Apple iOS 6 Pro Reviews

iOS 6 is still brand new, and Apple has plenty of time to make updates and adjustments. We don't expect the next major iOS push until WWDC 2013 next June, but hopefully we'll get a few wishes granted in point releases between now and then.

The yearly iOS cadence continues to be a smart move on Apple's part. While updates may range in significance depending on your usage model, in building marketshare it's important to deliver regular updates that help keep the platform feeling new. With the latest version of iOS, Apple does just that. There are new features both big and small, and enough small improvements to keep it fresh. 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.

iOS 6 is no doubt the best version of Apple's mobile operating system yet. It's the most powerful, the most personal, and the most polished mobile platform available. Though Apple has laden the OS with 200 new features, it still runs just as spritely as the first version of iOS did back in 2007 -- in fact, it runs much faster. It isn't as flexible as Android, nor perhaps as modern looking as Windows Phone, but it has a look and feel that are easy to learn and manipulate. iOS 6 might be the least revolutionary update to Apple's mobile platform, but the changes are ones needed and long in the making. iOS 6 is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5, in addition to the iPad 2 and iPad with Retina Display. Not all the features are available to all the devices. It is a free download from Apple.

We could say the same about iOS 6 as we did about iOS 5: it "has been trailed for so long that the element of surprise went ages ago, but there's enough here to make your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch feel shiny and new all over again." iOS 6 is rather like the iPhone 5 or Mountain Lion; the refinement of something that already works extremely well.

Apple iOS 6, Cupertino's latest mobile operating system, offers slick new maps, Passbook, and numerous tweaks and additions. If you own a compatible iOS device, there's simply no questioning whether to upgrade.

There are two ways to look at the iOS 6. One is that Apple favored a cautious, conservative approach over real innovation. The most prominent new feature it brings (the new Maps) is actually a step back from iOS 5. You can say that while Android has caught up in terms of user experience with its Project Butter, iOS is trailing behind in terms of functionality. We didn't get any sort of widgets, the lockscreen is still underused, there're no improvements to the Notification Center or proper multitasking. The Springboard is also starting to look dated now, having seen virtually no design changes in the last 5 years. It's not like it's perfect and improvements are impossible. The other train of thought is based on the realization that iOS 5 was already a pretty solid effort and some polish is more than enough to keep it competitive. The latest iOS release, just like its predecessor, works very well. It covers all the essentials, on top of being impressively fluid and responsive, and offering plenty of value-adding features.

Some neat tweaks and additions, but iOS 6 doesn't quite go far enough and Maps is currently very bad

iOS 6 is a welcome upgrade for any iOS user, but it's not going to completely change the way you use your device. Instead, each of the tweaks here will make many daily smartphone actions easier across the board and offer some relief to those waiting for certain features (sending images from e-mail and call controls, for example). It also brings your device up-to-date with Mac OS X Mountain Lion, letting you sync your most-used content across all of your devices. I like just about everything I see here, and Apple makes each new feature easy to use and elegant. The Maps app is the headliner of this update and despite some issues it is definitely an upgrade over Google's previous offering. It finally adds the turn-by-turn directions with voice many have been waiting for, but flyover features -- while amazing to look at -- don't offer much beyond the initial wow factor. It's a great upgrade, but it's still a replacement Maps app. And it's something other phones have had for a long time. On the other hand, the Siri update brings voice-activated features further into the fold, adding functionality that makes it more useful than just a fun diversion. Yet, the future of Siri remains unclear. I don't think we've seen the last update to the "voice of iOS" by a long shot, and it remains to be seen how iPhone owners will react to the addition of yet more voice controls. Frankly, I'm not sure we're quite at a point where talking to your phone in the checkout line at the grocery store is socially acceptable. Here again, it's another improvement, but it's not going to vastly change the way you use your smartphone.

iOS 6 is a great update, to an already great OS. Is it king of the hill? Well, that's a personal choice, and something that comes from you - the user. I think iOS 6 has done some things very right, and Apple are very, very careful of doing any changes to the OS - such as overhauling its now ageing user interface. But, any updates to the UI, and it would most likely begin fragmenting their user base, and have people throwing up their arms in protest. You know, the same way people do when Facebook intros a new layout - but eventually, people get used to it. Apple have stepped iOS 6 up a notch by adding in pure social networking directly into the operating system, which really is a stroke of genius - but it was a one step forward, two steps backward with the Maps debacle. What was Apple thinking? They hate Google that much, that they still allow apps such as YouTube on their devices, but throw Google Maps away? iDiots.

All handy stuff, but nothing groundbreaking, beyond Passbook - and that may yet prove a damp squib. Maps likewise if Apple doesn't work hard to improve the POI database behind it. Indeed, if mapping is really important to you, you may want to hold off.

There are lots of new features in iOS 6. Some will massively improve the way you use the phone, others won't make a blind bit of difference. With more than 200 new elements and features that's always going to be the case. While iOS goes from strength to strength there is nothing here that really breaks the mould. Apple is playing it safe, perhaps overly so, and while you'll find that the software works and works well, if there were elements of iOS 5 you didn't like, the chances are that you won't like them here either. iOS 6 is a very in and out experience. That works to a point, but when you start to look at the OS compared to features being shown on Windows Phone, and some of the elements being touted for BlackBerry BB10, you wonder how long Apple can keep at what is, in reality, the same experience as the last 6 years. For many that's not a problem. The OS is very easy to use - children can master it - but we really were hoping for a more "connected experience" where apps talk to each other, contacts are more interwined with the interface and notifications are more than just a number count on a square grid of icons. All that said, the update is free, there will be some treats in there that you'll enjoy, and in reality the bits you don't like are easy enough to ignore.

Despite a subpar Maps app, iOS 6 offers plenty of reasons to upgrade, from a smarter Siri and Facebook integration to easier photo sharing.