New features in iOS 6

And then, of course, there’s iOS 6, which runs on any iPhone from the 3GS onward. Apple says it contains over 200 features, but many of them are tiny nips and tucks. Here are the big-ticket items:

• Maps. Here’s the big one, the controversial one: the new Maps app, which replaces the Google Maps app that has been on the iPhone since its debut in 2007. It’s a beautiful app with some great features, but in the initial version, the underlying data is deeply flawed. Directions are wrong, buildings aren’t where they’re supposed to be, and many of the aerial photos show melted bridges and other distortions.There’s no Street View or publictransportation details built in. Apple vows to keep working on Maps until it’s fixed, and it recommends rival apps like MapQuest and Waze in the meantime.

• Call smarts. When a call comes in, you can flick upward on the screen to reveal two new buttons: Remind Me Later and Reply With Message. The first button programs the phone to remind you to return the call later; the second fires off a canned text message like “I’ll call you later.”

•Do Not Disturb is like Airplane mode— the phone won’t buzz, ring or light up— except that it can turn itself on during certain hours, like your sleeping hours, and it can allow certain people’s calls or texts through, like people on your phone’s Favorites list.

• Siri enhancements. Siri, the voice-activated servant, now understands questions about movies, sports, and restaurants. You can also speak Twitter or Facebook posts (“Tweet, ‘I just broke my shin on a poorly placed coffee table’”) and—hallelujah!—open apps by voice. That’s a huge win.

• FaceTime over cellular. Now, at last, iPhone 4S and 5 owners can make video calls even when they’re out of WiFi range, out in Cellular Land.

• Camera panoramas. You can now capture a 240-degree, ultra-wideangle photo by swinging the phone around you in an arc. The phone creates the panorama in real time (you don’t have to line up the sections yourself ).

• Passbook. This app collects and consolidates barcodes: for airline boarding passes, movie tickets, electronic coupons, and so on. • Safari. You can now save a Web page to read later, even when you don’t have an Internet connection later. Also, in landscape mode, a full-screen browsing mode maximizes screen space by hiding toolbars.

• Shared photo streams. You can “publish” groups of photos to specified friends; they can view the pictures on their Apple gadgets or on a Web page. They can add comments or “like” them.

•Mail. In Mail, you can indicate the most important people in your life; they get their own VIP folder in the Inbox, helping to lift them out of the clutter. And at long last, you can now attach photos to a Mail message you’re already writing, instead of having to start in the Photos app. iOS 6 also gives you the option to publish utterances, photos, or other bits to Facebook from a bunch of different apps. A new Privacy settings screen provides on/off switches for the kinds of data each app might request. The App Store, iTunes Store, Reminders, and Videos apps have been redesigned.