Does anyone else think that iOS 8 is a letdown?

[Caged]

You sound slightly deluded; they have brought very little to the table with this update, apart from a few enhancements from a development point of view which may improve the end-user's experience.

I am not sure whether we are reading the same material, but there are very few features for you and I (assuming you are a non-dev) to look forward to.

I think that this is what the OP is trying to say.

It's the apps that will enable the greater functionality you crave. I am not a dev but I enjoy keeping up with the tech behind it all and the stuff Apple covered for devs is huge.
Okay, so after the major redesign of iOS 7 we didn't get huge os wide changes; BUT we did get features that people here and elsewhere have been complaining they need for ages.
I remember reading countless comment "unlock the keyboard apple, let devs in, omg i want lock screen functionality" and now we have it.
Not to mention the bugs that (hopefully) will have been sorted out.
Although they didn't change the safari icon despite giving the mac a way better one....hmmmm
Of course, this isn't enough for most
I think the end user updates will come with the iphone 6 reveal. Today was mostly about Developers.

 

[QquegChristian]

As far as the whole developer name for WWDC, that's not an issue here. They announced iOS8 and the questions of whether it was underwhelming are less about where and when they announced but what... They announced the latest OS for 800 million devices, wouldn't matter if they did it at the World Wide Pizza Conference, user-centric criticisms should be expected. Will iOS8 be a sexy upgrade for everyday users? Doesn't look like it. But my guess is that all of the really buzzworthy features are going to be directly linked to the iphone6 and iWatch, so this is a year they didn't need a buzzworthy software update.

I'd expect a slower adoption rate among normal people this year. I just think the majority of normal people don't care or understand cloud services, etc. Apple has an uphill battle to get my parents to understand "it's like Dropbox" when it took them years to understand Facebook. This seems like an update that will spread by word of mouth once developers usefully extend the OS and people are shown these extensions by friends.

To critique the reveal further, they should have probably partnered with more developers to show off better extensions and really nail home how great that is going to be. The average person probably just felt like they were showing off Pinterest and Bing integration and nothing more.

 

[solarguy17]

Jobs croaked and they stopped being innovative. They haven't done anything new without his ideas. The things they do software wise they steal from Cydia.

Really? What Cydia app allowed your phone for wars your non-iMessage texts to you Mac and iPad's Messages app?
Also what Cydia app forwarded your calls you your Mac?

 

[chumps52]

Whenever a new iPhone is released, reviewers, often notoriously, point out the feature gap between Android and iOS. Apple now aggressively targets that gap by introducing many features that Android users mocked Apple for, and were likewise strongly requested by Apple users, and the response is that Apple ‘just copied’ stuff. People really need to get over themselves.

iOS 8 is a solid update, especially for developers. This is going to be great.

Yes but when literally all they do that affects the consumer immediately is add a few small features that copy Android, I don't think that that should mean a full OS interval update.

Yeah, true, that is annoying but hey, it's the first beta. If Apple can introduce Quick Reply but only allows it with preview messages on, who knows, in future beta's, it may be available with preview messages off.

Hopefully One other thing that is annoying is that if you have preview off you can't even drag the banner down to see what the message says anymore.

 

[solarguy17]

1) Siri thing only works when plugged in, also simply holding down the home button wasn't that hard anyway. (And it's again copying Android etc.)
2) Don't work unless you have previews on for messages. I don't want someone picking up my phone and being able to read every new message.
3) Not that amazing, just building slightly on current features
4) Relies on carrier, and also effectively building on FaceTime audio etc.
5) Exactly, it copies snapchat, and also may get annoying when messages suddenly disappear because you forget to press "Keep"
6) Copies WhatsApp
7) Photo Stream?
8) Same functionality as iPhoto, just integrated
9) You won't see me spinning around on the spot holding an iPad up any time soon...


Extensibility is pretty nice, ngl.


As I said above, I'm interested in features that I can use on my CURRENT gen devices, not stuff designed to make you pay more for new devices.

All the features shown yesterday will be available on the iPhone 5S. Also the OP was was "no user features added" I was simply pointing out that wasn't true. I never said they were new or not catch up. But Apple added a ton of new features.

 

[chumps52]

All the features shown yesterday will be available on the iPhone 5S. Also the OP was was "no user features added" I was simply pointing out that wasn't true. I never said they were new or not catch up. But Apple added a ton of new features.

My last comment was in referral to you saying
"Come Aug/Sept when they announce the iPhone 6, new features for all phones and some specific for iPhone 6 will be reveled."

I just was saying that it would be annoying if all the killer features of the software itself were saved only for the iPhone 6

 

[MonkeySee....]

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.

You will never be happy.

 

[bkends35]

Why does everyone expect a huge redesign with gobs of new features every release? I think features they added are very useful and are some better than android in many cases. There's also a lot of really small features that weren't mentioned that you'll come across when you use it. IMO the keyboard works really well and I'm excited for third party keyboards.

 

[chumps52]

You will never be happy.

I'm only giving my opinion. All they (Apple) seem to have done is made very minor tweaks here and there and passed them off as fully-fledged new features.

----------

Why does everyone expect a huge redesign with gobs of new features every release? I think features they added are very useful and are some better than android in many cases. There's also a lot of really small features that weren't mentioned that you'll come across when you use it. IMO the keyboard works really well and I'm excited for third party keyboards.

Because it seems to me like the things that they did do with iOS 8 are, as I keep saying, only suitable really for a 7.x update. I do not think there are enough, or enough major features, to contribute to a major OS interval.

 

[darthraige]

Really? What Cydia app allowed your phone for wars your non-iMessage texts to you Mac and iPad's Messages app?
Also what Cydia app forwarded your calls you your Mac?

I'm willing to bet 95% of consumers won't even use those features. I won't.

 

[pear21]

I actually really liked the event, I am really excited for a lot of the new features like the quick reply, and widgets in the notification center.

I also think the whole developer portion was huge and a giant step forward for Apple, I think they are finally realizing that iOS is falling behind and they cant make everything on their own. By opening up everything to the developers, it allows for the thousands upon thousands of developers to make things like widgets and keyboards that can be implemented across the iOS ecosystem. I think over the next year or two you will see a huge change in iOS from everyone outside of Apple making the changes. The widgets will be the first part of this, and I am sure they will open it up even more in iOS 9.

 

[Caged]

I actually really liked the event, I am really excited for a lot of the new features like the quick reply, and widgets in the notification center.

I also think the whole developer portion was huge and a giant step forward for Apple, I think they are finally realizing that iOS is falling behind and they cant make everything on their own. By opening up everything to the developers, it allows for the thousands upon thousands of developers to make things like widgets and keyboards that can be implemented across the iOS ecosystem. I think over the next year or two you will see a huge change in iOS from everyone outside of Apple making the changes. The widgets will be the first part of this, and I am sure they will open it up even more in iOS 9.

"Yeah, of course. On the general topic of opening up APIs, I think you’ll see us open up more in the future"
Tim said they would and they did. Apple has become synonymous with quality and I think this will drive people to make the most of these opportunities.

 

[BeeGood]

Yes, but this is not worthy of an X.0 update. Maybe for iOS 7.2, but not a full "upgrade"

I could be wrong but I think users are being really short sighted about this update. The tools and access that have been given to devs is going to give them the ability to make a more dynamic and interactive experience on the phone.

I think everyone just needs to be patient. By this time next year most people will be saying this was the best iteration of iOS since the App Store came out.

 

[NickG420]

I think people keep forgetting they just did a major overhaul with iOS7. For them to come and completely change it all over again a year later would be like them saying "Yeah we know iOS7 was *****....But wait here's iOS8 it's so much better...TA-DA!!"

I saw about what I expected to see from iOS8 and as others have mentioned I am sure the "BIG WOW" features will probably be saved for the actual introduction of iPhone 6.

The one feature I was hoping they would talk about was iTunes Radio and unlimited skips for iTunes Match subscribers...Why this hasn't been implemented yet baffles me. Although with the Beats acquisition I would assume those types of features are coming soon enough...

 

[darthraige]

I actually really liked the event, I am really excited for a lot of the new features like the quick reply, and widgets in the notification center.

I also think the whole developer portion was huge and a giant step forward for Apple, I think they are finally realizing that iOS is falling behind and they cant make everything on their own. By opening up everything to the developers, it allows for the thousands upon thousands of developers to make things like widgets and keyboards that can be implemented across the iOS ecosystem. I think over the next year or two you will see a huge change in iOS from everyone outside of Apple making the changes. The widgets will be the first part of this, and I am sure they will open it up even more in iOS 9.

Ya. Cydia really opens it up now.

 

[sparky08]

This was the 'Better Late then Never" release. Things many of us expected in iOS7.

Now that Apple is catching up to Android, they can pull ahead in upcoming releases. (provided Android stays still).

 

[KALLT]

I'm only giving my opinion. All they (Apple) seem to have done is made very minor tweaks here and there and passed them off as fully-fledged new features.

They are features nonetheless. The lion’s share of features has been absorbed by the new APIs and developer tools. The strength of iOS is in its developer support and iCloud integration. I’d rather have more APIs than just this annual ritual of hard-coded features.

 

[cjmillsnun]

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.

Never going to happen, period. Apple don't do themes. If you're lucky they'll do what they did on the Mac and you'll get light or dark.

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

This is going to be supported within apps.

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?

Again never going to happen. By limiting the supported OS on a certain device it makes support easier for Apple. Also developers will want you to be running the latest and greatest OS.

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.

I disagree. This is a MAJOR update to iOS. Yes a lot of it already was in Android, however this has been done with some Apple polish. They waited to see what worked for Android and used that, and didn't bother with some of the other stuff that nobody uses.

----------

Please stop with the stupid name argument

It's NOT a stupid argument. THIS IS A DEVELOPER CONFERENCE FOR DEVELOPERS. FFS

My last point. Apple releases on a Tick/Tock cycle on both hardware and software.

It's the tick for hardware (expect something big for the iPhone 6)

and the tock for software (more incremental and polish than anything else) In that respect the amount we have in iOS 8 is huge for this point in the cycle.

 

[Italianblend]

We still can't change the color of anything specific. It is a letdown. Not being able to change the simple color of imessages so you're not staring at the same color for years is disappointing.

 

[SteveAbootman]

Apple is now comfortable opening up the iOS platform a little, expanding the toolset for developers, and making many of the tweaks the community has been asking for.

What I believe we saw yesterday was a glimpse into Apple starting to focus on a complete integration of the iOS and OS X platforms; not just in your hand or on your desk, but in the car & home too.

 

[pear21]

We still can't change the color of anything specific. It is a letdown. Not being able to change the simple color of imessages so you're not staring at the same color for years is disappointing.

Yeah I think this would be a good change, not just for making it fun to look at, but we could give it a functional use. Lets make it similar to ring tones and text tones, we can have a specific text tone for every person in our contact list, how about a different color message from each of your contacts. This would be really awesome in group messages allowing us to easily differentiate who is texting who, and I cant count the amount of times I have sent a text to the wrong person, I think each person having their own text color would help prevent us from sending texts to the wrong person.

 

[MH01]

iOS 7 was a big bang release, iOS 8 is adding more functionality. Not every iOS release is a game changer. It no amazing changes, but in some ways its playing catch up to the competition, so these changes are welcome on iOS side.

 

[chumps52]

I'm willing to bet 95% of consumers won't even use those features. I won't.

Neither will I, because I don't use Mac any more And when I did I had issues with iMessages being delivered to my Mac but not my phone, and vice versa.

I actually really liked the event, I am really excited for a lot of the new features like the quick reply, and widgets in the notification center.

I also think the whole developer portion was huge and a giant step forward for Apple, I think they are finally realizing that iOS is falling behind and they cant make everything on their own. By opening up everything to the developers, it allows for the thousands upon thousands of developers to make things like widgets and keyboards that can be implemented across the iOS ecosystem. I think over the next year or two you will see a huge change in iOS from everyone outside of Apple making the changes. The widgets will be the first part of this, and I am sure they will open it up even more in iOS 9.

I understand this, but would have liked more immediate changes made by Apple, not rely on 3rd Parties to make these changes.

I could be wrong but I think users are being really short sighted about this update. The tools and access that have been given to devs is going to give them the ability to make a more dynamic and interactive experience on the phone.

I think everyone just needs to be patient. By this time next year most people will be saying this was the best iteration of iOS since the App Store came out.

As I said above

I think people keep forgetting they just did a major overhaul with iOS7. For them to come and completely change it all over again a year later would be like them saying "Yeah we know iOS7 was *****....But wait here's iOS8 it's so much better...TA-DA!!"

I saw about what I expected to see from iOS8 and as others have mentioned I am sure the "BIG WOW" features will probably be saved for the actual introduction of iPhone 6.

The one feature I was hoping they would talk about was iTunes Radio and unlimited skips for iTunes Match subscribers...Why this hasn't been implemented yet baffles me. Although with the Beats acquisition I would assume those types of features are coming soon enough...

I wasn't expecting a huge overhaul "from the ground up", but a number of new features would have been nice. People had been predicting map improvements etc., none of which ever came to fruition (apart from in China)

They are features nonetheless. The lion’s share of features has been absorbed by the new APIs and developer tools. The strength of iOS is in its developer support and iCloud integration. I’d rather have more APIs than just this annual ritual of hard-coded features.

I just wish more was given to consumers immediately, as I keep saying, instead of relying on other developers

Never going to happen, period. Apple don't do themes. If you're lucky they'll do what they did on the Mac and you'll get light or dark.



This is going to be supported within apps.


Again never going to happen. By limiting the supported OS on a certain device it makes support easier for Apple. Also developers will want you to be running the latest and greatest OS.



I disagree. This is a MAJOR update to iOS. Yes a lot of it already was in Android, however this has been done with some Apple polish. They waited to see what worked for Android and used that, and didn't bother with some of the other stuff that nobody uses.

----------



It's NOT a stupid argument. THIS IS A DEVELOPER CONFERENCE FOR DEVELOPERS. FFS

My last point. Apple releases on a Tick/Tock cycle on both hardware and software.

It's the tick for hardware (expect something big for the iPhone 6)

and the tock for software (more incremental and polish than anything else) In that respect the amount we have in iOS 8 is huge for this point in the cycle.

Even that sort of theme would have been nice, like the Dark Keyboard in the original versions of iOS 7, which was then removed.
The camera thing would have been nice built into the stock application.
I still think they should allow it when they know they were wrong to support older devices on newer firmwares, such as the iPhone 4 on iOS 7 as I said.
All they seem to have done is added the features that were missing in comparison to Android, I still don't think it should be seen as a major update.
Calm down, I think it is a stupid argument. Since when has 90% of what has been introduced been focusing on making it easier for developers? It has generally always been new features etc.

We still can't change the color of anything specific. It is a letdown. Not being able to change the simple color of imessages so you're not staring at the same color for years is disappointing.

Exactly

Apple is now comfortable opening up the iOS platform a little, expanding the toolset for developers, and making many of the tweaks the community has been asking for.

What I believe we saw yesterday was a glimpse into Apple starting to focus on a complete integration of the iOS and OS X platforms; not just in your hand or on your desk, but in the car & home too.

Well lets just hope that they continually further increase this opening-up.

 

[sfwalter]

I think this is a great release. My three favorite features are:

1. Document sharing between apps
2. Widgets on notification
3. Fine camera control available to developers

 

[chumps52]

Yeah I think this would be a good change, not just for making it fun to look at, but we could give it a functional use. Lets make it similar to ring tones and text tones, we can have a specific text tone for every person in our contact list, how about a different color message from each of your contacts. This would be really awesome in group messages allowing us to easily differentiate who is texting who, and I cant count the amount of times I have sent a text to the wrong person, I think each person having their own text color would help prevent us from sending texts to the wrong person.

This is kind of what I meant by "theming". Not necessarily something extremely major (although changing icons etc would be nice), but anything is an improvement at this point from how iOS is currently so closed.