iOS 6 leads to first-ever drop in satisfaction

onthecouchagain · Sep 26, 2012

http://www.phonearena.com/news/iOS-6-leads-to-first-ever-drop-in-device-satisfaction_id34888

Small ripple, no doubt. Hopefully Apple is listening.

In the mean time, this may urge those on the fence to try alternative platforms, obviously like Android, or the upcoming Windows 8... heck, even BB10, possibly (this last one is a heck of a stretch).

iosuser · Sep 26, 2012

That's a bit surprising because for the most part, you have more to gain than lose - much nicer looking vector map display, 3D view, ability to rotate freely, and voice navigation. That said, I'm sticking with 5.1.1 on my 4S

If I want prettier looking maps, I'll switch to my S3 for that day

onthecouchagain · Sep 26, 2012

I think the point is, Apple is stagnating and people (few as it may be) are starting to catch on. Josh Topolsky, for the first time ever, discusses it in length the shortcomings that are beginning to show in iOS. Other tech sites have as well. This is from Cult of Mac: http://www.cultofmac.com/192496/the-iphone-5-is-incredible-but-ios-6-is-holding-it-back-opinion/ "The iPhone 5 Is Incredible, But iOS 6 Is Holding It Back"

Carouser · Sep 26, 2012

onthecouchagain, you've been posting Topolsky's review quite a lot; now you've found a second - what about all the positive reviews of iOS 6? Do I need to actually link to them? It's kind of peculiar that you've only read two reviews of iOS 6, there's lots more out there - or are you only drawing attention to the negative portions of select reviews on purpose? I don't mind discussing negative evaluations of software, but it's misleading to frame those negative evaluations as the consensus or even the majority opinion.

EDIT: For example, the Cult of Mac opinion piece (which is all it is) says "For me, iOS is still the most complete package, and the best mobile platform there is", under the heading that competitors are catching up. This is just bad faith framing: you might as well have an opinion piece which says "All other competitors continue to lag behind iOS 6 and there is literally nothing better I can use".

People aren't starting to 'catch on', it's just getting harder to drive blog hits if the leading manufacturer consistently dominates the field. What else is new?

EDIT 2: LOL. The Cult of Mac author also is still going to use the iPhone for the next year. His argument amounts to "iOS 6 is the best thing, but what if it was even better sooner!?".

EDIT 3: The On Device poll doesn't say what it's being interpreted to say. They asked people "On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate your satisfaction with the device you are currently using". This is not a comparative analysis with iOS 5 in the sense that they did not ask people "do you find iOS 6 an improvement over iOS 5" or something like that; the difference is 0.1 on a 10-point scale (lol); the respondents are not at the same point in their OS lifecycle (i.e. redo the survey once iOS 6 has been out more than 7 days (double lol).

onthecouchagain · Sep 26, 2012

Carouser said:
onthecouchagain, you've been posting Topolsky's review quite a lot; now you've found a second - what about all the positive reviews of iOS 6? Do I need to actually link to them? It's kind of peculiar that you've only read two reviews of iOS 6, there's lots more out there - or are you only drawing attention to the negative portions of select reviews on purpose? I don't mind discussing negative evaluations of software, but it's misleading to frame those negative evaluations as the consensus or even the majority opinion.

EDIT: For example, the Cult of Mac opinion piece (which is all it is) says "For me, iOS is still the most complete package, and the best mobile platform there is", under the heading that competitors are catching up. This is just bad faith framing: you might as well have an opinion piece which says "All other competitors continue to lag behind iOS 6 and there is literally nothing better I can use".

People aren't starting to 'catch on', it's just getting harder to drive blog hits if the leading manufacturer consistently dominates the field. What else is new?

EDIT 2: LOL. The Cult of Mac author also is still going to use the iPhone for the next year. His argument amounts to "iOS 6 is the best thing, but what if it was even better sooner!?".

I'm actually not convinced there's as major a shift as some people (look at Calidude's predictions, which I disagreed with) so there's no contention here that these are small ripples (heck, I wouldn't even be surprised if nothing came out of all this) but they are ripples nonetheless. I point out the review from Josh Topolsky on The Verge because it's really the first time a relatively high profile tech blogger on a high profile website is speaking openly about it.

As for Cult of Mac, the point of referencing that article is precisely because he's an Apple fan from a pro-Apple website. Of course he'll stick with the iPhone, but the fact that he can admit there should be more to iOS 6 is a "first step" of sorts.

Carouser, please don't get me wrong. I'm not here to bash Apple. If you scour the rest of MacRumor forums, I post on the iPad forum (I own a 3rd gen iPad and still believe the tablet experience is best with iOS) and on the Macbook Air and iMac forums (own both of these at home). The one vacancy is the smartphone, and I want it to improve.

Carouser · Sep 26, 2012

onthecouchagain said:
Carouser, please don't get me wrong. I'm not here to bash Apple.

Fair enough, but the things you cite are really reaching hard though. They are literally insignificant; they indicate nothing reliably. You can tell I looked closely at the poll (as closely as I could, there wasn't much to go on); if it was meaningful I'd admit it. I think the bloggers are running out of things to say, to be honest, and if they just say "welp, on the whole Apple did a very good thing and did it better than competitors" they get dismissed as Apple acolytes. Yeah, there's things they don't like, but this has always been the case - when they can list those things and still say "This product is still the best" I think Apple is listening and are quite content.

ChrisTX · Sep 26, 2012

onthecouchagain said:
I think the point is, Apple is stagnating and people (few as it may be) are starting to catch on. Josh Topolsky, for the first time ever, discusses it in length the shortcomings that are beginning to show in iOS. Other tech sites have as well. This is from Cult of Mac: http://www.cultofmac.com/192496/the-iphone-5-is-incredible-but-ios-6-is-holding-it-back-opinion/ "The iPhone 5 Is Incredible, But iOS 6 Is Holding It Back"

The Verge said it best, and for the life of me I can't find the exact quote but read similar to "iOS6 was made for Apple to remove Google from their devices." iOS6 with the removal of Google Maps is frustrating because I used Google Maps on the iPad a lot. It seems like the experience with the iPhone is more of an evolution rather than a revolution.

onthecouchagain · Sep 26, 2012

Carouser said:
Fair enough, but the things you cite are really reaching hard though. They are literally insignificant; they indicate nothing reliably. You can tell I looked closely at the poll (as closely as I could, there wasn't much to go on); if it was meaningful I'd admit it. I think the bloggers are running out of things to say, to be honest, and if they just say "welp, on the whole Apple did a very good thing and did it better than competitors" they get dismissed as Apple acolytes. Yeah, there's things they don't like, but this has always been the case - when they can list those things and still say "This product is still the best" I think Apple is listening and are quite content.

Aye. Wouldn't be surprised if all this fell on deaf ears.

Still though, we know Apple pays closer attention to consumers than we've known, thanks to the Apple/Samsung trial. There is hope, and that's the whole point.

sarcosis · Sep 26, 2012

ChrisTX said:
The Verge said it best, and for the life of me I can't find the exact quote but read similar to "iOS6 was made for Apple to remove Google from their devices." iOS6 with the removal of Google Maps is frustrating because I used Google Maps on the iPad a lot. It seems like the experience with the iPhone is more of an evolution rather than a revolution.

This has really been Apple's MO for years. They take one thing and polish the heck out of it. It's' a bit rough when it comes out, but no one Iterates better than Apple. They actually do try to make each release better. I think in their minds, Maps is in fact better since it's theirs and not Google's. I would agree that the point of this OS release was to kick off Google. Why supply data to the competitor.

It's also good for Google. More competition means they will make Google Maps better. The cycle continues. Apple Maps are bit rough right now, but it will get better because it has to and Apple has the resources to make that happen. I don't think it's going to be like Ping. I think this Maps Update sucked up sooooo much of their time that they really couldn't wow us with new software at the OS level.

onthecouchagain's pointing out of the Verge is correct. I find blog/emdia wise, they are by far the most object group as a whole. Sure they get emotional at times, but that's part of their charm. They also have enough clout and resources to just do what they want, so they arn't afraid to speak their mind. I think TWiT does that to. Leo and crew will give you a good look at what they think objectively. Although I find that most people in Tech media are in a kind of a bubble where they are around tech so much, they really don't know what the normal person really uses it for at times. But I digress.

What I see is a separate tick-tock cycle for the hardware and software cycle. I think Apple with the X model refreshes, they take a more conservative approach to software as they refresh hardware to maintain greater stability of the overall product. With the Xs models, it's generally a hardware bump without a redesign, so they have a better idea of what the software can handle, so they make a big feature update then. So hardware is on Tick, software is on Tock. It gives users compelling reasons to update year after year for Apple stuff.

But there is also the wonder of competition. If Android or Windows is doing something better for you, go for it!

onthecouchagain · Sep 26, 2012

The ridiculous thing with attempting to implore Apple to make improvements to iOS that everyone would enjoy is that you have to first argue with the fans that there is even a need for improvement.

Such an obstacle is detrimental to the actual company in question. I guess the first step is admitting.

Technarchy · Sep 26, 2012

onthecouchagain said:
The ridiculous thing with attempting to implore Apple to make improvements to iOS that everyone would enjoy is that you have to first argue with the fans that there is even a need for improvement.

Such an obstacle is detrimental to the actual company in question. I guess the first step is admitting.

Nonsense.

More often than not, the improvement suggestions that come from the peanut gallery are stupid and emit from people that want Apple to produce something that stinks of HTC or Samsung.

Apple can do many things to improve iOS, but none should involve a screen splattered with buggy widgets or a phone design that can double as a surf board.

iphonefan74 · Sep 26, 2012

Technarchy said:
Nonsense.

More often than not, the improvement suggestions that come from the peanut gallery are stupid and emit from people that want Apple to produce something that stinks of HTC or Samsung.

Seeing as how Android has destroyed iOS in marketshare thats growing larger every month and the fact that Samsung is the global leader in smartphone sales, perhaps Apple should listen up.

LIVEFRMNYC · Sep 26, 2012

Technarchy said:
Nonsense.

More often than not, the improvement suggestions that come from the peanut gallery are stupid and emit from people that want Apple to produce something that stinks of HTC or Samsung.

Apple can do many things to improve iOS, but none should involve a screen splattered with buggy widgets or a phone design that can double as a surf board.

Then what should the improvements be? ..... Since iOS needs some improvements that Android already has, and Android needs some improvements that iOS already has.

But let's be honest, Android is filling it's improvement void much quicker than iOS. Actually some might think iOS is at a standstill or going slightly backwards.

shinji · Sep 26, 2012

iOS 6 feels unfinished- from launching passbook with initially no apps showing up in the app store link to the current state of maps. It does not have Apple's usual attention to detail. And they didn't add any cutting edge features.

I really like the features and design of the Lumia. If only there were more apps for Windows Phone.

matttye · Sep 26, 2012

It was mainly iOS 6 that made me switch to the iPhone; shared photo streams, local search for Siri now available in the UK.

Ill continue to use my tomtom until Apple Maps are reliable.

sarcosis · Sep 26, 2012

The apps are what's killing it right now. I loved the UI of Windows phone, but the selection of apps were just not there. It didn't help that the browser was also a pile.

iphonefan74 · Sep 26, 2012

LIVEFRMNYC said:
But let's be honest, Android is filling it's improvement void much quicker than iOS. Actually some might think iOS is at a standstill or going slightly backwards.

Yep. Thats because you get a few major Android OS updates a year where each one is getting more polished and refined. Apple sticks to one major update a year and they fall behind. Each new release is trying to catch up to the features Android already had. Not good odds. If it wasnt for hardcore iphone fans being so tied in to itunes and/or the app store, iphone would be well on its way out by now.

flameproof · Sep 26, 2012

sarcosis said:
The apps are what's killing it right now. I loved the UI of Windows phone, but the selection of apps were just not there.

Check now, there are over 100,000 .

I also think Apple is stagnating. 2007 the iPhone was quite a big thing. After that nothing really new came out. Then in 2010 the iPhone 4 was a good upgrade. After that only lukewarm changes. But I don't think it's Apples fault. At the current level of technology you simply can't create something totally new. And people that really think the iPhone 5 is the revolutionary have issues with reality.

I have an iPhone 4 - and a few days ago passed by a phone shop that had an iPhone 5 for display.

First I wasn't sure if it was the iPhone 5 - had to look at the rear to make sure. Switched it on - feels exactly the same as iPhone 4. Same OS, zero feeling of holding something new.

matttye · Sep 27, 2012

flameproof said:
First I wasn't sure if it was the iPhone 5 - had to look at the rear to make sure. Switched it on - feels exactly the same as iPhone 4. Same OS, zero feeling of holding something new.

Except having a longer screen, different colour, different material and being thinner and lighter

It's the software that hasn't changed much, not the hardware.

EmaDaCuz · Sep 27, 2012

To me, iOS 6 is a major improvement over iOS 5. There are some bugs here and there, unfinished apps (Maps? Passbook?), but in general it feels snappy even on an iPod Touch 4G. But it is far away from being the perfect system for mobile phones/tablets.

I agree that Apple is not doing much. iOS is kinda the same over the years and it is kinda boring. However, iOS also does well what it has to do: launch apps and manage a couple of hardware settings. So where is the need to go for major changes?

I think Apple has to focus more on hardware. I mean, there are some great under-the-hood improvents, but customers probably do not fully appreciate them. What I expect from -or what I would like to see on- an iPhone is being similar to the Galaxy Note. That's the philosophy. Hardware-software integration. You can have an office on the move. Notes, documents, digital signatures, a bit of photo editing.
Apple, do this and I would gladly spend 700 euros for it.

watchthisspace · Sep 27, 2012

EmaDaCuz said:
To me, iOS 6 is a major improvement over iOS 5. There are some bugs here and there, unfinished apps (Maps? Passbook?), but in general it feels snappy even on an iPod Touch 4G. But it is far away from being the perfect system for mobile phones/tablets.

I agree that Apple is not doing much. iOS is kinda the same over the years and it is kinda boring. However, iOS also does well what it has to do: launch apps and manage a couple of hardware settings. So where is the need to go for major changes?

I think Apple has to focus more on hardware. I mean, there are some great under-the-hood improvents, but customers probably do not fully appreciate them. What I expect from -or what I would like to see on- an iPhone is being similar to the Galaxy Note. That's the philosophy. Hardware-software integration. You can have an office on the move. Notes, documents, digital signatures, a bit of photo editing.
Apple, do this and I would gladly spend 700 euros for it.

You say iOS 6 is a major improvement over iOS 5, but iOS is kinda the same over the years??

The iPhone can already do everything the Galaxy note does. It just doesn't come with the stylus :S

I'm a little confused with your statements.

Gatecrasher1875 · Sep 27, 2012

iOS6 is the reason I didn't get the new iPhone. It just wasn't enough for me anymore, sure "it just works" but with a £600 phone and software upgrade I would like something that changes the way I use the phone such as the introduction of the notifications in iOS5 or Siri in the 4S. Don't get me wrong here the phone its self is a smashing looking phone and looks well built but i feel the software has let it down a bit.

flameproof · Sep 27, 2012

EmaDaCuz said:
To me, iOS 6 is a major improvement over iOS 5.

All iOS upgrades so far didn't have a 'new' feeling for me. That some colors changed a little is not not really an improvement. The do-not-disturb function is nice. But there is also that switch on the side that has a similar function without a few clicks. Other changes I didn't notice (leaving out the maps).

Sedrick · Sep 27, 2012

onthecouchagain said:
The ridiculous thing with attempting to implore Apple to make improvements to iOS that everyone would enjoy is that you have to first argue with the fans that there is even a need for improvement.

Such an obstacle is detrimental to the actual company in question. I guess the first step is admitting.

Man o man, yes. +100. Apple fans are so emotionally tied to their iPhones that's it's absolute heresy to even suggest the OS can be improved. You can't talk through that kind of fanaticism.

That's why you get idiotic statements like "Apples maps isn't so bad, just give it a few years."

So, we're all supposed to have a worse OS experience because Apple has it in for Google. But that's ok, because it's Apple. And it's OK to have a stagnant OS with nothing new people have been asking for, for 5 years because it's Apple.

Oh, but hey, we got Facebook integration.

onthecouchagain · Sep 27, 2012

Technarchy said:
Nonsense.

More often than not, the improvement suggestions that come from the peanut gallery are stupid and emit from people that want Apple to produce something that stinks of HTC or Samsung.

Apple can do many things to improve iOS, but none should involve a screen splattered with buggy widgets or a phone design that can double as a surf board.

Let me see if I got this right.

People's desires are stupid because they are not your own.

And if Apple gives people the option of widgets, everyone must use them, thus making everyone's screen horribly ugly.

The concept of choice is really lost upon you, isn't it? At this point, it just seems you're anti-widgets because you're anti-Android.

Improvements don't even have to be in the form of widgets. There are plenty of amazing iOS concepts. Just Google a few of them. There are excellent ideas out there. Dynamic icons, or there was one recently where you could pull down on an icon and a small grid of information slides down, sort of like how folders slides down. Why not open up the notification center for more than just weather/stocks? Why not grant easier access to settings? I have iOS 6 on my iPad 3rd Gen, and honestly, the Settings menu is a bit of a mess.

And it's downright sad that it took Apple this long to figure out that users don't like getting booted out of the App Store every time they download something. How much longer will it take Apple to realize similar initiatives to make iOS more usable?

Apple's an innovative company. Let's see some ideas.

----------

Sedrick said:
Man o man, yes. +100. Apple fans are so emotionally tied to their iPhones that's it's absolute heresy to even suggest the OS can be improved. You can't talk through that kind of fanaticism.

That's why you get idiotic statements like "Apples maps isn't so bad, just give it a few years." So, we're all supposed to have a worse OS experience because Apple has it in for Google. But that's ok, because it's Apple. And it's OK to have a stagnant OS with nothing new people have been asking for, for 5 years because it's Apple.

Oh, but hey, we got Facebook integration.

The worse thing is really the inconsistencies.

Some of the best examples:

At first, having a heftier phone made it feel premium. Now, being lighter than the competition is a plus.

If others try to push new ideas or technologies, they are fools because they're unnecessary or gimmicky or not ready for real world use (LTE at the time, NFC, wireless charging, Smart Stay, etc.). But if Apple pushes new ideas/tech (like say Thunderbolt port?) then they're heralded as pushing the frontiers.

I mean, take a look at the reversible dock which people adore. If Samsung or whoever introduced a reversible dock, everyone would be saying "Oh please, that's so unnecessary. It's not that hard to know which side is up." I guarantee it.

The classic 3.5 inch is perfect. Now 4 is the new perfect.

Many more examples...

And you've hit the nail on the head. When dealing with people who think somebody or something can do no wrong, it's impossible to have an honest discussion.

iOS 6 leads to first-ever drop in satisfaction

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