iPhone · 2012 · classic settings
iOS 6 Settings: thirteen rows, linen and stitched leather
iOS 6 was the last iPhone system before the flat redesign, and its Settings app is a short list of thirteen rows with the grey linen background and glossy toggles of the era. This page walks that list as it stood in iOS 6.1, explains what each row held, and links every one to a screen you can open. It is the historical counterpart to the iOS entry in the simulator.
- Newest release here
- iOS 6 6.1
- Versions you can open
- 2
- Top-level sections
- 13 (2 of them plain switches)
- Rows in the tree
- 61
How iOS 6 organises its Settings
The list starts with the radios, Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, then Do Not Disturb, which arrived as a single switch in iOS 6, and Notifications. General is the heart of the app: About, Software Update, Usage, Siri, Cellular, Accessibility and the reset options, because in 2012 Cellular and Accessibility had not yet earned rows of their own. Sounds follows with the ringtone, text tone and vibration switches.
Brightness & Wallpaper shares one row, with Auto-Brightness beneath. Privacy, new in iOS 6, lists Location Services, Contacts, Calendars, Photos, Bluetooth Sharing and the Twitter and Facebook integrations. iCloud covers Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Photo Stream, Find My iPhone and Storage & Backup. Mail, Contacts, Calendars holds the accounts and fetch settings, and Safari and Photos & Camera close the list with search engine, private browsing, HDR and the shared Photo Streams.
What changes between versions
Two releases are here, iOS 6.0 from September 2012 and iOS 6.1 from early 2013. They share the thirteen rows; 6.1 added the ability to buy movie tickets through Siri and expanded LTE support, neither of which changed the Settings list, and the About page under General reports the version you chose. The simulator draws both in the iOS 6 style, with the linen texture and the blue-and-white toggles.
Three settings worth knowing the path to
- Settings > General > Usage
Storage by app and the battery-percentage switch, together on one page. In 2012 there was no Battery row; this is where you learned what was filling the phone.
- Settings > Privacy > Location Services
The first release where per-app privacy had a row of its own. Contacts, Calendars and Photos permissions sit beside it, a structure iOS still uses.
- Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone
A single switch that decided whether a lost phone could be located. Activation Lock did not arrive until iOS 7, so this was the whole theft protection.
Questions people ask about iOS 6 settings
Where was Cellular in iOS 6 Settings?
Inside General, between Siri and Accessibility. Cellular became a top-level row in iOS 7, which is where every later release keeps it.
Why does iOS 6 look so different from today's iOS?
iOS 7 replaced the textured, skeuomorphic design with flat colour and thin type. iOS 6 in the simulator keeps the linen background, grey group headers and the rounded toggles of the original.
Is this the real iOS 6?
It is a simulation of the Settings app with the rows and wording of iOS 6.0 and 6.1. The account, network and capacity shown are sample values and no apps run.