Is iOS 8 bad coding or planned obsolescence?

[sanke1]

People started complaining about "lags" (that is not lags but just different animations) when iOS 7 was introduced. Now they have forgot it and suddenly iOS 7 was the perfect operative system.... Every year the same song.

iOS 7 was crash-prone but was still very responsive from iPhone 4S onwards (just like it had been since iOS 1)

iOS 8 is less crash-prone but definitely less responsive on all iDevices. In the sense that it is inconsistent. 3/10 times, a particular tap on a button will take significantly longer to register. But all the Apple paid comparisons will tell you how blazing fast iOS 8 is compared to iOS 7. But when it lags for no reason, is the time some people notice. I would love to see repeated tests to measure responsiveness. But Apple paid/sponsored (sarcasm obviously) will never dare to publish results of repeated tests as it will mean bye bye to all Apple's future events.

/rant

 

[C DM]

On a side note: I like your writing and I like to debate with you, because you are civil and moderated.
But sometimes I'm under the impression you are trying to please everyone

It's not a critique. But I'm understanding what he's writing...

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No no, it surely has changed and I can notice that.
I just don't think it's an "issue".
It is a design choice.

Well, I am often have a moderate approach when it comes to many things so I can see good chunks of different sides and agree with them on at least some level. It makes it harder to put me in one camp or another perhaps, but that's not really a problem, except perhaps for those who perhaps want to have a more simplistic specific view of me since it would certainly simplify things for them.

As for the responsiveness, I agree it's not something that everyone would see as an issue really. And it likely is part of a design. But it is less responsive than it was before (even if simply by design) and it's not that strange really that some wouldn't like that--again not to the level of it spelling out doom and gloom for everything of course, but still something that they would not like and something that is in fact real and not just in their heads.

 

[CB1234]

I think it's absolutely normal that the first initial release of a new operative system can have more bugs than the latest, mature version of their previous.

IOS 8.0 was buggier than iOS 7.1.2
So ?

I missed writing 'sarcasm' in my post… I think that's why you misunderstood....

 

[macmee]

My 5 year old iMac runs great but my 3 year old iPad is the slowest $600 mistake I've ever made.

Yes it's planned obsolescence and I've been burned so badly by the iPad 3 that I'm never buying another one again. The only way they'll ever win me back is if they hand me an iPad with OSX.

 

[CB1234]

You do realize people aren't one way or another. People like to pigeonhole everything, but reality is much more complex. My feelings about iOS and Apple have always been quite clear: I'm fairly happy with both Apple and iOS (and OS X, etc.), but like many people I certainly have some actual issues with things here and there (mostmy minor ones), and I also see that there can be things that can be improved or done differently in various areas. Beyond that I also recognize that people can and do have different experiences with their devices (which is often something that seems to be overlooked by many either on purpose or not).

Well said… I now understand you try to see the best in everyone (even though it's infuriating at times) as you are same even with serial whingers or flame baiters..

If there were more people like you and few others, this forum could be a much more pleasant experience and help people who really have problem with their devices..…

 

[Max(IT)]

I missed writing 'sarcasm' in my post… I think that's why you misunderstood....

No no, I understood it.
I just reinforced your position.

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My 5 year old iMac runs great but my 3 year old iPad is the slowest $600 mistake I've ever made.

Yes it's planned obsolescence and I've been burned so badly by the iPad 3 that I'm never buying another one again. The only way they'll ever win me back is if they hand me an iPad with OSX.

You just bought the worst iPad ever, dude.
It's not planned obsolescence.
Planned obsolescence is a very idiotic concept that can exist only on a forum.
Any half competent manager knows you have to please customers to keep them with you in the future.

 

[MaciMac100]

If Apple A5 devices can run games like Asphalt 8: Airborne they should be able run iOS 8 animations too. Apple is industry leader in mobile hardware thanks to their great system on chips, but now their sloppy coding in software is holding back their hardware.

 

[Max(IT)]

If Apple A5 devices can run games like Asphalt 8: Airborne they should be able run iOS 8 animations too. Apple is industry leader in mobile hardware thanks to their great system on chips, but now their sloppy coding in software is holding back their hardware.

A single app has nothing to do with UI animations....

 

[I7guy]

Well, I am often have a moderate approach when it comes to many things so I can see good chunks of different sides and agree with them on at least some level. It makes it harder to put me in one camp or another perhaps, but that's not really a problem, except perhaps for those who perhaps want to have a more simplistic specific view of me since it would certainly simplify things for them.

As for the responsiveness, I agree it's not something that everyone would see as an issue really. And it likely is part of a design. But it is less responsive than it was before (even if simply by design) and it's not that strange really that some wouldn't like that--again not to the level of it spelling out doom and gloom for everything of course, but still something that they would not like and something that is in fact real and not just in their heads.

Responsiveness, imo, is how fast the system responds to your input. Except in the case of the video and the alleged phone, which I can't duplicate, my iphone 5S running IOS 8.1.3 is blazing, based on what I call responsiveness. I flat out disagree of the bolded. Others may chime in differently on different devices and different versions and call responsiveness by different definitions.

One person posting a video does not make it true.

 

[C DM]

Responsiveness, imo, is how fast the system responds to your input. Except in the case of the video and the alleged phone, which I can't duplicate, my iphone 5S running IOS 8.1.3 is blazing, based on what I call responsiveness. I flat out disagree of the bolded. Others may chime in differently on different devices and different versions and call responsiveness by different definitions.

One person posting a video does not make it true.

The video is just a demonstration of what has been discussed by many in many different threads since iOS 7 days. If you try to interact with the screen while animation is still happening (whether it's the zoom/movement animation or even the fading one associated with reduced movement) those interactions will not be registered, as opposed to what it was like before iOS 7. Now, perhaps some people don't try to interact with the phone that quickly, and perhaps can't reproduce it themselves even if they try, but it doesn't make it untrue just because of that. And, yes, there are different aspects to responsiveness, as you described, but this is one of them, whether or not it's an important one or even a noticeable one to many people.

 

[I7guy]

The video is just a demonstration of what has been discussed by many in many different threads since iOS 7 days. If you try to interact with the screen while animation is still happening (whether it's the zoom/movement animation or even the fading one associated with reduced movement) those interactions will not be registered, as opposed to what it was like before iOS 7. Now, perhaps some people don't try to interact with the phone that quickly, and perhaps can't reproduce it themselves even if they try, but it doesn't make it untrue just because of that. And, yes, there are different aspects to responsiveness, as you described, but this is one of them, whether or not it's an important one or even a noticeable one to many people.

If we were lawyers arguing a case before a judge, language would be very important. If you are saying IOS 8 changed the behavior of animations and now input is locked out until the animation finishes and therefore by your definition of responsiveness, since you support that definition that others have given, the system is less responsive. My definition is how fast the system responds to your input.

In any case I am reminded of the parable of the three blind men feeling an elephant: one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a bush, one who feels legs believes the elephant is like a tree..... This is the basic problem in a lot of these threads is there is not definition of what a bush or tree is.

 

[C DM]

If we were lawyers arguing a case before a judge, language would be very important. If you are saying IOS 8 changed the behavior of animations and now input is locked out until the animation finishes and therefore by your definition of responsiveness, since you support that definition that others have given, the system is less responsive. My definition is how fast the system responds to your input.

In any case I am reminded of the parable of the three blind men feeling an elephant: one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a bush, one who feels legs believes the elephant is like a tree..... This is the basic problem in a lot of these threads is there is not definition of what a bush or tree is.

Well, like I said, there is more than one aspect to what responsiveness is, but having your interactions with the screen being ignored certainly falls under something being less responsive than it could be (and than it was) no matter what definitions are used. If you could interact with the screen as soon as you wanted to even with animations happening before and now you can't, it seems that calling that a decrease in responsiveness would be fairly rational and apt.

Again, how important/impactful that decrease in responsiveness is, and how it affects someone, can be and often is different for different people, but those are essentially reactions to that decrease and not whether or not the decrease is actually there.

 

[I7guy]

Well, like I said, there is more than one aspect to what responsiveness is, but having your interactions with the screen being ignored certainly falls under something being less responsive than it could be (and than it was) no matter what definitions are used. If you could interact with the screen as soon as you wanted to even with animations happening before and now you can't, it seems that calling that a decrease in responsiveness would be fairly rational and apt.

Again, how important/impactful that decrease in responsiveness is, and how it affects someone, can be and often is different for different people, but those are essentially reactions to that decrease and not whether or not the decrease is actually there.

But again, the 5S with it's more powerful processor, bus, etc. is much more responsive than the phone and IOS version being shown. I would agree to this statement: "In IOS 8 system input is delayed when animations are enabled until the animation is finished when the phone is initially unlocked".

That is not the same as suggesting less responsiveness, which is simply not true. Again a litmus test of this statement would be loading nin.com and see how fast safari comes back with a loaded webpage.

 

[C DM]

But again, the 5S with it's more powerful processor, bus, etc. is much more responsive than the phone and IOS version being shown. I would agree to this statement: "In IOS 8 system input is delayed when animations are enabled until the animation is finished when the phone is initially unlocked".

That is not the same as suggesting less responsiveness, which is simply not true. Again a litmus test of this statement would be loading nin.com and see how fast safari comes back with a loaded webpage.

Again that's one aspect of responsiveness. I'm still not sure I understand how I'd you are doing something on the screen while some transition is happening and it's not responding to what you are doing that it wouldn't be appropriate to call that a decrease in responsiveness especially when it used to allow for that in previous versions. You can certainly also call it as a design change and new approach to animations and whatnot, but along with that it's also a decrease in responsiveness since the device is clearly not responding to an action you are performing (and used to respond to it in pevious versions).

 

[Max(IT)]

Only on this forum people can argue over a 0.25" animation.......

 

[C DM]

Only on this forum people can argue over a 0.25" animation.......

You should see the kinds of things that get argued over in car forums or many other ones. It's the nature of enthusiasts and especially so when they are in groups.

 

[I7guy]

Again that's one aspect of responsiveness. I'm still not sure I understand how I'd you are doing something on the screen while some transition is happening and it's not responding to what you are doing that it wouldn't be appropriate to call that a decrease in responsiveness especially when it used to allow for that in previous versions. You can certainly also call it as a design change and new approach to animations and whatnot, but along with that it's also a decrease in responsiveness since the device is clearly not responding to an action you are performing (and used to respond to it in pevious versions).

It's an extremely narrow change in behavior that is being painted by a broad stoke, by suggesting that ios 8.1.3 on a 5S is less responsive than a phone over 4 years old.

By my definition, unlocking the phone, opening safari loading nin.com would be faster on which phone model? Which phone would really be more responsive?

 

[C DM]

It's an extremely narrow change in behavior that is being painted by a broad stoke, by suggesting that ios 8.1.3 on a 5S is less responsive than a phone over 4 years old.

By my definition, unlocking the phone, opening safari loading nin.com would be faster on which phone model? Which phone would really be more responsive?

And no matter what iPhone or iPad you use with iOS 8 or 7 and try to interact with it during an animation it won't respond (and that's whether or not you even compare it to any iPhone or iPad on an iOS version below iOS 7 that would respond).

So, for the past of responsiveness that makes a difference to you (and I'm sure some others), things peform fine, but for the part of responsiveness where interactions don't register at different times that matter to various others, things are off in that respect and not as good as they used to be.

 

[I7guy]

And no matter what iPhone or iPad you use with iOS 8 or 7 and try to interact with it during an animation it won't respond (and that's whether or not you even compare it to any iPhone or iPad on an iOS version below iOS 7 that would respond).

So, for the past of responsiveness that makes a difference to you (and I'm sure some others), things peform fine, but for the part of responsiveness where interactions don't register at different times that matter to various others, things are off in that respect and not as good as they used to be.

For a lot of us, we don't know how things used to be so there is no basis for comparison, which is what has me scratching my head over the .25 seconds. For some people it's just different, not less responsive. apple took away a capability that was there and didn't slow the phone down. Of course, if you feel your .25 seconds are being wasted, turn animations off.

 

[C DM]

For a lot of us, we don't know how things used to be so there is no basis for comparison, which is what has me scratching my head over the .25 seconds. For some people it's just different, not less responsive. apple took away a capability that was there and didn't slow the phone down. Of course, if you feel your .25 seconds are being wasted, turn animations off.

It's still unresponsive for the same period of time with reduced animations as it it is with regular ones. And it's not that people notice a particular timing difference it's more that they have basically muscle memory from previous versions where sunddenly a number of their actions simoly are getting ignored when they upgrade to iOS 7 or 8. Sure they will adapt without much trouble, but the point that there is a reduction in responsiveness and that it's not a good thing still stands nonetheless.

 

[I7guy]

It's still unresponsive for the same period of time with reduced animations as it it is with regular ones. And it's not that people notice a particular timing difference it's more that they have basically muscle memory from previous versions where sunddenly a number of their actions simoly are getting ignored when they upgrade to iOS 7 or 8. Sure they will adapt without much trouble, but the point that there is a reduction in responsiveness and that it's not a good thing still stands nonetheless.

On my 5s after unlock with reduce motion on, the phone can be interacted with fairly instantly. This is as fast as I can go. Somebody else who is faster might find the phone can't be interacted with. This is akin to the how many Angels on the head of a pin question.

Those people who unlike me can't interact with their phone instantly will have to unlearn their old behavior, which at this point in time should be unlearned. The phone though is not less responsive.

 

[C DM]

On my 5s after unlock with reduce motion on, the phone can be interacted with fairly instantly. This is as fast as I can go. Somebody else who is faster might find the phone can't be interacted with. This is akin to the how many Angels on the head of a pin question.

Those people who unlike me can't interact with their phone instantly will have to unlearn their old behavior, which at this point in time should be unlearned. The phone though is not less responsive.

If those people who experience it interact with their phone and their interaction isn't registered, what would one call that? Seems like a very straightforward and simple concept. Discussing semantics of what the meaning of "is" is (referencing the famous Clinton ordeals) doesn't really change what it is, it's just running circles around what's there nonetheless.

 

[CB1234]

On my 5s after unlock with reduce motion on, the phone can be interacted with fairly instantly. This is as fast as I can go. Somebody else who is faster might find the phone can't be interacted with. This is akin to the how many Angels on the head of a pin question.

Those people who unlike me can't interact with their phone instantly will have to unlearn their old behavior, which at this point in time should be unlearned. The phone though is not less responsive.

I guarantee that you won't win this argument... C DM is quite tenacious, I have seen him before... He will wear you down....

Irony of the situation is, that people who are really busy and have little to no time, and to whom milli and microseconds matter, don't see any difference or don't care and get on with their jobs. Whilst on the other hand, people with a lot of time on their hands, are the ones kicking up a fuss over such a trivial 'hearsay' lag/stutter/dropped frames (or whatever other terms you want use)...

 

[Max(IT)]

It's an extremely narrow change in behavior that is being painted by a broad stoke, by suggesting that ios 8.1.3 on a 5S is less responsive than a phone over 4 years old.

By my definition, unlocking the phone, opening safari loading nin.com would be faster on which phone model? Which phone would really be more responsive?

On an imaginary iPhone running a version of iOS without any animation or effect.
In that case we would see a storm of whiners complaining about how flat and boring iOS is.

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For a lot of us, we don't know how things used to be so there is no basis for comparison, which is what has me scratching my head over the .25 seconds. For some people it's just different, not less responsive. apple took away a capability that was there and didn't slow the phone down. Of course, if you feel your .25 seconds are being wasted, turn animations off.

With reduced animations it seems to be faster but it actually isn't, since the timing are the same. Instead of moving icons or zooming windows, you have delayed transitions.
That's just the way iOS 7 and above are designed.
How can that be a big deal ?

 

[I7guy]

I guarantee that you won't win this argument... C DM is quite tenacious, I have seen him before... He will wear you down....

Irony of the situation is, that people who are really busy and have little to no time, and to whom milli and microseconds matter, don't see any difference or don't care and get on with their jobs. Whilst on the other hand, people with a lot of time on their hands, are the ones kicking up a fuss over such a trivial 'hearsay' lag/stutter/dropped frames (or whatever other terms you want use)...

There is nothing to win here. Faster hardware makes current gen phones faster and more responsive than previous gen phones, even if there is a miniscule change in behavior of iOS of when interaction can start for some people.

I'm not denying there could be a change some might believe they can see, I object to "less responsive" of which of which a current gen phone isn't over a previous gen phone. I used loading nin.com in safari as an example.