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Apple Adds Shared Photo Streams and VIP Mail to iPhone 3GS with iOS 6 Beta 3

Tuesday July 17, 2012 8:12 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Last month, we highlighted a number of device restrictions regarding Apple's high-profile features for iOS 6, noting that many of them would not be compatible with the iPhone 3GS while smaller subsets would not be supported on the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.


But with yesterday's release of iOS 6 Beta 3 for developers, Apple has improved feature support for the iPhone 3GS, adding shared Photo Streams and VIP mail filtering. The change was noticed by a number of iPhone 3GS users, and Apple has confirmed the removal of those restrictions on its iOS 6 preview page.

While the iOS 6 preview page previously contained eight footnotes outlining various restrictions on features, that number has been reduced to six following the release of iOS 6 Beta 3. The two removed footnotes include:
- Shared Photo Streams requires iOS 6 on iPhone 4 or later or iPad 2 or later, or a Mac computer with OS X Mountain Lion. An up-to-date browser is required for accessing shared photo streams on the web.

- VIP list and VIP and Flagged smart mailboxes will be available on iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later.
The fact that iOS 6 is compatible with the iPhone 3GS at all marks a significant step for Apple, as the device was also the minimum requirement for iOS 5 released last year. But with Apple still selling the three year-old device, the company apparently felt that it needed to bring many of the new features of iOS 6 to the iPhone 3GS and is still working to add as many as it can within the constraints of the older hardware's capabilities.

[ 178 comments ]


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aelalfy
86 months ago
What about iPad 1st Gen????
Rating: 31 Votes
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nfl46
86 months ago
Take note Android Handset Manufacturers.
Rating: 30 Votes
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Baklava
86 months ago
iOS 6 compatible with iPhone 3Gs.
iCloud incompatible with Snow Leopard.

Nothing to say. :D
Rating: 30 Votes
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goodcow
86 months ago

What about iPad 1st Gen????


The 1st gen. iPad really should never have been released with 256MB RAM. I still have mine and it runs like complete garbage with iOS 5, let alone iOS 6.
Rating: 20 Votes
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rmwebs
86 months ago

whats the point of suporting the 3GS the tech is super old


How exactly is it 'super old' when its still being sold by apple as new?! Just because it has a less powerful processor it does not make it a 'super old' technology.

The 3G[s] is actually faster than the iPhone 4 in many cases as it doesn't have to push as many pixels.
Rating: 19 Votes
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Edgecrusherr
86 months ago
Now if they can only pull the stick out of their butts and support iCloud in Snow Leopard!
Rating: 14 Votes
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WestonHarvey1
86 months ago
iOS 6 is very pleasant and usable on the 3GS, in case anyone was worried.
Rating: 13 Votes
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mdelvecchio
86 months ago

Galaxy S3 has a shared photo album feature.


that wasnt the point -- the point is android handset makers routinely never upgrade their OS instances on their various android hardware. thats the point.
Rating: 12 Votes
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kyjaotkb
86 months ago

Galaxy S3 has a shared photo album feature.


You mean the antique 2-weeks-old Galaxy S3? Cool...
What about the i8910 Omnia HD ? Same age as the 3GS...
Rating: 12 Votes
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napabar
86 months ago

So iOS 6 is good to go with an older, discontinued July 11th, 2008 3GS model, but OS X 10.8 can't run on some newer model 64-bit Mac's as Apple won't release an EFI64 for them.

Makes sense.


Not sure what you mean by this. The iPhone 3GS was introduced in 2009, and has never been discontinued.
Rating: 11 Votes

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