New Features in iOS 6 Receive Spotty Support from Older Devices

[Born Again]

Really it's unfortunate about the turn by turn and FaceTime for the iPhone 4 but they still need to differentiate the phone because let's face it it's practically the same damn 2 year old phone for $199+ (iPhone 4s)

So it's purely marketing/sales

That said iPhone 4 users - our resale will certainly take a hit

 

[Jayomat]

Actually pretty expected, move on, it's not like they didn't do that before

 

[NAG]

Actually, no, it's not.

When people talk about fragmentation they're usually always talking about it from a developer standpoint. You know, when you make an app, how many versions to you have to make?

None of this has anything to do with that. Whether or not a user's iPhone can do FaceTime over 3G doesn't alter how you make your app.

Yeah, fragmentation has always been more of a concern of developer APIs between Android versions and hardware differences (e.g. soft buttons or physical buttons).

Framing this as a fragmentation issue detracts from the more legitimate confusion regarding things like why VIP is somehow limited by hardware. That is very puzzling but is still more of questionable app decision instead of a fragmentation issue.

 

[nepalisherpa]

This is what I had said to another user when he/she was excited about iOS 6 for 3GS!

You do have to realize that some of the major features such as Maps (turn-by-turn), Siri improvements, and Facetime improvements won't be available for 3GS. In another words, iOS 6 will technically be similar to iOS 5. That is why it is still supported.

 

[tigress666]

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.

Um, the difference between the 4 and 4S, really the big upgrade to the 4S, was a much faster processor. It was a bigger bump than the 3G to 3GS (and look how well the 3G ran ioS 4....). It's definitely a bigger jump than the 3GS to the 4 (not to mention the 3GS doesn't have the higher resolution to deal with. Apparently it runs games better than the 4 cause of this).

Honestly, I'm expecting this to be the same thing that happened when the 4 came out and they gimped iOS 4 for the 3G. People, like they are doing now, bitch about how come they didn't allow this? WHine whine whine. And then when iOS 4 came out they started whining about how badly it ran on the 3G and how it made the phone unusable. WHich was like, yeah, that's why they didn't allow those stuff, sounds like they should have just not even supported the 3G. I would not be surprised if the 3GS and 4 run iOS 6 not so smoothly. Hell, my 4 doesn't run the latest iOS 5 all that smoothly.

 

[captain kaos]

Well, it seems we now have to live with being told what hardware you have. Its a joke really, especially when lots of people are on a 2 year contract every time they want the newest iphone. Iphone 4 to 4s, a slightly faster processor, so how come facetime over 3g isnt available on the 4? Siri? Well, we all know that it works on a JB phone, so thats not an excuse. Nope, this is totally Apples new way to sell hardware and lets face it, now they don't even feel the need to give the customer a real update (4s, wasn't much of an update really, most 4 owners didn't feel it was a big enough to force an upgrade). Apple are playing a dangerous game, one which make them the next "bad guy" or make people jailbreak.

 

[Born Again]

To have a proper answer please do:

1. Get a degree in the field of science, math and engineering
2. Become an expert in what you do
3. Apply for work at apple
4. Become a leading technical expert at apple
5. be part of the creative team that decides what is good and what is not for ios and apple hardware

Then you'll have the answer to the question that you posed above.

U have no idea what you are talking about

Get a degree in marketing

 

[ikir]

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?

No FaceTime over 3G for iPhone 4 is stupid.
Siri support is only for 4S because the best mic and receded noise, it needs quality. So i can understand it, it must go work good not just work.
Turn by Turn should be available for iPhone 4 too.

Anyway remember that all new features are a "gift" for older device, nobody owns you nothing, but yes agree some things like FaceTime over 3G should be enable on iPad 2 and iPhone 4.

 

[Zaim2]

If you think this is fragmentation, you haven't looked at the mess that is Android.

What a mess.

 

[Sardonick007]

Lame

My new iPad is going to be happy, but not supporting older devices is lame.

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Apple claims that iOS 6, the next version of its iPhone and iPad operating system, is "compatible" with devices as old as the iPhone 3GS. The 3GS was originally released nearly three years ago in June 2009 -- an eternity in gadget time.

However, at the bottom of Apple's iOS 6 info page lies a small disclaimer: "Not all features are available on all devices." This is followed by 8 footnotes detailing exactly what features work on what device.

Image


Some features, like the VIP List for email, the Offline Reading List, and Shared Photo Stream won't work on the iPhone 3GS. Even flagship iOS features like Flyover, turn-by-turn navigation, and FaceTime over cellular won't work on recent devices like the iPhone 4 or the iPad 2 -- not to mention the iPhone 3GS.

All that said, however, iPhone 3GS owners will receive iOS 6 features like redesigned App and Music Stores, Cloud Tabs in Safari, Facebook integration, and other improvements -- it just won't include nearly the same number of features as the owners of Apple's latest and greatest gadgets.

Article Link: New Features in iOS 6 Receive Spotty Support from Older Devices

 

[Mark Booth]

I'm glad I upgraded to the iPhone 4S last year. And thanks to the expected dock connector redesign for iPhone 5, the 4S will be my iPhone of choice for at least another year or two.

Oh well, that saves me a few $$$ to help pay for a new Mac sometime this year!

Mark

 

[Sudaddy]

I have an iPhone 3GS that I bought the first day it was released 3 years back.

As an Apple Developer, I was able to upgrade to iOS 6 yesterday, and I can immediately understand why certain features were not released for 3GS - it's super slow! Even with iOS5 running, 3GS can be some times so slow - probably because of the memory and processing power required to run some of the features and applications.

Yes, my 3GS doesn't have all the new features from iOS6, but I got no regrets. My 3GS has treated me really well for over 3 years and I never had any issues with it.

As for some features of iOS6 not supporting iPhone 4, there is at least one reason why I can see why Apple didn't want that - battery performance. If battery performance of iOS 5 is terrible for iPhone 4, imagine how bad it could have been with iOS 6. Not to mention, iPhone 4S has a beefier internals compared to 4.

I will eventually be upgrading to iPhone 5 (or the "New iPhone") in October, and it will be interesting to see what route they go with the new iPhone.

 

[robjulo]

If you think this is fragmentation, you haven't looked at the mess that is Android.

Nice spin.

 

[Spock]

Taking these features away from the iPhone 4 is just Apple pushing people into buying a new iPhone, my Galaxy S that is almost exactly specced the same as the iPhone 4 had turn by turn navigation and it ran fine. I paid over $500 for a factory unlocked iPhone 4 less than a year ago, this will be its first major iOS update and its missing features.

 

[billystlyes]

Who cares? GIII is my next phone.

 

[needfx]

Image

What a mess.

are you high?
(edit: unless you are not comparing this tiny spreadsheet directly to android fragmentation)

This
----------------------
Fraaaa

When people talk of Android and fragmentation this come to mind to me:

"Android Temple Run: 99.9% of support emails are complaining their device isn't supported. We currently support 707 devices."

 

[mysticalos]

Coming to the iPhone 3GS.....iOS 6 Lite

Coming to the iPhone 4.....iOS 6 Basic Edition

Coming to the iPhone 4S.....iOS 6

Coming to the iPhone 5.....iOS 6 Premium Edition


-Kevin

As opposed to no update at all? remember what happened when they tried to include too many features into iphone 3G with iOS 4? Apple gives devices literally 3 years of software support, even if it means some features don't work. You really have room to complain about stripped features? or would you rathor be like android crowd where only 7% of users are on latest version because they don't get updates at all?

The turn by turn nav isn't just a 2d map off mapquest, it's some serious 3d rendering and eye candy, there may be good reason 4 isn't supported. Wait til someone jailbreaks it and enables it and people complain "oh this is so slow". Like when they jailbroke siri and it stuttered and didn't run right on 4 (yet somehow apple was just being greedy by disabling it right?)

 

[TPALTony]

Fragmentation...

...is when you have different phones on different versions of the OS.

iOS can be installed on the last three years worth of apple phones. They all run at resolutions that are multiples of one another, they all run all the same core stuff.

There are some features that some phones don't support, but there are simple APIs to determine that for developers to use.

So I could have 1,000,000 customers, all on iOS 6, some can't use the maps feature I build into my app, others can. So what? That's not the same as "my app has to support 12 different versions of the operating system with different API calls etc etc."

So while this makes things a little more complex, it's not nearly as bad as the Android situation, with devices in 1,000 different resolutions, and OS updates left to the handset maker to deploy...

The choice is for Apple to drop support for older phones, which would get them flamed too... I think their approach is sensible.

Just my 2c/p.

 

[Fraaaa]

In all seriousness, the Android frameworks are built in a way that you don't actually have to do that. You target an API level and a common set of hardware features. Same as you would with iOS devices... except there is no such thing as an API level, you have to basically test out things to make sure the APIs are there or not or block out devices from being able to buy your apps... oh wait, like Android.

It's the friggin same thing. There's no reason to go on and on about Android fragmentation when iOS does the same thing.

Yes, Android is fragmented. iOS? Nah....

When people talk of Android and fragmentation this come to mind to me:

"Android Temple Run: 99.9% of support emails are complaining their device isn't supported. We currently support 707 devices."

 

[a.gomez]

Yeah it works on everything - they just edit what you get on the install. The ipad and phone you bought last year does not get everything.

iOS: the dumbing down of Apple continues

 

[Small White Car]

*sigh*



Baked. Into. The. SDK.

Look, I'm not making any statement about what Apple has said at other times. I'm not making any statement about what Android is or isn't. I'm just clarifying the language used to describe this specific news story.

You've apparently decided I meant all sorts of other things related to things outside of this article, but that was not my intent. Your reply has nothing to do with what I actually said, which is that restricting things like FaceTime over 3G don't lead to developer fragmentation.

That's my only point.

 

[that1guyy]

I'm still rocking my 3GS. If that's all the 3GS is getting I won't bother upgrading at all. Might buy the "new" iPhone though when it comes out.

 

[Lone Deranger]

Planned obsolescence.

 

[fruitpunch.ben]

Unlike some, I realize that Apple's logic is quite understandable - if something doesn't work great on an older device, they won't include it rather than giving the user a sub-par user experience (as much as many geeks around here would prefer the latter, most people buy Apple for UX).
I understand this, as I found my 3GS much slower after iOS 5, and if I'd known, might have preferred to stay on 4 (but likely not, the "fear" of missing out would kill me).
I just hope that since iOS 6 is going to eliminate Google Maps, that the iOS 6 Lite we're getting is still feature for feature par. If we no longer have street view or satellite view or worse, traffic updates, then I would prefer to still have Google Maps!

 

[mojohanna]

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.

If Apple did this you would end up with the mess that is windows and all of the legacy bloat required to support machines that are 6+ years old. I am fully expecting that by next summer/fall, my Core 2 Duo will no longer be supported fully. But hey, by that time, my laptop will be 5 years old. I can't complain much about that at all.