Q307677

iOS 6 is the sixth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 5. It was announced at the 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, 2012, and was released on September 19, 2012. It was succeeded by iOS 7 on September 18, 2013. It was also the last iOS major release to feature a skeuomorphic design, as iOS 7 would introduce a completely new flat design overhaul.

iOS 6 introduced Apple Maps, which replaced Google Maps as the default mapping service for the operating system; a dedicated Podcasts app, as a central location for podcasts; and a Passbook app, for managing different types of tickets, boarding passes, coupons, and loyalty cards. The App Store received a visual overhaul, featuring a card-based app layout and improved search algorithms. Facebook integration was added to the operating system, allowing status messages, like buttons, and contact and event synchronization with several of Apple's apps. New privacy controls gave users more fine-grained app permissions, as well as an option to prevent targeted advertising. Siri was expanded to more devices and updated with more functionality, such as the ability to make restaurant reservations, launch apps, retrieve movie reviews and sports statistics, and read items from the Notification Center. iOS 6 also added LTE support for more carriers, the ability to purchase movie tickets through Fandango with Siri (USA only), a new button to reset the Advertising Identifier, and improvements to Maps in Japan. Additionally, iOS 6 improved the Photos and Camera apps, allowing users to share photos with iCloud Photo Stream, add filters to their camera shots, and take panoramic photos. The Phone app also received some enhancements, such as the option to reply with a message or set a callback reminder when declining a call, and the ability to enable a Do Not Disturb mode.