iOS 6 Users on Devices Able to Run iOS 7 Must Upgrade to Fix FaceTime

[shandyman]

iOS 6 Users on Devices Able to Run iOS 7 Must Upgrade to Fix FaceTime

Why does any of this matter in this case again? Because it's irrelevant. They already have 6.1.6, it's already been supported and fixed, it's just a matter of it being made available to those who are on iOS 6.

They've made 6.1.6 for the versions of ios for the devices that don't support iOS 7, they'd need to do the same to versions for all the other iOS devices. There's a reason why it's not 1 ipsw file for all devices. Each device has it's own iteration of iOS. The problem was fixed for all devices, if you choose not to go to iOS 7, you invite the possibility of things breaking and being susceptible to bugs, etc.

Additionally, even if they make it, any iOS device will show iOS 7.1.1 as the latest version of iOS.

Anything Apple could do, even if they wanted to, would take time and resources away from developing iOS 8 and Mac OSX 10.10. It's a no brained that they'd not bother wasting time to appease a small percentage of iOS users, some of which are being stubborn over the new look.

 

[C DM]

They've made 6.1.6 for the versions of ios for the devices that don't support iOS 7, they'd need to do the same to versions for all the other iOS devices. There's a reason why it's not 1 ipsw file for all devices. Each device has it's own iteration of iOS. The problem was fixed for all devices, if you choose not to go to iOS 7, you invite the possibility of things breaking and being susceptible to bugs, etc.

Additionally, even if they make it, any iOS device will show iOS 7.1.1 as the latest version of iOS.

Anything Apple could do, even if they wanted to, would take time and resources away from developing iOS 8 and Mac OSX 10.10. It's a no brained that they'd not bother wasting time to appease a small percentage of iOS users, some of which are being stubborn over the new look.

Sure all that has been the reasoning so far, but it doesn't mean that it might not or should not be re-evaluated given the recent screw ups that Apple themselves have been responsible for and have broken existing functionality and left some users at risk unless they accept to change a bunch of other things about their device just to get those screw ups fixed.

 

[danny_w]

Yet one more reason to leave iPhone behind. Apple seems to be intentionally driving people away these days. Yes developing a fix and a solution around the forced iOS 7 for devices capable of it would take time and resources away from other projects, but it may be worth it to keep their existing customers. I already can't download much of anything to my iPhone because of the space wasted by the iOS 7.x download that I don't want but is taking up space. I have been with the iPhone since day 1 but will probably never own another.

 

[shandyman]

iOS 6 Users on Devices Able to Run iOS 7 Must Upgrade to Fix FaceTime

Sure all that has been the reasoning so far, but it doesn't mean that it might not or should not be re-evaluated given the recent screw ups that Apple themselves have been responsible for and have broken existing functionality and left some users at risk unless they accept to change a bunch of other things about their device just to get those screw ups fixed.

No software is 100% bug free. There will always be bugs to be fixed. That's why new versions are released. That's why everyone is recommended to update to the newest version. This is a standard, not just with iOS, but any software. Every software update has some sort of change, this is no different.

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Yet one more reason to leave iPhone behind. Apple seems to be intentionally driving people away these days. Yes developing a fix and a solution around the forced iOS 7 for devices capable of it would take time and resources away from other projects, but it may be worth it to keep their existing customers. I already can't download much of anything to my iPhone because of the space wasted by the iOS 7.x download that I don't want but is taking up space. I have been with the iPhone since day 1 but will probably never own another.

Go look at the stats. The percentage this actually effects is a small amount. Don't forget, of the devices still running iOS 6, quite a number will be devices that don't support iOS 7, which are not affected as they have iOS 6.1.6. It's not even remotely worth it, as you state it would.

Do the few remaining people clinging to iOS 6, boycotting 7, expect iOS 8 to not be the same as 7 in terms of design? If so, they need to rethink and decide to either embrace change or move to another device.

 

[danny_w]

…
Do the few remaining people clinging to iOS 6, boycotting 7, expect iOS 8 to not be the same as 7 in terms of design? If so, they need to rethink and decide to either embrace change or move to another device.

Yes my mind was already pretty much made up with the direction Apple seems to be taking ATM. I was at Best Buy yesterday looking at phones and I looked at the 5c/5s but could not stand the flat icons and thin fonts that I could not even read; not all potential buyers are 20 somethings with excellent eyesight. A phone has to be useable or it is just a decoration, and if I can't see the images on the screen then it is useless to me.

 

[MacSince'85]

4-5 years of support is never going to happen, phones just don't have the hardware to keep up for 4-5 years. 3 years is probably the longest a phone could be kept somewhat current and useable. Also, iOS 6 was real eased September 2012 the current iOS stretch for support is 2 years.

Edit: also 4-5 year old DEVICES are still supported, but expecting them to keep supporting old versions of iOS that long is unreasonable. 5 years of support would mean apple would need to still be supporting iOS 3.

So welcome to the Post-PC Era where your device must be replaced every 2-3 years whether you want to or not.

It seems that people generally change their phones when their contracts are up so they don't seem to care as much, but how are they going to feel about the same cycle time for their very expensive iPods and iPads which have pretty much replaced their PCs as their primary computing platform? I know I personally would be rather put off if I knew my computer would only be usable 2-3 years and then I would be forced to dispose of it because it was rendered useless and unsafe to be used on the Internet.

 

[C DM]

No software is 100% bug free. There will always be bugs to be fixed. That's why new versions are released. That's why everyone is recommended to update to the newest version. This is a standard, not just with iOS, but any software. Every software update has some sort of change, this is no different.

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Go look at the stats. The percentage this actually effects is a small amount. Don't forget, of the devices still running iOS 6, quite a number will be devices that don't support iOS 7, which are not affected as they have iOS 6.1.6. It's not even remotely worth it, as you state it would.

Do the few remaining people clinging to iOS 6, boycotting 7, expect iOS 8 to not be the same as 7 in terms of design? If so, they need to rethink and decide to either embrace change or move to another device.

Sure, but there's also a standard of fixing issues in previous versions and not pushing users to new versions just for fixes to existing things that the manufacturer themselves broke. It's been done for years with OS X by Apple themselves. It's not done with iOS so far, but, again, that doesn't mean that shouldn't be looked into now that more of these screw ups that Apple themselves is responsible for are coming to light.

 

[shandyman]

Sure, but there's also a standard of fixing issues in previous versions and not pushing users to new versions just for fixes to existing things that the manufacturer themselves broke. It's been done for years with OS X by Apple themselves. It's not done with iOS so far, but, again, that doesn't mean that shouldn't be looked into now that more of these screw ups that Apple themselves is responsible for are coming to light.

Desktop OS is not the same as mobile OS though, you cannot really compare them for that.

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Yes my mind was already pretty much made up with the direction Apple seems to be taking ATM. I was at Best Buy yesterday looking at phones and I looked at the 5c/5s but could not stand the flat icons and thin fonts that I could not even read; not all potential buyers are 20 somethings with excellent eyesight. A phone has to be useable or it is just a decoration, and if I can't see the images on the screen then it is useless to me.

I'm not a 20 something with excellent eyesight and I find iOS 7 extremely useable..... If anything I find it better to use that iOS 6. But that's my opinion.

Had you looked at the options to make text bold in iOS 7? Or was it just a quick look then gave up? As for images on the screen, what do you mean? Not trying to change your mind, just curious.

 

[iThat]

From my cold dead hands cooky!

From my cold dead hands!

 

[Dave.UK]

So if in iOS 8 Apple removes a feature that existed in iOS 7 the "Sales of Goods Act" would force Apple to add it back?

Well they wouldnt be able to force Apple to add it back, however you would have a case to seek compensation against the retailer as the item wouldn't be as described.

 

[C DM]

Desktop OS is not the same as mobile OS though, you cannot really compare them for that.

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I'm not a 20 something with excellent eyesight and I find iOS 7 extremely useable..... If anything I find it better to use that iOS 6. But that's my opinion.

Had you looked at the options to make text bold in iOS 7? Or was it just a quick look then gave up? As for images on the screen, what do you mean? Not trying to change your mind, just curious.

While desktop and mobile are certainly not the same I don't believe it necessarily rules out a lot of things that can be done similarly as in fact quite a few certainly are.

 

[Mikey7c8]

Considering iOS 6 is compromised for users who can run iOS 7, this is not a bad thing.

 

[Menneisyys2]

So welcome to the Post-PC Era where your device must be replaced every 2-3 years whether you want to or not.

It seems that people generally change their phones when their contracts are up so they don't seem to care as much, but how are they going to feel about the same cycle time for their very expensive iPods and iPads which have pretty much replaced their PCs as their primary computing platform? I know I personally would be rather put off if I knew my computer would only be usable 2-3 years and then I would be forced to dispose of it because it was rendered useless and unsafe to be used on the Internet.

Also add that carrier subsidies are only really present in the US. We Europeans don't really get any kind of subsidies, unless we call practically hours a day. It's only then that going for a subsidized plan can be worth paying for, not otherwise.

That is, an iPhone is far-far more expensive for us Europeans.

 

[Rogifan]

Well they wouldnt be able to force Apple to add it back, however you would have a case to seek compensation against the retailer as the item wouldn't be as described.

Well then as I said up thread if some people are so upset about this they should get a lawyer and sue Apple. Complaining here isn't going to get them FaceTime on their device with iOS 6 aesthetic. Or maybe they need to go Android where I'm sure there is an iOS 6 "theme" they could apply to their UI.

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Also add that carrier subsidies are only really present in the US. We Europeans don't really get any kind of subsidies, unless we call practically hours a day. It's only then that going for a subsidized plan can be worth paying for, not otherwise.

That is, an iPhone is far-far more expensive for us Europeans.

Why do people keep using the word "subsidy"? No, I don't pay the full price of the phone up front but I sure as hell do pay for it over the course of my contract. It's basically a loan that you pay back over time as an addition to your monthy bill.

 

[NT1440]

Yes my mind was already pretty much made up with the direction Apple seems to be taking ATM. I was at Best Buy yesterday looking at phones and I looked at the 5c/5s but could not stand the flat icons and thin fonts that I could not even read; not all potential buyers are 20 somethings with excellent eyesight. A phone has to be useable or it is just a decoration, and if I can't see the images on the screen then it is useless to me.

Turn up the size of dynamic text. I'm 22 and that's what I do. It's one thing to not like the design. It's another thing to be stubborn about using the tools apple provides to make things more readable. There is no company on the planet that does more to ensure that their consumer devices are usable by the visually and hearing impaired.

This really comes down to you not liking the design, which is fine and understandable, but don't lay out a straw man that even a minute of Googling would have answered for you.

 

[Rogifan]

Sure all that has been the reasoning so far, but it doesn't mean that it might not or should not be re-evaluated given the recent screw ups that Apple themselves have been responsible for and have broken existing functionality and left some users at risk unless they accept to change a bunch of other things about their device just to get those screw ups fixed.

I'd be curious to know the exact number of people who could run iOS 7 but deliberately have chosen not to (for whatever reason). If it's a small number then I don't think Apple should waste their time on it. I find it so amusing that Android often gets mocked here because the latest version has such a small install base and yet some people here are upset because they might have to install the latest version of iOS on their device.

 

[danny_w]

Turn up the size of dynamic text. I'm 22 and that's what I do. It's one thing to not like the design. It's another thing to be stubborn about using the tools apple provides to make things more readable. There is no company on the planet that does more to ensure that their consumer devices are usable by the visually and hearing impaired.

This really comes down to you not liking the design, which is fine and understandable, but don't lay out a straw man that even a minute of Googling would have answered for you.

Fine for you but all the tweaking that Apple allows does not make the thin fonts readable to me, as several others here have also said, so I'm not the only one.

 

[rolphi]

4-5 year support would be acceptable. The current 1 year is not long enough by any stretch of the imagination.

They support the iPhones that they sold for years. They did not sell you iOS6 as a separate product that needs to be supported. This is Microsoft's model, but it is not Apple's.

They support older iPhones by providing the latest iOS, in this case iOS7, for them.

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While desktop and mobile are certainly not the same I don't believe it necessarily rules out a lot of things that can be done similarly as in fact quite a few certainly are.

Except that Apple has been doing this with iOS, consistently, for the last 7 years. Why in the world would they change now?

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Sure all that has been the reasoning so far, but it doesn't mean that it might not or should not be re-evaluated given the recent screw ups that Apple themselves have been responsible for and have broken existing functionality and left some users at risk unless they accept to change a bunch of other things about their device just to get those screw ups fixed.

This is not Apple's screw up. This is the security system working exactly as intended.

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Fine for you but all the tweaking that Apple allows does not make the thin fonts readable to me, as several others here have also said, so I'm not the only one.

Apple has won awards for their work in making iOS accessible for people with visual impairment. From Apple's site:

Font Adjustments

When you activate Larger Dynamic Type, the text inside Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, Notes, and even some third party apps, is converted to a larger, easier-to-read size. And you can choose bold text to make the text heavier across a range of built-in applications.

Zoom

Zoom is a built-in magnifier that works wherever you are in iOS, from Mail and Safari to the Home and Lock screens. And it works with all apps from the App Store. A simple double-tap with three fingers instantly zooms in 200 percent, and you can adjust the magnification between 100 and 500 percent.

If you can't read the thin fonts after that, then either these are the thinnest fonts that have ever existed, or perhaps you're not really giving it a chance.

Either way, you are not required to like it. I'm just skeptical that iOS6 was perfect for you, but iOS7 was unusable.

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Your car develops a problem due to a flaw that the manufacturer is responsible for, the manufacturer develops a fix for it and says you can have it for free, but as part of the fix they will also need to paint your car some other color and add some designs. The color and designs don't change the functionality and usefulness of your car, and your car will be back in working order, but you try and see how many people will think it would be acceptable to get their car repainted with some designs just to get some flaw that the manufacturer introduced fixed.

Thank you for responding to my questions. As best as I can tell, you are arguing for aesthetics. Since the physical hardware is not changing, and you can still set background pictures, and third party icons are out of anyone's control, the aesthetics you are arguing for are the iOS system icons. So I don't think that is equivalent to repainting the whole car.

 

[sebastian...]

Why doesn't Apple change the fundamental functionality of their simple, streamlined software update feature that simply points at the latest available software version of the device in question? Because 99.99% of their user base are 100% happy that it is that easy, and frankly I am happy that Apple does not design their mobile systems to try to cater to the 0.01% of its ultra-tech savvy users who want to have a choice just for the sake of it.

Yes, but it's not 99.99 %. And frankly I think it would be impossible for Apple or any company to design something that would please 99.99% of it's users. Because design is subjective.

What colors do people prefer best ? White ? Black ? Blue ? red ? How about you ? Would you paint your house black ? Why not ? Would you dress in black only ? Why not ? I bet there are a lot of people who would dress that way.

And btw those 80% ios 7 users statistics are the users visiting the App Store in only one week ! Perhaps it was picked the most convenient week. And it's logical that ios 6 and 5 users will visit far less the App Store. So it's possible there are in fact far more users on ios 6 than Apple would like. So that's why they are so desperate with these crazy initiatives.

Because?

See the answer up with the colors and people's preferences.

 

[C DM]

They support the iPhones that they sold for years. They did not sell you iOS6 as a separate product that needs to be supported. This is Microsoft's model, but it is not Apple's.

They support older iPhones by providing the latest iOS, in this case iOS7, for them.

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Except that Apple has been doing this with iOS, consistently, for the last 7 years. Why in the world would they change now?

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This is not Apple's screw up. This is the security system working exactly as intended.

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Apple has won awards for their work in making iOS accessible for people with visual impairment. From Apple's site:

Font Adjustments

When you activate Larger Dynamic Type, the text inside Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, Notes, and even some third party apps, is converted to a larger, easier-to-read size. And you can choose bold text to make the text heavier across a range of built-in applications.

Zoom

Zoom is a built-in magnifier that works wherever you are in iOS, from Mail and Safari to the Home and Lock screens. And it works with all apps from the App Store. A simple double-tap with three fingers instantly zooms in 200 percent, and you can adjust the magnification between 100 and 500 percent.

If you can't read the thin fonts after that, then either these are the thinnest fonts that have ever existed, or perhaps you're not really giving it a chance.

Either way, you are not required to like it. I'm just skeptical that iOS6 was perfect for you, but iOS7 was unusable.

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Thank you for responding to my questions. As best as I can tell, you are arguing for aesthetics. Since the physical hardware is not changing, and you can still set background pictures, and third party icons are out of anyone's control, the aesthetics you are arguing for are the iOS system icons. So I don't think that is equivalent to repainting the whole car.

So Apple's poor coding that led to a plain stupid SSL error that in turn resulted in these other issues like FaceTime getting broken is not actually something that Apple themselves caused? It's Apple's fault it's the way it is now.

They would change now because now is when they are dealing with things they themselves messed up and need to find a better way of dealing with them. This wasn't the case as much before but clearly now it is with their screw ups. Companies and their systems evolve based on what they encounter and how they deal with it--sitting as before and relying on years old methods doesn't always cut it.

And yes if people want to argue that no functionality is lost and all that and just a different look is there with iOS 7 then that is analogous to reprinting a car where nothing else really about the car's functionality or usefulness is changed except the looks basically--a change from the way you got it originally and liked to something you don't really wan for care for.

 

[sebastian...]

From my cold dead hands cooky!

From my cold dead hands!

I think you meant

Where's your sense of elegance ? Plus it's much more visible that way

 

[parajba]

I'm on 6.1.3, iPhone 4, refusing to upgrade to iOS7 because it's too slow and laggy on my hardware. I would love to have iOS7 but I'm afraid that it will become unusable.

 

[Dave.UK]

Well then as I said up thread if some people are so upset about this they should get a lawyer and sue Apple. Complaining here isn't going to get them FaceTime on their device with iOS 6 aesthetic. Or maybe they need to go Android where I'm sure there is an iOS 6 "theme" they could apply to their UI

Thanks for the legal advice, but you dont need a lawyer in the UK to deal with a situation like this. It would be handled by the Small Claims Court.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Yes, but it's not 99.99 %. And frankly I think it would be impossible for Apple or any company to design something that would please 99.99% of it's users. Because design is subjective.

What colors do people prefer best ? White ? Black ? Blue ? red ? How about you ? Would you paint your house black ? Why not ? Would you dress in black only ? Why not ? I bet there are a lot of people who would dress that way.

And btw those 80% ios 7 users statistics are the users visiting the App Store in only one week ! Perhaps it was picked the most convenient week. And it's logical that ios 6 and 5 users will visit far less the App Store. So it's possible there are in fact far more users on ios 6 than Apple would like. So that's why they are so desperate with these crazy initiatives.

I was referring to software update support, not GUI design, although I think we agree on that bit, it is highly subjective, and you are absolutely right there. Apple's made a choice to cater to the average consumer, who represents the vast majority of its customer base. The average consumer wants to be on the latest version of the software, and be included in the newest features, but doesn't want to have to buy a new device to do so. They are willing to make a slight trade-off in performance to achieve this.

Obviously there are going to be those who are adamant about not having to take that slight trade-off, but they are in a small minority, and Apple has to make a choice during the development of every new major release. What is the oldest device we will target for this version? iOS 8 will be designed around the hardware that will be in the iPhone 6 and next gen iPad's. But they will also take into consideration the cut-off for the legacy devices, and the hardware they have. my guess being iPad 4/1st gen iPad mini, iPhone 5, and iPod Touch 5th gen (maybe).

What they probably will never do is change the utterly simple way their system update feature works. It will never give the user a choice, it will always just point to the latest version of the software their device is capable of running. This sort of paradigm will probably start occurring on the OSX side as well, now that they have gone free with those major version updates as well.

At launch they will announce what devices will be supported by the new major version release, and they will continue to release security and bug fix updates for older major release versions, but those will not be available to users who are on devices capable of running the latest major release version.

In this way it frees them up in several ways to continue to push forward and innovate. On the one hand they don't have to worry nearly as much about average consumer user error, meaning they won't have to field support tickets generated by someone who have applied the wrong update for whatever reason. On the other hand they don't have to worry about too many hardware configurations, because they know exactly what devices will be running what version of their software. This is a huge advantage when the goal is to keep unnecessary bloat and inefficiencies out of the OS, as well as when troubleshooting user support tickets.

 

[shandyman]

Yes, but it's not 99.99 %. And frankly I think it would be impossible for Apple or any company to design something that would please 99.99% of it's users. Because design is subjective.

What colors do people prefer best ? White ? Black ? Blue ? red ? How about you ? Would you paint your house black ? Why not ? Would you dress in black only ? Why not ? I bet there are a lot of people who would dress that way.

And btw those 80% ios 7 users statistics are the users visiting the App Store in only one week ! Perhaps it was picked the most convenient week. And it's logical that ios 6 and 5 users will visit far less the App Store. So it's possible there are in fact far more users on ios 6 than Apple would like. So that's why they are so desperate with these crazy initiatives.

Apple can also see how many devices are activated on iOS 7, from when someone updates, so don't just have to base it on App Store figures. If there's so many people that are unhappy with Apple, how come they topped a customer satisfaction survey recently? Again, that just goes to show that the iOS 7 haters are just a minority, just very vocal.

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I'm on 6.1.3, iPhone 4, refusing to upgrade to iOS7 because it's too slow and laggy on my hardware. I would love to have iOS7 but I'm afraid that it will become unusable.

They shouldn't have included the iPhone 4 in iOS 7, it runs, but there is some noticeable slow down. It's not unusable, just really slow. The 4S should have been the cut off point.