My iPhone 4S Upgrade To iOS 6 In Pictures
The iOS 6 update for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S users is here! I threw caution to the wind and dove into the upgrade. I found some problems in Apple's new mapping app and experienced a big glitch with my home Wi-Fi. Here's what happened.
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Today, Sept. 19, was the day the iOS 6 upgrade became available to owners of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S. At about 10 a.m. PST I checked and there it was, both on my iPhone 4S and in iTunes.
As you'll see in the pages to come, my upgrade did not go completely smoothly. In fact, there is a serious problem that I haven't been able to solve yet having to do with my home Wi-Fi.
I haven't spent a lot of time yet with iOS 6. The only feature I gave more than a cursory glance is the new Maps app, and I'm mostly disturbed by what I see. Apple, you might recall, dropped Google Maps, which it had been using, and in iOS 6 switched to its own maps and app, based on data from TomTom and other sources.
Stupidly, I first tried to update to iOS 6 over the air to my phone. I gave up after watching the download indicator jump around from one hour to two hours to no guess at all. Back home, I checked iTunes on my Mac with a wired network connection and the update took seven minutes to download. There followed another five to 10 minutes of verifications and transferring data to the phone, but it was pretty fast overall.
Eventually my phone restarted and displayed the iOS 6 screen seen here.
At this point my update entered a wizard familiar to iOS users.
Here's where my troubles began. My home Wi-Fi network name is DirtyFork (some of you might remember the Monty Python skit). My iPhone 4S running iOS 5 and 5.1 never had any trouble with DirtyFork and other devices are working on it without a problem. I re-entered my password, rebooted both the iPhone and my wireless access point, a Netgear device--but no difference.
Luckily for me, I have an AT&T hotspot. iOS 6 had no problem connecting to it, which just makes the problem it had with my home Wi-Fi all the stranger.
The update wizard then tried to log into my hotspot for some reason. It failed and I canceled and I don't know why it even tried.
I then got, and took the option, to enable location services. This setup step is standard for iOS devices.
Next, the wizard asked me to enter my Apple ID password so it could finish setting up iCloud, iMessage, and FaceTime.
I was then presented with the terms of service. I read every word of this document, consulted legal counsel, and then tapped Agree.
The wizard then listed my e-mail addresses and my phone number and I confirmed that others were allowed to reach me using these with iMessage and FaceTime. (Bad enough everyone already has my email addresses; you don't need to see my cell phone number.)
And that was it! The "most advanced iOS ever" was now installed on my iPhone 4S.
I dove right into the Maps app. Here's my neighborhood. The maps have something odd and somewhat impressive: The all-capped labels, such as BERKSHIRE PARK, are names of neighborhood associations. Beats me how they got this data.
Then it got really weird. I dragged to the west a bit and the next name I see is PINK BIRD. I guarantee you this is not the name of this neighborhood. I think I know the joke behind the term, but why it's in a database Apple used for its maps app is anybody's guess.
A little farther to the east you can see some of the icons that Apple uses for certain types of locations. The brown graduation cap is a high school. The knife and fork are a pizza restaurant. The gas pump is supposed to be a gas station, but there is no gas station at that location. There is a gas station across the street from the pizza parlor, but Apple doesn't mark that one.
I found similar errors around my area, particularly gas stations where there are only houses. Most striking is the relative absence of markers for things that are there. Few of the restaurants I know are in my town are marked. On the map shown above, Apple does not show a large supermarket that is there. I know this sort of thing gets better over time, but right now the maps are way behind Google's.
A little farther to the east you can see some of the icons that Apple uses for certain types of locations. The brown graduation cap is a high school. The knife and fork are a pizza restaurant. The gas pump is supposed to be a gas station, but there is no gas station at that location. There is a gas station across the street from the pizza parlor, but Apple doesn't mark that one.
I found similar errors around my area, particularly gas stations where there are only houses. Most striking is the relative absence of markers for things that are there. Few of the restaurants I know are in my town are marked. On the map shown above, Apple does not show a large supermarket that is there. I know this sort of thing gets better over time, but right now the maps are way behind Google's.
Today, Sept. 19, was the day the iOS 6 upgrade became available to owners of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S. At about 10 a.m. PST I checked and there it was, both on my iPhone 4S and in iTunes.
As you'll see in the pages to come, my upgrade did not go completely smoothly. In fact, there is a serious problem that I haven't been able to solve yet having to do with my home Wi-Fi.
I haven't spent a lot of time yet with iOS 6. The only feature I gave more than a cursory glance is the new Maps app, and I'm mostly disturbed by what I see. Apple, you might recall, dropped Google Maps, which it had been using, and in iOS 6 switched to its own maps and app, based on data from TomTom and other sources.
Stupidly, I first tried to update to iOS 6 over the air to my phone. I gave up after watching the download indicator jump around from one hour to two hours to no guess at all. Back home, I checked iTunes on my Mac with a wired network connection and the update took seven minutes to download. There followed another five to 10 minutes of verifications and transferring data to the phone, but it was pretty fast overall.
Eventually my phone restarted and displayed the iOS 6 screen seen here.
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