iOS 6 - is it all bad?

This Monday at WWDC, a presentation was held for developers of the new version of the operating system for mobile devices - iOS 6, a set of new key features (features) of which are not a little controversial on the Internet, and in particular the Russian segment. I think it is no secret that one of the most popular sites on the iPhone / iPad is iPhones.ru, on which, just after 23 hours, an overview of iOS 6 was made. My colleague got acquainted with him and became indignant, because fundamentally disagree with the point of view of the author. After some deliberation, he wrote his detailed opinion and published it there on the forum pages, with the hope that the resource owners will post it on the main page in order to convey their point of view to the indignant, but they are probably not interested.

I believe that the text is worthy of publication, as well as Friday's discussion on the pages of Habra. In general, to be in the subject, you must first read the Large-scale review of iOS 6 , and then welcome under the cat, to get acquainted with the "answer".

UPDATE: Another example of the tight integration of soft and hard in the world of Apple: when the new version of the operating system OS X turn on the mode "dictate", the PC coolers are turned off so as not to create unnecessary noise.
')
Yes, if someone disagrees with something, you better speak out first in the comments to the post, and then on the karma and rating of the post, because these things are fragile, and the possibility of "living" on Habré depends on them :) Thank you.



Following in the footsteps of our publications or the reader’s opinion on iOS 6 review

“In the footsteps of our publications” was the title in the Soviet press where readers could express their opinions on a journalist’s article. Hopefully, a similar heading will appear and iphones.ru

Hello!

For a start, briefly about yourself: iPhone-waters from 2007, experience in developing applications for iOS, too, since 2007, was at the first meeting of iphones.ru in the cafe arte-fak, also in 2007, and already as a year I live in the Apple ecosystem - iphone, ipad, apple tv, mac mini.

Write this article prompted a review of iOS 6 from Nikita Goryainov. With all due respect to the author's previous works, the article about beta iOS 6 did not work for him. In my opinion, and other readers, this is not a review of innovations, but a collection of “snot and negative” ((c) Saller, commentator). In the brief discussion with the author, we managed to find out why the article was written in this way, namely: it’s the experience that iOS 5 beta and final iOS 5 are not much different, and that there’s no acceptance that this beta version is important only for developers, not end users.

If you view all the available videos from Apple events, you will find that there are usually revealed motives for a specific implementation of certain things or products. Or, after the event, you may find that everything in the Apple ecosystem is practically interconnected. Considering this moment, as well as looking at information and rumors from various media outlets, you can try to give answers to outrage about iOS 6. I will reveal them (answers) by following the structure of the review from Nikita.

So,

1. Maps.

Questions : Why did they do that? Why leave Google? Why downgrade?

The answer is : because Google is a platform rival, why advertise it once again? Geo-data can be used for Siri, with your cards you can make your own design, introduce your innovations, etc. Those. full control. Google did not give it. What if Apple’s contract with Google says that maps can be used for display, but you cannot use them to display only the information part, as is sometimes used by Siri. According to the WallStreet Journal, since October last year, the geocoder has already been used in maps on iOS (coordinates the object and vice versa) from Apple, not Google. And we didn’t even notice it, right?

Yes, while leaving Google, the quality of coverage has deteriorated at first glance, but do you really think that Apple is its own enemy? Does Apple really want Siri to find anything and not tell you about where the nearest gas stations and museums with cafeterias are? I do not think so.

Map coverage in iOS 6 will be delivered by TomTom, a company that manufactures navigators. In 2007, it acquired TeleAtlas, the second largest producer of cartographic coverage for the whole world, for € 2 billion. In the same year 2007, the first manufacturer, Navteq, bought Nokia, for $ 8.1 billion. This is such a size of business. In the old days, Google on maps.google.com showed Navteq maps on the US, and TeleAtlas on Europe. Now, Google makes the US maps itself, and Europe has a 5-year agreement with TeleAtlas.

The bottom line is that Google has its own maps, and there is hardly a desire to share them. Navteq, read Nokia, has been friends with Microsoft for the last few years, also a platform rival with its Windows Phone. It remains to take to cooperate with what remains independent. And this is not the worst option than doing a general card from scratch.

A separate question about the coverage of the Russian Federation.

Nikita in his review asks "Where are all the houses?". The answer is simple - they are in place, here is the link - route.tomtom.com/#/map/Pushkinskaya%2520Ulitsa%252026%252C%2520Voronezh%252C%2520RU%254051.659008%252C39.1916%2540-1/?center=51.659008%2C39 .1916 & zoom = 13 & ui = 8 & map = basic



Another thing is that they are not yet visible through iOS 6. I think the fact is that Apple prepared for PROGRAMMERS, and this firmware is for them, for the first time, light coverage, so that developers could look like a new mapping engine (and now vector) will work with their programs. In the meantime, this testing is underway, TomTom and Apple are boiling up the preparation of the most recent maps for their release to the public with the final version of iOS.

Once again - it is not necessary to draw conclusions based on June 2012, when there are still 4 months before the final. The quality of the coating is temporarily lost, but full control is acquired. Yes, the cards will be a little worse, especially for the Russian Federation, but this is all made up, with Apple's budget and TomTom experience. I think for a year or two, you don’t even remember what was worse. Especially in the Russian Federation, services from Yandex and 2GIS are popular, which no one has forbidden to use.

Quality 3D models.

Ask yourself how many times have you used the StreetView case? I have the strength 2 times, and 5 times to show the relatives the WOW effect. What is more important - that Siri knew the answers to the question "Where" or admire the 3D view of the building of the Sydney Opera? By the way, you noticed that when Google demonstrated its new rival technology in 3D models, they used iOS, not Android

Laying routes.

In iOS 6, Apple proposed a new interaction scheme, namely, that the built-in maps could be used to create routes for the car, or on foot, and all the rest - using applications from third-party developers. And this alignment is even better for the user: it will cover what TomTom cannot do on any budget, and for developers, because It will be possible to write the following applications: “Best walks through the Siberian forest”, “Routes for cyclists 2012”, “Moscow for the visually impaired” (Almost this example is in the WWDC 2012 video).

But the author of the initial review has already given his assessment:

travel through public transport. In the latter case, the new Maps show you a thick bump and open the “Route Software” window on the App Store. In which, as you might guess, there is nothing. Great job!

Nothing that the beta version was given 1 day ago ?!

2. Re-design of the player, dialers and stores.

About the design.

Question : Why did they do that?

First words of Nikita:

In the end, everything that Apple’s hand touches takes on a very decent look. And now the question: does it look decent? And yes, everything is black and gray.

and kolexus commentator:

Looked at reviews and screenshots on other resources - hair on end!
The colors of the system jump from one to the other ... either dark or light
A screen for dialing a number, which is also in this article: a blue field for a number, light gray, almost white dial keys and a black bar below: a cacophony of bad taste
Are they all out of their mind or something?
This makes no sense ((

Answer : If you look at the evolution of iOS's older brother - OS X, then it can be noted that the design of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) elements goes side by side with the evolution of Apple's PC appearance - at first it was translucent buttons and scrollers like the iMac G3 case , then a gradual transition to gray metallic tones, like a transition to the unibody body. I think that the reader has already guessed that what the appearance of the new iPhone might be like, which, according to rumors, they plan to announce this fall, just with the release of the final version of iOS 6. Most likely, he will return to the metal parts of his body, perhaps he will be unibody, and maybe it will consist of pieces of strips, like photos wandering around the network, supposedly prototypes of the new iPhone.

We can only wish that Apple succeeded again, as with the iMac G3 and unibody cases.

Access to the information.

Nikita writes:

Under the application icon, its name, genre and price are indicated. The rating is not visible until you click on the program ... All the important information about the application is hidden at the very bottom of this already small card. There is both a version, a size, a compatibility, a developer, and an update date ...

Question : Why did they do that?

Answer : And he is very simple, dear reader - it’s not convenient for Nikita to choose programs for his reviews. But such a design is only on the hands of developers, since Perhaps users will be more and more likely to try the program, rather than focus on sometimes incorrect reviews and ratings. Because in the presence of 650,000 applications, it is more difficult to expose oneself, but they have not yet invented sensible tools for demonstrating their developments. As well as in the new design can be traced modern world (pinterest, instagram, fb timeline) trend of love and the use of large images, whether it be photographs, illustrations, etc., and at the same time enjoy the display of the device with Retina.

3. Passbook - it was not described in the review, but it can be thought provoking.

For those who do not know, this is a new organizer application from Apple, which allows you to store tickets for movies, airplanes, trains, discount coupons (in America is a culture), plastic loyalty cards and prepaid. Better watch videos from WWDC 2012

Question : Why did they do that?

Answer : This is the answer to Google Wallet, through which Google is making attempts to take under its care another industry - mobile payments. As a rule, programs of this kind are used to the full extent of the NFC module, and Apple will look dim in 2012, suggesting the use of payments and coupons via QR codes. We are waiting for news that the Passbook code found the mention of NFC, or it may light up as unexpectedly as Siri for iPhone 4s, which was not mentioned in the beta versions of iOS 5.

Why not just make a separate program to download from the AppStore? I think Siri is also integrated there. Because It sounds logical - Siri, buy 2 movie tickets at 19:00. At the same time, Apple gave instructions (API) to programmers on how to integrate the purchase and maintenance of Passbook content in order to show cool applications in the fall.

Conclusion

I hope I “uncovered the topic” of the beta version FOR DEVELOPERS of iOS 6. And I conveyed to the reader that it is impossible to judge about the new product by the preliminary version and not to take into account Apple’s philosophy of “integration and control of key things”, which allows it to make great products.

Conclusion 2
If there are few features for a major release, then we can recall iOS 4 which had 2.5 new features - “multitasking”, folders on the desktop and facetime. In iOS 6, we have - new cards, Siri - it is no longer beta and supports 15 countries, and a lot of small and pleasant improvements.

FAQ

question : will apple tomtom buy?
Answer : I do not know. It makes no sense, the main thing is that Tomtom does not merge cards to competitors. Tomtom also has connections with the auto business. may be the integration of siri with cars, this is the merit of tomtom

question : can an apple make their cards?
answer : maybe, but why.

question : apple has ping, it closes it. Maybe with cards will be crap?
answer : maybe ping was a means of pressure on facebook. from the category: if necessary, we will make our social network, and then we will show how to integrate Twitter.