directions or 3D flyover, the larger direction signs that show up are pretty good for navigation.
The standard maps are very ill configured and barely show any info. I'd have thought that with Tom Tom being a GPS company would have a rather comprehensive database already. My scaling is wrong and many areas are missing. No streetview means by default means I have to wait for google to release their app.
I think I was very impressed with the updates going from iOS4 to iOS5. Going from 5 to 6 however hasn't impressed overall that much yet.
The autobrightness is weird and isn't the same as before for some reason. I had issues with home sharing when it worked flawlessly before, infact was a huge improvement between updates up till now.
I do love the options now present when getting a call.
PPalmgren - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I'm dissapointed that this article completely glosses over the fact that the maps themselves look like absolute garbage. The way the roads are rendered and the colors used is god-awful compared to google maps, UI being Apple's main selling point. Its hard to tell road types apart close up and hard to read the map in general because of the way its rendered, with thin roads and all. I find it to be a piss-poor implementation and am dissapointed at the soft-white tinted glasses that appeared to be the filter this article went through.MykeM - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I'm comparing what I'm seeing on iOS Map and Google Map- limiting to my milieu since I'm familiar with it- but what I'm seeing is quite comparable.There are a few things on the iOS6 map that seems incomplete. For example, rail track- yes it's much, much narrower than the street but missing the required lines that cut across the track.
But the street itself- the iOS6 version seems better at replicating and differentiating the various width of the main thoroughfares and side-streets. When toggling between the layers of Standard and the Satellite maps, I can clearly see that Google map does a poorer job- it seems to replicate the traffic flow rather than the road itself (resulting in curvier turns when it's actually right-angled). Expectedly, it does a better job at marking various businesses around the neighbourhood. One area where the iOS version will improve over time.
Colour choice and preference are completely subjective but again except for a few choices of colours, both maps seems to me more similar than they're different (Skeuomorphism aside).
robinthakur - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I disagree completely I'm afraid. I was quite worried updating to iOS 6 that the maps would be awful as many early previews of the dev version said, but on my device it runs really fast, we have brilliant 3D flyovers and the maps are accurate and scale nicely. I especially like the rotation and elevation two finger controls like on Android Google maps. Since using G Maps on Android I always though the iOS implementation was a poor cousin, so I think it is good that Apple have finally come up with something comparable and slick which will hopefully grow swiftly. Navigation is much less confusing and busy than the Android version from what I have seen so far. The Siri integration is the icing on the cake.I do miss street view, buit rarely used the public transport navigation bit as Transport for London has a superior service available. At least now when Google release a mapping app it can be as Google want it to be and it will be up to the user whether they want Google tracking their every move and making money off of their browsing/map use.
bunga28 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I really enjoy reading the article. It is very informative. Thank you.1. There are 2 authors listed for this piece. I just wanted to know who is the "I," "me," "mine," ... in this. That is very confusing.
2. "at present [Google] literally is the 9000 pound gorilla for maps." Literally? Literally? That is like a friend of mine said to me "I literally haven't seen you for a million years."
ciparis - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
Well, considering:1) they do weigh 9000 pounds (or more)
2) at least a few of them strongly resemble a gorilla, so who can say that they aren't?
I don't see the problem. Plus, your friend might just be a time traveller.
darwiniandude - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Melbourne Australia also has excellent 3D mappingender8282 - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Try Monkey Burger they have much better burgers.mezz - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Stockholm and Copenhagen both get the 3D-treatment.secretmanofagent - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
You might want to grey out the additional four digits of the zip code (i.e. 85711-****) on the maps page. This can still be used to derive an address.secretmanofagent - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Same page, turn-by-turn: "Voice guidance volume, label size, and units are really the only options here — there seen any options for preferring highways or surface streets, avoiding tolls (though you are warned when given routes to select from) or other common standalone GPS options."I'm assuming it's "there doesn't seem to be any options" or the like?
AbhorApple - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Alright, this morning upgraded the iPad 3 to i OS 6. Tested out the much touted Apple Maps. Pig in a poke, that's what it is. I could have as well bought a Bartholomew's maps and carried with me. This wretched thing won't show half the places even within 100 miles of Bangalore. Hmm... should have learnt the lessons... Apple cares two hoots for customers and foolish Apple buyers in this geographysilverblue - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
It's not just India. Check this article out:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19659736
steven75 - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
Direct your iOS web browser to maps.google.com until the Google Maps app makes it to iOS.Should be quite a decent workaround for those who live in areas that Apple Maps doesn't have good data on.
rash1d - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
"What iOS 6, Android 4.1 or Windows 8/RT/Phone 8 fail to do however is establish a single dominant winner in the market. This war is far from over, which is a great thing for pushing innovation."ayembee - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Transit routing gone, no good replacements yet, location-search pretty bad (I tried a number of tests searches and found literally NOTHING I looked for). Now, taken as a whole, iOS6 is a nice upgrade, and there are plenty of features I find myslef really liking -- however, Maps needed to bake for longer...Think about it. You use a map to
1) find something (data now terrible, fails)
2) to find a route to the thing you just found (can't route via the metro, so total fail here too)
In other words, the single two most important use-cases for using maps ina major metropolitan area (the areas where you'll find the highest density of iOS users) are now awful. Turn-by-turn directions are a nice addition IF you actually spend most opf your day driving somewhere. Which most city-dwellers in non-US countries don't, as public transport is usually pretty good...
Marks awarded for effort and ambition, and even looks.
BUT... needs a ton of follow-through.
Leonick - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
The satellite images are interesting. You can zoom further in on my house in the middle of a forest in Sweden than you can Seoul, the image is in greyscale for some reason but you get fairly close and it's also fairly recent. (A shame the road that goes by the house doesn't have a name or can be found with search even though the road itself is on the map.)Another interesting thing that I noticed while looking around is that at least here in Sweden Apple seem to have a lot more current imagery than Google or even Eniro (local service) does (Eniro seem to mostly have the same as Google though). In Kalmar, a moderately sized city on the south eastern coast a bridge was constructed over the railroad about 2-3 years ago, in Google Maps there are just two piles of sand on both sides where the bridge will be, in Apples imagery the bridge is there.
Spoelie - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Wouldn't it be swell for Google to now sue Apple over mundane features like dropping a pin in their maps app? Sweet vengeance over Apple suing OEMs over the bounce animation or showing a menu while tapping on numbers, ...Not that I agree with such practices, but at least it would balance things out ;)
yticolev - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
If I'm not mistaken, the push pin in the Maps app is Apple developed, not Google. The entire Maps app used an Apple interface with Google data.welltoldtales - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
"one of the new OSes have done a great job of dealing with the problem of displaying content from two applications at once"I know people will rip me for saying this, but the Blackberry Playbook actually does THE best job of multitasking. Having used on with my work I attempted to use a 3rd gen iPad and simply couldn't handle the lack of multitasking. Same with an ASUS Transformer.
steven75 - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
Do you know about the multitouch gestures? Most iPad users do not, but they are indispensable for multitasking.faizoff - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
There seems to be many people unhappy with the native maps app. I read about it yesterday in many forums but today many news sites seem to be reporting it as well.Heck BusinessInsider has a step by step guide to get the website google maps on your home screen.
http://www.businessinsider.com/get-google-maps-bac...
Conficio - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
"and at present it [Google] literally is the 9000 pound gorilla for maps."That is only true if the Google maps can connect to the Google servers. If that connection is not there a 5 year old navigation device with no updates beats it hands down.
Flying Goat - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Have you played with Google maps offline mode? I haven't, but it may be handy, assuming you plan in advance, of course.chinkgai - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
i'm not sure i like his writing style. he doesn't seem as concise as the other writers here.marioyohanes - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Brian, you might wanna check Siri again in international location, I'm pretty sure Dubai will works just great now. From my experience in Jakarta Indonesia, last week I couldn't ask Siri for anything related to location based questions. However, yesterday, as iOS 6 officially launched, I can even ask Siri for nearest dentist and it even listing nearest food stall with delivery option. I'm very overwhelmed with how good Siri is righ now, for the first time, my investment in 4S paid off :)crankerchick - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
The overwhelming theme I keep seeing as I read the various iOS 6 reviews is a tendency to make excuses for Apple. This article and Rene Ritchie's both say things to the nature of "It took a lot for Apple to do [x] so that is why this feature was [y]."I can't help but point out that when it comes to Android, reviewers are a lot quicker to point out something that sucks and offer no excuse for why it's excusable, yet when it comes to Apple releasing another boring update to iOS, with the exception of Maps, all is more or less excused because, "Maps took a lot of work and time."
When I'm on Android-centric site, I get excuses for why Android is still the best. On an Apple-centric site, I get excuses for why Apple is the best. On AnandTech, I expect (and usually receive) more unbiased opinions. In this case, I don't get the bipartisan vibe though. It reaks of excuses. Just my opinion.
UsernameAlreadyExists - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
This is not the only article I've had this problem with. I had the same feeling while reading the article about the data&voice support. The worst thing is that I've used to rely on Anandtech being rather objective and declaring things as they are. I just hope that they won't invent a completely new camera into iPhone 5 when they review it like SlashGear did (unlike Engadget and Digital Photography Review).mrandross - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Does anyone know how they changed the wifi signal to display in dBs?They're not jailbroken with SBsettings on iOS6...
yticolev - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
I'd like to know that too, especially if it represents the cell tower data signal and not just wifi. I love having my iPhone voice bars represented in dB and would like the same for data as I do use data more often than voice.mrandross - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
I found a couple different ways. If you had it previously from a jailreak and restored from that backup, then it'll appear again.If you don't have that available there's a plist edit
http://idevicecentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&p=...
yticolev - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
Thanks! I saved the page for future use.I've never done a jailbreak. I used this method to hack the bars into dB:
FieldTest dial *3001#12345#* - you can then keep numerics instead of bars in the top left by force quitting FieldTest after launching it (hold down power/lock until power off appears, then hold the home button).
IndyJaws - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Perhaps I overlooked it at the iOS 6 announcement, but I'll admit to being disappointed for the lack of two main features for iPhone 4 (not 4S) owners - turn by turn navigation and panorama photos. I understand the graphical horsepower needed for 3D flyby, but sad that Apple chose to leave those of us out for the other two features, especially when there are a plethora of apps that do provide those abilities. Yes, I realize I can use them instead (in fact, must), but would prefer OS integration for convenience. Brian (or Saumitra) mentioned that there might be additional horsepower needed for the panorama feature, but there's nothing special about it that makes me think it's just a way to Apple to prod users to the latest phone.Stas - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
Solution: give Apple more money for new device.Sind - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
iOS 6 maps are terrible period. I'm starting to believe the hype that AnandTech is putting an Apple spin on things instead of one that is aimed for the consumer. Terrible biased review of a bad product that lowers user experience. What happened to "it just work's"? Don't release something until it is ready. Apple has put their corporate intentions ahead of the user experience and that is wrong, and Anand's failure to mention that is damning.ciparis - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
Have you personally had trouble with Maps?iwod - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Am i the only one who think the Dial is Fugly?chenedwa - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Some of the free GPS apps require you to pay for spoken directions. Apple's new Maps app plays well with other GPS apps. If you set Maps to navigate to a destination, then switch to another GPS app without the ability to speak turn by turn directions, then the Maps will offer continue to give navigation updates as a badge with drop down text over the status bar spoken with Siri's voice. A great way to augment other "silent" free GPS apps.Conficio - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I'd like to send a caller that I can't take right now to a pre-determined voice message: "Call you back ASAP", etc. instead of sending messages. Why?* first of all it is not good to switch communication methods. If someone sends me a text I don't answer with an e-mail or a long form letter.
* Second not every phone line is mobile, so text messages end up nowhere
* There are users that do not use texts
* last the communication is disrupted. If I call then I get what (I guess a busy sign) and I put down the phone and a few seconds later I get a text, informing me of the pre-canned message, so I have to pick up the phone to read the message.
If I get a voice answer, then I stay in the intended communication mode and optionally can leave a voice message (which some service at the convenience of the recipient can transcribe).
mikato - Thursday, September 27, 2012 - link
Wow, so it doesn't actually answer the call and play your prerecorded message? That's what I thought the article was saying. Yeah no point to sending a text message if someone is calling from a regular phone.Impulses - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
I'm more than halfway thru the article (currently on the Mail page) and I'm honestly not seeing this bias that a lot of comments are complaining of... And I'm hardly an Apple fan, I own exactly one Apple device (old 2nd gen IPod touch) and I've had three Android phones and a tablet (andI bought a second one as a gift even). Maybe it's more evident in the conclusion? Couple more pages to find out...
I'm not reading it as an Android vs iOS article tho, just as what it is, an update and overview on what's changed on iOS. Speaking of Android vs iOS, I've seen it mentioned here many times by various editors that they don't imagine a lot of people cross shopping between both ecosystems... And as far as existing customers I'd agree.
The smartphone and tablet markets are still growing rapidly tho and new buyers (who haven't owned either type of device before) are absolutely cross shopping IMO.
jramskov - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
As others have written, the maps may be fine in the USA, but Apple do sell their products elsewhere. Here in small Denmark, it's horrible. The amount of errors are staggering, I spent less than 30 seconds browsing the maps in my local area and found at least 3 big errors. Later I browsed a bit more and apparently the second biggest hospital in the country doesn't exist. The navigation guides you on highways that's not going to open until 2016. I have an iPhone because I like Apples attention to detail - their products generally just work. In this case they failed big time.Another thing: Isn't this the first time there aren't any new IOS features that's exclusive to the new model? I don't seem to lose any features by staying with my 4s.
medi01 - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
What does this pathetic marketing BS have to do with this article?Are you now officially apple's bi1ches, boys?
PS
Oh, and good one from brits:
http://media.bestofmicro.com/london-underground-io...
Stas - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
lolLaststop311 - Sunday, September 23, 2012 - link
video showing off the gps like wow test it on some residential roads without all these long ass red lights, do it on a day without rain dont enjoy hearing the wipers screeching. a little common sense would go a long way. you're an iphone user aren't youmikato - Thursday, September 27, 2012 - link
Maybe that's why they said the turn by turn voice directions were too quiet. It is good to know at least.CharonPDX - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
You state that it's a new features that the status bar can be changed by apps, and specifically call out Twitter as one that can add status messages to it.That was in iOS 5. It annoyed me when Twitter would put a status update in the status bar, because the status bar then lots its "tap to go to the top" function until Twitter's update went away.
Second, you state that the main Photo Stream and Shared Photo Streams are exclusionary, an either/or proposition. I beg to differ. My photos still get dumped into my main Photo Stream, while I can have multiple Shared Photo Streams (either invite-only or public.)
The_Kristoffer - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link
When are you going to publish the rundown of Haswell? I've been waiting for, what feels like, forever!videogames101 - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
I believe a full sphere measures 4pi steradians.raok7 - Thursday, September 5, 2013 - link
absolutely 4s will be better but i think very soon 5 is going to introduce so its will replace the market of 4s...http://www.jupiterelectronics.com/
http://www.steelrange.com/heavy-duty-racks.html
http://www.bajeria.com/
http://www.genesis-gifts.com/
http://www.opportune.in
http://www.fivebrosforgings.com/
http://www.aimaxprovider.com/index.php/magento-web...
Aboss - Thursday, February 27, 2020 - link
Yes you are correct.https://www.bargaintents.co.za
https://www.bosstents.co.za
https://www.cheaptents.co.za
https://tentsonline.co.za