As all iOS updates, when you first start up your iPhone, iPad or iTouch, you don’t notice de real differences at first glance.  Everything seems as if it wasn’t changed at all.  Once you start playing with your phone thats when the fun starts.  Apple has been updating their mobile operating system mostly catching up with features already available on other phones, perfecting them and making them useful.   Copy, Paste, MMS, just to mention some of the more logical ones, weren’t available from day one; having to wait almost a year to have them as part of the functionalities of your iPhone.   As stupid as this may have sounded, it was true.  Many of you didn’t buy in to the iPhone until the 3rd generation, the iPhone 3Gs.   Most of the actual users bought the 5th generation, the 4s, meaning that you already had all the goodies that most of the early adopters didn’t get a hold of for years.   With this new update we get a couple of big new additions and almost 200 featured updates to the interface and integrated apps.

The first thing you’ll notice is the absence of a native YouTube app and the addition of a new Maps App supplanting the old Google Maps.   Both apps where part of the iOS from day one and now are gone.   The new Maps Application has been a hit or miss with most reviewers including this one as it looks prettier than anything that you’ve ever seen on your phone, but works a little less good than expected.    The 3D Street View is stunning and is something to show off with your 2 friends who still don’t have an iPhone.   It doesn’t have the polish that Google Maps has and it hurts it in its functionality.

Siri is now more versatile as it can now give you scores for sports, restaurant recommendations and movie times with review.  Another of the supposed big features is the so called Passbook, a virtual wallet that may include boarding passes, Starbucks cards, movie tickets and more, for easy access.  We also get Facebook integration throughout the interface giving you easy access to the app letting you post from the notification center, and much like Twitter, you can post pictures, status updates and links.     There are more subtle changes throughout the system, but non of them are particularly engaging.   Music, Email, Contacts, Safari, Reminders all have minor upgrades that aren’t worth mentioning.   Photo Stream is also now available and a new Panorama mode for the Camera which is my current favorite feature.  Overall I think this update is the most disappointing of all that have been made.