Apple iOS 6 update starts rolling out globally

There is good news for all those who own Apple iOS devices. iOS 6, the highly anticipated update to the mobile and tablet platform has officially started rolling out as of last night.

Unfortunately, the release of the new OS didn’t go as smoothly as one would have hoped. Early iOS 6 adopters have been reporting that after updating their devices and connecting to Wi-Fi, Safari would launch on its own to verify whether the user was using a Paywalled Wi-Fi connection or not. What this led to, was Safari not being able to load the verification page at all, leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of users without the ability to connect to their own Wi-Fi networks. However, Apple has issued a fix for this problem on their end and users should be able to go ahead and connect to their Wi-Fi networks without any hiccups.

iOS 6 is said to include over 200 updates and additions that supposedly make the iOS devices far more pleasurable and convenient to use. Of those new features, the key updates to look out for are:

• Facebook integration
• Shared Photostream
• Do Not Disturb
• Google Maps replaced with Apple Maps
• Turn-by-turn navigation
• Call handling updated
• Better Siri functionality and integration
• No native Youtube App

We are still in the process of running our iPhone with iOS 6 through intense use to see if there is any change in battery performance, so we will update on that front at a later point. You can read our hands-on with the new OS here and see which of the features will be supported, given that we are in India. For starters, there is no turn-by-turn voice navigation when using GPS.

iOS 6 can be downloaded via iTunes (connect your device and clicking “check for updates”) or by the software update option that can be found on your device (Settings > General > Software Update). If the official route doesn’t work for you (like it didn’t for us initially), you can download the IPSW file for your respective device directly from the Apple website using the links below:

• iPad 2 CDMA
• iPad 2 GSM
• iPad 2 Wi-Fi only
• iPad 3 CDMA
• iPad 3 GSM
• iPad 3 Wi-Fi only
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 4 CDMA
• iPhone 4 GSM
• iPhone 4S (UNIFIED RECEIVER, SO NO GSM OR CDMA)
• iPod Touch G

As a word of caution, we recommend ALWAYS taking a full backup of your device before updating the firmware on your iOS device. Once iOS 6 is installed, you can then proceed to restore from backup, ensuring that all your information is intact.

Have you already installed iOS 6 on your iOS device? What do you think of the new OS? Let us know in the comments section below: