iOS 6 New Features

Not to be bothered with going through all the major website’s “live blog” coverage of WWDC today? Just want the cliff notes version of what’s changed? Here I’ve put together a quick list of all the new features in iOS 6 revealed today at WWDC for your easier consumption. Feel free to let me know of any other features you’ve seen/heard and your thoughts.

New Features

  • Siri has added new languages (including but not limited to, Mandarin, Italian, Cantonese, etc.)
  • Siri has better information regarding sports, movies, and restaurants thanks to partnerships with Yelp, OpenTable, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, etc.
  • Siri can now launch apps. Yell at her to Play Angry Birds while sitting at your desk at work just so your boss knows what your about to waste time on.
  • Facebook integration has been added (similar to the Twitter integration it already had). You can now sync your contacts with Facebook, Facebook events will show in your calendar, and you can post status updates directly from Notification center.
  • Reply by message/remind me later has been added to incoming calls as an option on the screen. This can either send the person a text instead of answering the call or set a reminder to let you know to call the person back later.
  • Do Not Disturb is a new feature that takes Silent mode a step further and stops all sounds and even the screen from lighting up when you receive a call/notification.
  • Facetime now works over 3G instead of just WiFi. The carriers across the globe just began to cry profusely…
  • Safari has been updated to add iCloud tabs, allowing you to sync your browsing on your iPhone with your Safari desktop browser.
  • Photo Stream allows you to annoy your friends and family beyond using Facebook share photos with friends and family.
  • Added VIPs so certain people in your contacts will have their messages, mail, and calls prioritized with stars, etc.
  • Passbook has been added to Apple’s repertoire of apps to take over the world. They now can have you have all your boarding passes and tickets in one place.
  • Guided Access is adding some abilities to make the devices more kid and disabled friendly. Things like allowing parents/teachers to stop people from leaving the current app and say wandering over to Angry Birds instead.
  • Replacing Google Maps with their own Maps app. I wonder if this will be a good or bad thing for users (it’s obviously a good thing for Apple as its a new revenue stream they can take from Google). I’ve used other Google Map replacements on devices and have had plenty of issues with trying to find places and having the map app tell me it doesn’t exist when it clearly does in Google Maps. Time will tell.
  • Lost Mode added to allow you to send a phone number to your lost device so the person who stole it can have a nice laugh about you trying to recover it who found it can give it back more easily.

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