Apple’s forthcoming revision of its iOS mobile operating system delivers more Apple and less Google. Here’s a look at other key changes.

Apple iPhone 5 Vs. Samsung Galaxy S III: What We Know

Apple has not specified a release date for iOS 6, the next version of its mobile operating system. But with the arrival of iOS 6 beta 4 on Monday, the official release should come in late September or early October. The company has only said that iOS 6 will be available this fall.

iOS 6 is more evolutionary than revolutionary. Unlike earlier iOS updates that filled missing gaps with additions like multitasking or in-app payments, iOS 6 focuses mainly on improving existing features and integrating cloud services.

 

Among the various changes, these 10 are the most noteworthy.

No More YouTube App

Apple says that its license to include the YouTube app in iOShas expired. Given the bad blood between Apple and Google, chances are that Apple didn’t try too hard to renegotiate that deal. Let the celebrations begin: Google is working on a new YouTube app that will be distributed through the App Store and whatever the result, it’s sure to be an improvement on the primitive YouTube app that has shipped on iOS devices since June 2007.

Maps Will Be Different

Apple’s desire to limit its reliance on Google services led it to purchase three online map companies in the past few years. The result of those acquisitions was revealed at Apple’s developer conference in June: Maps in iOS 6 will depend on Apple’s own geo data. Will Maps by Apple be better than Maps by Google? Apple isn’t prepared to say as much, though it insists that Maps is “the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever.”

 

By Thomas Claburn InformationWeek

August 08, 2012 11:06 AM