Once Melanie Horne got her iPhone she stopped using a GPS and instead used the maps application. After downloading the iOS 6 update for iDevices, Horne doesn’t use either.

“When I updated my iPhone my Maps application was not working the way it should,” said Horne, sophomore pre-nursing major. “All of the features I was promised with the update had failed me. Now I use MapQuest to help me go from place to place.”

Apple released its iOS 6 update Sept. 19. It’s a free upgrade for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The new operating system updates maps, Siri, Facebook, shared photo streams, FaceTime, phone, mail, Safari, Passbook and accessibility.

Most of the iOS 6 update features are only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and iPad 2. Users can now tweet and post on Facebook from the main pull-down screen. Users can also activate the “do not disturb” feature and a “reply with message” for when they cannot take a phone call. Apple also removed the Google Maps application from the iOS 6 upgrade and replaced it with its versions of a maps application.

Ali Glick, sophomore ASL interpretation major, uses the new panorama feature on the camera to take photographs.

“I like how I can take only one photograph but get a larger view of what I am looking at,” Glick said.

From a recent poll by mobile consumer research firm On Device, the rate of iPhone users’ satisfaction has declined by 10 percent after downloading iOS 6.

Brittanie Cannon, sophomore fashion merchandising major, has been experiencing problems with the battery life of her iPhone after she downloaded the update.

“I use my iPhone for the same things now as I did before I updated it and my battery life seems to be decreased,” Cannon said. “I went from charging my phone once a day to constantly charging it throughout the day.”

Junior business major Eric Spane loves how Maps talks to him.

“With the new application, I get turn-by-turn directions and my iPhone talks to me,” Spaner said.

Kelli Roach, junior organizational communications major, has also experienced problems involving WiFi after updating to iOS 6.

“There are locations in my apartment where I know my iPod Touch has WiFi connection, but for some reason I cannot get on,” Roach said.

Contact Shannon Fox at [email protected].