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iOS 8 Review
An anonymous reader writes: Apple is releasing iOS 8 today, and Ars Technica has posted one of their huge, thorough reviews of the updated operating system. They have this to say about the UI: "iOS 8 tries to fit a whole lot more stuff onto a single screen than iOS 7 did. The operating system was clearly developed in anticipation of iPhones with larger screens." The biggest new feature is Extensions: "Older versions of iOS limited what third-party applications could do to communicate with external services and other third-party applications. ... Extensions remove some (but not all) of those barriers." The biggest examples of extensions are custom keyboards, a feature iOS users have been requesting for years. Downsides to iOS 8 include increased storage and processing requirements, which are bad news for older iPhones, and a host of new bugs associated with the new features.
It would sure be nice if this thread didn't devolve into an Android/Apple pissing contest. Can we at least give it a shot?
I have an iPhone 5. When iOS 7 was released, the main features that pulled pep from my phone was the motion visual effect. Turning it off made a huge difference. Can be found under -Settings --> Accessibility --> Reduce Motion (ON). Hopefully the iOS performance hit is mainly video related so as to turn off whatever advance feature chews through cycles. If it's the kernel itself taxing the CPU, yeah, pretty much screwed.
Life is not for the lazy.
Anyone who ever used an android phone. Swype, Swiftkey, and others do an amazing job. Apple lacks continuous path typing (Swype-like paths to type) which is in every major Android keyboard these days and used by hundreds of millions of people as a faster alternative to thumb typing. Apple's autocorrect is mediocre, Swiftkey and Swype/Nuance kick its ass. And the keyboard does matter- its the most used app on the phone- you use it in texting, emails, even browsing. If it isn't a good experience people will not use your device. Apple lost millions of users who wouldn't consider switching due to the lack of options on iOS. The question is if they're now to embedded into the Android world to be willing to change. I'm guessing Apple lost them permanently by being 4 or 5 years too late with opening up the keyboards api.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
You could lose everything in your iCloud backups:
4chan and reddit will keep a copy for you.
Yeah I upgraded my iPhone and ALL of my pictures were replaced with U2 promo shots.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
The crappy keyboard is one of the biggest reasons I hate my iPad. It is almost unusable for me. There is a reason why all the autocorrect humor is screenshots of iOS.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Highly doubt it. I worked at Swype. We had deals at the OEM level and shipped preinstalled. That means we made money on every phone shipped. (Some of those deals fell apart post buyout, because the buyer was hard to deal with). They won't get that deal from Apple. So they may make more money per download, or get more paid downloads. But they won't make more money overall.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
I know there's a lot of hate for Windows 8, but the onscreen keyboard for my Surface 2 (RT) is probably the best on screen keyboard I've ever used. I simply can't stand my Android phone keyboard anymore. I don't have an iDevice, but whenever I go to use my wife's iPad, I cringe at how bad that keyboard is. Always showing the keys in capitals so you can never figure out if you are typing in capitals is probably the most annoying part. Having left and right arrow buttons on the default keyboard for the Surface helps out so much. Also, having Ctrl key is extremely nice because I can use Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Z, just like I would on a regular keyboard.Tab needs 2 clicks, but it's still much easier than clicking on the next form field. You can switch to the full keyboard for those times when you really want access to all the keys, although I don't use it all the time. The iOS and Android keyboards might work OK on small screen 4-5 phones, but on a 10 inch tablet, where you have the extra room, there really should be some extended functionality. The iPad keyboard really needs to be different than the iPhone keyboard.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
That drive me up the wall. Why have an entry level phone? the manufacturing costs between 16 and 64 is tiny. Why support some many phone types? just make 1 64GB phone.
And I ask the in earnest. What data support the cost of different lines vs/ the cost of all of them being 64GB?
16 GB is there BECAUSE it's a bad choice.
32 GB is NOT there BECAUSE it's a good choice.
People will see the lower price of the 16 GB version and use that price to decide if they want an iPhone 6.
Then when they're getting ready to buy they'll hear / worry that 16 GB isn't enough, so they'll shell out the ridiculous up-charge for the 64 GB model.
The true zealots will buy the 128 GB model despite not needing that much storage.
The cost of maintaining 3 different lines is minimal. The extra income gained by stratifying the models like this is huge.
Tapping a keyboard three times to type special character. No Swype. Caps always showing, regardless of actual capitalization. All but Unusable with one hand (one handed typing jokes aside). Auto Correct that guesses wrong more often than it should. The interface is not as intuitive as Apple or iOS users claim it is, IMHO.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Wrong. It's a common marketing tactic.
You have one model that you use to advertise the "starting" price. This model has a significant con to it that will concern most users.
You have the main model you intend to sell the most of. This model does not have the con of the cheaper model. This model is what you based your design and price around. The other models are represent minor changes and have prices determined entirely by psychology, not by production cost.
You have a high end model that you sell a few of at ridiculous markups. This model is just slightly better than the main model in a few aspects.
You see this done with Apple devices, cars, video cards, event tickets, etc. It's not a conspiracy unless you're an idiot who doesn't realize this goes on everywhere. It's marketing.