I’ve had the luxury of using iOS 6 for sometime now, due to my developer status. Even still, until the final version was released, there were a number of features with which I never spent much (if any) time. In the case of Shared Photo Streams, that was mostly due to a lack of other users with whom I could test the feature.
Today, I spent some time setting up and joining a few streams. I shared some goofy photos with my cousins and several pics of my children with my family. Perhaps the nicest thing about sharing Photo Streams is the speed with which others can comment on your photos. I don’t know a single iPhone or iPad owner that doesn’t have an Apple ID. Which means that when I share a photo, they are able to see it and respond without signing up for any accounts like they would with a social network.
In fact, Apple has created the stealthiest social network of all time. If you’ve ever purchased anything on iTunes, you’ve already got an account. Plus, because new shared streams default to private, only those you invite can see your photos unless you explicitly make your stream public.
Within minutes of sharing a Photo Stream with my wife, she had already sent me a message telling me how awesome it was. A few simple taps on the screen and 16 photos were almost immediately available for her to view and enjoy.
Now, the more cynical out there will complain that Shared Photo Streams are nothing more than MobileMe web galleries returned from their recent grave. The concept is certainly similar, but the execution in iOS 6 is so much simpler, it feels like magic. If you haven’t had a chance to play with it yet, I encourage you to do so soon.
On the flip side, I spent quite a lot of time with the new Maps feature in iOS 6. And, while not perfect, it has excelled at getting me from point A to point B in style. The new map tiles are simply incredible and the map directions are easy to read and pervasive throughout the entire OS. Even when your device goes to sleep, the directions are right there on your lock screen and will even pop up whenever Siri speaks to tell you your next turn.
There seem to be a lot of complaints out there from some very vocal people about Apple’s Maps not being as good as Google’s. I’m not surprised by that fact, nor do I think it matters. For starters, Google has been at this a lot longer than Apple and even when the first iPhone was released, the Maps app wasn’t perfect. Google had to do a lot of updating on the back end before they got to where they are today. Apple has an advantage that Google didn’t: millions of iPhone owners able to report mapping errors from their device as they encounter them.
But in the end, it doesn’t matter. Most users will never encounter any issues at all. And, as with everything that Apple does, it will get better and better over time until most users forget they ever had issues at all.
Only time will tell, but I’d be very surprised if Apple’s Maps don’t see rapid improvements.
