iOS: Annually slowing down our devices

[sanke1]

There are exceptions, but even those are inconsistent. But then look at what Vista was like, while XP and 2000 were good before it, and yet ME was horrific prior to that. Similar to Windows 8 not being great, while for the most part Windows 10 is quite good for most.

In any case, whether it's this or that, proving it one way or another doesn't change or affect anything related to it. It's just talk, and in this case the same repeated talk that has been repeated many times over at least the past few years.

Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 are perfectly smooth in UI transitions and there was zero delay in opening apps. The whole operating systems were faster than their previous versions with optimizations and kernel trimming.

Understand this: People disliked Windows 8, 8.1 because of poor UI design and not due to performance issue.
This thread is regarding performance issues which started right from iOS 8. Don't confuse 2 different things.

I would say that even Windows Vista had good performance, but due to implementation of DWM and new sound stack, hardware manufacturers were just starting to learn how to write proper drivers. That was the reason for performance loss. But by Windows 7, everything was up and running smoothly.

iOS is going in opposite direction. So please don't bring that "uhh Windows is getting slower" argument again

The main culprit for all this stutter and lag is the damn Blur/transparency/translucency (whatever you call it)
It is simply ruining our iOS experience by taxing our hardware at the cost of looking fancy. But if we disable it, the UI looks worse than Android 2.0

 

[C DM]

Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 are perfectly smooth in UI transitions and there was zero delay in opening apps. The whole operating systems were faster than their previous versions with optimizations and kernel trimming.

Understand this: People disliked Windows 8, 8.1 because of poor UI design and not due to performance issue.
This thread is regarding performance issues which started right from iOS 8. Don't confuse 2 different things.

I would say that even Windows Vista had good performance, but due to implementation of DWM and new sound stack, hardware manufacturers were just starting to learn how to write proper drivers. That was the reason for performance loss. But by Windows 7, everything was up and running smoothly.

iOS is going in opposite direction. So please don't bring that "uhh Windows is getting slower" argument again

The main culprit for all this stutter and lag is the damn Blur/transparency/translucency (whatever you call it)
It is simply ruining our iOS experience by taxing our hardware at the cost of looking fancy. But if we disable it, the UI looks worse than Android 2.0

And after all that...what now?

 

[sanke1]

And after all that...what now?

By a 6S and continue to suffer next year

With powerful hardware, I can't wait what Apple changes next to bring down the experience.

Just can't wait!!

 

[Beeplance]

This is the thing I dislike about current yearly updates.
It goes like this

• Release a x.0 version in Sept
• It's buggy and stuttery as hell
• But by next year's July-August, most of the bugs and UI issues are taken care off
• Release a x.0 version in Sept
• It's again buggy as hell. Phones lag in places where UI lag/stutter was fixed in previous versions
• Then we wait a whole 10 months for our phones to be stable. Then within 2 months our new misery starts.

This vicious cycle needs to stop. They need to take a break and release iOS 10 in 2017 instead.

At this point, Android is seriously looking stronger than ever. Even with Android 6.0, none of the Nexus devices are appearing to lag or stutter.

This. As much as apple fans would like to attempt to disregard the elephant in the room, the situation is, and has been, like this for years now.

Here's why I think Apple will won't even consider the idea of 'releasing iOS 10 in 2017' to, you know, divert one year of time to optimise and thoroughly bug-fix the current iOS.

1. Apple needs to please investors and shareholders. Unless around 70% of iOS users are experiencing tremendous AND significant lag + bugs in their daily usage and have complained, Apple ain't gonna do **** about it. They'll still be staying to the same schedule of releasing updates, because well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

2. They need a new 'number' of iOS to go along with iPhone 7. Remember all the advertisements of the new iPhones every year? iOS has always, repeat ALWAYS, been brought up. New iPhone = New iOS. I can't, in a tiniest chance, see Apple releasing iPhone 7 with OLD iOS 9....

3. Releasing iOS 10 in 2017 = using 2016 to diagnose bugs and implement improvements = open and public admission that their software releases are shabby and haphazardly tested, going against what they all the while proclaimed - that 'iOS is the MOST ADVANCED operating system in the world'. Besides, then everyone's gonna start using the 'Hey look at the mountain of cash Apple is sitting on and yet they can't release a decent mobile operating system' mantra that has been going around our forums already. Super slim chance that Apple is going to shoot themselves in the foot like that.

When all is said and done, Apple is, and always will be, a corporate business. As long as iOS is 80% stable at time of release, well "release it tmr, we can fix the bugs later."

At least there was a point in time where a late CEO genuinely cared about the products in his own founded company, and wanted to sell the best devices on the planet. Clearly, I don't see Tim Cook having that vibe and enthusiasm in the current line of products. Every keynote since 2011, I have seen a businessman on stage, not a visionary.

 

[Radon87000]

By a 6S and continue to suffer next year

With powerful hardware, I can't wait what Apple changes next to bring down the experience.

Just can't wait!!

I can't wait to shout "no lag" when the iPhone 7 releases next year and the 6S gets the crippling treatment the 6 got LOL

 

[Mcmeowmers]

I suspect larger capacity iPhones are faster.
Anecdotal evidence: my 16gb iPhone 6 is noticeably slower than my SOs 64gb iPhone 6 on the same iOS version

Both have at least 5gb available

 

[C DM]

I suspect larger capacity iPhones are faster.
Anecdotal evidence: my 16gb iPhone 6 is noticeably slower than my SOs 64gb iPhone 6 on the same iOS version

Both have at least 5gb available

But people are saying that everyone has the same exact issues so clearly one can't be worse or better than the other.

 

[masands]

Retro test.

iPhone 4S on iOS 5 vs iOS 9.

Personally, I'm done with Apple. First it was my iPhone 3G which got destroyed by iOS6 and now my iPhone 5 which got destroyed by iOS7+. I'm buying a Surface Pro 4 and eventually a Lumia. Time to leave this sinking ship!

 

[Beeplance]

Retro test.

iPhone 4S on iOS 5 vs iOS 9.

Personally, I'm done with Apple. First it was my iPhone 3G which got destroyed by iOS6 and now my iPhone 5 which got destroyed by iOS7+. I'm buying a Surface Pro 4 and eventually a Lumia. Time to leave this sinking ship!

I have a iPhone 5C, which has been doing well from iOS 7-8, now struggling slightly with 9.0.2 and hoping 9.1 will solve some lags and bugs. Is your iPhone 5 doing very badly now?

The Surface Pro 4 is a darn good product - all the improvements from the Pro 3 combined with Windows 10! Would've been on my to-buy list if not for my recent purchased ASUS laptop.

 

[C DM]

Retro test.

iPhone 4S on iOS 5 vs iOS 9.

Personally, I'm done with Apple. First it was my iPhone 3G which got destroyed by iOS6 and now my iPhone 5 which got destroyed by iOS7+. I'm buying a Surface Pro 4 and eventually a Lumia. Time to leave this sinking ship!

The sinking ship that is doing better and better and has more money around than petty much everyone. I bet all the ships around wish they could be sinking like that.

 

[masands]

The sinking ship that is doing better and better and has more money around than petty much everyone. I bet all the ships around wish they could be sinking like that.

Don't care about their profits. They have lost most of their top engineers to Google/Microsoft and other companies and along with their ability to innovate.

 

[Radon87000]

I have a iPhone 5C, which has been doing well from iOS 7-8, now struggling slightly with 9.0.2 and hoping 9.1 will solve some lags and bugs. Is your iPhone 5 doing very badly now?

The Surface Pro 4 is a darn good product - all the improvements from the Pro 3 combined with Windows 10! Would've been on my to-buy list if not for my recent purchased ASUS laptop.

Surface is good as a productivity device but for media consumption iPad is better as those Win32 programs aren't so nice on touch.But Microsoft takes care of its tablet and phone lineup better than Apple.The updates don't slow down the device

 

[masands]

I have a iPhone 5C, which has been doing well from iOS 7-8, now struggling slightly with 9.0.2 and hoping 9.1 will solve some lags and bugs. Is your iPhone 5 doing very badly now?

The Surface Pro 4 is a darn good product - all the improvements from the Pro 3 combined with Windows 10! Would've been on my to-buy list if not for my recent purchased ASUS laptop.

I did a full restore and set up and new on my iPhone 5 and it's a lot better now. Although it's way, way slower than iOS 6. I remember I used to get 10-12 hours of usage under iOS 6. After iOS7 it dropped to around 5-6hrs.

I have the SHSH blobs for iOS 6 but I can't go back now because I have an Apple Watch. One day when I get a new phone, I will restore back to iOS 6.

I'm just disappointed the media is not picking up on this trend (although Ars Technica does do annual speed comparisons for older iPhones).

Here's another video with iPhone 5 beating iPhone 6.

 

[Beeplance]

I did a full restore and set up and new on my iPhone 5 and it's a lot better now. Although it's way, way slower than iOS 6. I remember I used to get 10-12 hours of usage under iOS 6. After iOS7 it dropped to around 5-6hrs.

I have the SHSH blobs for iOS 6 but I can't go back now because I have an Apple Watch. One day when I get a new phone, I will restore back to iOS 6.

I'm just disappointed the media is not picking up on this trend (although Ars Technica does do annual speed comparisons for older iPhones).

Here's another video with iPhone 5 beating iPhone 6.

I agree, iPhone 5 with iOS 6 has been one of the fastest and snappiest iOS to date, both hardware and software synergy was really good back then.

Now it's just..... Maybe the 6S can beat it.. Just maybe.

 

[Radon87000]

I did a full restore and set up and new on my iPhone 5 and it's a lot better now. Although it's way, way slower than iOS 6. I remember I used to get 10-12 hours of usage under iOS 6. After iOS7 it dropped to around 5-6hrs.

I have the SHSH blobs for iOS 6 but I can't go back now because I have an Apple Watch. One day when I get a new phone, I will restore back to iOS 6.

I'm just disappointed the media is not picking up on this trend (although Ars Technica does do annual speed comparisons for older iPhones).

Here's another video with iPhone 5 beating iPhone 6.

Back in Steve's era when Apple actually cared about software experience

 

[newellj]

This is the thing I dislike about current yearly updates.
It goes like this

• Release a x.0 version in Sept
• It's buggy and stuttery as hell
• But by next year's July-August, most of the bugs and UI issues are taken care off
• Release a x.0 version in Sept
• It's again buggy as hell. Phones lag in places where UI lag/stutter was fixed in previous versions
• Then we wait a whole 10 months for our phones to be stable. Then within 2 months our new misery starts.

This vicious cycle needs to stop. They need to take a break and release iOS 10 in 2017 instead.

Without disagreeing, there is another approach: don't update. If Apple keeps seeing the huge and swift adoption numbers, they're going to try to keep everyone on the same hamster wheel. On your post below, I have always turned off the "features" that you bolded in your post. I don't need the eye-candy on any of my devices, whether it's a desktop, laptop, tablet or phone (still wearing a mechanical watch...). I would turn them off even in they had zero performance impact. YMMV.

Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 are perfectly smooth in UI transitions and there was zero delay in opening apps. The whole operating systems were faster than their previous versions with optimizations and kernel trimming.

Understand this: People disliked Windows 8, 8.1 because of poor UI design and not due to performance issue.
This thread is regarding performance issues which started right from iOS 8. Don't confuse 2 different things.

I would say that even Windows Vista had good performance, but due to implementation of DWM and new sound stack, hardware manufacturers were just starting to learn how to write proper drivers. That was the reason for performance loss. But by Windows 7, everything was up and running smoothly.

iOS is going in opposite direction. So please don't bring that "uhh Windows is getting slower" argument again

The main culprit for all this stutter and lag is the damn Blur/transparency/translucency (whatever you call it)
It is simply ruining our iOS experience by taxing our hardware at the cost of looking fancy. But if we disable it, the UI looks worse than Android 2.0

 

[I7guy]

I did a full restore and set up and new on my iPhone 5 and it's a lot better now. Although it's way, way slower than iOS 6. I remember I used to get 10-12 hours of usage under iOS 6. After iOS7 it dropped to around 5-6hrs.

I have the SHSH blobs for iOS 6 but I can't go back now because I have an Apple Watch. One day when I get a new phone, I will restore back to iOS 6.

I'm just disappointed the media is not picking up on this trend (although Ars Technica does do annual speed comparisons for older iPhones).

Here's another video with iPhone 5 beating iPhone 6.

How well does the iPhone 5 run GarageBand or iMovie? The new crop of 64 bit phones and iPads have much more capability. Said another way my phone old hardware runs 32 but xp faster than new hardware on 64 bit win 7 single threaded. But 64 bit win 7 does much more concurrently.

 

[Beeplance]

Without disagreeing, there is another approach: don't update. If Apple keeps seeing the huge and swift adoption numbers, they're going to try to keep everyone on the same hamster wheel. On your post below, I have always turned off the "features" that you bolded in your post. I don't need the eye-candy on any of my devices, whether it's a desktop, laptop, tablet or phone (still wearing a mechanical watch...). I would turn them off even in they had zero performance impact. YMMV.

Doesn't Apple sort of 'force you' to update in a certain way? I heard new OTA software updates automatically download to your phone when it's plugged in and connected to wifi or something... Am I wrong?

Next time I get a new iPhone, I'm gonna keep it on the same iOS version it got shipped with throughout its lifespan.

 

[Act3]

Doesn't Apple sort of 'force you' to update in a certain way? I heard new OTA software updates automatically download to your phone when it's plugged in and connected to wifi or something... Am I wrong?

Next time I get a new iPhone, I'm gonna keep it on the same iOS version it got shipped with throughout its lifespan.

They download automatically, but you still have to click to install it and agree to the terms and conditions twice.

If you don't want to install you can delete the downloaded update file.

 

[Beeplance]

They download automatically, but you still have to click to install it and agree to the terms and conditions twice.

If you don't want to install you can delete the downloaded update file.

How do you delete the downloaded update file? Through 'storage'?

 

[jmmo20]

Well, say whatever you want. I was running the ios9 beta on my ipad 3 and was so happy.
Then I installed the official release and the point updates since and the performance of my old ipad is SHOCKING to say the least.

 

[Radon87000]

They download automatically, but you still have to click to install it and agree to the terms and conditions twice.

If you don't want to install you can delete the downloaded update file.

But that goddamn red sign doesn't go away

 

[dk001]

And after all that...what now?

For me my iPhone is a work device.
My Note 5 is now my device of choice and my ecosystem has been shifting away from iDevices.

Apple devices in my family world are suffering the "Death of 1000 Cuts". Android now gets "First Look".
It would take a really significant event to turn the tide at this point.

 

[dk001]

Without disagreeing, there is another approach: don't update. ... YMMV.

Not always realistic. There are always some apps that require you to have the new iOS version to access the current features or security. Not upgrading may leave you with a decision you wish you didn't have to make: stay and lose or upgrade and get.

 

[newellj]

Not always realistic. There are always some apps that require you to have the new iOS version to access the current features or security. Not upgrading may leave you with a decision you wish you didn't have to make: stay and lose or upgrade and get.

Agreed again, speaking from experience. I had a 4S that I kept on the final update of its original iOS version and by the time I finally sold it three or four years later every time I synced I got this massive list of apps that wouldn't update, and there were also many apps that wouldn't even install.

My iPod Touch 5 is still on 7.1.2 and it's getting almost as bad. There are currently 22 apps that won't update and it doesn't even have that many apps installed.

There's also the security issues to deal with.

So, yup, not an ideal solution. But as long as Apple sees these massive update rates, they're not going to get the message...no great solutions.