The way Apple handles iOS upgrades is almost criminal.

[Watermann]

I want to make my vote clear.

I voted "other", but that "other" really is the "This poll is stupid" option.

You are not forced to upgrade. You are also not forced to hang on to a 3 year old device. New software = new features, generally new features require more power because they do more.

People who are upset by this are upset at the speed at which the industry moves, not Apple specifically.

I'd much rather be pushed forward than held back. If one upgrades every two years, one would never run into the issue of having a device "slowed down" by an iOS update.

I wonder whats makes ios8 so resources hungry, there are really no significant improvements to justify the loss of smothness

Ok, I can live with a poor optimized system, but at the same time there should be an open door to let the "power users" to downgrade, just as with Android, PC or even Mac

 

[nilk]

Um, my devices don't slow down from a upgrade actually, unless it is really old, like a 4S, then that is understandable, because you know the device came out over 3 years ago and is still getting updates, unlike Android, and iOS 8.1.1 promises performance enhancements and stability improvements to the 4S/iPad 2.....is the Galaxy Nexus getting any more updates?? What About Android flagships on carriers that dont see updates for a long long time lol...your post is flawed and is pretty factually incorrect

Nexus 4 came out 2 years ago and "Lollipop will be coming 'soon'"

Had a i5 on iOS 8/8.1 and it was buttery smooth , also had a 5S on 8.0 and it was buttery smooth and now I have a Plus on 8.1 that is buttery smooth with Reduce transparency/motion on.


Android's update system is criminal

My 2012 Nexus 7 was made practically unusable by Android 5.0, much worse than my 4S running iOS 8. But guess what? With Android, I have the option of downgrading to a previous release, and since it's a Nexus I can easily unlock the bootloader and even install alternative Android distros that may run better on my hardware. I can even install other operating systems on my Nexus 7 (e.g. Firefox OS, Ubuntu Touch, Sailfish, Tizen). The hardware is the limit here.

I understand Apple's reasons for preventing downgrade (e.g. security), but not being able to downgrade is nevertheless a problem for many users. Maybe they would even see increased number of upgrades if you could downgrade; there are probably a lot of people who don't upgrade out of fear that would have if they had the option to downgrade.

Android isn't perfect, but things are much more flexible than they are in iOS-land. And though not all Android devices are flexible (regarding unlockable bootloaders, etc), at least there are a good number of devices that are, and are officially supported to be this flexible without requiring hacks.

 

[nilk]

I think the real problem is Apple users do ZERO maintenance on their phones and data and expect iOS to work perfectly.

A co-worker of mine was complaining about his iPhone being slow and when I investigated further the guy had NOT restored his phone for 3 years. After doing a simple restore he saw much better performance.

Why shouldn't users expect it to work fine without maintenance? This is the expectation Apple sets with their "just works" mantra and their whole supposed focus on user experience. Apple is not setting the expectation that iOS devices require this kind of maintenance.

 

[Italianblend]

People who are upset by this are upset at the speed at which the industry moves, not Apple specifically.

No. We are upset that Apple puts out an update that says "improvements" and we should be able to trust the issuing company. It says nothing about warning us that it may slow down your device. We are also upset that said updates that claims improvements makes a device that is fully operational crippled in just a few minutes it takes to upgrade. Oh and that we have no freedom to go back. I'd say that is "Apple specifically."

 

[sunking101]

No. We are upset that Apple puts out an update that says "improvements" and we should be able to trust the issuing company. It says nothing about warning us that it may slow down your device. We are also upset that said updates that claims improvements makes a device that is fully operational crippled in just a few minutes it takes to upgrade. Oh and that we have no freedom to go back. I'd say that is "Apple specifically."

Exactly.
Also, on newer devices, we can install an 'update' that causes bugs or battery drain and then we have to wait weeks, sometimes months, for Apple to send a revised update. We aren't 'allowed' to revert to the previous and better version in the meantime.

 

[I7guy]

No. We are upset that Apple puts out an update that says "improvements" and we should be able to trust the issuing company. It says nothing about warning us that it may slow down your device. We are also upset that said updates that claims improvements makes a device that is fully operational crippled in just a few minutes it takes to upgrade. Oh and that we have no freedom to go back. I'd say that is "Apple specifically."

"We" do trust the issuing company. I have yet to install an update that was worse than what it replaced. Sure the wifi slowdown on one release was a minor annoyance. Portrait to landscape another minor annoyance. But nothing that made my phone unusable.

Unfortunately things of this nature will always affect a small percentage of people. Come to MR however, and one would believe every user is affected by the same issue, which just isn't the case.

 

[Armen]

Why shouldn't users expect it to work fine without maintenance? This is the expectation Apple sets with their "just works" mantra and their whole supposed focus on user experience. Apple is not setting the expectation that iOS devices require this kind of maintenance.

Why? Because people keep iMessages from 2 years ago and then complain messages is slow to come up

 

[Italianblend]

Why? Because people keep iMessages from 2 years ago and then complain messages is slow to come up

If that really is the case, then Apple should inform us that keeping messages may slow the app down. In the settings, it does have an option for automatically deleting messages after a month or year, but it never explains that this can slow your device down.

But, I think the iOS has much much more potential to slow an iPhone than the messages app.

 

[Armen]

If that really is the case, then Apple should inform us that keeping messages may slow the app down. In the settings, it does have an option for automatically deleting messages after a month or year, but it never explains that this can slow your device down.



But, I think the iOS has much much more potential to slow an iPhone than the messages app.

If Apple had made the iPhone 5 the cutoff for iOS 8 all the 4S users would have complained that apple left them behind and are forcing them to upgrade.

Apple included the 4S and the complaints are pretty much the same.

 

[sunking101]

If Apple had made the iPhone 5 the cutoff for iOS 8 all the 4S users would have complained that apple left them behind and are forcing them to upgrade.

Apple included the 4S and the complaints are pretty much the same.

Why would people need to upgrade? What can you do with iOS8 that you can't do with iOS7? Very, very little. I would rather miss out on insignificant things than have my phone become laggy and frustrating to use. It seems that people will never agree on this Apple update thing.

 

[Armen]

Why would people need to upgrade? What can you do with iOS8 that you can't do with iOS7? Very, very little. I would rather miss out on insignificant things than have my phone become laggy and frustrating to use. It seems that people will never agree on this Apple update thing.

Very Very little difference between iOS 7 and 8?

- 3rd Party Keyboard support
- Notification Center Widgets
- Handoff and continuity with Mac OS
- API to allow developers to add their own actions to the share sheets
- Wifi calling

Why would anyone NOT want those features?

 

[Watermann]

Very Very little difference between iOS 7 and 8?

- 3rd Party Keyboard support
- Notification Center Widgets
- Handoff and continuity with Mac OS
- API to allow developers to add their own actions to the share sheets
- Wifi calling

Why would anyone NOT want those features?

And which of those features make ios8 slow? Not really big differences between 7 and 8 that justifies the choppiness. I could understand the problems with ios7, but 8??

 

[C DM]

If Apple had made the iPhone 5 the cutoff for iOS 8 all the 4S users would have complained that apple left them behind and are forcing them to upgrade.

Apple included the 4S and the complaints are pretty much the same.

To be fair, complaining about not getting an upgrade on an older device is fairly different than complaining about an update negatively affecting such a device. In one case it's just complaining, in another case there's an actual issue there (the degree of which can be somewhat argued perhaps but it's still there).

 

[sunking101]

Very Very little difference between iOS 7 and 8?

- 3rd Party Keyboard support
- Notification Center Widgets
- Handoff and continuity with Mac OS
- API to allow developers to add their own actions to the share sheets
- Wifi calling

Why would anyone NOT want those features?

I have a 6+ and use none of those features.

 

[SolarShane]

- 3rd Party Keyboard support
- Notification Center Widgets
- Handoff and continuity with Mac OS
- API to allow developers to add their own actions to the share sheets
- Wifi calling

1: Third Party Keyboards that suck and take forever to load.
2: Not widgets. They're "interactive notifications", and their limited.
3: Big deal. Not everyone has a Mac.
4: Not that big to brag about.

 

[I7guy]

I have a 6+ and use none of those features.

So Apple should close up shop and go back to IOS 7?

 

[cynics]

I use an iPhone 4S for work on iOS 8.1.1 and it's pretty bad. Embarrassingly bad even.

Thing that didn't lag before now lag. Like the phone app takes a noticeable time to load. It's only 3-4 seconds but for the phone app that's a long time. Camera and Safari are the same.

I give 3rd party apps a little leeway but native apps shouldn't be noticeably worse. Especially apps like the phone app which offers very little over iOS 5 when it was lightning fast.

I've called the wrong people several times because I'll click on a name in recent calls as it refreshes and puts a different name under my thumb.

My iPhone 6 feels like a powerhouse comparatively speaking. But mostly because my 4S has gotten so much worse.

I appreciate the additional features however I end up not using a lot of the newer stuff because it lags and just offers overall poor UI. Example would be scrolling in the details section of a group message where people are sharing their location. I need to give that 5 seconds or so just to get mediocre scrolling.

I blame myself as well I've done this with all iPhones. I know I shouldn't update however Apple offers a feature I feel I really need to have. In the case of my 4S it was SMS on my Mac. Good feature, I find it useful but I don't know if it was worth it.

 

[sunking101]

So Apple should close up shop and go back to IOS 7?

I'm not saying that. Merely that very few uprades are worth introducing lag onto an older device.

 

[I7guy]

I'm not saying that. Merely that very few uprades are worth introducing lag onto an older device.

I'd rather have slight lag and a slew of new features...

 

[Italianblend]

I'd rather have slight lag and a slew of new features...

You don't speak for everyone. And Apple doesn't even give us the option.

 

[XmeX]

Very Very little difference between iOS 7 and 8?



- 3rd Party Keyboard support

- Notification Center Widgets

- Handoff and continuity with Mac OS

- API to allow developers to add their own actions to the share sheets

- Wifi calling



Why would anyone NOT want those features?

Since there is "very very very very little difference", why apple said this:

 

[sunking101]

Since there is "very very very very little difference", why apple said this:

Image

It isn't like we got access to the internet or something with iOS8. I do nothing different with iOS8 than I did with iOS7. I'm not saying that nobody uses the new features, or that they're pointless, merely that I don't *need* them and they sure as heck aren't worth slowing an older phone down to a crawl for.

 

[I7guy]

You don't speak for everyone. And Apple doesn't even give us the option.

Neither do you sir.

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It isn't like we got access to the internet or something with iOS8. I do nothing different with iOS8 than I did with iOS7. I'm not saying that nobody uses the new features, or that they're pointless, merely that I don't *need* them and they sure as heck aren't worth slowing an older phone down to a crawl for.

From here on in you are declining all updates? Right? This way the world will be on IOS 9 and you'll still be on IOS 8,

 

[RebornProphet]

My main reason for upgrading first time round was Metal, but being honest not many games have taken advantage of it yet. Asphalt 8 added some nice flame effects to nitro and some weather effects in Tokyo and Iceland tracks, but other than that game and VainGlory (which runs fine and looks great on iOS 7) there's been very little of note. Modern Combat 5's Metal "update" was a joke.

I don't have any need for SMS relay or answering calls on my iPad and Handoff thus far comes off as a bit gimmicky, plus my iMac is too old to use it anyway even though it runs Yosemite.

For ME personally, not speaking for anyone else, the jump from iOS 7 to iOS 8 doesn't bring anything feature wise that I notice in my day to day use, but what it does bring is UI lag in places where I notice and I can't take it. That, as well as the slow WiFi issue stops me from upgrading to iOS 8 again.

 

[sunking101]

Neither do you sir.

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From here on in you are declining all updates? Right? This way the world will be on IOS 9 and you'll still be on IOS 8,

I'm declining any update that makes performance of crucial features worse for the sake of adding a non-crucial feature.