Every twelvemonth since the debut of the iPhone in 2007 has been a big year for iOS , and 2012 is certainly no exception . Let ’s take a stroll down memory lane , recalling the year that was for the iPhone , the iPad , and the operating organization that powers them both .
January
Apple also reveal a plan project to letbusinesses grease one’s palms apps in majority ; “ norms ” like you and me still have to corrupt our Angry Birds one app at at metre , however .
January also saw the one-year Macworld | iWorld Conference and Expo — the trade show that proceed through name shift the style Cher decease through costumes . Among theBest of Show winnerswe recognized at Macworld | iWorld 2012 were iOS - friendly products likeAdonit ’s Jot TouchBluetooth - enable iPad stylus , Blue’sSpark DigitalUSB mic for iPad and Mac , iStopMotionfor iPad , theGame Your Videoapp , PDFpen for iPad , and theTourWristapp for panoramic photo exploration .
February
The month had 29 days this year , but if you thought that would understand into more iOS news than common for the shortest calendar month , you were amiss .
Still , though February was n’t full of iOS word , one significant kerfuffle occurred that calendar month , in connection with rabid destination book admittance . Social internet app Pathpublished a varsity letter of apologyafter its app was discovered uploading the integral contents of its drug user ’ address Word to its server — unencrypted . Path was n’t the only app to facilitate itself to such speech book data point , but it became the expression of a type of business behavior that prompted a significant discussion of iOS security .
Apple announced in mid - February that afuture iOS update would postulate apps to obtain users ’ permissionbefore access their striking . And with the eventual tone ending of iOS 6 , Apple was rightful to its Good Book . Now Path and other apps that you use to share every intimate detail of your life story with the net will get at your contacts only after you tap to approve them .
Also in February , Apple previewed OS X Mountain Lion . Though it did n’t qualify directly as iOS news , the Mac OS update borrowed hard from iOS , bringing apps such as Notes , Reminders , and Game Center aboard iOS features like Notification Center , iMessage support , Twitter integration , and even AirPlay mirroring . And with the deep iCloud integration that Apple prognosticate in Mountain Lion , Io and the Mac would get close than ever .
March
March was a big month for iOS , protrude with another public press event , wherein Apple unveiled thenew iPad , whose hotly anticipatedRetina displayscored almost as much pressing aid asthe lack of a “ 3 ” in its name .
Apple CEO Tim Cook would triumph later in March that Apple hada record weekend of sales for the fresh iPad , selling more than3 million of the crisp - screen tablets . We lovedthe third - contemporaries iPad and its 3.1 million pixels . specially dulcet , sweet-smelling pixel identification number 2,732,019 — such a good one .
At that same March press event , Apple announcediOS 5.1 . Its flagship feature was Siri ’s fresh support for Japanese . Reached for comment , Siri said , “ ごめんなさい、私はあなたがして、何を意味するかわからない “ Siriのは、あなたも私の話を聞いている ！ ” Also as a result of the update , AT&T client as if by magic see their3 G label turn into a 4 GiB one , in a fit of cellular stigmatisation ; ageofencing indicatorappeared ; and the lock screen tv camera shortcut debuted .
Apple also used its March issue to stick in iPhoto for iOS , and to announce update to the respite of its iWork and iLife apps for iPads and iPhones . And the ship’s company proclaimed that the App Store had crossed the25 billion downloads mark . That ’s roughly four app downloads for every dollar Apple had in the bank at the sentence .
April
Apple did n’t make any pregnant iOS news in April this year . Probably because it was too meddlesome countingits nearly doubled lucre .
May
Word to your female parent . Or more accurately , add-in to your mothers . And more specifically , 100 percent cotton plant cards . Because in May , Apple added Mother ’s Day relief printing templatesto its Cards app , while making minor updates to several other apps , too .
Io 5.1.1 made its unveiling , and meet with the rapturous enthusiasm that you ’d expect an update with such a jazzy version number to get .
Also in May , Apple announced 2012 ’s Worldwide Developers Conference ( WWDC ) , which got everyone wondering about a potential approaching announcement of iOS 5 ’s grand continuation , iOS 6 .
And back then , thanks to swirling rumour , we were all moderately excited aboutwhat a new Maps app in iOS 6might mean . Whoops .
June
At WWDC , Apple held YAK — Yet Another Keynote . This time , the Cupertino crewpremiered iOS 6 , with the long - rumour newfangled Maps app as its flagship feature . The Maps app , Apple prognosticate , would include turn - by - turn management , voice guidance , and a stunning unexampled 3D purview promise Flyover . The society did n’t advert that , at least in some regions , the Maps app ’s geographical information would be decidedly stinking .
iOS 6 also taughtSiri some new tricks , and brought it to the third - generation iPad . And Apple showed off various other feature of speech , include Do Not Disturb , Facebook integration , Photo Stream , Passbook , and FaceTime - over - cellular . client could n’t race to deploy the new iOS on their equipment , however : Apple aver it would n’t found until the drop .
June also saw the loss of Apple’sPodcasts appfor iOS.That was not specially a highlightof the company ’s twelvemonth . AndGoogle released Chrome for iOS , which turn out to be just the first of the company ’s strategy to release apps aimed squarely at Apple ’s construct - in software .
July
In July , Russian hacker Alexy V. Borodin exploited an iOS defect that gave him the ability to makein - app purchases for free . Borodin offered up his method to the masses , or at least to the tech - savvy - but - morals - unencumbered muckle — though it later emerged that people who try his glide path also ended up providing their Apple IDs and passwords to him . Doubtless he kept the information good .
Borodin severalise Macworld that he thought Apple would lease him on the strength of his feat , but he appears to have been mistaken . finally Apple urge a workaround to enable developers to block the exploit in their apps , and iOS 6 end the exposure whole .
Google , meanwhile , acquired the popular Sparrow app for Io , an acquisition signaling that put Google ’s unloved Gmail app in a position to inherit some of Sparrow ’s interface advantages .
August
In August , Apple confirmed that the YouTube app , which had been preinstalled on every iPhone since 2007,would go the way of the eMac in iOS 6 .
Beyond that , August was relatively subdued on the iOS front , almost as if something bragging were brewing — which , true to shape , it was .
September
We ’d just gotten over mourning the not - yet - defunct preinstalled YouTube app , when Google let go of astand - alone YouTube app . And that was just the showtime of September ’s emotional roller coaster .
At yet another special medium event , Apple introduce the iPhone 5 , which was a fate like the iPhone 4S , only tall . And thinner . Andawesomer .
Besides its taller CRT screen , the iPhone 5 had anew camera , LTE speeds , and a new connection calledLightning .
But before we could get our heroic hand on the Modern iPhone , Apple release iOS 6 , as well assignificant update to iOS apps such as iBooks , GarageBand , iPhoto , iMovie , and Keynote . And the Cards app attain iPad compatibility for the first fourth dimension , mean that you’re able to now create 100 percentage cotton relief printing poster from moderately much every iOS gimmick there is ( if equipment is running iOS 6 — sorry , first - propagation iPad ! ) .
iOS 6 let in oodles of update , including revamped edition ofFind My Friend and find oneself My iPhone , and significant updates toMusic , Safari , Mail , preferences , social and sharing features , Stores , andSiri . The big update , of course , wasMaps .
As Apple cursorily sold5 million iPhone 5’s(they went on sales agreement around the world onSeptember 21 ) and recorded 100 million iOS 6 upgrades , more and more customers started trying out Maps . And many of them felt like telling Apple ’s raw Google - free Maps to get lost , especially since some Maps substance abuser so often got lost themselves .
“ The more our customers use our Maps , the well it will get,”Apple say . Then Tim Cook say that Apple was “ extremely sorry for the foiling ” that people faced with the Maps app .
infelicitous user were leave to question ( but not for very long ): Would Google release a standalone Maps app of its own ? Yes it would .
October
In October , in the wake of September ’s iOS 6 upheaval , we feel confident that Apple was done with major iOS announcements for the year . Wrong again .
“ Now may not be the clock time ” for an iPad mini , my protagonist and colleague Dan Moren argued , a rarified off - the - marking prediction from him — and one that I would never go out of my style to recall in a public forum just to prick him .
As it turned out , Apple unveiledtwo novel iPadsin October that would ship in November : the iPad mini , a 7.9 - column inch version of the full - size pad of paper ; and the quaternary - generation iPad , which closely resemble the third - generation version that predated it by about half a class but had buirdly internals .
Elsewhere on the iOS front , companies started making motion sharpen on iOS 6 ’s change : Giants likeStarbucksembraced Passbook ; and Google sneakedStreet see back onto the iPhonevia its website . However , Passbook seemed to beguile on lento , and folks continued to kvetch about the iOS 6 Maps place — though they continued tobuy the iPhone 5 in droves .
At the same result where it unveil its young iPads , Apple also announcediBooks 3.0 . The elevate iBooksimproved upon earlier versionswith dear iCloud living , a new scrolling view , and more communion options .
November
The big iOS news in November was that we finally got our hands on the iPad miniskirt and the fourth - contemporaries iPad . And gauge what : We care the iPad mini , andwe liked the fourth - propagation iPad , too . In fact , the one unexampled iPad - related item we did n’t much like wasthe iPad mini Smart Cover . I ’m pretty certain Hurricane Sandy ’s bitter aftertaste did n’t influence my follow-up of that accessory , but I promise nothing .
Also in November cameiOS 6.0.1 , which was mostly boring . That was the update for which iPhone 5 owners first had to download a especial app to fix a hemipteran that keep their phones from installing the iOS 6.0.1 update over the melody . And that was probably the most exciting element of the upgrade .
December
In December , Google update Gmail for Io , which incorporated some port refinements exalt by Sparrow , as noted in the July subhead above . But that was n’t the biggest Google iOS vent of 2012 .
No , that preeminence clearly goes toGoogle Maps , which arrived on lucky December 13.We liked the app , and we were n’t alone : It rocketed to the top of the App Store chart , thanks to feature film like wrick - by - play directions , Street View , and , of course of study , Google ’s extensive and route - tested mapping datum .
iOS 6.0.2debuted in December as well , aiming to fix Wi - Fi woes that ailed the iPhone 5 and iPad miniskirt , but some upgraders now cover battery woes instead . Apple alsoupdated its iWork suite for Io , looking to meliorate compatibility with Microsoft Office . allow ’s take a import to commiserate with the poor souls responsible for verifying how well the iWork apps on iOS handle complex Office documents — because , wow , does that voice painful .
As the year drew to a stopping point , we did two thing : Werecognized our App Gems for 2012 , and we finished this iOS year in recap .
