Apple Preparing iOS 7.1.2 Update, Likely Addressing Email Encryption and iMessage Issues

[viacavour]

I'm sure Apple has known about these upcoming lawsuits for months as well. Perhaps it is just lucky timing, but I am a bit skeptical. This issue has been around since iOS 5. I think Apple just didn't prioritize it because it discouraged people from leaving the iOS ecosystem. But the problem is that it was hurting current iOS users trying to message non-iOS users. It should of been addressed long before now honestly.

Well, Apple said they plugged a server side bug, so they were working on the issue(s). As for why it took so long, it's hard to pin down. It could be multiple factors, such as finding the elusive causes, or the fix may be in many parts (e.g., each telco handles it differently). Plus complicated by iOS7 rewrite.

There was an article on a developer trying to write a messaging app on top of Android but gave up. It's non-trivial to map each telco's SMS/MMS infrastructure to a simple, unified behavior and interface. In this case, it's like telling WhatsApp to send messages to a non-WhatsApp user, they can do it but my guess is they also have tons of features and other bug fixes to release for existing users first.

 

[nilk]

**** snow leopard, it's an archaic useless OS based on the 10.0 and XP paradigm. Lion tried to do too much, but Mavericks is rock solid on my machine.

I might even wait a lot before trying 10.10... Or maybe download it first then anybody else. Decisions...

Peoples' experiences seem to vary with everyone OS X version. Mavericks has not been rock solid on my machines. I've had numerous complete OS freezes/crashes on two of my machines. And I didn't upgrade until a few weeks ago, thinking that by now things would be better (10.9.3 didn't help, might have made things worse). Mountain Lion was rock solid for me ever since it's initial release - it was Lion with bug fixes and some new apps for iCloud (the core OS was mostly unchanged). I'd consider a downgrade to ML, but we're close enough to another OS X version, and I'm hoping 10.10 will be to Mavericks what ML was to Lion.

Not that much has changed since Snow Leopard -- certainly no changes in "paradigm", as you seem to imply, it's still following the familiar desktop OS model we've had for decades now. I'm not sure how you can consider it "archaic". The only thing that makes it less useful is that most new versions of apps don't support it. That said, Snow Leopard wasn't all that stable when it first came out, and needed time (about a year) for all the bugs to be shaken out.

 

[Berserker-UK]

please don't hide the y axes because you think it doesn't "help" the story...

Far more likely it was hidden because MR doesn't want to give away clues about how many visitors they get to the site. That's called analytics, and there's potentially significant value in that information (often monetary value, but even in just helping to track Apple's activity there's still value).

 

[TonyC28]

Anyone else notice lately that iMessages are slow to appear on an iMac? I get iMessages on my iPhone right away but it won't appear on my Mac for several minutes, even with iMessage open.

 

[kastorff]

Hope 7.1.2 fixes the iTunes Match sync crashing bug.

 

[bozzykid]

Well, Apple said they plugged a server side bug, so they were working on the issue(s). As for why it took so long, it's hard to pin down. It could be multiple factors, such as finding the elusive causes, or the fix may be in many parts (e.g., each telco handles it differently). Plus complicated by iOS7 rewrite.

I doubt Apple has spent almost 3 years tracking down this bug. More than likely, they finally got to the point where the support costs (because of Android's rise in popularity and Apple's huge market size) and the negative press required them to take action. This is not some elusive bug. It was easy to reproduce.

 

[nathreed]

How do they know?

Do Apple's internal testers actually visit sites like this just to give them rumor fodder?

 

[michaywood]

Moving fast doesn't mean limited testing.

You can plan ahead. According to the press, the iMessage issues have been around for some time. And they have already fixed a server side issue. It is natural to identify and patch the client in an iOS7 patch, and push features to iOS8.

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Then it is not random.

There is probably some mismatch between the prosthetic leg and the updated OS. Or the prosthetic leg may just have issues of its own (wear and tear ?). iOS is connected to a lot of devices. E.g., Point of Sales, musical instruments, camera accessories, headphones, and other Made for iPhone devices everyday.

This is computer science and software engineering, not astrology and fortune telling.

It was submitted as a bug report to Apple and I have written confirmation from Apple confirming the intermittent issue. So yes, it is an iOS bug. I also have word from Apple that they hope to fix it by WWDC, so hoping it comes in this update.

 

[Carlanga]

Why don't you show the y axis values mr...

 

[Col4bin]

Getting a little nervous MacRumors…it's been a week since your last iPhone 6 mockup story!

Edit: I spoke too soon https://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/22/iphone-6-mold-case-manufacturers/

 

[viacavour]

I doubt Apple has spent almost 3 years tracking down this bug. More than likely, they finally got to the point where the support costs (because of Android's rise in popularity and Apple's huge market size) and the negative press required them to take action. This is not some elusive bug. It was easy to reproduce.

Of course they won't take 3 years tracking it down.

They have other features and fixes to attend to at the same time. But it may take coordination and testing to confirm different issues, and implement the fixes surgically. Billions of messages go through the infrastructure.

The bugs they fixed may not just apply to Android switchers. I saw occasional iMessage complains where the messages were dropped even to an iOS user. So they will likely prioritize the fixes for those cases where both or just iOS users are affected. These missing messages issues can be elusive because they come and go. From Apple's perspective, they may not be able to tell which cases they were when they first looked at them. It may not even be their problems for some Android or iOS users. The fixes may also involve different parts of the extensive telco interconnect. Apple is still signing up new telcos (300 more according to Cook), and hence new iMessage-SMS gateways to rollout. Each telco has different government regulations, charging policies and operating nuances; and they can change.

I suspect this is why the WhatsApp team has to stay focus just on messaging to do a good job. Same with the iMessage team. They never did build a vertical platform on top of messaging like Wechat, which is mostly China-based and hence more homogeneous. iMessage just leaves it to the developers to build the apps on top.

Now I'd love to see where the fixes go. iMessage sounds like a complex beast behind the scene.

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It was submitted as a bug report to Apple and I have written confirmation from Apple confirming the intermittent issue. So yes, it is an iOS bug. I also have word from Apple that they hope to fix it by WWDC, so hoping it comes in this update.

An iOS bug still doesn't mean it's random. There are technical reasons why things happen. Perhaps when they fixed it, we can learn more.

 

[iNosey]

What's the Y-axis in that chart?

That's the usage amounts. There are no numbers for it, but that's what it is

 

[K-Rob]

Am I the only one still hoping for a fx to the wallpaper sizing? I keep hoping that these updates will address it but they never do. The only wallpapers I can use are the iOS ones and that's both on my iPad and iPhone. I've even used the apps that supposedly fix wallpapers for you but they don't. :/

 

[KdParker]

Let's hope iOS 8 is a nice stable, well-tested OS with as few bugs as possible.

The Snow Leopard of iOS if you will

Nice of the them to fix the issue.

Lets get on with iOS8 so we can start to see what is coming with the new iPhone6

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Getting a little nervous MacRumors…it's been a week since your last iPhone 6 mockup story!

Naw...Leaks of parts should start in June/July. Then the mockups will start up daily.

 

[dannyyankou]

And the jailbreak exploit.

That was patched in 7.1...

 

[kagharaht]

Touch ID wonkiness

Hopefully, continued improvements to Touch ID. There are still too many users still having "Fade" issues with 7.1.1.

 

[0xyMoron]

Getting a little nervous MacRumors…it's been a week since your last iPhone 6 mockup story!

They should've kept some samples for dark times like these.

 

[toiletpaper]

can't wait til they fix this goddamn iMessage issue so I can burn my iPhone and never buy one again...

 

[viacavour]

can't wait til they fix this goddamn iMessage issue so I can burn my iPhone and never buy one again...

Never say never. I have friends who went to Android and gladly came back again.

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Hopefully, continued improvements to Touch ID. There are still too many users still having "Fade" issues with 7.1.1.

Haven't happened to me since 7.1. It required a retry like 10 times since then. And the retry worked smoothly, so I never have to use the PassCode anymore. Just 1 tap. Rarely a second tap.

How many people complained ?

 

[Tumbleweed666]

iMessage fix can't be on iOS?

Since the bug is with people who moved to Android, seems that the iMessage fix needs to be server side and nothing to do with anything that will be in 7.1.2 ?

 

[weckart]

What I find interesting is that there have been iMessage issues for years and with the sudden spur of class action lawsuits, all of sudden it has been addressed?

And yet all the reports on the iMessage bug said Apple didn't even know how to fix the problem.

 

[jbachandouris]

It's 1:18PM EST, so I guess today is not our day. Usually updates drop around 1PM.

 

[thekeyring]

**** snow leopard, it's an archaic useless OS based on the 10.0 and XP paradigm. Lion tried to do too much, but Mavericks is rock solid on my machine.

I might even wait a lot before trying 10.10... Or maybe download it first then anybody else. Decisions...

How can you say that when Snow Leopard is considered by a lot of people to be the most efficient/stable version of OS X?

'Download it first then anybody else' ... ah. You're so special. Well done.

 

[viacavour]

Since the bug is with people who moved to Android, seems that the iMessage fix needs to be server side and nothing to do with anything that will be in 7.1.2 ?

And yet all the reports on the iMessage bug said Apple didn't even know how to fix the problem.

Probably because these issues belong to a general class of messaging-SMS gateway challenges. It's quite problematic in the old SMS/MMS messaging world, which is why Apple setup iMessage in the first place. They addressed the basic challenges to deliver billions of messages globally and reliably. Now they need to address the extended cases where the users leave their world and went back to the bad SMS/MMS world on Android and regular phones.

Specific problems can be solved at the client.

Some can be fixed on the server, which Apple has attempted.

Others require the operators to fix their SMS platforms.

Yet others require discussion with the operators to decide how best to proceed.


It is like asking WhatsApp to deliver messages to a non-WhatsApp users reliably without using WhatsApp.

The upside is if Apple can deliver this 100%, they have brought all the telcos in this world forward into the 21st century. It would be Apple changing the world again.

 

[kagharaht]

Never say never. I have friends who went to Android and gladly came back again.

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Haven't happened to me since 7.1. It required a retry like 10 times since then. And the retry worked smoothly, so I never have to use the PassCode anymore. Just 1 tap. Rarely a second tap.

How many people complained ?

There has been a long running thread on Apple forum on this. Among others that are scattered there.

Touch ID Being Erratic