iOS 6 Is Actually Really Good

OK, so Apple is not good at maps. We’ve firmly established this. And this has crested a wave of carping that Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs, which, well, duh. They had different parents, and we can’t clone humans yet. Also they think that Tim Cook is not the magical product wizard that Steve Jobs obviously is, ignoring little problems with that image like the G4 Cube, the Apple TV, and Apple’s relentless wave of also-ran imitator software. They say that Steve Jobs would never have released iOS 6, because it’s terrible.

One problem with that theory, though: Maps aside, iOS 6 is actually a great little piece of software.

Is it an urgent download that you must have? Not particularly. Mostly what it is is a collection of ideas, tweaks and updates that make the iOS software easier to use and more convenient. None of it on its own is revolutionary, but taken together, it’s incredibly useful stuff. I tried it out on the iPhone 4S since, let’s face it, a fair chunk of humanity will be using it on that phone, and I found it an interesting upgrade in many respects.

Take Passbook. That it has no NFC connectivity is annoying and a blatant attempt to keep Google Wallet away from the iPhone. But for what it is, namely a collection of handy bar codes and miscellaneous crap you need to get at quickly, it’s fairly efficient and quite useful.

It’s really the little touches that work. Siri can now look up sports scores, for example. Everything is more streamlined. It’s a really nice piece of software. But apparently because some bald guy died, we’re not supposed to like it anymore. Ah well. Too bad. And it was such nice software, too.

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