iOS

Since the release of iOS 6, our forums and tip lines have been buzzing with issues relating specifically to iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match. Issues seem to range from iTunes Match expiration notices, sync issues with ringtones and text tones via iTunes, and slow performance when it comes to streaming music.

Despite problems with Maps and complaints about the new Lightning connector, there is increased demand for the iPhone 5 than the iPhone 4S this time last year, a new survey finds. Conducted by 451 Research and ChangeWave Research, the survey of 4,270 primarily North American consumers, the survey shows that despite the attention given to these issues by the press, they barely seem to concern customers. In all, 32% of those surveyed said that they were likely to get the iPhone 5, up from 22.5% for the 4S a year ago. Of those unlikely to buy the phone, 61% responded that their current phone was good enough.

Passbook is helping Major League Baseball transition away from traditional physical tickets to digital ones. In in an initial test run with four teams in the final two weeks of the season, Passbook was used for 12% of electronic tickets, which account for over two thirds of all ticket sales. While the convenience of Passbook has delighted fans, it also seems to have struck a chord with the league as a whole. Though Passbook itself doesn’t hold personal information, the apps that feed Passbook, in this case, the MLB iPhone app, do. Using the app, teams and parks can more specifically target advertising, or make specific offers to loyal fans.

Shortly after Apple unveiled iOS 6 at WWDC 2012, they released the standalone Podcasts app into the App Store. Previously, podcasts were downloaded via the iTunes app and could be played back in either the Music or Video app, depending on whether they were audio or video podcasts. That split, along with with the lack of any ability to subscribe to podcasts, made it a less than ideal experience (which numerous third party apps tried to solve.) Now, with the dedicated Podcasts app, and with its iOS 6 and iPhone 5 updates, Apple is better is solving it themselves.

Note: This was originally supposed to be part of my iOS 6 review but due to size and time constraints, I'm posting it separately, an belatedly.

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With iOS 6, Apple has totally changed the way search results appear in the on-device App Store app. With the old App Store search, five results were immediately visible in a list view, and you could vertically scroll or flick quickly through large amounts more. With the new iOS 6 App Store search, only one result is visible at a time, and you whether you scroll or flick, you only ever get one result more at a time. And that's not good.

Since the early days of the iPhone, we've received a steady stream of complaints about how alerts are handled when you're on a call. Namely, you can have the phone to your ear, chatting away, when suddenly a text message comes in and the tone and/or vibrate goes off full blast into your ear and rattles through your skull. Since push notifications launched for 3rd party apps, especially the trumpeting horror that is Game Center, it's only gotten worse. If you're not used it to and expecting it, it can make you want to drop your phone and start stomping. That's only mild hyperbole, mind you, as that's exactly what several significant others have told us, with rage-filled eyes, after it happened to them for the first time.

While some people may want to make absolutely sure they don't miss an important alert while on a phone call, and are willing to pay the price in low-yield skull trauma, others would pay a significant amount of money for the option to turn it off.

Google has added Street View, its panoramic ground-level mapping service, to its iPhone and iPad web app. That should hopefully ease the pain currently being experienced by iOS 6 users who found Street View missing following the September update. When Apple ditched Google as their mapping data provider and created the new, and controversial iOS 6 Maps app, they lost Street View and instead offered Flyover, which is nowhere near as useful. Thankfully Google has added a nice feature for iOS users.

Apple may be turning to its retail employees to improve its new Maps app for iOS 6. Retail store employees are being asked to, on a volunteer basis, examine the mapping data for their area and submit corrections and improvements to Apple. Stores participating in the initiative will give 40 hours of staff time per week, which will be distributed across several employees.

I joked today that Passbook was this year's Newsstand. I meant that on several levels. First, it's an app that people seem to be struggling to use. Second, it's an app that depends on being fed content that's out of Apple's control. Third, because of those two factors, it's an app that could have done with some better hand-holding and partnership placements at launch.