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Of course Feedback is a crap.
Several times I faced a situation that FW / SW I used and wanted to post a feedback / bug report was not implemented in drop-down menu…

Like with AirPods last FW where I had to manually type latest version… if this comes to FO there is unnecessary waste of time…

Example:
 
Craig, how about the following points I have been requesting for years:
- Better windows management on MacOS
- Notification sync between devices
- “Proper” iPadOS

I can list dozens of requested features that have been neglected in favor of silly changes to stock apps that are not really worthy of OS upgrades.
I don't think he means they'll implement anything and everything suggested by beta testers; Apple will still have an overall framework and direction for their products.
 
So he’s fully admitting what we all already knew…..the public beta is almost pointless for reporting bugs and usability problems. Wow, what a revelation!

Now if they could only find an intern to spend a couple days making an iPad calculator app that would be stellar As it’s been requested by the millions over the last ten years
 
Probably the most important point is to keep it very brief. What is worse than reading a long explanation about an issue? This gets tiring very quickly for people who have to read many feedbacks.

I don't expect a reply to my feedbacks. Just send it...and try to keep the explanation as short as possible.
 
I am not sure how to handle this from Apple's side with as many users as they have, but it has been like this for a long time. I am a developer and filed a bug report in 2009 that was not responded to until 2014.

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This is an older report, and many things have changed since it was initially filed.

We are closing this report.

If you continue to experience this issue, please file a new report with the current configuration and behavior.
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Probably the most important point is to keep it very brief. What is worse than reading a long explanation about an issue? This gets tiring very quickly for people who have to read many feedbacks.

I don't expect a reply to my feedbacks. Just send it...and try to keep the explanation as short as possible.
How is this short for you: "iPad Calculator App". They don't seem to respond do they?
 
Sometimes I feel like when users report the bugs they just sit there for months until something big happens.

The overall goal should be: Listen to one feedback at a time and get the bugs sorted out. One by One!

They are. There have been bugs that I report and they'll ask for sysdiagnose etc and then there will be another update, same bug. Request again. Some are several years old.

One, a reproducible PDF crashing bug when you sent it via Messages did get fixed in 16.1. That only took a month.
 
I wonder if Apple lost the plot as to what the Beta program actually is. You have 7 beta releases (14 if you include developers and public) and the final release still has issues, bugs, and things still won't change after years of feedback and requests. As far as I'm concerned, the Beta Program is a waste of time.
 
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Bugs need to be addressed in a timely manner. I don't want to get bugs fixed in November after I reported them in July or August. This week is the first time I could empty my bin properly since the first beta.
 
How is this short for you: "iPad Calculator App". They don't seem to respond do they?
You can send suggestions in Feedback, right.

Use Universal Search for calculations.

Use Numbers as a calculator.

However, it is very strange iPad OS doesn't have a native calculator app like iPhone. 🤪
 
Take a lead from the games industry. Break the world into it's continents and assign a lead to each continent. Then break down each continent into sections then assign a section lead. If necessary break down each section further into groups of different languages and assign a team lead who understands those languages. Then go recruit the beta testers. Now go build a beta feedback forum specifically for the beta test program, having different sections within the forum for the different beta's that are being tested.

It is then the job of the team lead to collect all the feedback and see which ones are the most common one's being reported on and construct a list of the most common bugs/questions being asked. Each team lead will then have a meeting with the section lead to discuss about what the beta testers have found. Each section lead will then meet and see which are the most common bugs/issues/questions being put forward by the beta testers. A list of the most common bugs/issues/questions will be put forward to each continent lead who themselves will have a meet to work out out of all the bugs/issues/questions each continent lead has, which are the ones that get put forward to the software developers.

If structured properly it works very very well.
 
Notification sync between devices
If we could vote on prioritizing new features, I'd throw everything I could toward this and fixing the haphazard iOS 16 Notification Center.

After seeing the notification sync that was supposed to come with iOS 7 never materialize, I still get frustrated when I have notifications that come to my phone when it's unlocked that don't sync to my watch (though that seems to be somewhat better with watchOS 9), and some notifications that come to iPad and iPhone that don't dismiss from all devices universally while others do. Likewise, the fact that some notifications show up right on the Lock Screen and then randomly disappear into the abyss that you have to pull up to see is maddening. I found a notification from Apple Wallet this morning that came in 12 hours earlier, buried in that "pull-up" section of the Notification Center. Absolutely infuriating.

A lack of consistency and logic is the real complaint here. Especially when Apple's big selling point is the unified ecosystem, it's not very incentivizing to buy more Apple products when that means you'll just be clearing more redundant notifications and having to do jumping jacks just to make sure you've actually seen all the notifications you were supposed to receive.
 
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Probably the most important point is to keep it very brief. What is worse than reading a long explanation about an issue? This gets tiring very quickly for people who have to read many feedbacks.

I don't expect a reply to my feedbacks. Just send it...and try to keep the explanation as short as possible.
Except that if you're trying to demonstrate that you've done enough troubleshooting and have the technical background to file a legitimate report, it should be detailed.

If I get a ticket at work, I'm much more inclined to believe and focus on the person who has demonstrated a genuine effort to work out the problem themselves, documented the steps to reproduce, and demonstrate why they need me to fix it versus them being able to fix it themselves. Somebody else who simply says "unblock Facebook!!1!" with no reasoning isn't getting the time of day.
 
I work my JIRA tickets, provided you don't make me go on a strangle fest for information. Dump everything in that ticket and we're golden.
 
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Apple also isn’t immune to the accumulation of what we call ‘tech debt’. New features being added quickly which breaks others is a thing in software development. The Mac is miles ahead with stability compared to Windows but iOS in recent years has been worse than Android. It feels smoother cosmetically when it runs properly but there’s tons of random freezes that require a restart either of the whole phone or the app, and it’s a daily occurence and numerous times a day especially with the Music app. Apple are great at design but I think development is staggering and since they hire top talent I doubt it’s the developers themselves but more so a management issue. And there’s no way Craig isn’t aware of this because he leads that team. Starting with the bugs in chronological order and proper QA is needed for the price. We know we pay a premium for design but some things simply don’t work as advertised.
 


Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, has admitted that the company's beta testing program, which offers developers and public beta testers access to beta versions of iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS, isn't effective in giving users the amount of influence and interaction they desire.

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In an email exchange with MacRumors reader Kieran, Federighi responded to a complaint that Apple’s beta program doesn’t effectively listen to user feedback and suggestions, noting the challenge Apple faces when "literally millions of people participate in our betas, and many, many, many of them want to provide feedback to help influence Apple's products."

When users enroll in Apple's beta program, they're given a device profile that allows them to download early versions of Apple's next operating system, such as iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. Beta testing happens all year round but is most prominent following WWDC in June, where new versions of Apple's operating systems are shown before they're released to the general public in the fall. During the summer, beta testers test the software, finding and reporting bugs, suggestions, and general comments about the new updates.

To provide feedback to Apple, users can use the Feedback app and fill in information about the bug they're experiencing or a suggestion. Often, however, beta users' feedback goes unanswered by Apple. "I agree that the current approach isn't giving many in the community what they'd like in terms of interaction and influence," Federighi admits. "We haven't yet figured out how to achieve that in a practical and constructive way. We'll keep thinking," he continued.

Apple has in the past responded quite drastically to feedback from beta users over changes and new features in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, but only after widespread criticism and coverage.

For example, last year, Apple turned around a design change for Safari on macOS Monterey following widespread user complaints, allowing users to choose between the design it had promised that was more refined and easier to use and the older tab bar design. More recently, Apple also responded to heavy criticism regarding Stage Manager on iPadoS 16 by delaying iPadOS 16's release entirely and key new features until later this year.

While it's unclear what Apple will do to address the ineffectiveness felt by beta users on the part of interaction and influence over Apple's operating system, as admitted by Federighi, we could see an updated approach for next year's batch of new updates, which will include iOS 17 and macOS 14.

Article Link: Craig Federighi Admits Apple's Beta Programs Don’t Provide the Interaction and Influence Many Users Desire
The amount of bugs I reported using iOS 16 so far I feel like it falls on deaf ears. I’m on 16.1.1 and still having the same bugs like the bubble dynamic wallpaper glitches out when you use Automatic, it gets confused when switching between light and dark according to sunrise and sunset. Smh
 
Except that if you're trying to demonstrate that you've done enough troubleshooting and have the technical background to file a legitimate report, it should be detailed.

If I get a ticket at work, I'm much more inclined to believe and focus on the person who has demonstrated a genuine effort to work out the problem themselves, documented the steps to reproduce, and demonstrate why they need me to fix it versus them being able to fix it themselves. Somebody else who simply says "unblock Facebook!!1!" with no reasoning isn't getting the time of day.
Long-winded explanations are probably skimmed over, if not overlooked, and your "legitimate report" is whittled down to what it should be...short and concise.
 
They should keep releasing public betas but only accept feedback from developers and users who have an established track record of accurately reporting bugs. I can't even imagine the amount of stupid BS they must get from beta "testers" who have no idea what they're talking about.
 
They should keep releasing public betas but only accept feedback from developers and users who have an established track record of accurately reporting bugs. I can't even imagine the amount of stupid BS they must get from beta "testers" who have no idea what they're talking about.
I had suggested this to Craig, opening up a subset of track record proven individuals and for Apple to open up or add a dedicated section in Apple Community for feedback where stuff like upvotes etc can be made
 
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