iPhone 5 + iOS 6 Catch-All

Gravey wrote:
misplacedbravado wrote:

The other little thing that's annoying me about iOS6 is that the Podcasts app stops playing when it's in the background

It shouldn't be doing that. I'm listening to a 'cast right now (streaming, even) in the background.

Hm. I couldn't get it to keep playing with Run5K in the foreground, but maybe that's a quirk of Run5K rather than of Podcasts? I'll have to experiment a bit.

My Navigon updated just fine..

Navigon is working again now. I had to delete the app and download it, the maps and my add ones again. I gather that it will only try to register a device once. If it fails, it won't try again, it just tells you to contact Navigon. Deleting and reinstalling seems to reset the process.

PSA: iOS 6 has a bug that prevents devices from using Netgear WGT624 v3 routers with firmware 2.0.26. You can work around this by downgrading the router firmware to 2.0.21. Apple is working on an actual fix.

SommerMatt wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:
2) I'd love to ditch AT&T for a pre-pad Virgin Mobile iPhone, but they *just* got the 4S... one can only imagine when they might get the 5. The up-front pricing is intimidating, but the "unlimited" data/text plans for $35 are tempting as hell.

Just FYI I'm pretty sure the prepaid people are launching the phone alongside the big names. Virgin Mobile was listed as one of their 4G partners. I plan on getting a Cricket prepaid iPhone 5 at launch, personally.

We have Cricket here in my area... what carrier do they piggy-back on? How's their coverage? How do their plans compare?

My only fear of going with Virgin Mobile is that my service and data speeds might suffer.

Cricket piggybacks on Sprint, just like Virgin Mobile. So it depends on how well that works in your area.

I've actually changed my mind and I'm just going with AT&T because the family plans put it in the same price range as the prepaid. Not the "Share Everything" plans but the old family plans.

Aha!

release notes wrote:

Podcasts 1.1.1 addresses an issue with playback stopping when leaving the app.

So the thing that was bothering me may have just gotten fixed.

Oh good, I'm not the only one that thinks Apple Maps is absolute sh*t.

TUAW[/url]] Then there's the hypothetical standalone Google Maps app for iOS. Except that it's not hypothetical.

Two high-level sources inside Google have confirmed to me that the app exists. Where the employees disagree is on the status of the app. One tells me that Google has sent the app to Apple for approval, but Apple is just sitting on it. The other tells me that he believes Google has yet to put the finishing touches on the app and has not submitted it to Apple. But either way, it's a real thing.

Can't wait to get that Google Maps app. Apple Maps hasn't sent me into a river or across town for a store I was already standing beside, but Google Maps has never made feel like it might do that to me at some point.

The old maps app has sent me to fictional stores into the middle of suburbia before. But in Google's defense, those were "unconfirmed addresses" when viewed in the Google maps web app. The old maps app just didn't expose that feature. I do hope the new Google app does, since it's proven to be a huge help in indicating whether the pin on the map is actually correct.

Got bit by a bad update the other night...

Backed up my iPhone 4 then updated it no problem. Backed up my wife's 4S then updated it no problem. Looked at her iPad 2 and thought "eh, I don't need to back it up first."

Guess what happened? Yup. Recovery mode. Hook it up to iTunes. No previous backup. Lost all apps and settings. Good times!

Can't wait to get that Google Maps app. Apple Maps hasn't sent me into a river or across town for a store I was already standing beside, but Google Maps has never made feel like it might do that to me at some point.

That's one thing you really have to give Google; they have invested an incredible amount of money and expertise into their mapping system. I suspect they probably understand mapping, at least from a human transportation perspective, better than any other company in the world.

If Apple really wants to be in the mapping business, it will take years, and cost billions, to catch up. They absolutely have the money and brainpower to do it, but I wonder if they have the desire.

I wonder why Apple is starting a pissing match over Maps, of all things.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I wonder why Apple is starting a pissing match over Maps, of all things.

Probably licensing fees as well as reducing search clicks to Google

I've seen some speculation that Google was unwilling to license turn-by-turn navigation on the Maps app to Apple. Always so hard to say what's going on behind the scenes in these sorts of things. I suppose in this case we'll have some idea if Google doesn't put an app out (and points people at the web version), or does put an app out without turn-by-turn.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I wonder why Apple is starting a pissing match over Maps, of all things.

The most compelling and non-speculative reason is that the Google Maps API doesn't allow turn-by-turn navigation, and for whatever reasons, Apple and Google couldn't come to an agreement for allowing it. This isn't a new issue spurred by iOS 6 either, it's three years old, and Apple has probably been working on their own maps app over those three years (if you can't tell...)—you don't start over from scratch and buy out or license with twenty mapping and data companies at the drop of a hat.

And maps on a smartphone, "of all things", is a killer app for too many people. They're indispensable, and with included free turn-by-turn navigation, Android has been the clearly superior offering for years now. If Apple was getting blocked from a key feature by a partner, then the solution is to do it themselves.

I seriously doubt it's anything to do with fees, or a beef with Google—there's bad blood between the companies, but things aren't that petty or rash. Google is still the default search engine for Mobile Safari (and immobile Safari), if it was seriously an issue about clicks, not to mention all the other Google apps for iOS.

Hypatian wrote:
psoplayer wrote:

Also, just found a new iOS 6 feature: passcode lock of arbitrary length (more than 4 numbers, but still numeric so you only need the numpad).

That's not new.

New maps app: Ugh. The lack of walking or bus route information is a killer for me, since I don't drive. Fortunately, maps.google.com in the browser works reasonably well.

I have a 4S that I haven't upgraded to iOS 6 yet. I've hidden the Maps app and am trying maps.google.com as a replacement instead. One question for folks who are using this option, is there no compass option? In the app, you can tap the GPS arrow to convert it into a live compass+GPS pointer which is incredibly convenient for walking directions.

Gravey wrote:

I seriously doubt it's anything to do with fees, or a beef with Google—there's bad blood between the companies, but things aren't that petty or rash. Google is still the default search engine for Mobile Safari (and immobile Safari), if it was seriously an issue about clicks, not to mention all the other Google apps for iOS.

Seems like it could be very much be about cost after the major hike in Maps API pricing back in 2011.

I can't find the article, but I read something on Business Insider (I think) that posited that Apple wouldn't tolerate having another company playing such an integral part in their otherwise wholly owned infrastructure any more. All of the firmware stuff is purely Apple now that maps and YouTube aren't baked in any more. Well, There's still weather, but I think its just the data that's from Yahoo, not the app itself.

If they knew that maps was not going to be fully operational until it was rolled out and user feedback was coming in, I don't know why they didnt just slap a beta label on it. They did it with Siri, and Google do it with, well, everything. Ego, I suppose.

spider_j wrote:

Well, There's still weather, but I think its just the data that's from Yahoo, not the app itself.

And stocks as well. Yahoo isn't the massive competitor to Apple the way that Google is, so I'm sure we'll see the familiar (Y!) in the corner of those apps for the near future.

Obviously people are upset because iOS had a decent maps app that was replaced with something worse. If this had been the first appearance of maps on iOS people would probably be pretty enthusiastic that it wasn't worse, given that it's a first release. Apple couldn't have gotten away with branding it a beta, not when they already had non-beta maps which were being completely replaced by the new one. But hey, it's just one of those cases where early adopters got less than they bargained for. I have no doubt it will improve, though probably slower than most people have the patience for.

avggeek wrote:

I have a 4S that I haven't upgraded to iOS 6 yet. I've hidden the Maps app and am trying maps.google.com as a replacement instead. One question for folks who are using this option, is there no compass option? In the app, you can tap the GPS arrow to convert it into a live compass+GPS pointer which is incredibly convenient for walking directions.

No compass option. I've honestly found that spotty at best in the maps app, myself. More useful to get initial orientation than anything else. (It could just be that my phone's compass is crappy or something, it always seems to report interference when I use it in urban areas. Which is always.)

It's really surprising just how light and thin the 5 feels. I mean, how much difference could a few grams and millimeters make? But it feels really light!

The camera is friggin' fast, too.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I wonder why Apple is starting a pissing match over Maps, of all things.

Because Apple is very, very angry about Google getting into telephones. Very angry. Thermonuclear war angry, in Steve Jobs' direct words.

Unrelated, but interesting tidbit over on Ars:

Detailed analysis of Apple A6 core reveals layout done by hand

Appears this is why it took so long for the first chips to come out of PA Semi... they took the time to do it right, using human engineers instead of layout tools, like AMD. At least at the moment, humans are better engineers than computers are, and this is probably why the new iPhone is as fast as it is.

Not many companies left doing that kind of quality work on silicon.

Hypatian wrote:

No compass option. I've honestly found that spotty at best in the maps app, myself. More useful to get initial orientation than anything else. (It could just be that my phone's compass is crappy or something, it always seems to report interference when I use it in urban areas. Which is always.)

I do get the occasional "interference" message as well, but the compass+gps option works really well when walking around in Singapore. *sigh* looks like I'm going to join the list of folks waiting for Google to get it's story straight on the Maps app (It exists! It doesn't exist! It's been submitted! It's not been submitted!)

On a side note, walked into my phone provider's store today and 45 minutes later walked out with a 16 GB white iPhone 5 for the wife. Waiting in line is for chumps

You guys using icloud? I only have one ISO device, a ipod touch. So I don't have a use for it. I think I'm correct in thinking there is no options for icloud on android devices.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

You guys using icloud? I only have one ISO device, a ipod touch. So I don't have a use for it. I think I'm correct in thinking there is no options for icloud on android devices.

Depends - are you looking to sync photos/music? I believe the iCloud API for these is closed so there is not likely to be an Android client. For stuff like Calendar/Contacts, there appear to be some apps out there that offer iCloud integration through standard sync (CalDAV/CardDAV) methods.

You know it doesn't matter now that think on it. I don't know how but outlook is synced to my ipod, phone, and tablet. I use dropbox so all my photos sync. Take a picture on one device and it shows up another. I wish my comics and books were synced but I don't see how that will be possible. Hmmm can you guys that have all apple products do that? Read a book on the ipod and continue where you left off on the ipad?

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Read a book on the ipod and continue where you left off on the ipad?

I would guess that the iPod would have to sync first but I do this regularly between my iPhone and iPad. Works with Apple's iBooks and Amazon's books. Probably works with others.

complexmath wrote:

The old maps app has sent me to fictional stores into the middle of suburbia before. But in Google's defense, those were "unconfirmed addresses" when viewed in the Google maps web app. The old maps app just didn't expose that feature. I do hope the new Google app does, since it's proven to be a huge help in indicating whether the pin on the map is actually correct.

FWIW, Google maps on my iPhone has sent me miles away from my destination on several occasions (as recently as a month ago in fact). Mapping like this is really hard and I'm impressed that there are as few mistakes as there are on either platform. It does seem wasteful to have more than one company doing this though; too bad Apple and Google couldn't find a way to play nice.

some other zach wrote:
Baron Of Hell wrote:

Read a book on the ipod and continue where you left off on the ipad?

I would guess that the iPod would have to sync first but I do this regularly between my iPhone and iPad. Works with Apple's iBooks and Amazon's books. Probably works with others.

Yup. Using the kindle app I have seamlessly jumped between iPhone, iPad, and actual Kindle reader while working my way through a book. If you're reading your own imported documents I'm not sure how well it would work, though. I assume it would be about the same.

psoplayer wrote:
some other zach wrote:
Baron Of Hell wrote:

Read a book on the ipod and continue where you left off on the ipad?

I would guess that the iPod would have to sync first but I do this regularly between my iPhone and iPad. Works with Apple's iBooks and Amazon's books. Probably works with others.

Yup. Using the kindle app I have seamlessly jumped between iPhone, iPad, and actual Kindle reader while working my way through a book. If you're reading your own imported documents I'm not sure how well it would work, though. I assume it would be about the same.

Documents work exactly the same, as long as you have the same exact file on all of your devices-- I usually just mail files to my Kindle account, which puts them in the "cloud." You can then have the same version on all devices, and it syncs between all of them. That's the main reason why I keep sticking with Kindle.