iOS 6, the next iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system, was announced at their Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Early notable new iPhone and iPad features include Passbook, native Facebook integration, turn-by-turn navigation, store enhancements, and the Blackberry-esque Do Not Disturb. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like new forms of glanceable info, via widgets or new badges, have made it in. Further, folders appear to retain the same limitations of iOS 5. But it is early. In fact, only developers have access to iOS 6 until its Fall release. Or do they?
iOS 6 download files have started popping up on the usual file sharing sites and are being nicely indexed here. Basically, you’ll need to acquire the ipsw file specific to you device and have iTunes 10.6.3 available. And, by running pre-release beta software you should be prepared for periods of instability and potential data loss. Or even a bricked phone. Further, Apple routinely expires beta builds so you’ll want to continually back up your data and be prepared to manually apply subsequent updates. If you’re good with that, shift-click (PC) or option-click (Mac) the Check for Update button in iTunes and point to that iOS 6 ipsw to get going. Let us know how it goes!
(iOS 6 is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, 4th Gen iPod Touch, iPad 2, New iPad 3.)
