iOS 8.4 in Development With Possible Support for New Music Service

[manu chao]

While they're at it, iTunes should be broken up on the Mac into multiple apps: music, videos, podcasts, iTunes Store (easily accessible from other apps) and a dedicated sync app that also runs in the background so I can drag and drop files to/from my iPhone.

And where on the iPhone would files dragged and dropped to it should land? Each app has its own container on iOS devices. You would have to scroll through a list of apps (as you do now in the Apps section in the iTunes syncing part) to select the app you into which container you want to drop the files.

 

[cjmillsnun]

So much iOS news today. So would 8.4 come out around WWDC, with iOS 9 in September? They could show the new music service and have it immediately available.

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I doubt that would happen, because that would drop support for the iPhone 5, and in doing so they would drop support for the 4S and the 5. Usually they would only drop support for one generation. iOS 10 (X?) will be all 64-bit.

They're still selling the 5 as the 5C. Expect updates up to and including iOS 10 for the 5C, which will be 32 bit.

 

[sbailey4]

Haha. Have we ever got to a x.5 with iOS? Or x.4?

Version 4 got to 4.3.5 with a lot leading up to that. Thats about as close tho. Interesting they are skipping the 8.2.x (patch versions) and going right to the minor versions for 8.2, 8.3 and 8.4. That could change of course.

 

[Rogifan]

So when do we get Hey Siri without eating to be connected to power?

 

[mariusignorello]

Eh... iOS-news day...?

iOS 8.2 beta
iOS 8.3 beta
iOS 8.4 beta
iOS 9 beta

Never seen that before!

And make sure you test and code your apps to work seamlessly with each one, to be released a week apart.

 

[the8thark]

With Possible Support for New Music Service

This is where Jimmy Irvine comes into play.

 

[Keirasplace]

Judging by the earlier story, iOS 9 is going to be the "Snow Leopard" of iOS, focusing on under the hood optimisations and performance tweaks rather than features.

About time too if you ask me. Long overdue.

Although I find the fact iOS 8.2 is in beta 5, iOS 8.3 is in beta 1, and iOS 8.4 is under development to be utterly confusing and sums up iOS 8 in its entirety: a mess.

How is it a mess? They are adding modular features with each of those releases and they are at different stage of testing/devellopment. You prefer they sit on their arse like before IOS 7 for 4 years.

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Apple needs to take a page from Motorola and start decoupling these apps from the operating system. Even the Android Wear app is separate from the primary OS. I’ve told my wife not to upgrade unless I give the green light but it’s gotten ridiculous with all these operating system updates. On one side my Note 4 only received 2 updates since I got it new but with my wife’s iPhone 5 it’s been updated countless times after iOS 8.0 dropped and both of us are getting tired of it.

Each updates add a new service, and you can refuse the update now. So, not sure why you'd get tired of it. There is no regression in performance (more like improvements) and the updates don't really take a long time to do. Start time in the late evening and you get the phone back before bedtime.

Android leaves massive security holes and bugs for months on end, often because your not getting ANY updates when those holes exist. You really think that's better?

Apple's advantage is tight integration of hardware / OS / services, that's why you get the overall updates. They need to do deep changes to add the new services. Android because its more decoupled form the hardware can afford to deliver more high level updates; I don't really see that as much of an advantage since it often means their services don't work as well.

 

[Tech198]

It always starts off with the re-branding...... then we go from there.

 

[flaw600]

You misunderstand. Your paying for them to advertise music to you. When you find something you like you buy it. Kids today are dumb.

Very untrue. I think you're talking about iTunes Radio. Beats, there is no buying songs. There's downloading them for offline play but you don't own the song. Whereas in Radio, they have a playlist and an option to buy the song for offline play.

 

[thadoggfather]

Maybe there will be iOS 8 fragmentation cause people are too afraid updating will break more things-- a healthy dose of skepticism.

Sad 8.3 might be the only bug fix dedicated major update for all of iOS 8? The rest based on apple pay the watch and beats. More $$$ and more crap firmwares shoehorning it in.

iOS 8 snow leopard (may be a mythical unicorn given they suck at software consistently these days) I mean iOS 9 I look forward to you

 

[Keirasplace]

Maybe there will be iOS 8 fragmentation cause people are too afraid updating will break more things-- a healthy dose of skepticism.

Sad 8.3 might be the only bug fix dedicated major update for all of iOS 8? The rest based on apple pay the watch and beats. More $$$ and more crap firmwares shoehorning it in.

iOS 8 snow leopard (may be a mythical unicorn given they suck at software consistently these days) I mean iOS 9 I look forward to you

Considering Snow leopard took 22 months to get right and previous and following releases were worse, not sure why you think it was better then. Google a bit and inform yourself.

 

[thadoggfather]

Considering Snow leopard took 22 months to get right and previous and following releases were worse, not sure why you think it was better then. Google a bit and inform yourself.

Most people recognize SL as a really sound OS. I recall the GM being a breath of fresh air over Leopard in my uses.

It's only second to 10.4 (Tiger) that OS was crazy good Nothing could beat that coupled with a cMBP 15", pure class envy lust machine in its time.

Mavericks is third for me.

Yosemite, not even in the same league.

But why are we talking OS X? This is iOS beta this thread is in reference to.

 

[imaginex20]

I think Apple will have a content distribution deal with all the major cellular carriers to allow listening to Beats streams without any costs to your data cap for $4.99-7.99.

 

[rdlink]

For as much as they spent to acquire Beats, I'm sure they will make a big deal out of it.

Personally I'm just tired of paying more monthly fees for various services.

I agree. I tried to use Beats under a trial subscription. The interface was kludgy and confusing. I really wasn't interested in paying for that interface. And to be honest iTunes Radio does it just fine for me.

 

[Black Magic]

Apple needs to take a page from Motorola and start decoupling these apps from the operating system. Even the Android Wear app is separate from the primary OS. I’ve told my wife not to upgrade unless I give the green light but it’s gotten ridiculous with all these operating system updates. On one side my Note 4 only received 2 updates since I got it new but with my wife’s iPhone 5 it’s been updated countless times after iOS 8.0 dropped and both of us are getting tired of it.

I think you are looking at this completely wrong. How can having a 3 year old device that still gets OS updates and releases possibly a bad thing? This means the $300+ you spent on the device a few years back is still relevant and supported to this day. You get security updates, new features, and bug fixes free of charge and you can choose not to install them.

If you look at the competition, there are many Android devices out there stuck on older versions with owners dying for one more update. Their devices are irrelevant shortly after release and they will need to purchase a new device to get the latest update and bug fixes. Yep, some devices are stuck on 4.4 and will never ever see 4.4.4.

I'm also supposed that you are playing OS Update Gatekeeper for your wife. It literally takes about two to 3 taps to install an update OTA and a few minutes to spare. I assume you are trying to protect her from an 8.0.1 type release which is fair but that type of update is the exception and not the rule. Getting updates should be considered a good thing and means you are getting more bang for your buck.

Updates are considered progress and helps moves things forward. Don't be afraid of change and please don't tell me you are too lazy to perform 2-3 taps on your iPhone.

 

[Zxxv]

Very untrue. I think you're talking about iTunes Radio. Beats, there is no buying songs. There's downloading them for offline play but you don't own the song. Whereas in Radio, they have a playlist and an option to buy the song for offline play.

You don't understand what I wrote. Think about it this way. Your favourite clothes shop charges you to enter. You can try on any of the clothes in the shop. If you see anything you like you buy them.

Understand now?

Your paying for them to advertise to you.

 

[tmanto02]

It's our banks, they need to agree to it, and like the big four want to skim of any profit to another multinational!

Yeah I figured that was the case. It's frustrating having the tech in my phone and not being able to use it for anything though! I also feel like it would be a much bigger priority for Apple if we had a larger population however...

 

[shandyman]

iOS 8.4 in Development With Possible Support for New Music Service

They're still selling the 5 as the 5C. Expect updates up to and including iOS 10 for the 5C, which will be 32 bit.

Or they can just give it 9.X, leaving 10 as 64bit. They've done updates like that before (ok, security fixes as a x.x.x release, but still some precedent).

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You don't understand what I wrote. Think about it this way. Your favourite clothes shop charges you to enter. You can try on any of the clothes in the shop. If you see anything you like you buy them.



Understand now?



Your paying for them to advertise to you.

Apart from you don't have to buy any songs. You can't buy on beats, you're only paying to stream. There's no paying twice.

 

[Zxxv]

Apart from you don't have to buy any songs.

your still not getting it are you

sleep on it or ask your parents to explain what I've said to you.

 

[shandyman]

iOS 8.4 in Development With Possible Support for New Music Service

your still not getting it are you

sleep on it or ask your parents to explain what I've said to you.

I get what you're saying, but it does not apply to Beats. If you said iTunes Radio, then you'd be right.

Also, proving you're immature there by asking my parents to explain it to me. I have a masters degree, so think I'm of decent intelligence. I'm in my late 30's. My parents are dead; you inconsiderate fool.

 

[chucker23n1]

It's only second to 10.4 (Tiger) that OS was crazy good Nothing could beat that coupled with a cMBP 15", pure class envy lust machine in its time.

I had one of those MBPs, and I had Tiger both on an iBook and that MBP. While it laid good groundwork for many things (such as launchd, Core Image and Core Video) and added cool end-user features (such as Dictionary and Spotlight), it perhaps wasn't quite as good as you remember. Spotlight rarely worked reliably for me; it wasn't until about Mountain Lion that I felt that Spotlight's performance had become predictable and acceptable.

 

[Zxxv]

I get what you're saying, but it does not apply to Beats. If you said iTunes Radio, then you'd be right.

Also, proving you're immature there by asking my parents to explain it to me. I have a masters degree, so think I'm of decent intelligence. I'm in my late 30's. My parents are dead; you inconsiderate fool.

so if you hear a song on BEATS that you like you go and buy it right? so I stand by my original comment, your paying for them to advertise to you. Where you choose to buy the song is irrelevant as most shop around for the cheapest place to buy.

I also don't think I am being childish asking you to get your parents to explain what I wrote to you. The reason is they are maybe of an age to understand what I'm saying because they come from a different time.

And calling an inconsiderate fool for not being a ****ing mindreader shows your immaturity.

Hang on while I tune my mindreading device in to know if you are married or not...hmmm getting a signal now...3, 2,...

 

[cdm283813]

I think you are looking at this completely wrong. How can having a 3 year old device that still gets OS updates and releases possibly a bad thing? This means the $300+ you spent on the device a few years back is still relevant and supported to this day. You get security updates, new features, and bug fixes free of charge and you can choose not to install them.

If you look at the competition, there are many Android devices out there stuck on older versions with owners dying for one more update. Their devices are irrelevant shortly after release and they will need to purchase a new device to get the latest update and bug fixes. Yep, some devices are stuck on 4.4 and will never ever see 4.4.4.

I'm also supposed that you are playing OS Update Gatekeeper for your wife. It literally takes about two to 3 taps to install an update OTA and a few minutes to spare. I assume you are trying to protect her from an 8.0.1 type release which is fair but that type of update is the exception and not the rule. Getting updates should be considered a good thing and means you are getting more bang for your buck.

Updates are considered progress and helps moves things forward. Don't be afraid of change and please don't tell me you are too lazy to perform 2-3 taps on your iPhone.

It's rare but don't you remember the update that borked certain phones after 8.x was released? That's why I don't let my wife update. I wait a few days to make sure that the coast is clear. And I'm not complaining that Apple is keeping the platform up to date; just that there's so many of these updates and so many of these beta's floating around. Plus you can't say for certain that a update that fixes bugs would not introduce new bugs as well. Another reason why I wait. Apple does not make it easy to roll back so I personally don't see the harm in waiting. My wife is not tech savvy to understand a good update from a bad one. She doesn't visit or even cares to visit a tech site like Mac rumors to know what's going on.
I don't have a iPhone today because of all bugs I personally encountered when I had the iPhone 6 for 7 days. Just look at the number of updates after iOS 8 came out; it's a buggy mess. Why do Apple devices like my wife's iPhone 5 still have bugs after 3 years? Tells me that the software developers over at Apple are incompetent. So why should I blindly jump off the bridge without knowing that it's safe and have someone criticise me for not doing so?
Not saying that Android Lollipop is bug free but because I'm stuck on Kitkat it's been super reliable for me. It's a curse not to have the latest version but a blessing that the old version has been reliable. By the time my Note 4 receives Lollipop all the obvious bugs should be exterminated. A blessing and a curse.

 

[Keirasplace]

It's rare but don't you remember the update that borked certain phones after 8.x was released? That's why I don't let my wife update. I wait a few days to make sure that the coast is clear. And I'm not complaining that Apple is keeping the platform up to date; just that there's so many of these updates and so many of these beta's floating around. Plus you can't say for certain that a update that fixes bugs would not introduce new bugs as well. Another reason why I wait. Apple does not make it easy to roll back so I personally don't see the harm in waiting. My wife is not tech savvy to understand a good update from a bad one. She doesn't visit or even cares to visit a tech site like Mac rumors to know what's going on.
I don't have a iPhone today because of all bugs I personally encountered when I had the iPhone 6 for 7 days. Just look at the number of updates after iOS 8 came out; it's a buggy mess. Why do Apple devices like my wife's iPhone 5 still have bugs after 3 years? Tells me that the software developers over at Apple are incompetent. So why should I blindly jump off the bridge without knowing that it's safe and have someone criticise me for not doing so?
Not saying that Android Lollipop is bug free but because I'm stuck on Kitkat it's been super reliable for me. It's a curse not to have the latest version but a blessing that the old version has been reliable. By the time my Note 4 receives Lollipop all the obvious bugs should be exterminated. A blessing and a curse.

Wow, you actually vouched for Kitkat, something Google wasn't able to fix in 18 months and was very buggy initially (much more than IOS!), over IOS 8 you had for 7 days... Kitkat is on 40% of phones 18 months after release, a majority of them probably shipped within the time period. Same thing is happening with Lollipop. Uptake is abysmal 1.6% after 3 months (even new phones are barely getting it in this case). That's says it all.

The one update that was "borked" was 8.0.1, and that was for 1 day (20K were hit by that issue, not everyone) 8.0.2 got out the next day. Every other update has been smooth. As for needing a techy to upgrade the Iphone? Are you serious, my father's pushing 90 and he does it.

The several 8.X updates are mainly for added features (with a few bug fixes mixed in). In all, there have been 4 independent bug fix updates + one major feature update (healthkit/applepay). That's in almost 5 months. It is probable that most remaining bug fixes will be bundled with the 3 feature upgrades releases.
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You do realize that Google fixes the bugs/security issues as bigger point releases (for the OS) because they have to go through OEM's and carriers. That's why it had tried switching out part of the service layer to the play store. To be more like Apple.

 

[cdm283813]

Wow, you actually vouched for Kitkat, something Google wasn't able to fix in 18 months and was very buggy initially (much more than IOS!), over IOS 8 you had for 7 days... Kitkat is on 40% of phones 18 months after release, a majority of them probably shipped within the time period. Same thing is happening with Lollipop. Uptake is abysmal 1.6% after 3 months (even new phones are barely getting it in this case). That's says it all.

The one update that was "borked" was 8.0.1, and that was for 1 day (20K were hit by that issue, not everyone) 8.0.2 got out the next day. Every other update has been smooth. As for needing a techy to upgrade the Iphone? Are you serious, my father's pushing 90 and he does it.

The several 8.X updates are mainly for added features (with a few bug fixes mixed in). In all, there have been 4 independent bug fix updates + one major feature update (healthkit/applepay). That's in almost 5 months. It is probable that most remaining bug fixes will be bundled with the 3 feature upgrades releases.
-
You do realize that Google fixes the bugs/security issues as bigger point releases (for the OS) because they have to go through OEM's and carriers. That's why it had tried switching out part of the service layer to the play store. To be more like Apple.

Saying that "every other update has been smooth" is a contradiction in itself. Your basically telling me that Apple is either fixing additional bugs or adding features to a rushed OS or a combination of both.
And what if your 90 year old father upgrades and it adds a new feature he doesn't understand or borks something in the process? Can you really guarantee that each "Apple Bug Hunt" will go 100% trouble free? Can't sit here and tell me that third party apps are always compatible with each OS release. If iOS was solid and complete in the first place we wouldn't need all these updates.
And comparing Apple and Android is so different. Apple is suppose to have tight control over the limited amount of iDevices coming out each year. To me there's no excuse not to release a stable version each time for less than 8 phone models and 8 tablet models that support iOS 8. Android could have the same number of devices coming out every few weeks. I would expect more bugs on Android just from the shear number of hardware configurations. This is why I'm giving Windows 10 a serious look. Apple might be ranking number 3 in my book when it comes to OS stability later this year.