New Features in iOS 6 Receive Spotty Support from Older Devices

[Winni]

When Apple talks about fragmentation, they're referring to the fact that developers have to make multiple versions of their apps to support all the Android devices.

It's funny that this "fragmentation" never was a problem for Linux or Windows - operating systems that run very well on a large variety of hardware from Lego Mindstorms over military drones up to large mainframes (in the case of Linux at least).

It might make developing software for those platforms a bit more demanding, but ultimately this "fragmentation" is a good thing for users. Because without fragmentation, there can be no CHOICE.

 

[chgojcs]

Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!

But, daddy, i want a golden goose now!!!

 

[Stridder44]

How could an iphone 4 not support turn-by-turn gps? I mean..there are apps that already do this lol

This is what really gets me. The other features I can understand and accept, but turn-by-turn is not some crazy hardware-intensive kinda thing. Maybe it's because they programed the new Maps app (more specifically, the turn-by-turn feature of the Maps app) in such a way that it is completely integrated with Siri?

 

[andyx3x]

Is it just me or does anyone find it odd that the iPhone 4 is getting lack of support? The difference from the 4 and 4S aren't that huge.

Yes, it is.

 

[mr.dw]

really sucks for those of us who travel a lot/don't stay in one country for long enough to go on a contract so shelled out for a factory unlocked 4.
this 'you'll be due for an upgrade to the 5 when it/iOS6 comes out so shut up' shiz don't mean nothing to us.
really doesn't feel like long enough to be already missing out on features. just siri, turn-by-turn and 3G facetime really, I'm sure my phone could run them, it still feels new! I've skyped (briefly) on EDGE for crying out loud!
it's just such an obvious ploy to try make us upgrade. there's no way I'll be able to afford another unlocked iphone for a loooooooooooong time, so you just pissed off an otherwise happy customer apple, good one

 

[brewcitywi]

iPhone 4

It's probably as simple as the fact that most iPhone 4 users are eligible for their contract upgrades, so upgrade to iPhone 5 this fall and get all the features!

I'm not saying I totally agree, because you can get a new 2yr. contract on a $99 iPhone 4 right now, I guess.

 

[Asclepio]

what a mess.

 

[Thunderhawks]

It's just crazy. People are getting things for free without paying a dime, the same day the flagship phone is getting the new OS, and is complaining that it's not good enough...

When it's lucky soemtimes for the Android guys to barely get a patch/fix, let alone a full OS upgrade. And if they are getting it, probably some half year afterwards.

SW development is a very expensive business. There are companies that runs on making $ on SW alone. Apple is giving this out for FREE, to a 3 years old phone called the 3GS. the iPhone 4 is surprise surprise, a 2 years old phone, even older than the GSII.

And all these talk about Android phones being much superior. Spec-wise, probably when it's brand new, especially when pitted against an iPhone that's half years or more in. I have yet to seen anyone carrying around an Android that's over 2 years old and is using the latest Apps. The Android owner probably got sick of it and upgraded already. Don't even mention the resale value and liquididty of an Android phone compared to a used iPhone.

I have a co-worker whose happily using 3GS on iOS5 and the Euro 2012 app. I asked him, heck iOS5 must be slow as hell on the 3GS. And he said, "Nope, it runs faster than when it was on iOS4". Upgrading his phone haven't came across his mind at all. A company that tries to optimize the latest OS against a 3 years old phone which they are barely getting any $$ at all. That's customer satisfaction.

Giving you the newest feature meant for the flagship to your 3 years old phone is called ripping shareholders off.

You should be banned!

You make wayyyy too much sense!!!

 

[bwillwall]

No FaceTime over 3G for iPhone 4?
No Siri support for iPod or iPhone 4?
No Turn by Turn Directions for iPhone 4?

Is it still magical?

You expect siri to be on the iPhone 4?

----------

It's just crazy. People are getting things for free without paying a dime, the same day the flagship phone is getting the new OS, and is complaining that it's not good enough...

When it's lucky soemtimes for the Android guys to barely get a patch/fix, let alone a full OS upgrade. And if they are getting it, probably some half year afterwards.

SW development is a very expensive business. There are companies that runs on making $ on SW alone. Apple is giving this out for FREE, to a 3 years old phone called the 3GS. the iPhone 4 is surprise surprise, a 2 years old phone, even older than the GSII.

And all these talk about Android phones being much superior. Spec-wise, probably when it's brand new, especially when pitted against an iPhone that's half years or more in. I have yet to seen anyone carrying around an Android that's over 2 years old and is using the latest Apps. The Android owner probably got sick of it and upgraded already. Don't even mention the resale value and liquididty of an Android phone compared to a used iPhone.

I have a co-worker whose happily using 3GS on iOS5 and the Euro 2012 app. I asked him, heck iOS5 must be slow as hell on the 3GS. And he said, "Nope, it runs faster than when it was on iOS4". Upgrading his phone haven't came across his mind at all. A company that tries to optimize the latest OS against a 3 years old phone which they are barely getting any $$ at all. That's customer satisfaction.

Giving you the newest feature meant for the flagship to your 3 years old phone is called ripping shareholders off.

Will you marry me?

 

[Xtremehkr]

That is nice and all, but please explain the Ipad2 which is barely a year old.

It's a different product that is in a rapidly evolving new category.

 

[myrtlebee]

Why no mention of iPod touch 4G? A bit odd to be the only one not mentioned and there being millions of iPod touch users....

 

[Winni]

Fragmentation is brand new hardware shipping with legacy operating systems 9 months after a new OS release. It's developers looking at the software/hardware landscape and saying "screw it".

We're currently at 900,000 new Android activations PER DAY. It's an extraordinarily stupid thing for a developer to ignore such a gigantic market. It's about as stupid as to say "let's ignore Windows, there are too many different PCs out there; let's just focus on the 70 million Mac users world wide instead of the ONE BILLION Windows machines."

You know, Apple's laughable statistics and remarks might work well in a contained environment like the WWDC, but they hardly hold up in reality.

For example, the said in the keynote that OS X Lion was much faster to reach a 40% market share than Windows 7 - by selling merely 26 million copies of Lion. Now how many copies of Windows 7 do you have to sell to reach a 40% market share when you have to deploy copies to an estimated one billion systems...? Wouldn't that be around 400 million copies? Quite a difference in numbers, isn't it? And isn't it just another great example why you shouldn't trust any statistics that you didn't fake yourself?

 

[RVijay007]

Never Look Back ....

Apple should continue supporting the older devices. Even the original iPhone should be supported by iOS6. Sure, some features wouldn't work on the older hardware since it lacks the processing capacity but something as simple as folders, which Apple doesn't offer to the 1st Gen, is merely a simple software organization thing. Apple should also continue to support older software, e.g., on the Macintosh OSX Classic and Rosetta should still be supported. There is a tremendous amount of old software, especially for education and small business, that is not available except under Classic and Rosetta. Shame on Apple for destroying cultural heritage. Shame on Apple for promoting waste.

As said in The Incredibles ...

 

[andyjam]

So the iPhone I bought less than a year ago isn't compatible with the big ticket items in this update... WTF, this REALLY pisses me off.

 

[Lightey]

You paid $299 for an iPhone 4?
Too bad. You can pay $299 more for new features, because this is Apple. Screw the iPhone 4.

 

[BornAgainApple]

Time to put my iPhone 4 on eBay.

 

[KikoPT]

Let me start by saying i'm seriously disappointed at Apple.

I'm a happy owner of a 3GS and an iPad1. I was planning to upgrade to a 4S when it came out, but because of several different reasons, decided to hold off for an iPhone 5.

It is important to note that, as of today, with iOS 5, my 3GS feels SLOWER than my iPad 1.

Before this WWDC, and the iOS6 announcement, I was not really expecting iOS6 to run on 3GS or the iPad1.

But having the 3GS being supported, even if minimal support, and not having the iPad 1 just feels wrong. If it's a technical reason, Apple should at least clarify that.

I understand that Apple still sells the 3GS, but supporting iOS6 on it and not on the iPad1 is just giving it's costumers the middle finger. For me it should be iOS6 on 3GS and iPad1 or none of them.

I can deal with the "kinda forcing me" to upgrade, and i would understand dropping support for the 3GS and iPad1. But not supporting the iPad1 with the same level as 3GS is plain "douchbaggery" by Apple.

C'mon guys, i own both of them and the iPad1 feels way faster than the 3GS.

It's just sad that Apple is treating some of the costumers this way.

I still say, with should be 3GS and iPad1, or none of them (makes more sense really).

 

[Battlefield Fan]

Most iPhone 4 users like myself will be updating to the new iPhone this fall but I sure do feel bad for iPad 2 owners. They're basically the same hardware except the screen!

 

[Prodo123]

Maybe you shouldn't?, your phone still does what it did when you bought it.

Its nice to get the upgrades in functionality, but I can't ignore the fact that my phone still does what its supposed to do when I purchased it. One thing that does annoy me tho is the major slowdowns new iOS versions always seem to bring. That I think is a good reason to feel ridiculously ripped off.

It's on AT&T.
Network coverage is steadily decreasing due to faulty towers.

 

[Centient]

It's probably as simple as the fact that most iPhone 4 users are eligible for their contract upgrades, so upgrade to iPhone 5 this fall and get all the features!

I'm not saying I totally agree, because you can get a new 2yr. contract on a $99 iPhone 4 right now, I guess.

Pretty much this.

 

[Johnnyharo]

Actually the iPhone 4 will get FaceTime over 3G its on apples website

 

[kgelner]

No, it's not fragmentation

And this isn't fragmentation? How funny that Apple of all companies, who rips on Android for be fragmented, goes and fragments the whole OS. Again, people, Apple doesn't care about the consumer. What reason is there for not enabling Face time over 3G on the iPhone 4? Skype can do it fine, and so can jailbroken handsets. Apple doesn't care about you, they simply care about bilking more money out of everyone!

Fragmentation is mentioned as a problem because it affects developers - the more fragmented a platform, the more devices you have to test against.

What is going on here is not fragmentation in that sense - A device being able to do FaceTime over 3G or not does not matter to developers. It does not make them have to buy more hardware to test against. It matters only to people choosing which phone to buy.

 

[Virinprew]

It seems 's' in iPhone's name is software. Will iPhone 5 get left out the same way as iPhone 4?

 

[Morac]

Actually the iPhone 4 will get FaceTime over 3G its on apples website

Check again:

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/

"FaceTime over a cellular network requires iPhone 4S or iPad (3rd generation) with cellular data capability. Carrier data charges may apply. FaceTime is not available in all countries."

 

[iRobby]

Why are all YOU iPhone 4 owners griping?

I know this is par for Apple's course, but as an iPhone 4 owner, I still say "Ugh!"

Facetime over 3G not for iPhone 4? What the ....

No FaceTime over 3G for iPhone 4?
No Siri support for iPod or iPhone 4?
No Turn by Turn Directions for iPhone 4?

Is it still magical?

Is it just me or does anyone find it odd that the iPhone 4 is getting lack of support? The difference from the 4 and 4S aren't that huge. With the exception of Siri (and I still think Siri should of been added on the iPhone 4) this is ridiculous.

I can understand the 3GS completely but not the iPhone 4.

Why are all iPhone 4 owners griping?

Most of you will be upgrading to the NEW iPhone when iOS 6 is released. Your upgrade eligibility will be valid.

SO...

iOS 6 will be FULLY COMPATIBLE with TWO iPhones (iPhone 4S and the New iPhone.) at the time iOS 6 is released!!

Same goes for iPad. iOS 6 will be FULLY COMPATIBLE with TWO IPads (the current New iPad and the one released next year.

So I ask again why iPhone 4 owners griping? Most of you will not want a 2 year old phone come iOS 6 release!