I’ve been using the beta of iOS 6 since it came out a little over three weeks ago. At first I was excited about the sheer newness of it, but now that I’ve had ample time to use and get acquainted with the new aspects of the operating system, iOS 6 is kind of boring. Well, it’s not boring exactly, it’s just not really much of anything at all.
Usually these big iOS updates are, you know, big. But in my time with iOS 6, I’ve barely noticed any major differences between this version and last year’s iOS 5. Apple has a way of making even the slightest change sound significant in the keynote, but if it wasn’t for the lag and bugs attributed to the beta software, I don’t think I’d even remember I was using the “next big version” of iOS.
The problem is that there really aren’t that many significant changes to report. The biggest change iOS 6 brings to the operating system is all the Maps stuff, but even that is more of a novelty than a truly useful feature.
I mean, cool, the maps are in 3D now… but what does that do for me? Turn-by-turn directions would be great if AT&T had better service and if they were supported by the iPhone 4, but neither of those things is true.
I had fun with Siri on my iPad for a while, but anyone who has an iPhone 4S knows that Siri is really entertaining, but most of the time it’s faster just to type what you want instead of speaking it.
And honestly, that’s about it. There are a few extra buttons to choose from when answering a phone call, every once in a while a Facebook icon pops up somewhere in the UI, Safari can do full screen sometimes – there’s nothing groundbreaking here.
Of course, there’s always a chance Apple will announce a few more features when the software actually launches this Fall, but anything really major would have been addressed at WWDC. What happened to my “one more thing?” Where’s the excitement?
Now don’t get me wrong, iOS 6 is a fine update. I just think it has the wrong name. It should have been called iOS 5.2. I don’t mean to rain on your parade if you’re eagerly awaiting the fall release date, but I have to admit I’m pretty disappointed.
Whether you’re running a beta of iOS 6, or you’ve just watched videos online, I want to know what you think of it? Are you as underwhelmed as I am? Sound off in the comments below
