iLounge

iOS 6 users with iPhones and iPod touches can now add the Starbucks app to Apple’s Passbook, thanks to a new update. Existing Starbucks Card holders can add their cards to the app for phone payment and rewards, while users without cards can sign up for a new mobile card. Up to 10 “favorite stores” can be added to the app — your device can use geofencing to recognize that you’ve entered one of those stores, and load your card accordingly. To add the card to Passbook, sign in, then go to My Card>Manage>Add Card to Passbook. Note that while the Starbucks app is not yet formatted for iPhone 5, it runs properly in the center of the new iPhone’s taller screen.

Street View has officially been added to the mobile Google Maps web app, accessible on iOS devices at Maps.Google.com, or by searching for an address within Safari’s search bar. After selecting a location within Google Maps, a new icon of a person pops up on the bottom of the screen, leading to Street View within a new Safari tab. The web app for Google Maps also has a new, branded icon, which users will see after adding the page to their Home screens.

Today’s addition of Street View was anticipated by recent reports, and it arrived sooner than initial estimates anticipated. Google Maps is one of the apps mentioned by Apple CEO Tim Cook as an alternative to Apple’s iOS 6 Maps.

Duo Games and Gameloft have announced the new Duo Gamer Controller ($80), a Bluetooth-enabled wireless game controller for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Equipped with dual analog controls, six buttons and a d-pad, the controller is apparently the first Apple-certified wireless joypad, however, it only works with select Gameloft titles.

A holding stand for iOS devices is also included within the package. Duo Gamer is available for purchase now.

A new clause in Apple’s App Review Guidelines could make it tough for third-party services and affiliate programs to promote apps within the App Store. As noted in mid-September on Twisted Logic’s blog, and more recently further examined by PocketGamer.biz, clause 2.25 in the new App Store Review Guidelines reads, “Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.” The new clause may be an indication that Apple is putting itself in a position to reject any apps that promote apps from other developers, although it may only be intended to target pure app promotion services such as FreeAppADay, AppoDay and AppGratis. [via 9to5Mac]

A letter from Apple CEO Tim Cook posted on Apple’s website apologizes for the much-maligned launch of iOS 6 Maps. The letter begins, “At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”

Cook’s letter also suggests trying alternatives while Apple is “improving Maps,” naming apps from Bing, MapQuest, and Waze, as well as mentioning the option to create a home screen icon for Google or Nokia’s web apps. He notes that the new Maps has already been installed on 100 million iOS devices, with “nearly half a billion locations” searched for—interestingly, an average of less than five location searches per device. The letter is currently at the bottom of Apple.com’s front page, as “A letter to our customers regarding Maps.”

Tap tap tap has released Camera+ for iPad, an iPad optimized version of its popular photography app for the iPhone and iPod touch. In addition to support for the larger iPad screen, Camera+ for iPad introduces several additional unique features including new brush on effects, a photo straightening tool, advanced image adjustments and the ability to layer multiple effects. Users of the iPad version can also import photos from Flickr and Facebook directly into the app to apply effects or touch them up from there.

iCloud support has also been included in the new Camera+ for iPad and added to the iPhone version in an update, allowing users to automatically sync their Lightbox photos between all of their iOS devices using iCloud. The iPhone update also adds support for the expanded iPhone 5 screen and Facebook sharing with single sign-on in iOS 6. Camera+ for iPad requires iOS 5.0 or later and is currently available from the App Store for $1.

Garmin has released major updates to both its Navigon and StreetPilot Onboard iOS apps adding the Public Transit and other navigation features announced last month for both apps as well as bringing Navigon’s Google Street View and Panorama View 3D features to StreetPilot Onboard users.

In addition, the latest versions of Navigon and StreetPilot Onboard now feature full support for the larger iPhone 5 screen and integration with the new iOS 6 Maps allowing users to select an address or point of interest in the Apple Maps app and then switch to Navigon or StreetPilot Onboard to navigate to the selected destination, including support for driving, walking and public transit directions, where available, with the optional Urban Guidance add-on. Garmin StreetPilot OnBoard and Navigon are available from the App Store in several region-specific versions, including Navigon North America ($50), Navigon Europe ($90), Garmin StreetPilot Onboard North America ($45) and Garmin StreetPilot Onboard Western Europe ($85). Urban Guidance is available as a one-time in-app purchase at a special price of $3 as a limited-time discount from the regular $5 price.

Users of iOS 6 who miss Google Maps already have a workaround to access Google Maps — a workaround that will offer Street View in two weeks, according to the New York Times. Street View will soon be added to the iPhone indirectly, through the Google Maps Safari web app. Like any website on Safari, you can add maps.google.com to your home screen; you’ll be prompted to add it to the Home Screen each time you visit. While this isn’t as easy to use as a native iOS app, it’s a quick way to restore nearly everything Google Maps offers, including written directions and traffic reports.

The Google Maps web app does not, however, offer spoken directions, and All Things D reports the lack of voice-guided navigation on iOS Maps was the true deal breaker between Apple and Google, causing Apple to go its own way with Maps. Prior reports citing Google’s desire to add new features and more prominent branding to Maps were also verified as points of contention in the new report.

IK Multimedia has released a native iPad version of DJ Rig, its pro-quality DJ Mixing app for iOS. Originally released for the iPhone and iPod touch earlier this year, DJ Rig is a double-deck DJ mixing app designed for both the casual and professional user with support for basic mixing between audio sources alongside advanced tools such as effects, looping, cueing and sample pads. Users can mix tracks from the iOS music library or connect external sources via an appropriate DJ adapter cable or company’s own iRig MIX hardware accessory.

The iPad version brings the features of the original iPhone and iPod touch version to the larger iPad screen, with a size that provides a more efficient DJ mixing platform for the serious user, making controls and features more easily accessible. Users can mix and scratch tracks on the virtual turntables along with tempo sync and beat matching features—even from external sources—to help smooth crossfade transitions as well as taking advantage of an AutoMix feature to automatically build a mix set from the user’s iOS music library. An effects deck is also provided with 18 BPM-synced effects available and a sampler machine allows users to take advantage of nine assignable pads and up to 15 sound banks with live sampling functionality. DJ Rig for iPad is available in two versions: the full DJ Rig for iPad ($20) includes 12 effects and eight built-in sound banks while a free version, DJ Rig Free for iPad provides only a single Low Pass Filter effect and sound bank. Additional effects and sounds available for both versions via in-app purchase.

Apple opted to switch over to its internally-designed maps application for iOS more than a year before its contract with Google Maps expired, according to The Verge, suggesting that the under-polished Apple Maps software could have been released after additional tooling. The report claims Google is working to develop a new iOS Google Maps app, but it’s incomplete and likely months away. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt recently said his company would need Apple’s approval before bringing Google Maps back to the App Store.

Both companies apparently had their concerns moving forward: Apple was concerned about iOS Google Maps lagging behind Android’s mapping capabilities, as Google’s iOS Maps lacked turn-by-turn navigation that had been available on Android for years. Google sought more prominent branding and the ability to add new features, which Apple wouldn’t allow. Nevertheless, Apple made the decision to end the deal early.

Criticism continues for the new iOS 6 Maps, except perhaps in China. The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple made a special version of Maps for the country, and it appears to be an upgrade over Google Maps within China’s borders. Apple used data from Chinese mapping company AutoNavi Holdings to create more detailed maps, though the maps are far from perfect — they don’t offer spoken driving directions or 3D flyover technology, and their detail within other countries is limited.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt told reporters that his company needs Apple’s approval before it could bring its Google Maps app back to the iPhone. “We haven’t done anything yet with Google Maps,” Schmidt said. He didn’t comment on whether or not Google has submitted an application to sell Google Maps in Apple’s app store. Apple continues to deal with criticism of iOS 6 Maps, and recent reports have stated the company is looking to hire people who have worked on Google Maps in the past. [via Bloomberg]

Apple’s response last week to criticism of iOS 6 Maps hasn’t slowed the flow of complaints and news about the troubled app. TechCrunch reports that Apple is now actively seeking to hire people who have worked on Google Maps. According to TechCrunch, many individuals are eager to accept, as Apple offers the chance to “build new product, instead of just doing ‘tedious updates’ on a largely complete platform.”

Meanwhile, the critiques continue. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told ZDNet Australia that he was “a little disappointed” with the app, but went on to mention that he’s not sure the problems “are that severe.” Also, a new Motorola ad has taken direct aim at Maps. As noted by Apple Insider, the ad compares a search for 315 E 15th in New York City on the Droid and the iPhone, with iOS 6 Maps showing an incorrect result.

Users hoping for an iOS return to Google Maps can look to a CNET report that a hacker has ported the app onto iOS 6. Ryan Petrich was able to get the iOS 5.1 version of Google Maps onto an iPhone 3GS running iOS 6. However, the as-yet-unavailable port is prone to crashing, and the phone must be jailbroken for the hack to work. Google has suggested that it’s working on a new app for iOS.

Apple has been accused of stealing the design of its new iOS6 iPad Clock application from a famous Swiss train clock created by Hans Hilfiker, leading copyright and trademark holder Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to seek credit and/or compensation for the alleged infringements. According to Swiss newspaper Blick, SBB licensed the design to a developer in 2009, and the clock appeared in a successful iPad and iPhone app called Swiss Railway Clock. Apple then cloned the clock design for the iPad application in iOS 6.

A photo comparison reveals the clocks to be nearly identical. Both SBB and its watch licensee Mondaine are currently contemplating legal action against Apple, though Mondaine has expressed interest in a non-legal solution that benefits all parties.

Apple has responded to widespread criticism of its new iOS 6 Maps app, saying the company is “just getting started with it.” Spokeswoman Trudy Muller told AllThingsD late yesterday, “We are continuously improving it, and as Maps is a cloud-based solution, the more people use it, the better it will get.” Muller also said Apple is working with developers to integrate existing transit apps into Maps. Though it’s only officially been out for a few days, the new Maps app has drawn plenty of ire for inaccurate directions, poor photographic renditions of some areas, and distorted 3-D in major cities.

Apple has begun to require that all iOS developers begin including iPhone 5-optimized screenshots with their app submissions and updates that have been optimized for the new, 1136x640 display. While many apps have already received iPhone 5 updates in advance of the device’s release tomorrow, developers must also submit the appropriate screenshots for display on the App Store pages in order for their apps to be approved for sale. The new resolution requirements are 640x1136 and 640x1096 for portrait screenshots and 1136x640 and 1136x600 for landscape. [via Cult of Mac]

Following yesterday’s official release of iOS 6, users all over the globe have continued to register complaints about Apple’s new Maps application, the first in five years to discontinue use of maps and points of interest databases assembled by Google. As noted by iLounge editors, Maps now fails to properly route users to the nearest possible correct results, instead making seemingly random or logically tortured guesses as to which “Main Street” is being searched for, offering directions to Australia rather than America, and sometimes presents disfigured 2-D and 3-D renderings of cities.

Amongst additional issues spotted by various publications: AppleInsider mentions that a search for “Columbia, SC” brings users to Santiago De Cali, a city in Colombia;  the BBC reports on missing British towns and incorrect locations, the Irish Times notes the potential dangers of an incorrectly placed airfield in Dublin; and NorthScotNews of Scotland claims Apple has sent “the Highlands back to the dark ages” with black-and-white satellite imagery. A sarcastic Tumblr page titled The Amazing iOS 6 Maps documents more follies of Maps, including aerial photography interrupted by clouds and inaccurate directions.

Announced in June, Shared Photo Streams have officially arrived today with the release of Apple’s iOS 6, as well as corresponding updates to Mac OS X applications. Users can now create iCloud-based virtual photo albums that can be shared as web pages or individual photos, both capable of being viewed and commented on by other iOS 6 and iCloud users.

It should be noted that Shared Photo Streams don’t have to include photos from the main Photo Stream, and they are not subject to the same Wi-Fi-only and 30-day, 1000-photo limitations. They don’t appear to count against iCloud storage allocation, either, and enable users to easily notify family members and friends of new images that are being privately shared amongst themselves.

Following the release of iOS 6 earlier today, Apple has released an update to iPhoto for iOS devices adding a multitude of new features and enhancements. iPhoto 1.1 now includes six new Apple-designed ink effects along with a collection of Coaching tips in the help system to assist new users in getting started with the app and producing the best results. Users can also now import full resolution photos via iTunes File Sharing, with images of up to 36.5 megapixels in size supported on the iPhone 5 and third-generation iPad. Custom tags can be added to photos to create tag albums and multiple photos can now also be saved out the Camera Roll in a single operation. Photos can be sorted by date and filtered using new criteria and a Power Scroll strip has been added for high-speed scrolling through the app. A month-year overlay also now appears when scrolling in Photos view and a grid of thumbnails can be expanded to multiple rows when viewing in portrait orientation.

A number of enhancements have also been made to the various editing features including the ability to rotate tile-shift and gradient effects, modify fonts and alignment of text in journal items, and resize journal Note and Memory items. Dividers can also now be manually added to break journal pages into sections and a new Swap mode is available for changing the placement of items in a journal layout. In addition, links to journals can be shared directly to Facebook and Twitter and send out via Messages and links to remote journals can be shared from any device. Users can also control when to update their journal via a new “Publish Changes” button.

Facebook integration has also been improved with the ability to more easily add comments, upload videos to Facebook and set locations and friend tags when posting photos. Photos previously posted to Facebook can also now be more easily replaced with a more current version and notifications are now displayed when a Facebook upload completes in the background. The new version also adds integration with other apps such as Cards and iMovie, allowing photos to be shared directly to these apps from within iPhoto for iOS and adds support for the fourth- and fifth-generation iPod touch. iPhoto for iOS 1.1 is a universal app requiring iOS 6.0 and is available from the App Store for $5.

Apple has updated iMovie, its universal video editing and creation app for iOS devices adding new content and editing features along with improvements to video sharing and exporting resolutions. iMovie 1.4 includes three new trailers—Adrenaline, Coming of Age, and Teen and now provides the ability for users to easily add Ken Burns animated photos to any trailer. A new Precision Editor is also available on the iPad to create split audio edits and clips can be previewed in the Video Browser before being added to a project. Photos can also be shared from iPhoto for iOS and finished projects can be shared to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and CNN iReport in full 1080p HD resolution. The new version also provides new Coaching tips to help users get started and provides easy access to audio recordings captured in a project via the Audio Browser. iMovie 1.4 is a universal app requiring iOS 6.0 or later and is available from the App Store for $5.

Following today’s general release of iOS 6, a new page has appeared in the App Store providing a list of apps that provide support for the new Passbook feature. Users can access the listing by tapping on the “App Store” button that appears at the bottom of the Passbook app introduction screen. The current list includes such apps as Live Nation, Lufthansa, MLB.com at Bat, Sephora to Go along with Walgreens and Fandango Movies in the U.S. and Cineplex Mobile in Canada. Passbook allows iPhone and iPod touch users with iOS 6 to store digital copies of items such as tickets, store cards, boarding passes and coupons along with alerts based on time or location.