Years Ahead?

[dweezle3]

Just my opinion, but does anyone else feel like Apple's "taking a mobile os that was already years ahead and moving it even further ahead" isn't saying much? It seems like if anything they've caught up a bit from being behind for the last year or so, basically implementing three or four of the common jailbreak features. A bit underwhelming Thoughts?

 

[LSUtigers03]

If you don't jailbreak then iOS 5 is great. Non jailbreakers make up a much larger amount of total iOS users than jailbreakers do. So Apple is catering to the masses. I've jailbroke every iOS device I've ever had so these major updates are really underwhelming. It is nice to not have to rely on jailbreaking to get certain features but it would be nice to see something new that jailbreaking hasn't already provided. The iPhone isn't my main phone anymore so I care a little less but I still have a 3GS and an iPad so I'm still paying attention to what is happening in the world of iOS.

ETA: The iMessage app looks pretty cool. I'm looking forward to trying that out. If it works well I could get rid of my texting plan if I went back to the iPhone since everyone I know has an iPhone.

 

[-aggie-]

More like years behind and moving it less behind, or backwards depending on your point of view (if you jailbreak).

 

[Reach9]

More like it just caught up. That's what Apple wanted to say in a subtle way. Nonetheless i'm very pleased with iOS 5.

 

[CosmoPilot]

iOS isn't broken, so why "fix" it. Stale, yes...broken, no!

iOS does everything a smartphone should do. It does it differently than other OSes. To say it does it better or worse, is just an opinion...not fact.

I see several innovative ideas being utilized in each update. The fact the UI barely changes has most people up in arms, but to say it is behind the times or playing catch up is just not accurate. What should it do that it doesn't? Don't mention UI stuff, because that is user specific, not an actual capability.

I too was a bit underwhelmed (expecting a new UI), but the bottom line is it works and works well. Now with iCloud integration, Apple has cut the cord and made the iPhone even better.

 

[JetBlack7]

iOS isn't broken, so why "fix" it. Stale, yes...broken, no!

iOS does everything a smartphone should do. It does it differently than other OSes. To say it does it better or worse, is just an opinion...not fact.

I see several innovative ideas being utilized in each update. The fact the UI barely changes has most people up in arms, but to say it is behind the times or playing catch up is just not accurate. What should it do that it doesn't? Don't mention UI stuff, because that is user specific, not an actual capability.

I too was a bit underwhelmed (expecting a new UI), but the bottom line is it works and works well. Now with iCloud integration, Apple has cut the cord and made the iPhone even better.

And with that "PC free" stuff, they struck gold! No more needing PC to activate you phone.

 

[iCheddar]

Years ahead? Probably not.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if an OS has more advanced functionality if the device doesn't work very well. Before the CDMA iPhone came out, I had an Android device for about 9 months...and it just DIDN'T work. Sure, it's great to have features, but when you've got a device with atrocious battery life and buggy software, the features become meaningless.

I'd rather have stable software that works incredibly well than new software that doesn't.

 

[mysterioustko]

iOS isn't broken, so why "fix" it. Stale, yes...broken, no!

iOS does everything a smartphone should do. It does it differently than other OSes. To say it does it better or worse, is just an opinion...not fact.

I see several innovative ideas being utilized in each update. The fact the UI barely changes has most people up in arms, but to say it is behind the times or playing catch up is just not accurate. What should it do that it doesn't? Don't mention UI stuff, because that is user specific, not an actual capability.

I too was a bit underwhelmed (expecting a new UI), but the bottom line is it works and works well. Now with iCloud integration, Apple has cut the cord and made the iPhone even better.

I have to disagree with you on the innovation statement. What they did was implement features that have already been available for quite some time on other platforms. That isn't innovation. If they had of added actual cloud syncing that would have been innovative. I'm still not able to send web pages back and forth from my computer to my phone through the cloud. Still no full bluetooth capabilities (a la file transfers...been around for at least 5-8 years now..). Apple's strong suit has always been implementation, not innovation. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the things they added, it's just not anything groundbreaking nor very impressive due to the fact that it's already been done.

And with that "PC free" stuff, they struck gold! No more needing PC to activate you phone.

I'd hardly say they struck gold. It should have been this way from the inception of the original iphone. You shouldn't have to have a computer to use a phone. So this was simply a long time coming.

 

[dweezle3]

I agree with mysterioustko, although the iPhone does suit my needs just fine, it's the small things like bluetooth file sharing and UI customization that it still doesn't have that (in my opinion) cause it to lag behind some other smart phones. Many things that Android has had for a long time now are just beginning to appear in iOS, like a decent notification system and something as simple as using physical buttons to take a picture. I'm just wondering if implementing something like the new notification system that was present long ago on android phones and was easy enough for jailbreakers to create much earlier (iNotified and MobileNotifier) deserves being presented as "years ahead"? Or has it always been this way? I got my iPhone right when the 3GS came out, and so missed out on how new jailbreak features were announced earlier. Has it always been this cat and mouse game of jailbreakers releasing features and Apple later announcing similar, "revolutionary and innovative" features?