iOS 7.1, Where Art Thou?

[MikhailT]

The thing is, even if huge chunks of of the OS had to be rewritten, that still shouldn't require nearly as much work as iOS 7 required in the first place. After all, that was virtually a ground-up rewrite of previous iOS versions, plus it had all sorts of major new features. No matter how much had to be done to fix up the OS, it still doesn't make sense that 7.1 is taking longer than 7.0 took.

iOS 7 is not a complete rewrite/overhaul of iOS, it's just an upgrade to iOS 6 that came with a drastic interface change and support added for 64-bit CPUs, plus some changes to the APIs that allows for extended multi-tasking, AirPlay and other minor features.

If it was a rewrite, we'd see a much bigger news about it alas the Snow Leopard type of event with nearly no new features and everything would be more efficient.

There is no way that Apple can rewrite iOS in one to two years while at the same time do a complete GUI change and add support for 64-bit libraries along with those API revisions. That just doesn't happen, even for an experienced company like Apple.

Also such a rewrite would also impact OS X, since they both share a common codebase. We haven't seen much in Mavericks to suggest anything of a complete rewrite, just major improvements on several fronts.

However, I agree with you, they're messing up something to take this long to release iOS 7. iOS 7.1 beta 2 was the best release they've done with no issues. They definitely could've release it 2-3 months ago and work on 7.2 afterward. They chose not to. There have to be a few reasons for this and I doubt we'll ever know what happened here.

The way I use Safari (or any browser) for research I'm constantly switching tabs. It would be constantly reloading each tab, I'd be losing my info, then Safari would crash.

Regardless that made my iPad Air useless to me so I returned it. Long story short they tried to give me a new one, I replicated it on the floor models so they refunded my money. Now I'm using my iPad 3 which still reloads tabs too often. Point is you don't need to switch platforms for Apple to take a hit.

As you can tell by my sig I'm certainly an Apple supporter and every time I look for a new product I see if an Apple product can do what I'm looking for. Now I'm beginning to question doing that.

Apple products come at a very high premium vs the equivalent competition and I certainly don't mind paying that premium but I pay that expecting better performance and reliability. How can my years old Motorola Xoom have 20 tabs open, Pandora playing in the background, and the browser not reload tabs or crash but the latest and greatest of Apples tablets can not?

At this point having an iPad 3 and iPhone 4S the 7.1 update won't effect me too much so I don't care at this point. Just surprised is all....

Unless Apple do a complete overhaul of Mobile Safari and UIWebView in iOS, don't expect this to improve any time soon, Apple is incapable of fixing Mobile Safari on iOS because this has been problematic since the first release of iOS (iPhoneOS 1.0). They're not ramping up the RAM fast enough in iOS devices, 1GB is not enough to handle Mobile Safari the way we use it on desktop and Mobile Safari just eats up too much memory too quickly. There are several memory issues there and Apple haven't fixed any of them at all.

This is one of the reasons why I hate Apple's stupid restrictions on the JS engines. I bet you that if Chrome can provide a much better experience on iOS, Apple would get off its ass and provide a more efficient engine. They're slacking badly on iOS. They finally did a good job with Safari on Mavericks but they failed on iOS completely.

 

[nikicampos]

How funny would it be that yes, today we get a 7.1 update, but instead of the GM we get beta 6.

 

[MikhailT]

How funny would it be that yes, today we get a 7.1 update, but instead of the GM we get beta 6.

It's better than nothing, it means we're sooner to GM. We haven't seen any beta updates in over a month. Beta 5 was released on Feb 4th. What the heck is taking them this long?

 

[mattburley7]

It's better than nothing, it means we're sooner to GM. We haven't seen any beta updates in over a month. Beta 5 was released on Feb 4th.

this long period of nothing means either GM or public release is next, i would be shocked if we see beta 6.

 

[v1p]

Truth be told iOS 7.0 (7.0.6) is a total piece of crap. I'm not just waiting for iOS 7.1 - I'm dreaming of it!

 

[bit_bucket]

I would imagine the few people that purchase the new Volvos on sale with CarPlay today will be a tad disappointed when they plug in their 7.0.6 devices and it doesn't work. 7.x as well as Mavericks is real alpha compared to previous releases. Steve would not be happy with the quality and the lethargy in getting fixes out.

 

[cmChimera]

It was pretty obvious (to this professional developer at least) that iOS 7.0 was rushed. The point-releases up to this point in time have been to address the heavy-hitter issues.

I'm hoping that 7.1 (whenever it is released) will be the release that makes 7.x stable, solid, and optimized for all iOS devices it supports. I'd like Apple to take their time and do it right. I was "forced" to update my iPad 4 to 7.0.6 but would've preferred to stay with 6. I can't go back. So I want Apple to make 7.1 as high quality as 6.1.3 was for me.

If the ability to delete update installer images is indeed in 7.1 then that is a terrific first step in allowing customers to have a bit more control over when or if they choose to update.


The greater issue IMO is the fact that it takes Apple 6+ months into a 12 month OS release cycle to release a version that attains a particular level of quality.

6 months from now the cycle will start all over again. 6 months of dealing with OS issues, 6 months of stability....


Apple defenders claim that iOS 7 is working fine and that anyone who disagrees is hyper-sensitive drama queen who simply likes to complain. They fail to understand that every time that Apple releases a point-release update it is an acknowledgement on Apple's part that there are things needed to be addressed and corrected.

If Apple is admitting that there are problems why are the fanboys denying it?

Every piece of software has bugs. I don't think anyone is claiming that 7.0 is absolutely flawless, just that it is suitable for normal use.

That said, people should realize that this is likely the only time you'll have to deal with "rushed" (Your words, not mine) software. iOS 7 was a substantial change, which usually means it will have some growing pains. However iOS 8 and beyond (at least until the next overhaul), will build upon iOS 7, becoming increasingly stable and feature rich.

 

[thadoggfather]

It's better than nothing, it means we're sooner to GM. We haven't seen any beta updates in over a month. Beta 5 was released on Feb 4th. What the heck is taking them this long?

I agree with your other post beta 2 seems best from my experience and what I've read of other betas and having tried beta 3 also.

Beta 2 and jailbreak is perfect.

 

[thegrants82]

Steve would not be happy with the quality and the lethargy in getting fixes out.

Absolutely 100% agree. This would not be happening if Jobs was still at the wheel.

 

[sbailey4]

I have a $600 Air. It performs very well. I guess you better keep that anti freeze close. Putting a little umbrella in it may make it more festive for you.

Oh ok so since yours works there is no issue. Interesting that Apple says there is an issue and is addressing it with a software update. Glad you got one of the few that works. So I would not update if I were you and in fact since this thread disgusts you so much maybe you should participate in threads other than this one. Just a thought. And to be clear, I don't personally have any issues with any iPhones but 7.1 is certainly better than 7.0.4 was for various reasons and will be welcomed.

 

[MikhailT]

this long period of nothing means either GM or public release is next, i would be shocked if we see beta 6.

iOS 5.0 beta 7 took 34 days before beta 8 (GM) was released. iOS 3.0 beta 5 took 33 days before the next beta.

iOS 7.1 beta 1 and 2 each took 25 days before the next beta.

iOS entire release history is listed in this chart: http://www.thinkybits.com/blog/iOS-versions/

Anyway, I'm wouldn't be surprised at anything, iOS 7.1 is already the second longest beta version to the final version.

 

[Orlandoech]

It was pretty obvious (to this professional developer at least) that iOS 7.0 was rushed. The point-releases up to this point in time have been to address the heavy-hitter issues.

I'm hoping that 7.1 (whenever it is released) will be the release that makes 7.x stable, solid, and optimized for all iOS devices it supports. I'd like Apple to take their time and do it right. I was "forced" to update my iPad 4 to 7.0.6 but would've preferred to stay with 6. I can't go back. So I want Apple to make 7.1 as high quality as 6.1.3 was for me.

If the ability to delete update installer images is indeed in 7.1 then that is a terrific first step in allowing customers to have a bit more control over when or if they choose to update.


The greater issue IMO is the fact that it takes Apple 6+ months into a 12 month OS release cycle to release a version that attains a particular level of quality.

6 months from now the cycle will start all over again. 6 months of dealing with OS issues, 6 months of stability....


Apple defenders claim that iOS 7 is working fine and that anyone who disagrees is hyper-sensitive drama queen who simply likes to complain. They fail to understand that every time that Apple releases a point-release update it is an acknowledgement on Apple's part that there are things needed to be addressed and corrected.

If Apple is admitting that there are problems why are the fanboys denying it?

Couldnt agree more, especially about the fanboys... 60% of the time, every time, they're extremely irrational and illogical

 

[pooleman]

Oh ok so since yours works there is no issue. Interesting that Apple says there is an issue and is addressing it with a software update. Glad you got one of the few that works. So I would not update if I were you and in fact since this thread disgusts you so much maybe you should participate in threads other than this one. Just a thought. And to be clear, I don't personally have any issues with any iPhones but 7.1 is certainly better than 7.0.4 was for various reasons and will be welcomed.

Many on this thread are acting like 7.1 is the savior of all iOS issues. It won't be. No more than any other X.1 release has been.

 

[MikhailT]

Many on this thread are acting like 7.1 is the savior of all iOS issues. It won't be. No more than any other X.1 release has been.

It is for me already. Like I mentioned early, it practically dropped 99% of all the crashes and 100% of the re-springs compared to iOS 7.0.x on all of my iOS devices with 64-bit CPUs

 

[thadoggfather]

Let's face it: no matter which version of 7.x you've been on up until this point (a 7.0 beta, 7.0.x GM or 7.1 beta) we've all been beta testers

 

[sracer]

Every piece of software has bugs. I don't think anyone is claiming that 7.0 is absolutely flawless, just that it is suitable for normal use.

And I didn't say that anyone did. Why did you inject hyperbole? I specifically stated that Apple defenders claimed that "iOS 7 is working fine"... I never said that Apple defenders claimed that iOS is absolutely flawless.

It would've been helpful if you addressed what I actually wrote, not what you thought I wrote.

That said, people should realize that this is likely the only time you'll have to deal with "rushed" (Your words, not mine) software. iOS 7 was a substantial change, which usually means it will have some growing pains. However iOS 8 and beyond (at least until the next overhaul), will build upon iOS 7, becoming increasingly stable and feature rich.

How do you know that the things you claimed in this paragraph are true? You are certainly free to have blind faith in Apple. But setting that (having blind faith) as the standard (by your statement that "people should realize") for Apple customers is a bit much.

 

[mattburley7]

i thought iOS 7.1 was also supposed to be released this week not only because of the iTunes festival app but also carplay? like someone said if i got one of the new cars with this feature today or tomorrow and cant use it because it relies on 7.1 i would be pissed.

 

[thadoggfather]

How do you know that the things you claimed in this paragraph are true? You are certainly free to have blind faith in Apple. But setting that (having blind faith) as the standard (by your statement that "people should realize") for Apple customers is a bit much.

Cognitive dissonance is a powerful and rampant thing in society amongst brand fanboys and political party blind loyalists and close minded religious but unspiritual brings. IMO.

 

[bbrks]

Good god and we are only talking about.....well, kind of moderate upgrade, which will probably solve few unbearable problems

 

[CosmoPilot]

Save some mud slinging for tomorrow guys!

 

[mattburley7]

Save some mud slinging for tomorrow guys!

meaning? it wont be out this week?

 

[Tyler23]

meaning? it wont be out this week?

I think he means that everyone should stop being so aggressive and confrontational, it's just an iOS update and none of know when it will be out. It could literally be any time today, tomorrow, or next week.

 

[white4s]

damn never seen dudes sweat an OS upgrade like this

 

[mattburley7]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1713706/

this has me thinking it could be end of the month

 

[cmChimera]

And I didn't say that anyone did. Why did you inject hyperbole? I specifically stated that Apple defenders claimed that "iOS 7 is working fine"... I never said that Apple defenders claimed that iOS is absolutely flawless.

It would've been helpful if you addressed what I actually wrote, not what you thought I wrote.




How do you know that the things you claimed in this paragraph are true? You are certainly free to have blind faith in Apple. But setting that (having blind faith) as the standard (by your statement that "people should realize") for Apple customers is a bit much.

You criticized two points about my post. That I unnecessarily injected hyperbole, and that I made an unqualified statement because of "blind faith" in Apple. Let's go over your posts shall we?

Apple defenders claim that iOS 7 is working fine and that anyone who disagrees is hyper-sensitive drama queen who simply likes to complain.

Hyperbole much?

They fail to understand that every time that Apple releases a point-release update it is an acknowledgement on Apple's part that there are things needed to be addressed and corrected.

By saying that Apple releasing point updates is some sort of tacit admission of Apple that they messed up, I derived my opinion that you imply that software releases should be flawless, or that anyone that enjoys iOS 7 thinks it is flawless.

The greater issue IMO is the fact that it takes Apple 6+ months into a 12 month OS release cycle to release a version that attains a particular level of quality.

What level of quality? This seems like a subjective expectation rather than an objective one. In my subjective opinion, this is an unqualified statement. You are not an Apple engineer, nor are you privy to Apple's software release schedule or policies. In short, you don't know what you're talking about.

6 months from now the cycle will start all over again. 6 months of dealing with OS issues, 6 months of stability....

Yet another unqualified statement. Also hyperbole, but who's keeping track at this point?

If Apple is admitting that there are problems why are the fanboys denying it?

Ah, here it is! This is certainly not hyperbole right? No one that thinks iOS 7 is fine could possibly be anything other than a fanboy! And you, being a professional developer, just know so much more than them. All you can do is pity the poor fanboys who can't see the increasingly evident issues that iOS 7 has without the eyes of a professional developer.

I'm more than open to have a discussion, but your posts are borderline trolling in their pretentiousness. People like iOS 7 and think it works fine because, to them, it does. Nothing more.