New adventures in iOS 6

After grappling with various error messages, I was finally able to cleanly install iOS 6, and the now infamous Apple Maps, on my iPhone 4S.  

And guess what: in terms of its everyday functionality, it's actually really good.

It's easy to use. The predictive search is really fast, the interface is clean and easy to follow.

Unlike Google Maps for iPhone, you get turn by turn voice directions. They're delivered in a crisp Aussie female accent, and include street names.

You also get basic traffic info, and alerts about roadworks, and turn instructions were delivered at the right times. 

You get a choice of routes (a main one plus two alternatives), and if you stray off track, it's very quick to re-calibrate.

If you switch out to another app, a status bar stays on top of the screen. It's a nice touch (see screen shot right). It keeps you in the loop, and lets you get back to Maps with a touch.

The vector-based graphics scroll and the text resize very smoothly.

Overall, I'm very impressed by its feel and functionality. It's a good example of Apple's simple-is-better approach in action.

I've been using TomTom's $95 iPhone app for navigation on my iPhone. Now, I wouldn't bother with it - and it's hard to make the case unless you're a professional driver who could benefit from TomTom's more detailed traffic incident information (which costs $9.99 a month or $49 a year).

TomTom also offers a $150 "Car Kit" stalk that boosts GPS reception (and provides a handy place to plonk your iPhone), but I've found Apple Maps quickly locates my position and tells me to turn at all the right times. It's assisted GPS (that is, GPS aided by cell network information on your location) is plenty good enough.

If you use Google Maps for Android (which, unlike the iPhone version hiffed out of iOS 6 includes voice directions) then you won't find much new here. In fact, there's one less feature, because there's no Street View option with Apple Maps.

Users in 60 cities get a 3D flyover option (see the London example, right), and helps to compensate for the lack of Street Views.. But we've only got the satellite and hybird views, with no flyovers in the immediate future.

Overall, it's quite similar to Google Maps for Android in look and feel.

I'd say Apple Maps has a sleight edge in usability. 

The bad stuff ...
But, of course, it's been beleaguered by blooper worldwide, including squashed, surreal images, and the arbitrary relocation of numerous landmarks and transport centres - including Dunedin and Timaru airports being located in the wrong place, and a central Auckland railway station in the middle of the harbour (see links right).

... including some bad stuff for yours-truly this morning
But there are also more meat-and-potatoes errors - or at least out-of-date information.

This morning I asked Apple Maps for directions to the Sofitel on the Viaduct (which was renamed from the Westin in February). It couldn't find it - or at least not until I entered the hotel's old name.

Google Maps (which you can still use on an iPhone via opening maps.google.co.nz in its browser) could locate the Sofitel, and offer directions.

Interestingly - given TomTom (among others) supplied data for Apple Maps - TomTom for iPhone could also successfully locate the Sofitel.

Crowd-sourced fixes
Apple can push out Maps fixes on the fly (rather than us having to wait for iOS 6).

It also has a quite user-friendly Report a Problem feature, which lets you simply tap on, say, the hotel with the out-of-date name.

Apple said this morniing that 100 million have now downloaded iOS 6 - which should in theory mean many of Apple Maps bloopers are reported quickly (I've reported the Westin/Sofitel on the Viaduct, so it will be interesting to see how soon it is corrected to Sofitel).

It's a pity the crowdsourced fixes are needed for basic cartography.

But, still, at least there's a mechanism in place to improve Apple Maps' data.

The interface is solid, it just needs to get some more accurate information feeding it. And some Street Views (or at least 3D flyovers). But for easy car navigation, it's already top dog.

Elsewhere in iOS 6
Elsewhere in iOS 6, the new Do Not Disburb option is a boon if you've been struggling with email and Facebook alerts, or phone calls, during the night. You can now let through only calls from selected contacts, or a anyone who calls twice within three minutes.

The panorama feature (while nothing new) is a easy way to stitch together many pics into a giant 28 megapixel photo, and a lot of fun (although - maybe I'm thick - it's not immediately obvious how to begin. In the end I turned to this quick video how-to.)

Below is a panorama I took around NBR Towers. It's a little fish-eye. A line appears onscreen as you take the panorama, and the steadier your hand in staying level with it, the better your shot - and boy do you need to keep steady. Too fast or too slow and it won't work. And if you move even a touch up or down, you can get a weird L-shaped panorama.

Click the image to enlarge (though note the enlarged image is still only 1MB, it will kill our web server to load the full 28mP version).

Voice-to-tweet
In iOS 6, you can use voice commands (through virtual assistant Siri) to open Twitter, speak at tweet, then send it.

While the Tweet-from-Siri feature is not optimised for the New Zilund accent, and not enabled by default here, you can turn it on. I did - with mixed results (see screen shots below).

Click panaroma to enlarge.

ABOVE: Panorama can be exasperating. Move your iPhone even fractionally up or down, and a weird L-shape can result.

Voice-to-tweet
In iOS 6, you can use voice commands (through virtual assistant Siri) to open Twitter, speak at tweet, then send it.

While the Tweet-from-Siri feature is not optimised for the New Zilund accent, and not enabled by default here, you can turn it on. I did - with mixed results (see screen shots below).

In practice, Siri pauses and gives you the chance to manually correct any mistakes. I left them so people could see the raw voice-recognition performance. Overall it was pretty good - but pretty good is not good enough. Maybe one day Siri will be optimised for Godzone.

And then there's Passbook - Apple's new proximity-based e-voucher system ... whose folders are all empty. Along with the super-hot Square, this on-screen barcode-based system looks like an intriguing alternative to the perrennially around-the-corner NFC.

Anyhow, shortly I'm hoping to see iOS 6 on an iPhone 5, released in NZ today, so check back soon.

ABOVE: Voice-to-tweeting with Siri - iOS 6 on iPhone 4S.

ABOVE: Voice-to-tweeting with Siri - iOS 6 on iPhone 5. Three tweets by voice, and only one mistake ("exit" - I know the phrase in the first tweet is "jumps", but jumped is what I said and what Siri faithfully reproduced). The iPhone 5's more powerful A6 processor, and support for faster wi-fi and cellular connections (Siri is cloud-based) could help with what seems to be enhanced accuracy.

ABOVE: Luckily, Siri lets you check a tweet before you say "send" ...

ABOVE: Similarly I found Siri pretty good for spoken instructions in Google Maps - but between the drag of trying to speak clearly, and corrections, you're still better off typing in a location. Between location-enabled services and predictive search, Maps is pretty quick the manual way.

ckeall@nbr.co.nz

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