iPhone

iOS 6 Upgrade – Part 2 – New Features and Changes

iOS 6

I’ve now upgraded my iPhone3GS from iOS 5.1.1 to iOS 6. This has been delayed mainly due to a freelance iOS App Testing project I was working on at iOS 5.1.1 plus also partly  due to waiting for some fix version releases, to address any initial problems (e.g. iOS 6.0.1)

In Part 1 of this series of blog posts, I covered the actual Upgrade process and my Initial Thoughts.

Now, in Part 2, I cover the New Features and Changes in iOS 6. This is not an exhaustive list, but those that I have noticed/found in my own use so far of iOS 6.

New Features and Changes

iOS 6 Maps

The Google apps – Maps and YouTube – have both been removed from the iOS 6 package, so after the upgrade to iOS 6 you no longer have access to these. Apple’s own Maps app replaces Google Maps and has had a mixed reception, though in my brief use of it so far, I haven’t noticed any problems. Below is a screenshot of the Maps app in use, on my iPhone3GS.

iOS 6 Apple Maps App Screenshot

Facebook Integration

Facebook is now integrated into iOS, in a similar way that they integrated Twitter in a previous release.

iOS 6 Share screen

The Share screen has been funkily re-designed and now features more options. These are: Mail, Message, Twitter, Facebook, Add to Home Screen, Print, Copy, Bookmark and Add to Reading List

iOS 6 Mail

The Mail app seems more or less the same as before, though there’s now a ‘pull to refresh’ facility to refresh your Inbox. Also there’s a facility to set VIP emails, so you’re less likely to miss important emails – though I haven’t set this up yet.

iOS 6 Passbook

The Passbook is a new App, supposedly handy for storing Boarding Passes, Tickets etc, though I haven’t used it / set it up yet.

iOS 6 Phone

The Phone functionality has been improved, including extra options being available when you get an Incoming call. Now in addition to the usual Decline and Answer buttons, you also have the options of ‘Reply with Message’ and ‘Remind Me Later’. You can also use the new Do Not Disturb functionality, to avoid being disturbed.

Google Maps

As mentioned above, the Google Maps and YouTube apps are not included in the upgrade to iOS 6. Apple’s own Maps app replaces Google’s version and YouTube has just been left out.

By now, Google have released a version of Google Maps for iOS 6 – the release of which has apparently seen a surge in iOS 6 upgrades – and have also released a YouTube app. I’ve installed Google Maps to my iPhone3GS and it seems to operate mostly the same as before. One big plus is that the Street View feature now works really smoothly and with full screen images. Screenshots of Google Maps below.

iOS 6 Google Maps App iOS 6 Google Maps App Options iOS 6 Google Maps App Street View

YouTube App

I have also downloaded the You Tube app from the App Store. Initial thoughts on this are that its not very good, as they’ve either taken away or hidden commonly used features from the previous App that was included in iOS. A screenshot is shown below.

iOS 6 YouTube app

Due to the shortcomings of the official You Tube app, I searched out some more alternatives and found You Player app, which has a UI more like the original YouTube app, so easier to use. I found it performed well, although there is the odd crash.

In Part 3, I discuss the Moans and Gripes found so far in iOS 6.

 

 

 

By |December 23rd, 2012|Apple, Apps, iOS, iOS App Testing, iPhone, Mobile, Mobile Testing, New Tech, Upgrades|0 Comments
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iOS 6 Upgrade – Part 1 – Upgrade and Initial Thoughts

iOS 6

I’ve now upgraded my iPhone3GS from iOS 5.1.1 to iOS 6. I  put this upgrade on hold, mainly due to a freelance iOS App Testing project I was working on requiring me to keep iOS 5.1.1 but also partly due to waiting for some fix version releases, to address any initial problems (e.g. iOS 6.0.1)

One of my main hopes for the iOS 6 upgrade was that it would address some of the performance problems I’d experienced using iOS 5.1.1 where some of the Apps seemed to be working in slow motion. Some net reviews / blogs were encouraging reading on this point. Though of course, you never know until you upgrade your own device.

Upgrade

  • The upgrade process was fairly painless, though took a bit longer than expected.
  • I synced my iPhone3GS before the upgrade, so I had a recent backup. This meant I upgraded via iTunes, with the iPhone3GS in the cradle.
  • The device had 1.12 Gb free space on it, according to iTunes.
  • iTunes said iOS 6.0.1 was available for the upgrade
  • Took quite a while to download the actual upgrade file(s) – which proved to be 780 Mb
  • Once downloaded, I then installed it.
  • The whole process took just over 30 minutes
  • Once the upgrade was completed and the iPhone3GS had restarted, there were a couple of steps to go through before using it.
  • Step 1 – Select wifi network – this had my existing wifi network already chosen in the list and was as easy as just selecting it
  • Step 2 – Turn on Location Servcies
  • Step 3 – Signin with Apple ID – it says for iCloud, Messages and FaceTime

Initial Thoughts

  • Initial thoughts are that it looks a little bit different, but hardly noticable differences
  • After a couple of days usage, it does seem to be a smoother and faster experience, with fewer delays when using the built-in Apps. This was especially noticed (and appreciated) in the Notes and Calendar Apps.
  • However, some Apps are still slow – with the re-designed App Store still slow and painful to use.
  • One interesting point is that there’s now 2.4 Gb of free space on my iPhone3GS, so after the upgrade I’ve got an extra 1.2 Gb
  • Apps-wise, some big changes have made in the upgrade process – with Google’s Maps and YouTube apps no longer being included.
  • Apple’s own Maps app replaces the Google Maps app – much has been written of people’s disappointments with the Apple Maps app

The next blog post – Part 2 – will look at the New Features and Changes in iOS 6

 

By |December 23rd, 2012|Apple, Apps, featured-posts, iOS, iOS App Testing, iPhone, Mobile, New Tech|0 Comments
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Dropbox – the main advantages

A few people have asked me about Dropbox recently, as they’re not sure why there’s such a positive buzz about it. So I thought I’d list the main advantages I get out of using Dropbox and hopefully it may help a few people out.

Main Advantages of Dropbox

  • Its free to start with – up to 2 Gb of storage for free can’t be sniffed at.
  • Its somewhere you can use as a central repository for documents you may want to access/edit from home and/or work – across Windows and Mac platforms
  • Your documents are also accessible via your iOS devices – iPhone and iPad – so good for when on the move
  • On the iPhone, you can save ‘Favourite’ documents to the device for offline use, for when out of internet connection for whatever reason. To do this, just go to the relevant document and press the * icon. You can then access these documents easily from the Tab menu at the footer, with the Favorites icon.
  • Sharing documents is easily achieved too – place the document in your Public folder and then right click it – there should be an option like ‘Copy Public Link’ – which is an URL which you can use to share the document with friends/colleagues etc
So overall, there are a lot of positives that I’ve found with using Dropbox, especially as a user of multiple platforms (PC, Mac, iOS etc)

 

By |September 27th, 2012|Apple, Cloud, iMac, iOS, Mobile, New Tech, OSX, Other Tech, Tablet|0 Comments
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Mobile Development Platforms – iOS, Android, Blackberry, Kindle Fire

Updated: 22 May 2012 

I’ve done some research into the different Mobile Development Platforms, as there’s now so many different offerings from different manufacturers.

Here’s the current state of play:-

iPhone / iPad 
Objective-C using iOS development platform

Android
Java using Android SDK development platform

BlackBerry
Java using  BlackBerry API development platform – BlackBerry Java SDK
Can also port Android apps to BlackBerry using BlackBerry Packager for Android Apps

Amazon Kindle Fire
Uses customised version of Android OS 2.3

Sony Tablet 
Uses Android 3.1 Honeycomb

Samsung Tablets
Uses Android OS, also Samsung libraries, plus also their own Bada OS, which uses C++

All Platforms – HTML5/WebKit
Using HTML5 would allow web apps to work on all of these devices but – in most cases – you wouldn’t be able to access any of the specific hardware of each device. This may change over time, if the relevant support is added somehow.

Porting Android Apps 
From the above list, this means that if you develop an App in Android / Java you can then port it to BlackBerry and the Amazon Kindle Fire. I assume a port to the BlackBerry would take more effort/time than a port to the Kindle Fire.

By |May 22nd, 2012|Android, Apple, Apps, Development, iOS, Java, Sony, Tablet|0 Comments
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iPhone Apps for learning Java – JAVA Quiz

Found the ‘JAVA Quiz’ app on the AppStore. See http://www.appgrabber.com/app/java-quiz

As its free, thought I’d give it a go.

It says its got over 500 questions and starts a random quiz each time.

You get 30 seconds per question (can change this) and its a multiple choice Q&A.

I found it useful as its a good way of finding out which areas you know – and more likely at the moment – which areas you don’t know.

By |December 1st, 2011|Apps, iOS, Java|0 Comments
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