For many, this evolutionary step in iOS 6 has been welcomed with enthusiasm. However, there remain quite a few number of people who are disappointed in iOS 6, and its general lack of change/new features.
My perspective on why that is:
I was looking over the "iOS version history" page on Wikipedia, and through my own memory (as I've had an iOS device since the first iOS). Each successive major iOS since iPhone OS 1.0 has included some major OS wide changes that were clearly worthy of a title as the "next iOS." For example, 2.0 added the App Store and the ability to install apps... a huge fundamental OS wide change. 3.0 added OS wide features of Copy/Paste and Voice Control for 3GS, which I think is a fundamental change (though I'm not sure how easy/hard it is to implement Voice Control). iOS 4.0 added multitasking... again, a huge fundamental OS change. iOS 5.0 added a Notifications bar (finally!) and Siri and iCloud, which would all have required at least some level of programming.
6.0 added... Maps and a better Siri?
The major "features" that Apple highlights for each release, you may notice, has gone down in quality. I mean, just look at the 10 new "major" features they highlighted for iOS 6... one of them is FT over 3G (only for 4S). Really? that is a highlight/major feature of a major software release? I remember when it took Skype a simple x.x update to enable 3G video chat, and AT&T a simple update to enable MMS.
If any pattern has been established over the past 5 years, it is that each x.0 release has included some fundamental, OS wide new features to justify the naming of it being iOS x.0. But this I just fail to see in 6.0.
While I welcome the cool new features in iOS 6, I also think that many of these "features" were put in for change's sake, while others were done with no practicality in mind. For example, why change the Phone's dial pad from a nice black color to a playful/toy-ish white color? Or the Camera app to have a black banner, as well as the redesigned stores, or the Music app, etc. People who say "If it's not broken, don't change it" should chime into these things. The thing about 3D... it's just impractical. I know for sure that I'm not going to be using 3D except for maybe when I'm bored and waiting in line or something. Street View on the other hand is a whole lot more practical as it actually helps in figuring out where a store is located or how it looks at a specific address. However, I will hold off on the new Maps until I see it in my hands/they are done with beta testing of it.
It is because of these problems that many see Apple as not really putting a whole lot of effort into this iOS. I mean, really, without the Maps update, this update is truly only worthy of an iOS 5.x title, even with "200 new features" (keeping in mind that some of these "features" are just slight changes/redesigns). (I'd also like to point out that they added the camera button on the lock screen with a 5.x update, so I don't see how or why they couldn't have added the new Phone reminder feature in also with a 5.x update... but, I'm no developer so I'm a bit ignorant here).
It is because of this that many, including me, are complaining about Apple's lack of innovation in the iOS. As for expecting... I found out about iOS 6 being released the day before WWDC, so apart from Maps I was not expecting any changes. Yet, I was disappointed by the general non-change in the iOS, with changes being mainly "enhancements" and cosmetic. While I welcomed these changes, I don't think they were worthy of the iOS 6 branding. Merely a 5.x.
It is because Apple has decided to call it iOS 6 that Apple has created a problem for itself: and that is that it fails to live up to expectations of having OS wide features/changes with each successive x.0 update... a pattern that Apple created itself.
My perspective on why that is:
I was looking over the "iOS version history" page on Wikipedia, and through my own memory (as I've had an iOS device since the first iOS). Each successive major iOS since iPhone OS 1.0 has included some major OS wide changes that were clearly worthy of a title as the "next iOS." For example, 2.0 added the App Store and the ability to install apps... a huge fundamental OS wide change. 3.0 added OS wide features of Copy/Paste and Voice Control for 3GS, which I think is a fundamental change (though I'm not sure how easy/hard it is to implement Voice Control). iOS 4.0 added multitasking... again, a huge fundamental OS change. iOS 5.0 added a Notifications bar (finally!) and Siri and iCloud, which would all have required at least some level of programming.
6.0 added... Maps and a better Siri?
The major "features" that Apple highlights for each release, you may notice, has gone down in quality. I mean, just look at the 10 new "major" features they highlighted for iOS 6... one of them is FT over 3G (only for 4S). Really? that is a highlight/major feature of a major software release? I remember when it took Skype a simple x.x update to enable 3G video chat, and AT&T a simple update to enable MMS.
If any pattern has been established over the past 5 years, it is that each x.0 release has included some fundamental, OS wide new features to justify the naming of it being iOS x.0. But this I just fail to see in 6.0.
While I welcome the cool new features in iOS 6, I also think that many of these "features" were put in for change's sake, while others were done with no practicality in mind. For example, why change the Phone's dial pad from a nice black color to a playful/toy-ish white color? Or the Camera app to have a black banner, as well as the redesigned stores, or the Music app, etc. People who say "If it's not broken, don't change it" should chime into these things. The thing about 3D... it's just impractical. I know for sure that I'm not going to be using 3D except for maybe when I'm bored and waiting in line or something. Street View on the other hand is a whole lot more practical as it actually helps in figuring out where a store is located or how it looks at a specific address. However, I will hold off on the new Maps until I see it in my hands/they are done with beta testing of it.
It is because of these problems that many see Apple as not really putting a whole lot of effort into this iOS. I mean, really, without the Maps update, this update is truly only worthy of an iOS 5.x title, even with "200 new features" (keeping in mind that some of these "features" are just slight changes/redesigns). (I'd also like to point out that they added the camera button on the lock screen with a 5.x update, so I don't see how or why they couldn't have added the new Phone reminder feature in also with a 5.x update... but, I'm no developer so I'm a bit ignorant here).
It is because of this that many, including me, are complaining about Apple's lack of innovation in the iOS. As for expecting... I found out about iOS 6 being released the day before WWDC, so apart from Maps I was not expecting any changes. Yet, I was disappointed by the general non-change in the iOS, with changes being mainly "enhancements" and cosmetic. While I welcomed these changes, I don't think they were worthy of the iOS 6 branding. Merely a 5.x.
It is because Apple has decided to call it iOS 6 that Apple has created a problem for itself: and that is that it fails to live up to expectations of having OS wide features/changes with each successive x.0 update... a pattern that Apple created itself.
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