Does anyone else think that iOS 8 is a letdown?

[sfwalter]

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

So true. Its amazing keynote after keynote folks have expectations that everything they ever wanted in an update will be announced. I would think after a number of years folks would temper the expectations and realize Apple works by gradual feature rollout.

 

[solarguy17]

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

The phone feature, I would assume you are correct. But Messages, basically anyone that uses Messages on iPad or Mac will be using the Messages features. And I know that's higher then 5% of all users.

 

[chumps52]

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.

I still think more should have been added, instead of purely catching up a little to Android.

 

[XboxMySocks]

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.

Ok so you just admitted they had a bunch of useful stuff but now you've switched to bitching that its too late? And that they're copying android? Jesus ****, just get one then

 

[thislsmadness]

Help me understand the logic here....

So, we spend all year (years for some of these) complaining about things that iOS can't do that Android can. We create these huge wish lists full of things like quick reply, predictive typing, 3rd party widgets, app interactivity, doc repo, third party keyboards, and wifi calling. We've complained bout how useless spotlight is, the lack of notification actions, ect

Apple gives us all of that... and now the argument is "well, Android already had it" Or "that should have been in years ago." Should they never put these things into iOS then? And what do you want (that hasn't been done on Android, since that is such a sin)?

Those are genuine questions because, for me, Apple pretty much ticked every box I cared about. I see some people talking about live wallpaper and boot logos -- I cannot fathom how that is more exciting than things like app extensions, metal, iCloud Drive, and actionable notifications that will change the way we use iOS and massively improve its workflow. Yes, a lot of the most exciting stuff was announced "for developers" but we are the ones that will see the benefit of it all.

Plus, live wallpaper and boot logos are already on Android, right?

 

[Inhalant]

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

This is exactly what Apple has always done. Once a feature has been proven useful on competitor's devices, Apple will incorporate the feature onto their product. This way there are no useless applications, or features that could be considered "bloatware". For instance, the smart keyboard feature, incidentally, seems to be in use by Blackberry on their smartphones. It guesses words that you can select, and it works, my uncle owns a BB, and i've used it.

I don't care how many ideas Apple grabs from others, because they put all of the best ones together and create the best products.

Not to mention, Cook was right. Only the people I know with the newest Androids are running Kit Kat, and lots and lots of my friends own older androids.....


EDIT: I also have to add in my two cents on people complaining about the supposedly lacklustre iOS 8. If you actually watched and understood the WWDC conference, you would have realized that this is a giant "under the hood" update. Yes, its going to look similar to iOS 7, 7's only a year old. What were you guys expecting? This conference is for developers, obviously, not people who don't know what is being talked about here.....

 

[bransoj]

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.

I have no issue with it....i instantly know that blue is iMessage and green is SMS and it just becomes natural knowing what is what.

 

[solarguy17]

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.

I doubt that, I expect the adoption rate to be similar to this year and year's past. For a simple reason, most people will hear there's a new update that will be available soon and maybe a quick overview of what it covers. But mostly they will see that little "1" bubble over the setting app indicating an update is available, and they will click update without know what specifically changed.

I wonder how many people did that for iOS 7 and were shocked by the change becuase they simply click update when they saw the pop up without knowing what it is.

 

[frayne182]

Its underwhelming so far I feel.

 

[CTHarrryH]

I'm a user - not developer - but a technical one.
I thought this is a great release with a lot more features than I expected. Will I use all of them all the time - no - but I'm sure I'll use most of them at some point in time.
At least this whole thread wasn't filled with hating the icons or something similar. These are smart phones or pads and thus features and functions are what I want and I want them to work easily and all the time. I don't want to customize my phone with 40 different things.

I expect we'll hear more features etc. as time goes on between yesterday and release date. I also expect that there are things people will discover that wasn't covered in a 2 hour presentation.

I thing this update is great.

 

[Looon]

Help me understand the logic here....

So, we spend all year (years for some of these) complaining about things that iOS can't do that Android can. We create these huge wish lists full of things like quick reply, predictive typing, 3rd party widgets, app interactivity, doc repo, third party keyboards, and wifi calling. We've complained bout how useless spotlight is, the lack of notification actions, ect

Apple gives us all of that... and now the argument is "well, Android already had it" Or "that should have been in years ago." Should they never put these things into iOS then? And what do you want (that hasn't been done on Android, since that is such a sin)?

Those are genuine questions because, for me, Apple pretty much ticked every box I cared about. I see some people talking about live wallpaper and boot logos -- I cannot fathom how that is more exciting than things like app extensions, metal, iCloud Drive, and actionable notifications that will change the way we use iOS and massively improve its workflow. Yes, a lot of the most exciting stuff was announced "for developers" but we are the ones that will see the benefit of it all.

Plus, live wallpaper and boot logos are already on Android, right?

Most of the people complaining are just trolls or have no lives and stare at their phones all day, which explains why the become so bored with them so quickly.

 

[Paradoxally]

It was arguably the best WWDC ever. You will only disagree if you are not a dev.

 

[brunosh]

You're kidding right? I think this was one of the best iOS updates ever! They brought some things people have been asking for years, like quickreply, widgets, keyboard customization, among other things that I never thought Apple would bring anytime soon. They were on other OS's before? Yes. But still is a sign that apple is opening and finally listening to consumers. And the integration iOS - OSX is abysmal! That things you say is 'just for the developers' is really things that they can use for make better apps that YOU will use! So yeah, I think this is a great update.

 

[BaldiMac]

I still think more should have been added, instead of purely catching up a little to Android.

That may be what you think, but you should recognize that you are basing it on an arbitrary "feeling" that does not take into account any objective comparison. All you keep doing in this thread is repeating your circular logic.

4,000 new APIs and hundreds of new end user features is a major release when compared to previous iOS releases. It's a major release when compared to Android releases. Your feelings aside.

 

[MH01]

I still think more should have been added, instead of purely catching up a little to Android.

I agree with you. Nothing yesterday was "wow". I remember being excited after iOS 7 was announced and could not wait to get it. From yesterday, there is not one feature i really want. Actually the only one is the continuity/skype feature that I liked, the rest was pfffft.

Lets hope the devs can come up with some cool apps from the SDK updates.

 

[brunosh]

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.

- I'm not sure, but I think you can activate an option for that, somewhere in settings.
- Multiple users = Less iPhone/iPads sold = Never gonna happen.
- You have now widgets on the notification center, what's the difference?
- People short-cuts on multitask area
- Ringtones and wallpapers really?

If you ignore quickreply, custom keyboard, great integration with OSX and so many more, and the update is a 'let down' just because of ringtones and wallpapers, ok then

 

[chumps52]

I agree with you. Nothing yesterday was "wow". I remember being excited after iOS 7 was announced and could not wait to get it. From yesterday, there is not one feature i really want. Actually the only one is the continuity/skype feature that I liked, the rest was pfffft.

Lets hope the devs can come up with some cool apps from the SDK updates.

Exactly my thoughts. Whereas with iOS 7 I was desperate for the redesign, AppStore, AirDrop, Control Centre, Multitasking etc. this time there is nothing that I really want.



Although everyone claims that if you are a developer it is a different story, sure it probably is. I can see how much they have added for devs etc. to make it a lot better and allow more functionality.

But I am not a developer. I have installed beta 1 and one of/the main new feature I was looking forward to, quick replies, doesn't even work (at least not now) because I don't like having previews of my messages being shown on my lockscreen, which I think is fair enough.

So for me at least, an "average" user who does actually have technological know-how, this update has so far been useless.

I don't use the Health app as I don't have a load of compatible 3rd party devices, nor do I like the "Predictive text".
I don't see the difference with photos, apart from editing them, nor will I use Family Sharing and likely not iCloud Drive, as emailing files across has always sufficed for me so far.

----------

- I'm not sure, but I think you can activate an option for that, somewhere in settings.
- Multiple users = Less iPhone/iPads sold = Never gonna happen.
- You have now widgets on the notification center, what's the difference?
- People short-cuts on multitask area
- Ringtones and wallpapers really?

If you ignore quickreply, custom keyboard, great integration with OSX and so many more, and the update is a 'let down' just because of ringtones and wallpapers, ok then

1) You can't
2) It would still be nice, Windows Tablets have it... Some people have family iPads etc. as £400 each for a device is actually quite a lot
3) They're not exactly full-feature widgets, and it would be nice to see them without having to swipe down each time.
4) I would never have linked a multitasking menu in with calling/contacting people. Personally I think that that is just bad placement... Why would you open up the multitasking menu to call someone?
5) It would be nice to be able to download them from places other than Apple-made stores etc., and there are only a select few live wallpapers, and even they are just boring bubble-type things.

 

[ravipiero]

Actually I'm already satisfied with iOS 7. Most of the things I want are related to hardware such as screen size, battery life, and notification led. Also iWatch would be nice.

Anyway, I like iOS 8 because there are many features that I think I'll use. Unlike siri or apple maps that I almost never use.

 

[Mildredop]

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

I left iOS when the iPhone 4S came out (I had a 3GS at the time). To date I've never seen any good reason to leave Android and return.

I'd say this new iOS is a stonker and seems Apple are finally listening to the desires of the consumer. Swype, per-app battery useage and probably more that I don't yet know about, will make me seriously consider the iPhone next time around (assuming they do release a larger screen iPhone).

I really hope it's REAL swype. Swype allows you to choose from several different looking keyboards, which would go against Apple's lack of customisation. If Swype ends up being 'under the hood', it'll mean the keyboard will still be in uppercase when typing in lowercase - so annoying!

 

[thislsmadness]

Although everyone claims that if you are a developer it is a different story, sure it probably is. I can see how much they have added for devs etc. to make it a lot better and allow more functionality.

But I am not a developer. I have installed beta 1 and one of/the main new feature I was looking forward to, quick replies, doesn't even work (at least not now) because I don't like having previews of my messages being shown on my lockscreen, which I think is fair enough.

So for me at least, an "average" user who does actually have technological know-how, this update has so far been useless.

I don't use the Health app as I don't have a load of compatible 3rd party devices, nor do I like the "Predictive text".
I don't see the difference with photos, apart from editing them, nor will I use Family Sharing and likely not iCloud Drive, as emailing files across has always sufficed for me so far.

Again, they haven't added anything exclusively for developers. All those new apis and features that developers can leverage will directly benefit us and change the way you use iOS. The only thing announced yesterday that only benefits the devs is the new programming language.

And of course a half baked developer beta is useless to a normal user. By the time iOS8 is ready for the public there will be a ton of apps taking advantage of all the new APIs and features that Apple will be able to sell to a crowd. Likewise, I'm sure the health and home automation brands will be racing to get iOS gear out by xmas.

 

[CyBeRino]

I've had to shuffle some text around here

Although everyone claims that if you are a developer it is a different story, sure it probably is. I can see how much they have added for devs etc. to make it a lot better and allow more functionality.

So for me at least, an "average" user who does actually have technological know-how, this update has so far been useless.

What you don't seem to understand is why Apple is focusing so much on the developer part of iOS. It is because it is arguable the most important part. I'm sure you agree it is unreasonable for Apple to provide everyone with every feature they could possibly want. Instead, they've opened up their product for third parties to do that instead.

iOS devices these days are pretty much first and foremost devices for running apps. And to allow those third parties to make the best and most useful apps, a lot of work is necessary to make the APIs and services that enable those apps. If Apple did not do this, or spent more time making user-facing features, the apps part would suffer and since that is the driving factor for people to buy them, that'd actually make for a worse product.

Look at how far apps have come since the App Store originally opened; since then Apple has added literally thousands of APIs to do all sorts of things and it has made their platform as a whole better.

But I am not a developer. I have installed beta 1 and one of/the main new feature I was looking forward to, quick replies, doesn't even work (at least not now) because I don't like having previews of my messages being shown on my lockscreen, which I think is fair enough.

I don't use the Health app as I don't have a load of compatible 3rd party devices, nor do I like the "Predictive text".
I don't see the difference with photos, apart from editing them, nor will I use Family Sharing and likely not iCloud Drive, as emailing files across has always sufficed for me so far.

Another thing you're doing here is taking features added for users and then dismissing them because they don't do much for your specific situation. Yet I'll tell you a buttload of people are very happy with them and they aren't small features in any way, shape or form.

Apple designs their feature for hundreds of millions of users. Not just for you.

4) I would never have linked a multitasking menu in with calling/contacting people. Personally I think that that is just bad placement... Why would you open up the multitasking menu to call someone?

Because that menu is no longer just the multi-tasking menu, it's also the place to go to quickly reach a contact.

 

[BaldiMac]

Because that menu is no longer just the multi-tasking menu, it's also the place to go to quickly reach a contact.

It also a recently-used app list. Which fits in quite nicely with a recently-used contact list.

 

[CyBeRino]

It also a recently-used app list. Which fits in quite nicely with a recently-used contact list.

Good point.

 

[jrswizzle]

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..

Exactly - really excited to see what these new dev tools and APIs open up for us end users.

Should be awesome!

 

[iolinux333]

My great disappointment is no audio output improvements at all. Nothing.