** This post originally appeared at iPhone Life Magazine where Adam is a featured blogger.

I didn’t want to say anything about iOS 6 until I had some time to get used to it and decide what I think are some of the most useful updates. And probably to your surprise and relief, I’m not going to complain about the m-a-p-s. They know it’s broken, they’ve apologized, suggested alternatives, and they’re gonna fix the heck out of it for us. It’s gonna rock our worlds, you guys. I’m sure of it.

Facebook

I’m a frequent flyer on Facebook, so I’m pretty happy with the Facebook integration because it makes sharing photos and making status updates way easier.

Siri

Siri is still not marriage material, but she’s looking better now that she can help me get movie times and dinner reservations! She can launch apps and post Twitter and Facebook updates too. Siri, you’re looking good, sister! Keep this up and maybe you will become a part of my daily life after all.

Photo updates

My wife is pretty stoked about the new panorama mode. We ride our bikes all over New England and she loves taking panoramas of the sites we see. This is especially exciting to her this fall so she can capture all the gorgeous foliage. The problem is that the photos are a bit too big for email and websites, but thanks to apps like Dermandar we can get around that quite handily.

VIP email inbox

The idea of inbox zero is not something I’m ever going to achieve in my lifetime, but this update does make life a bit easier for me. Being able to assign VIP status to people makes all my triaging a breeze.

Call response

This is my favorite thing so far! It’s been a while since they’ve updated the call experience (curious since this is a PHONE, but whatever) and I’m loving it!  With this update I can set custom messages, and when I get an incoming call, I can answer with an outgoing text or send calls to voicemail. I can even get a reminder to call people back. This is totally amazing for me because I have to constantly triage things. I need a way to politely acknowledge phone calls when I can’t answer them. Being sent right to voicemail is annoying for folks, and this helps me let them know their call is important and that I’ll get back to them soon.

It’s also helpful when I’m dodging phone calls…

Not that I’d EVER do that.

Passbook

I’m not totally sure about this one yet, but I will say that it has eliminated the need for a couple of apps I have. It’s pretty sweet that it can store tickets, coupons, and gift cards, but the thing I like about it is that it tells me when to use them!  I’m always forgetting when I have a coupon or a gift card. And then I get in the car after paying and I’m like: “d’oh!” This will hopefully eliminate such forehead slapping Homer Simpson moments from my life forever. We’ll see.

So that’s it, iPhone Life-ers. That’s my two cents on iOS 6.

What’s your favorite update?