Does anyone else think that iOS 8 is a letdown?

[chumps52]

I was just wondering whether anyone else shared my views that the features added for the everyday consumer fell below expectations?

To me they focused way too much on developers, and hardly added anything for the average user.
In my opinion it was all just focusing on adding small, little tweaks that should have been a part of iOS for a long time.



For example, the quick reply in messages should have really been added with the addition of the notification centre, and the same with widgets.
I also agree with MKBHD and his tweet: "It's almost poetic how Tim jabs Android for being "behind" then gushes over adopting its features minutes later. #WWDC2014"

Then there's the voice messages with iMessage; all that has done is made creating and sending a voice memo a little easier.
The whole "upgrade" to messages as a whole has just been taken from WhatsApp anyway, as the founder says "very flattering to see Apple "borrow" numerous WhatsApp features into iMessage in iOS 8 #innovation".



I'll be interested to see others' views on this

 

[oldmacs]

I actually thought the opposite, that this update is far more focused on delivering user features and the overall Apple 'Experience' than iOS 7 was.

 

[bransoj]

Surely by adding more options for developers they will in turn provide more for the everyday user in time? Developers now have more to go at to provide apps for the everyday user to use.

That said i thought there was plenty of decent changes for folk to get used to!

 

[C DM]

It seems like those who were let down or are disappointed are generally those who had some sort of unrealistic expectations to begin with.

 

[koerk]

Does anyone else think that iOS 8 is a letdown?

I think no matter what they release, for some people it's always a letdown and disappointing. I am very satisfied with the features and it's much more than I imagined. The inter-app communication and the third party keyboards, I didn't see that coming.

But I agree that the android bashing is pointless when they take features from them after that (which doesn't mean that this is a problem per se). Otherwise it's part of the comedy/show and the audience is very susceptible for that kind of comments.

 

[chumps52]

I actually thought the opposite, that this update is far more focused on delivering user features and the overall Apple 'Experience' than iOS 7 was.

Going through the Apple iOS 8 Page:

"Photos.
Every photo you take. Now on all your devices." = Photo Stream?

"Messages.
Actually LOL. OL." = Voice Memos, just integrated, and sending a photo/video, again just integrated.

"Details make the experience. These details make it brilliant." = Ok, some of these are pretty useful. But after spending a considerable about of time slagging off Android, they went and copied some of their stuff? EG Widgets.

"Our smartest keyboard ever." = Copying Android entirely... And in my opinion that stuff about choosing wording in different situations probably won't work, or won't be that useful.

"iCloud Drive.
Any kind of file.
On all your devices." = Useful, but only really a small extension to the current iCloud capabilities

"Health.
An entirely new way to use your health and fitness information." = Some parts useful (EG Emergency Card), but the rest is only any good if you have other, compatible accessories.

"Spotlight.
Brighter than ever." = Useful, but late.

 

[stephen1108]

The question I pose to people who complain about iOS and Apple's innovation and whatnot, is what would they liked to have seen?

So what feature(s) would you liked to have seen that would not warrant iOS 8 a letdown in your opinion?

 

[ParagJain]

Disappointed only with the fact that number of these features I was expecting to see in ios 7.x itself. Anyhow, better now then never.

Surely happy to see Air Sharing between macs and, it would be very interesting to see how the entire continuity thing works...

not a developer so i need to wait till fall to try it out but, i am sure to get many youtube videos and first hand experiences on these forums to understand what to expect.

 

[chumps52]

The question I pose to people who complain about iOS and Apple's innovation and whatnot, is what would they liked to have seen?

So what feature(s) would you liked to have seen that would not warrant iOS 8 a letdown in your opinion?

Well, seeing as they've copied jailbreak tweaks with some things, they could've gone all out and added theming (maybe limited to Apple-designed themes), bootlogo changes, pattern passcodes etc.

Some phones also have "power options" for the camera, such as shutter speed, iso options etc.

Another nice thing to have is they could have started signing older versions of iOS again. I know people who are using iOS 7 on an iPhone 4 and are stuck with incredibly slow loading times. Imagine if they let people like them go back down to iOS 6/5?

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Disappointed only with the fact that number of these features I was expecting to see in ios 7.x itself. Anyhow, better now then never.

Surely happy to see Air Sharing between macs and, it would be very interesting to see how the entire continuity thing works...

not a developer so i need to wait till fall to try it out but, i am sure to get many youtube videos and first hand experiences on these forums to understand what to expect.

That is exactly what I was thinking... It's the sort of stuff that should have been added in a 7.x update, such as 7.2, not a "full" iOS update.

 

[marvz]

... bootlogo changes, pattern passcodes..

Bootlogo changes? Are you serious? And nobody needs pattern passcodes, this year every iOS device will get TouchID.

So funny how people doesn't understand that iOS 8 is huge. And not because of some new features like quick reply, etc. but because of so many new possibilities for developers. Wait till you see what now can be done..

 

[HarryAinslie]

To me they focused way too much on developers, and hardly added anything for the average user.

If you were hoping for Apple to release heaps of new apps then of course you'd have been disappointed with the conference.

We do have to remember this is a World Wide Developer Conference, so of course it's going to be mega focussed on Developers, if it wasn't then the developers would be pretty annoyed travelling all the way to the conference for it to be based on something else other than developing!

Surely by adding more options for developers they will in turn provide more for the everyday user in time?

This fella has hit the nail on the head, because of all the additional features developers now have access too, this enables them to improve their apps and make new apps which are mind blowing!


I personally as a consumer and not a developer, was really impressed with the conference and can't wait to see what the debs have in store for us all

 

[Cod3rror]

Going through the Apple iOS 8 Page:

"Photos.
Every photo you take. Now on all your devices." = Photo Stream?

"Messages.
Actually LOL. OL." = Voice Memos, just integrated, and sending a photo/video, again just integrated.

"Details make the experience. These details make it brilliant." = Ok, some of these are pretty useful. But after spending a considerable about of time slagging off Android, they went and copied some of their stuff? EG Widgets.

"Our smartest keyboard ever." = Copying Android entirely... And in my opinion that stuff about choosing wording in different situations probably won't work, or won't be that useful.

"iCloud Drive.
Any kind of file.
On all your devices." = Useful, but only really a small extension to the current iCloud capabilities

"Health.
An entirely new way to use your health and fitness information." = Some parts useful (EG Emergency Card), but the rest is only any good if you have other, compatible accessories.

"Spotlight.
Brighter than ever." = Useful, but late.

I have to agree.

While, I'm not complaining; there really was nothing ground breaking or unseen before with this release. Most features were copied straight from Android (which is funny considering they kept mocking Android).

iCloud Drive - Yea, Apple is known for not playing well with others, so I'm not going to make them my central storage. A third party solution is the best in such case.

Messages - Nothing new as mentioned, just integrated. Also all the thread renaming and grouping has been done with Viber, WhatsApp, LINE, Facebook Messenger and others... and they're cross platform.

Health - Lots of apps available in the App Store for this I'm sure.

Photos - Integrated Photostream, which would've been useful, if it hadn't been limited to only 5GB.

Everything added to Safari can be done in Chrome already.

What about Maps? Maybe a new feature or two?

App to app communication is nice! But nothing new, been done on Android.

It's un-Apple like, but I'd want the option to set default apps, all iOS apps to be modular and removable so they can be updated separately... but then again, they treat iOS and OSX as one "package" and there would be nothing to announce on WWDC then.

Overall, under the hood updates are interesting but the rest... meh... available through other applications already.

 

[chumps52]

Bootlogo changes? Are you serious? And nobody needs pattern passcodes, this year every iOS device will get TouchID.

So funny how people doesn't understand that iOS 8 is huge. And not because of some new features like quick reply, etc. but because of so many new possibilities for developers. Wait till you see what now can be done..

Yes but software updates for devices are meant to be about the users as well... Every major update so far has always had decent new features for users.
Such as iOS 4 with Multitasking, iOS 5 with iMessage etc etc.


What major feature has this had for the user, which will have an immediate effect?

----------

If you were hoping for Apple to release heaps of new apps then of course you'd have been disappointed with the conference.

We do have to remember this is a World Wide Developer Conference, so of course it's going to be mega focussed on Developers, if it wasn't then the developers would be pretty annoyed travelling all the way to the conference for it to be based on something else other than developing!




This fella has hit the nail on the head, because of all the additional features developers now have access too, this enables them to improve their apps and make new apps which are mind blowing!


I personally as a consumer and not a developer, was really impressed with the conference and can't wait to see what the debs have in store for us all

As above, what immediate effects for the user?

----------

I have to agree.

While, I'm not complaining; there really was nothing ground breaking or unseen before with this release. Most features were copied straight from Android (which is funny considering they kept mocking Android).

iCloud Drive - Yea, Apple is known for not playing well with others, so I'm not going to make them my central storage. A third party solution is the best in such case.

Messages - Nothing new as mentioned, just integrated. Also all the thread renaming and grouping has been done with Viber, WhatsApp, LINE, Facebook Messenger and others... and they're cross platform.

Health - Lots of apps available in the App Store for this I'm sure.

Photos - Integrated Photostream, which would've been useful, if it hadn't been limited to only 5GB.

Everything added to Safari can be done in Chrome already.

What about Maps? Maybe a new feature or two?

App to app communication is nice! But nothing new, been done on Android.

It's un-Apple like, but I'd want the option to set default apps, all iOS apps to be modular and removable so they can be updated separately... but then again, they treat iOS and OSX as one "package" and there would be nothing to announce on WWDC then.

Overall, under the hood updates are interesting but the rest... meh... available through other applications already.

Exactly; more customisation is needed at the very least.
They've made one step, and one step only, towards this: allowing third party keyboards.

----------

This can also be kinda seen through the Wikipedia pages for updates.

Look at the changelog for 7.0 compared with the one for 8.0... 7.0 is so much longer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_8

 

[SMIDG3T]

Apple can't bloody win can they?

People complain, Apple integrate the features (Quick Reply as an example) and people still complain.

iOS 8 is big, it doesn't matter if they copy other features, it's how they implement the features and I'll tell you now, they'll do it a lot better.

I cannot wait for iOS 8.

 

[John T]

Here we go again!

Well, as I anticipated! Here we are, less than 24 hours after the introduction of iOS8 and, as expected, the whingers, criticisers and moaners are rushing out from under their stones!!

The OP complains that Apple focused the event too much on developers. Perhaps the name of the event gives the game away - World wide developers conference!

 

[chumps52]

Apple can't bloody win can they?

People complain, Apple integrate the features (Quick Reply as an example) and people still complain.

iOS 8 is big, it doesn't matter if they copy other features, it's how they implement the features and I'll tell you now, they'll do it a lot better.

I cannot wait for iOS 8.

Don't get me wrong, I like Apple and their products, but this update was far too minor for a full OS update.

In regards to the features, yes they probably have implemented them better, but it is still years late.
For example, iOS 5 was released nearly 3 years ago and we've only just got widgets and quick reply? Whereas jailbreak has had it for ages?

----------

Well, as I anticipated! Here we are, less than 24 hours after the introduction of iOS8 and, as expected, the whingers, criticisers and moaners are rushing out from under their stones!!

The OP complains that Apple focused the event too much on developers. Perhaps the name of the event gives the game away - World wide developers conference!

Have you even read my reply to the last person who tried "fighting back" with the WWDC name?

And yes, I may sound like a pathetic whinger, but look at the changelog, and then compare it to previous updates. It is nothing in comparison.

 

[Msmyser]

Well, seeing as they've copied jailbreak tweaks with some things, they could've gone all out and added theming (maybe limited to Apple-designed themes), bootlogo changes, pattern passcodes etc.

Some phones also have "power options" for the camera, such as shutter speed, iso options etc.

Another nice thing to have is they could have started signing older versions of iOS again. I know people who are using iOS 7 on an iPhone 4 and are stuck with incredibly slow loading times. Imagine if they let people like them go back down to iOS 6/5?

----------

Okay. Here's the thing you need to understand. All of those things: theming, bootlogo changes (really?), pattern passcodes, are all CUSTOMIZATION things, and in case you haven't noticed yet, but Apple is very controlling over both customization, but also the end user experience. They're not going to let you change the bootlogo. They're not going to give you themes. They're not going to let you have a pattern passcode. You should've figured that out by now. The reason it's called "Jailbreaking" is because you're basically freeing your device from Apple's grip on the total user experience. Once you understand that these types of customizations will probably never come to iOS, then you'd be happy with new releases.

Also, on another note, this was the WWDC, or the Worldwide Developers Conference. Not a public media announcement like they have for the iPhone. I can guarantee you that there will be new announcements about iOS 8 when they announce the iPhone 6 (or more likely when they announce the iWatch *hint* health app *hint*)

So get over it. Apple's not going to add these type of severe customizations that don't let them control the user's entire experience. You should have seen that coming a billion miles away.

 

[richwoodrocket]

No. Best keynote ever.

 

[snowglider]

It's a let down for me personally.

- No text message delivery receipts.
- No multiple user system.
- No widgets on home screen
- No favourite people short cuts on home screen.
- No ability to save ringtones from an app directly to ringtones (that I know of yet ...)
- No third party live wallpapers.

 

[chumps52]

Okay. Here's the thing you need to understand. All of those things: theming, bootlogo changes (really?), pattern passcodes, are all CUSTOMIZATION things, and in case you haven't noticed yet, but Apple is very controlling over both customization, but also the end user experience. They're not going to let you change the bootlogo. They're not going to give you themes. They're not going to let you have a pattern passcode. You should've figured that out by now. The reason it's called "Jailbreaking" is because you're basically freeing your device from Apple's grip on the total user experience. Once you understand that these types of customizations will probably never come to iOS, then you'd be happy with new releases.

Also, on another note, this was the WWDC, or the Worldwide Developers Conference. Not a public media announcement like they have for the iPhone. I can guarantee you that there will be new announcements about iOS 8 when they announce the iPhone 6 (or more likely when they announce the iWatch *hint* health app *hint*)

So get over it. Apple's not going to add these type of severe customizations that don't let them control the user's entire experience. You should have seen that coming a billion miles away.

I think it's fairly obvious what I meant.
In regards to the jailbreaking thing I was simply listing things that they could have added, ok sure some were not exactly likely, but I think there were chances of pattern passcodes etc.
With theming I meant they could have added their OWN themes for people to choose, and only their own, as they know that many people were not happy with iOS 7's new look, so they could have included an option to revert back to iOS 6's look. This is because it's obvious they're not allowing Firmware downgrades, so they might as well come to a "midway" solution.

As I have said before, WWDC is the time where they are meant to announce all the major features of a new OS, as they have done before, as I said above with my previous examples.

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It's a let down for me personally.

- No text message delivery receipts.
- No multiple user system.
- No widgets on home screen
- No favourite people short cuts on home screen.
- No ability to save ringtones from an app directly to ringtones (that I know of yet ...)

Exactly, yet another list of what they could have added, albeit more likely than my suggestions

 

[bennibeef]

Well what features do you expect to go into iOS8? Big things require new hardware and we will see this maybe in fall and then iOS8 will get some new features I think.

 

[AaronM5670]

Not at all, they have focused on the little things that really improve the used experience and have listened to what consumers/devs have fed back to them in emails etc. as Tim said.

 

[Mirai 11]

There's always one who isn't happy.

 

[kins98]

No. Best keynote ever.

^No idea what he is on. It didn't compare to iOS4's multitasking ability

I completely agree with chumps52 on this one. This event brought very little functionality and new features for the end-user. Sure, all the developer tweaks will marginally enhance the experience over time, especially the "Extensibility" features and relevant APIs.

For all of you who think he's talking bs, please take a moment to check Apple's official iOS8 promotion page and actually look at the very few and minor features that they're showcasing on it.

Also, Apple began the iPhone part of the conference by slagging off Android, but announced that several features from Android were being copied over to iOS (widgets, although done badly; custom keyboards; predictive text features), as well as various features from WhatsApp and other third-party messaging software (naming conversations; leave conversations etc.)

Fine, there were some useful features like iCloud Drive which I will personally use, as well as the continuity feature. But, in comparison to other updates (again, like iOS4), this has been far from amazing.

I am more of an Apple fanboy than a hater (believe me, I use a Macbook Pro on a daily basis, as well as an iPhone 5 and an iPad 3!). Apple haven't innovated in terms of user features (okay, they have made improvements with dev features), apart from polishing a few edges.

 

[ParagJain]

My thinking is that now, apple is only giving out the platform and it will be the best developers who'll make the entire platform enjoyable.

The mobile OS has matured a lot and these days, the best features of these os'es has been via 3rd party developers. And many more than less agree that ios and os x is one of the better platforms for developers.

i think os 8, we may end up seeing some fantastic apps that uses features like home automation, health, touch id etc...