Some of the iOS 6 features Apple didn’t tell you about

12 June, 2012 - Killian Bell
iOS 6

During the WWDC keynote yesterday, Apple showed off some of the major changes coming to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in iOS 6. They include a new Maps app; improvements to Mail, Phone, and Notification Center, and more. But there are lots of awesome features Apple didn’t mention. Here are some of them:

  • You no longer need to enter your App Store password to download updates or previous purchases.
  • The Music app on iPhone has been overhauled and looks a lot like the Music app on iPad.
  • The status bar changes color to match the color scheme of certain iOS apps while they’re running.
  • There are lots of new privacy controls that allow you to fine-tune which of your data iOS apps have access to.
  • The Reminders app now displays badges for outstanding tasks.
  • There are lots of new emoji icons.
  • Apps display a “new” banner after installation. This disappears after opening the app for the first time.
  • A padlock no longer appears in the status bar when your device is locked.
  • You can now “pull-to-refresh” in Mail, just like you can in Twitter, Facebook, and other iOS apps.
  • The built-in Weather app has been given a fancy new look, but it still features the same functionality.
  • You can now tweet or post status updates to Twitter and Facebook directly from the Notification Center.
  • There’s a new Clock app on the iPad, which has the same functionality as the iPhone version, but looks a lot prettier.

Those are some of the new features we’ve picked out of the iOS 6 beta so far, which Apple failed to mention during its keynote. Over the next few months, as Apple releases more beta updates, there’s likely to be a whole lot more to add to that list.

Of course, these are only minor changes to the iOS operating system, which is why they weren’t mentioned at WWDC. However, I think you’ll agree that many of them – such as the password changes to the App Store – will greatly improve the iOS experience.

Are you pleased with what you’ve seen from iOS 6 so far?

About the author

Killian Bell is a freelance journalist based in Worcestershire UK. In addition to writing about all things Apple, he's one of the co-founders of the football site TitleTalk. You can follow him on and Twitter.