Apple publishes international availability list for iOS 6 features

Apple’s iOS 6 boasts of many new features such as turn-by-turn navigation, improvements to Siri, Apple’s own Maps app with built-in search for local points of interest, routing, etc. However, most of these features depend on localisation and not available in every country as of now. As the new operating system brings so many new tweaks, it can get a little hard to know which facility is available where, and in a bid to make this easier for its users, Apple has gone ahead and published an official list that shows the availability of each feature across the world.

You can click on each feature highlighted in the list and view its availability. The list shows availability of five main features: Maps, Siri, iTunes Store, Dictation and App Store.

One of the biggest changes to the operating system is addition of Apple’s own Maps app in the place of Google Maps, which Apple has done away with. The new Maps app has a built-in search for local points of interest, with over 100 million possible suggestions. Other features of the Maps app include navigation, routing, 3D maps, satellite imagery – that wraps around the 3D maps – and the ability to get directions directly through Siri. Most of the standard features of the Maps app, including satellite view, are available in almost all countries the iPhone ships to.

Most of iOS6's new features not available in India

You can’t use the Maps app to get directions in a few countries, one of which is India. The list of countries where this feature is available is also quite smaller than that of the standard features. Turn-by-turn navigation, which is quite a localised feature, is also not available in many countries. The most restricted feature appears to be 3D Maps, which is available only in the USA. Traffic view is available in only 23 countries, while Business Reviews and Photos, can be used only in 15 countries. You can use Maps to search locally in 49 countries; this feature, too, is not available in India.

New features added to Siri are also limited to a few countries. None of the new features are available in India. You can use iOS 6’s Dictation feature in only a few countries too. Some of Siri’s new features such as Facebook and Twitter integration are limited to only a few countries, some of which are Apple’s key markets. Apple has not mentioned if and when it will bring these features to other regions as well.

As it was earlier, people in India still can’t purchase music or movies using iTunes. The new iTunes, while boasting of many new features and increased cloud integration, allows residents over 60 countries to purchase and download music and movies. TV shows on iTunes are available in only six countries.

Apple’s App Store is the gateway to the millions of apps available for its operating systems. As apps form one of the central features of the smartphone experience, the App Store is available in almost every country iPhones ship to.