Start using Passbook on iOS 6 with a few simple steps

Jake Smith

During Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference opening keynote, which took place earlier this month, Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall unveiled a new app called “Passbook” that allows customers to track a number of various types of stubs, including boarding passes, loyalty cards, movie tickets, and coupons.

The app is included in the iOS 6 preview currently available to developers a part of Apple’s developer program, but it is missing those virtual items to put inside. For now, it is just a sitting page with no functionality. However, Passbook will most likely swing into full gear as Apple makes more additions heading into this fall. For those of you itching to start using Passbook, you can get it going in iOS 6 with just a few simple steps:

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Developer gets iOS 6 Maps with Flyovers and turn-by-turn running on iPhone 4

Jordan Kahn

With the introduction of iOS 6 this fall, many iOS users will be left out on some of the new operating system’s flagship features. We already covered Apple’s official list of compatibility for iOS 6 features, and by far one of the most disappointing for iPhone 4 users was the news that they would not have access to the Flyover and turn-by-turn navigation features in Apple’s new in-house Maps app. Today, we have news from Russian website iGuides (via SlashGear) that iOS developer Anton Titkov found a way to get Apple’s new 3D maps up and running on the iPhone 4:

After yesterday’s release of jailbreak iOS 6 developer, well known to all users iGuides Anton Titkov (iTony) decided to dig a little bit in the new firmware, and became the first man in the world, who managed to get working 3D card on the iPhone 4. New tweak from Anton Titkova called 3DEnabler , and at the moment we can confidently say that it adds support for 3D cards on the “old” devices, but it is possible that the “unavailable” Turn-by-turn navigation will be defeated by our talented developer.

iGuides offers instructions for the hack on its website, while another video of 3DEnabler running on iPhone 4 is below:
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Microsoft providing mapping data for Apple’s new Maps app

Jordan Kahn

Update: A reader just sent the images above that show Apple’s maps are identical to Microsoft’s for certain locations.

Evidence surfaced yesterday that showed Apple was crediting TomTom, in addition to OpenStreetMap, for at least some of the data used in its new in-house Maps app. Today, a report from TechPP (via TheNextWeb) pointed to proof that Apple’s Maps data appears to come from Microsoft too:

our friend, Cody Cooper, a New Zealand based developer, found something more interesting. While playing with Apple Maps on iOS 6 beta, Cody found that some of the Maps images had Microsoft attribution. Check out the image below showing the response headers with attributions to Microsoft Corp 2012. Click on the image for a better view.

We have not been able to confirm the evidence, so we are marking this as unconfirmed for now. Apple’s full list of acknowledgments for its Maps app can be viewed here, while the full-sized image of the evidence is below:

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Apple to include Facebook integration in iOS 6

Jordan Kahn

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook hinted this past week during his interview at D10 that we could expect closer ties with Facebook and to “stay tuned” when asked about Twitter-like integration in iOS. Now, according to a report from TechCrunch, the much-anticipated integration of Facebook will happen in “the latest version of iOS.” There are not many details provided by the report, but it did note Apple is still trying to decide “exactly how sharing will work” and that things could change before iOS 6 is unveiled:
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Developers begin seeing iOS 6 hits in App Store application usage logs

Jordan Kahn

Last week, we revealed Apple’s decision to drop Google Maps in iOS 6 in exchange for its own in-house solution branded simply as “Maps.” At the time, we told you many versions of iOS 6 have been floating around Apple’s campus, which indicated Apple is likely on track for a mid-June unveiling at this year’s World Wide Developers Conference. Shortly after, references to an upcoming iOS 6 beta were found in the code strings of the iCloud.com beta website.

One app developer informed us today that it has recently noticed users running iOS 6 using its app. The developer observed the “iOS6″ string when collecting the OS version from analytics software. It has not been able to trace exactly when the iOS 6 users started appearing, but it was sometime over the past week. Other developers that we spoke to began seeing hits in late April. There is a good chance that this means Apple is amidst iOS 6 compatibility testing with higher-profile applications from the App Store. The process of next-generation versions of iOS appearing in developer usage logs occurred last year too.

Although Apple’s new Maps app and its 3D mode will likely be pushed as a major feature of iOS 6, we noted previously that anyone anticipating major home screen changes or Android-style widgets will likely be disappointed. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported Apple was preparing to unveil an upgrade to iCloud at WWDC that would include new sharing and commenting features for photos, as well as video syncing capabilities that will likely be the Video Stream feature we told you about last year.
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