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iOS 6 Users on Devices Able to Run iOS 7 Must Upgrade to Fix FaceTime
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iOS 6 was announced June 2012 and released Sept 2012. iOS 7 was released in Sept 2013.
That's one way of looking at it, though the lack of support for a 2003 G4 isn't why I'm bothered. What does annoy me is that I bought a product only three years ago (the phone), and now they're removing capabilities from it... As far as I am concerned, such an expensive thing as an Apple smartphone should work as it was sold for more than three years. I guess some people just have lower expectations.
Yes, I get exactly what you are saying. Apple did a very satisfactory job supporting your G4, but not in supporting your iPhone 4S.
I understand and appreciate what you are saying, and I get that this is the main argument you and almost all others who are upset at having to update to iOS 7(I won't say upgrade, because I appreciate that is subjective) are making.
I am not advocating for Apple in the sense that I am saying that the paradigm shift in structure of device support between their mobile devices and their laptop and desktop computers is good or the best way to do it - what I am saying is that I acknowledge that Apple made a choice very early on about how they were going to support mobile devices and software compared to their conventional computer products.
What Apple recognised in looking at this type of market and how the business practice had built itself up, they saw that it was based on cellular carriers and the contracts they had between their customers. They most likely saw that the device upgrade cycle coincided with the conclusion of a binding contract term, when a customer either decided to sign up again with that carrier or switch, and that carriers typically used either the financing or offering of new hardware as an enticement to sign that 24 month contract. The vast majority of smart phone sales happen in connection with the signing the binding contracts even today, although "unlocked" purchases are becoming more frequent.
All the other manufacturers used this as a way to base their business model. They could easily outsource the software part (i.e. Android in today's market) and either lay over software support to the software vendor, or leave the user to essentially fend for themselves.
Apple decided to negotiate hard with the carriers, and they also decided that they were going to support both their mobile hardware and software as long as possible, in contrast to almost all other players. They were going to do this by making it so easy and simple to apply software updates that even your great grandma could to it. They were going to make sure that as many devices as possible could run the latest versions of the software as possible, so they could show that they blow the competition out of the water when it comes to taking care of their customers. They were not going to leave devices behind.
The flip side to all of this, of course, is that as far a bug fixes and security updates goes, you as a customer are along for the ride, whether you like it or not. For the vast majority, this is only good news, they all feel like Apple is actually extending the life of their device, not decreasing it.
Apple gets to report record percentages of users on the latest OS, record amounts of legacy devices also able to and actively running the latest version with most of the up to date features that entails. It makes Android look like a wasteland of complication and confusion by contrast.
Now one can debate on other dubious practices Apple might use to get there, like requiring upgrades for service, etc. or require a major version upgrade for the relatively simple security update that this thread is all about. But that is all in the name of a simple, streamlined user experience that my daughter already had mastered the basics of at 14 months of age, and is also the main reason why Apple is not going to change the fundamental way they distribute OS patches on their mobile devices. Indeed I foresee this paradigm shift bleeding over into their traditional computer products as well now that they have also gone free.
One of the major reasons they require updates and backups of your phone when you leave it in for service for any reason whatsoever is because there is a high likelihood that the customer will not get back the same device that they sent in, but instead receive a replacement device back. It has less to do with boosting their conversion numbers than with not having to be responsible for returning the replacement unit back to you in the exact same way in which it was left to them.
Also, not to the poster I am replying to, but to those who seem to confuse the issue here - it is not a matter of a certificate having an expiration date, artificial or otherwise. It is a matter of that certificate being older than the date of the latest security patch. The patch isn't the certificate itself, it is the (in this case) fix to the SSL code embedded in the OS that is fixed, and the certificate has the date of the fix, so that the app knows that the latest security patches have been applied before allowing the connection to initiate.
A lot of us have nothing against OS upgrades per se. It's their being compulsory that we power users don't want / need.
Let Apple distribute their OS upgrades as before, but by also making them optional upon, say, restoring in iTunes or when getting your device serviced. Now in both cases you must upgrade, no matter what you want.
This would in no way have any negative influence on the non-tech-savvy's iOS usage - they'd upgrade as before. It's us advanced users that
- would like to continue having access to features simply not available after upgrade (the ability to jailbreak; taken-away features like 60p video on the 4S or simply artificially slowed-down device like the 3GS on 6.x or the 3G on 4.x)
- or prefer the old version for other reasons (legacy app compatibility, appearance etc.).
All the other players in the mobile field, both minor and major, do NOT have compulsory upgrades. You can simply stay away from their upgrades if you don't want to install them. Why can't Apple introduce optional upgrades, just like those manufacturers? Don't they realize they'll only alienate the tech-savvy, who, after getting fed up with Apple's stubborness, may switch to another platform entirely? Now that other platforms have enticing offers (unlike, say, 3-4 years ago WRT tablets), more and more geeks are getting fed up with Apple's practice.
Am I the only one...
As with most of the people here I am a "tech head". I spend my work day designing networks and securing others; all my devices are all utilized for this purpose.
As a result (since apple wont "let" me have a wifi analyzer or nmap on my iOS device because they are against the developer using their "private framework" ) I have had to jailbreak my iPhone. So ok I have had to live with a phone I had to take precautions with, and I'm ok with that.
Now they are telling me I can't use a part of my device that was built in unless I upgrade to a version of iOS that can't be jailbroken (currently) and to one I find just 'fugly'... I guess it really is time to move to (and recommend to my clients) that devices running the Android OS is a better bang for your buck cause Apple no longer cares for their clients!
Am I the only one that feels this way?
As with most of the people here I am a "tech head". I spend my work day designing networks and securing others; all my devices are all utilized for this purpose.
As a result (since apple wont "let" me have a wifi analyzer or nmap on my iOS device because they are against the developer using their "private framework" ) I have had to jailbreak my iPhone. So ok I have had to live with a phone I had to take precautions with, and I'm ok with that.
Now they are telling me I can't use a part of my device that was built in unless I upgrade to a version of iOS that can't be jailbroken (currently) and to one I find just 'fugly'... I guess it really is time to move to (and recommend to my clients) that devices running the Android OS is a better bang for your buck cause Apple no longer cares for their clients!
Am I the only one that feels this way?
It amazes me that the iMac 5,2 is still supported and able to run mavericks, since it is a product from 2007.
It's nice, but also nice that if you are running something like Lion or Mountain Lion on it you can still get important updates and not be required to upgrade to Mavericks.
It may not be a gun point, but filling up your phone with useless data (iOS upgrade) and then causing trouble for older iOS to make improvements to new iOS is really close to forcing an update.
Consider the new version of iOS 6 came out for iPod Touch 4G.
Also OS X, older versions are supported for a couple of years as the new one is rolled out.
iOS 7 broke things for my family, the gains came with a lot of pains.
I don't see how anyone can side with Apple on this one issue. To do so implies blind loyalism in my mind. This is clear-cut, black-and-white. So yes, we'll have to disagree.
I don't like to call anyone names. I used the term "apologist" because to me it seems more accurate and appropriate than the immature (and annoying) "fanboy". People here are "apologizing for Apple", and rationalizing their position. To be fair, I could be considered an Apple antagonist in this case.
I also used the term "love" loosely. Alas, the limitations of language.
I am frustrated with Apple, because I really liked their products. They were the best in the business, in my opinion, and brought me great joy to use, until now. Their recent moves seem reactionary and are, at the very least, perplexing to me. I think their moves towards "full-blown consumer-oriented company" is a mistake. Some of us want Apple Computer back. It never had to leave. Hell, they can do both!!
But, such is life. We lose (people/things), and we move on.
Thanks for an entertaining (and reasoned) discussion!
Not if one is objective about the situation.
There are a variety of reasons why people don't like iOS7. For some it is the looks. For others it is the performance issues. For still others it is simply that it is something new.
But the intellectually lazy/dishonest will look for the reason that is least defensible and paint everyone who doesn't like iOS7 with that brush.
This is not unique to Apple fans. Microsoft fans. Google fans. Amazon fans. Every group does it. I own devices from all those companies and because I'm not emotionally invested in the devices that I own, I get hit from all sides. LOL
Yours is actually a good suggestion. Putting the ability to choose which of the latest updates to install as a utility in iTunes would be a solution that would allow them to not touch how iOS pushes out OTA updates. However, your phone would still prompt you to move to the latest update of the latest major version release, regardless.
That Apple would do something like this, however, is highly unlikely. Since the introduction of the iPhone and iOS, Apple has shown a clear and consistent focus on the consumer, not the pro or "power user" (the usage of which is very loose on these forums) - this is not new, and will have frustrated you and those who feel the same for the last 7 years. Holding out hope that Apple will change that seems like a pipe dream. Especially as it starts to surface the longer this thread goes that a lost jailbreak is one of the main reasons for this. If you expect Apple to expend time and energy changing their systems in order to better serve their jailbreaking customer base, then I would really like to have some of what you're smoking.
Optional updates leaves the average consumer of a mobile device out to dry, leaving them unprotected from security threats they don't even know exist, because they don't read and couldn't care less about the tech section of the newspaper.
As for requiring the latest software update to send in your phone for service, like I said in an earlier reply on this thread, a lot of times you will get a replacement device in return, which will ship to you with the latest updates pre-installed. They aren't going to, and probably can't, ship you a new or refurbished unit with a random older image of the same version of the software installed.
No you are not the only one that feels this way, but you are going to have to face the fact that you are in a very small minority, and quite frankly, one that Apple doesn't care about very much, if at all. As I said, jailbreaking ability is a reasoning that couldn't lie farther from Apple's radar - in fact Apple would completely reject your phone for any kind of support or service if it became known to them that you have jailbroken it at any point in its history, and would be well within their rights to do that.
Again, it seems like you guys are in fact perfect candidates for another, more open platform. You all know Apple will never cater to your demographic. What is it that has kept you all with them for so long? Is it the superior hardware? The superior user experience? Maybe the superior quality apps selection? I guess you have to balance all that with the fact that it is always going to be a very closed vertical system, and make a choice after weighing all the pros and cons.
Does not iOS purge the extra unneeded data after the update is complete? Honest question I don't know the answer to.
Again, comparing how OSX and iOS are supported is not comparable. iOS support has always been the way it is, it isn't as though it has changed suddenly after 7 years. When iOS 7 came out, it was announce that the 3GS and the 4th gen Touch were being axed from updating to it. Apple pushed out the security patch found to those two devices as 6.1.6. They did not "make trouble" for older iOS versions, that trouble had always been there, and they fixed it.
For better or for worse the mobile world has an update cycle that is much faster right now than traditional computers. This is based on the carrier centric business model, and the fact that mobile device technology is still moving so fast compared to the traditional PC market. Whereas a computer often lasts 5-7 years or longer before being replaced by a consumer, the average life of a smartphone, across all manufacturers, is less than 3 years. We can all argue the merits of this, but all the manufacturers operate based on this fact, and OF COURSE they all work to perpetuate it, because it drives their sales year after year! They are all in fact publicly traded businesses, so if you want to blame someone look no further than Wall Street and the powerful investor groups.
Apple actually has a much better track record of supporting older devices than anybody else by a fair margin. If in your opinion that means gimping their devices by requiring them all to run the latest software, well you have every right to that opinion. The fact that malware is all but non-existent on Apple's software platforms speaks for itself. One of the biggest reasons there is so much malware out there on all of those other platforms is exactly because they have optional only updates. The holes never get plugged because the average joe consumer doesn't know enough and couldn't care less about updating their software, and since the holes never get plugged properly, the ill-intentioned hackers can spend time and resources exploiting those holes to the fullest effect. It is only the "pros" and "tech geeks" who benefit there, and leaves the vast majority of actual users out in the cold.
You have every right not to agree with mandatory updates, and see only the downsides for you, and feel like Apple is forcing you to upgrade your hardware by intentionally gimping your device, but that is just a very narrow cynical view of the situation. You also have every right to take your business elsewhere in the future. It is your money after all, and your choice.
Um, No. Thanks but son only uses FaceTime and I already updated even though I preferred not to.
Why dosent your son just make a skype account and use skype. I'm pretty sure that would be better than the current situation.
And especially nice that you can try out Mavericks, and then re-install Snow Leopard when you see how terrible the newer OS is (if you have an experience like I've had with Mavericks). With iOS, you don't have the option of reverting your device to the state it was in when you bought it!
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I can't speak for older hardware, but I bought a MacBook Pro (non retina, mid 2012) that shipped with lion and it currently runs mavericks beautifully. What problems do you have?
The main issue I have with apple software is FCP X being a system hog. I can have autodesk maya open on one display, and a safari open on another and the mac runs fine, but if I run FCP X on it's own... It lags, and crashes.
Kind of sad when I had my 4S for a year and never crashed with iOS 6 while my 5s crashed a total of 5 times in the course of 3 days on iOS 7...
All the while a family member decided to update the phone without consulting the family's guru and come back to complain about the issues with the 4S on 7.
Yet, somehow I am wrong about how bad 7 is according to someone who does not know me or have not seen my devices before and after.
It is a fact. There is such thing as good vs bad design. Also, according to dictionary.com, "damn" is a curse word.
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Skype has horrible video and sound quality and has been really buggy in my experience. More importantly, it doesn't work with your existing contacts and doesn't work with Siri, system-wide name/number recognition, etc.
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I know the question wasn't necessarily directed at me, but yes, I would. Google doesn't randomly kill off your existing communications or leave SSL bugs unfixed in older versions. Too bad their software and the phones running it are junk.
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The Music app is the worst thing about iOS 7. It's like they TRIED to make it bad. I've seen better GUI in the 90s. Yes, I hate it when any company tries to "fix" something that's perfect. Google has also been doing that a lot with YouTube, enough to make me quit my channel for good because it's no longer fun.
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Agreed. And Mavericks has been bad for me too. It added a few features I don't want, removed more features than it added, and was far slower than Mountain Lion and even Lion. Thank goodness for downgrades.
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Sorry Apple, you just drove me to the competitors. I just ordered a Nexus 5 32GB. Nice knowing ya!
iOS 5 was in use from June 2012 to September 2012, then iOS 6 from then until iOS 7. The truth is it is pretty old and from when Scott Forstall was there.
I still like iOS 6 and 7 because they both get things right that the other does wrong.
Its a shame how ignorant some people post comments under this article.
Multiple Users posted valid reasons to not adapt to iOS7 but mostly every one of them were attacked by others with "You must be kidding?" "Just update" and so on.
For those people: If you feel fine using iOS7, its good. But don't missionarize others that they have too.
Also there were some comments about lawsuits and that they will be dropped immediatly, because you can simply update for a fix. There was a lawsuit some months ago from someone against apple about the iOS7 update file on his device and the space it consumes on his device. Pretty much the same predicament.
Greetings
David
Multiple Users posted valid reasons to not adapt to iOS7 but mostly every one of them were attacked by others with "You must be kidding?" "Just update" and so on.
For those people: If you feel fine using iOS7, its good. But don't missionarize others that they have too.
Also there were some comments about lawsuits and that they will be dropped immediatly, because you can simply update for a fix. There was a lawsuit some months ago from someone against apple about the iOS7 update file on his device and the space it consumes on his device. Pretty much the same predicament.
Greetings
David
Bad comparison. FaceTime is an online service. ALL Windows 98 online applications preinstalled are today even BROKEN or ask you to upgrade your OS.
Pretty sure online services that exist today still that were in Windows 98 like let's day Mail would still work. A service that still works today should still work in an older OS.
But yeah, Windows 98 is dated just because of the technological jumps since then. So perhaps not the best comparison. Certainly not even close to being the case with iOS 6 for a while really.