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Apple Releases iOS 12 With Faster Performance, Memoji, Siri Shortcuts, Screen Time, Revamped Maps App, ARKit 2.0, and More (macrumors.com)

Apple on Monday released iOS 12, the latest operating system designed for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. iOS 12 is available on all devices that are able to run iOS 11, which includes the iPhone 5s (released 2013) and later, the iPad mini 2 and later, the iPad Air and later, and the 6th-generation iPod touch. From a report: iOS 12 is a major update that brings several new features and upgrades to Apple's iOS devices, along with some significant performance improvements. Apps open more speedily than before, the keyboard pops up faster, and the Camera launches much quicker. Apple has also introduced optimizations for when the system is under load, making iOS devices faster when you need performance most.

[...] Siri is smarter than ever in iOS 12 with a new Shortcuts feature designed to let you create multi-step customized automations using first and third-party apps that can be activated with Siri voice commands. Shortcuts can be created through the Shortcuts app, which Apple is releasing alongside iOS 12.
ArsTechnica reports that older iOS devices -- iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Mini 2 -- are noticeably faster at launching apps and several other functions, after they have been upgraded to iOS 12.

78 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Simply an incredible release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Loving it so far.

    Credit where credit it due: it really makes you appreciate the nuances that Jobs made so commonplace in the iOS ecosystem.

    1. Re:Simply an incredible release by jellomizer · · Score: 1, Troll

      Sure Apple is a big evil company, but compared to Microsoft 20 years ago. At least they are releasing good products. Even iOS 11 which had a lot of problems was still rather stable and solid compared to other systems.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Simply an incredible release by ThomasBHardy · · Score: 1

      This has not been my experience. been a user since back in the iPhone 3 days and have had pads ranging from the mini to the normal to a Pro.

      In all of those incarnations and all of the OS iterations, I've experienced very few app crashes. And when they do happen, it's nearly always a 3rd party app/game.

      So no, I do not agree with you. I have found my iOS apps to be far superior to PC apps with regards to crash rates.

      --
      Warning: Teh poster of this messaeg is lysdexic
    3. Re:Simply an incredible release by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Being that the OS has cleanly closed the offending application is a big deal for OS security and design.
      Just like how you don't need to reboot your Linux system if your Application hits a Segment fault.

      On many other systems, after your app fails, you can't trust the stability of the OS. And will reboot after a failure. Today if an App unexpectedly quits, we just start up again.

      But for the end user even the expert, we don't care why the App failed, just that it did.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:Simply an incredible release by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      No I am comparing Apple in 2018 with Microsoft in 1998.
      Both at their biggest and most influential moment, considered unstoppable juggernauts.
      During this Time, Microsoft was pushing its already Dated DOS Based OS's like Windows 98 just because it was a cheap upgrade for them to make, and embedded IE to make sure it loads up faster then Netscape. While Microsoft had its superior Windows NT 4 it was just targeted towards businesses and not the home user, because they were afraid to break compatibility with the old DOS Games.
      Apple iOS is Unix based like OS X is. The Android market which is a big competitor is still flourishing and growing along with Apple. While strong competitors, they are not trying to underhand each other like Microsoft did, but more playing to each products strengths and pointing out the others weaknesses.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    5. Re:Simply an incredible release by hviniciusg · · Score: 2

      Comparing Apples to Oranges rigth?

    6. Re:Simply an incredible release by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Apple apps (including their own) actually crash constantly....

      Apple's genius.. is that instead of an error screen, or message, the app just quietly closes...

      Apples environment is mostly braindead, and they keep a lot of malware away from my phone, which is the main reason I use an Iphone over any android device.

      People have almost universally been loving iOS 12, even in its early Beta releases.

      iOS keeps a LOT of Malware away from [your] Phone?!?

      I guess "All" is also considered "A Lot"...

    7. Re:Simply an incredible release by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Being that the OS has cleanly closed the offending application is a big deal for OS security and design.
      Just like how you don't need to reboot your Linux system if your Application hits a Segment fault.

      On many other systems, after your app fails, you can't trust the stability of the OS. And will reboot after a failure. Today if an App unexpectedly quits, we just start up again.

      But for the end user even the expert, we don't care why the App failed, just that it did.

      What?!? You don't want blue-screen Register Dumps???

      What kind of Geek ARE you?

    8. Re:Simply an incredible release by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Too bad macOS is nothing like its younger sibling. When a full screen application crashes (like a game), most of the time hard reboot is the only solution.

      Liar.

    9. Re:Simply an incredible release by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Sure, if we're comparing against the best Windows release.

    10. Re:Simply an incredible release by geekmux · · Score: 1

      ...The Android market which is a big competitor is still flourishing and growing along with Apple. While strong competitors, they are not trying to underhand each other like Microsoft did, but more playing to each products strengths and pointing out the others weaknesses.

      So, all those multi-million dollar lawsuits going back and forth between Apple and Samsung over the years...those are just moves to play to each others legal "strengths", and has nothing to do with trying to underhand each other.

      Riiiight...

    11. Re:Simply an incredible release by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      You are way too excited about a phone.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    12. Re:Simply an incredible release by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      Microsoft embedded IE because it made complete sense. They had explorer.exe already, it was an act of cluefulness to make it web-savvy.

      And Netscape at the time had plans to continue to release their 'low cost' browser technology, with proprietary hooks that only their httpd provided. They wanted to own the web with proprietary extensions and make the web the application platform, supplanting all desktops. They were not golden saviors trying to rescue the world from anything.

    13. Re:Simply an incredible release by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      The only reason the Wintel monopoly ever came to be was because Apple sued all of Microsoft's competitors out of business. They ran the GEM desktop and Geos out of operation. They then handed the Windows mantle to Microsoft by losing the look-n-feel lawsuit. By then the market was wiped clear. It was either Mac or Windows.

      Thanks, Apple legal team. You fuckers.

    14. Re:Simply an incredible release by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      Hint: here on Slashdot you can create a '.signature' so you don't have to type your name at the bottom of your posts.

      Oh, and you forgot to include the body of your post in the above.

    15. Re: Simply an incredible release by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      Apple spent many millions of dollars trying to come up with a new OS for the Macintosh that had preemptive multitasking, like Windows NT at the time did.

      In the end, they gave up and let themselves be taken over by NeXT, and adopted the NeXT OS which was a unix clone.

      At the time of the MacOS 9/OSX convergence, Apple truly did have a bankrupt bunch of morons in charge of software.

    16. Re:Simply an incredible release by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Hint: here on Slashdot you can create a '.signature' so you don't have to type your name at the bottom of your posts.

      Oh, and you forgot to include the body of your post in the above.

      Oh, so clever...

  2. Released to Who? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

    My iPhone says "iOS 11.4.1 Your software is up to date."

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    1. Re:Released to Who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Obviously your iPhone 5 isn't receiving this update...

    2. Re:Released to Who? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

      Try refreshing that screen (pull down from the top). I think their servers are getting hammered at the moment, so it sounds like a number of phones haven't had the info about the new release pushed to them yet (though, if past releases are any indication, that info should get pushed out over the next few hours and days to everyone with compatible devices). Mine didn't show it either until I refreshed that screen, at which point it was forced to pull the latest info from Apple.

    3. Re:Released to Who? by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      The last time my phone updated I didn't want it but it started naggine me all the time. So I finally gave in and I had to update xcode. But xcode wouldn't update until I updated macos. So I just hope my phone never needs an update again.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    4. Re: Released to Who? by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      "Any PC that was supported by Vista can run Windows 10"

    5. Re: Released to Who? by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Here's the difference. Apple has examples of every single model that runs iOS. So they can be 100% sure.

    6. Re:Released to Who? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Obviously your iPhone 5 isn't receiving this update...

      Did you just assume my iPhone model?!

      It's a 7.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    7. Re:Released to Who? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Mine finally came through this evening.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    8. Re:Released to Who? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Which iPhone model do you have?

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    9. Re: Released to Who? by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      Apple isn't a good enough software company to build code for an open platform. It's much easier when you have a minuscule install base to support.

    10. Re:Released to Who? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Which iPhone model do you have?

      A 7 plus

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    11. Re:Released to Who? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Strange. Do you still not see an iOS 12 update?

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    12. Re:Released to Who? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      I do now. It came in the evening.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    13. Re:Released to Who? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Finally. :)

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  3. Don't nobody tell me by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please, let me stay ignorant of what a "memoji" is just for a little while longer. I was just starting to have hope for the world again.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Don't nobody tell me by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Haha yeah! I mean screw people who wanna have fun! Us Edge Lords and our "UNQUESTIONABLE WAYS" have everything figured out, it's why we're all gazillionaires and can sit on Slashdot all day giving out stupid, useless opinions about why the world is "going to shit" in an ironic fashion. Hahaha go us, we're so much better than the plebs! You faggot.

      Can someone please translate this for me? This young man seems to be all worked up about something and I'm not sure what it is. I'd like to help him if I can.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Don't nobody tell me by hviniciusg · · Score: 1

      there u go:

      Haha! Makemake wau e hooholo i ka poe e makemake nei eolioli! E n Edge Haku a me ko mkou "WWAI HOPU" n mea a pau iikeia,o ia ke kumu o mkou he mau gasillionaires a hiki i mkou ke noho ma Slashdot i ka l a pau e hawi nei i n manao naaup a me ka maikaiole no ke kumu e "holo ai" ke ao. Hahahao mkou i mkou, uaoi aku ko mkou maikai ma mua o n kui! Alohaoe.

    3. Re:Don't nobody tell me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Here's a better video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3NeERWyk6Q

    4. Re:Don't nobody tell me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's like a Nintendo Mii or Xbox Avatar.
      That's where apple copied it from.

    5. Re:Don't nobody tell me by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      It's a feature Apple stole from Samsung. That's really all you need to know. Most of this release are features that already exist in Android that Apple has simply copied.

      Prove it.

    6. Re:Don't nobody tell me by cerberusss · · Score: 1

      Please, let me stay ignorant of what a "memoji" is

      I'm going to tell you anyway, because I think you'll be pretty interested, plus you're my favorite old man on Slashdot.

      As the term memoji implies, it's about memes. Let's take memes here on slashdot we all know and love. Siri now knows about these and can deal with those. If you've upgraded to iOS 12, you can now say: "hey Siri, send goatse to my wife". Or: "hey Siri, go GNAA on my boss", which will result in crapflooding his inbox.

      And with Siri Shortcuts, this can be automated so you could say: "hey Siri, invite all my contacts to GNAA and send them ponies on April 1st".

      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
  4. Best way to use Siri in my car? by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 2

    Now that you can add any app to Siri's list, how can I best use Siri in the car? My problem is now I have to wait for the 4 second delay of siri kicking in and using my car's mic/speakers, and the resulting clunkiness. Which makes me almost never use it because it is clunky. Only for safety reasons, I'd love to use Siri all the time!!!

  5. Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by toejam13 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hey Android manufacturers, this is one place where Apple makes every other smartphone platform look bad. Of the three mainstream flagship Android phones I've owned, I've never had one where I received updates for more than two years. Even my wife's five-year-old Blackberry Z30 received a security update three months ago.

    I'm getting tired of watching perfectly good expensive hardware get the axe because the official software updates stop. I've tried third party ROMs, but they never worked quite right with my hardware. I'd be content just with security updates after two years, but even that appears to be asking for too much.

    Now that my current Android phone is EOL, I do not look forward to the chore of replacing it. Maybe it is time to look a bit more outside of the Android ecosystem.

    1. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by jonesy16 · · Score: 1

      Have to agree with you there. Had Android phones (Motorola and HTC) and Windows phones (Nokia), both struggled to maintain support even at 1 year old. Google and Microsoft would push the updates out to vendors but then the vendors would sit on it for months, if they even released it at all. At least in Apple's universe you never feel like you're losing out to someone else. Yes, you still get dropped due to old age at some point, but iOS 12 supports the 5s that was released in 2013, so that's a pretty good run of support (5 years!). And you know that you're getting the update at the same time on your phone as everyone else.

    2. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by SimonTheSoundMan · · Score: 1

      I agree also. Had Motorola phones, they run almost vanilla Android. However, after a year they get forgotten about. It is not the lack of new features that necessarily irks me, it is they never release security updates. There are some very bad malware out there, latest problems with 'disk in the middle' attacks, and the latest attacks using AT commands https://www.usenix.org/confere... are scary! Wil Android hardware manufacturers update their devices, maybe Google and Samsung, the rest maybe not.

    3. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by toejam13 · · Score: 1

      Speaking of Nokia, they're adopted the Android One channel for their phones, which guarantees two years of version updates plus an additional year of security updates. That's a plus. Too bad that only the Nokia 6.1 is officially available in Canada and the US. I like the overall specs of the Nokia 7, but the global model would be seriously limited on a North American network.

    4. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      This is one reason I have an iPhone and would consider replacing it with one. Old crusty 5S and still supported by everything I try on it.

    5. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Hey Android manufacturers, this is one place where Apple makes every other smartphone platform look bad. Of the three mainstream flagship Android phones I've owned, I've never had one where I received updates for more than two years. Even my wife's five-year-old Blackberry Z30 received a security update three months ago.

      I'm getting tired of watching perfectly good expensive hardware get the axe because the official software updates stop. I've tried third party ROMs, but they never worked quite right with my hardware. I'd be content just with security updates after two years, but even that appears to be asking for too much.

      Now that my current Android phone is EOL, I do not look forward to the chore of replacing it. Maybe it is time to look a bit more outside of the Android ecosystem.

      Hey Android Victims:

      iOS 12 is available to EVERY iPhone made in the past 5 years. And enjoys a 700,000 : 1 Malware record compared with Android.

      Time to wake up, boys and girls!

    6. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      And you know that you're getting the update at the same time on your phone as everyone else.

      And don't forget: Without CARRIER Crap!

    7. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by toejam13 · · Score: 1

      Just buy a phone that's already on the officially supported LineageOS list and you are good to go.

      I see that many of the North American variants of phones are not listed on the officially supported lists for 15.1 or 16.0. That makes your suggestion difficult to follow.

    8. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by ayesnymous · · Score: 1

      Even though Apple continues to support much older phones, typically if you upgrade the iOS on your phone more than once, then you will start to notice slow performance. Maybe that's why Android doesn't allow it.

    9. Re: Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by toejam13 · · Score: 1

      The problem with importing phones from Europe is that it presents a new set of challenges. The biggest issue is that most manufacturers will not honor the warranty of phones purchased in other countries. So once your 30 day reseller return window has closed, that's it. The other major issue is that many European phones lack one or more North American LTE bands. In the most extreme cases, you'll be stuck using 3G HSPA.

    10. Re:Support for a 5-year-old iPhone? by toejam13 · · Score: 1

      Even though Apple continues to support much older phones, typically if you upgrade the iOS on your phone more than once, then you will start to notice slow performance. Maybe that's why Android doesn't allow it.

      Typically, but not always. I've heard conflicting reports about the performance of newer iOS versions on older handsets. Some say it is faster, some say it is slower. YMMV. Supposedly the last few generations had had better longevity. I've heard similar reports regarding Nexus handsets and those rooted to run Lineage.

      Supposedly one major roadblock is that Android handset manufacturers depend on chipset manufacturers to provide Linux device drivers. When those chipsets reach EOL status, no further device drivers are written. If a newer version of Android uses a newer Linux kernel that isn't compatible with the older drivers, that's a show stopper. AOSP derivatives such as Lineage sidestep that problem by using open-source device drivers that may be maintained after the chipset goes EOL.

  6. What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by eminencja · · Score: 1

    I thought IOS only sent a soundtrack to the cloud and played the response.

    1. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      And yet they restricted it to specific phones when it came out. Apple loves to pretend it's part of the phone and that it has more to do with their hardware and software.

    2. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by mccalli · · Score: 1

      That's just the voice processing. Something has to actually act on the result when it received it. "Hey Siri, set living rooms lights to 70%" is a command I use fairly often - voice recognition in the cloud, but then something has to logically interpret the command as a result and then physically do something.

    3. Re: What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by KatherineTheGeek · · Score: 1

      Thereâ(TM)s also some fairly sophisticated low power ardware that recognizes the trigger phrase âoehey siri.â Actually sending all audio to the cloud all the time would be a huge power / bandwidth / privacy problem.

    4. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      set living rooms lights to 70%

      Yeah, so the Apple cloud interprets it. And then the Apple cloud contacts your smart device manufacturer's server. Your phone literally does nothing with that but send the audio and maybe a confirmation response.

      Most results can come back in some form of interpreted XML/HTML and you don't need new smarts locally to display/present them. Only having the phone itself perform an action would need to software on the client side.

    5. Re: What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Not really part of the debate. First gen devices didn't have this hardware - you had to manually trigger it to listen.

    6. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      The wake word isn't required. You can always manually activate it with a button. In fact, before Apple bought Siri, it was available on the iPhone 4. Therefore, it's an artificial restriction to require the 4S to use Siri. The wake words only worked with the phone on the charger at the time, anyway.

    7. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by mccalli · · Score: 1

      Not so - there are no "manufacturer's server". It just works off my phone, unless I have an AppleTV or similar to act as a hub. I mean - simple example. "Hey Siri, play last song". It's iOS that understands that, the cloud just interprets the words.

    8. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      You're using an AppleTV as the hub for your lights? You're the one that chose the example.

    9. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by mccalli · · Score: 1

      which runs on iOS...

    10. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      That was a question. This is an unusual configuration at the very least.

    11. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Offline good. At the expense of ecosystem lock-in, bad.

    12. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by mccalli · · Score: 1

      Yes, it does. The phone sends UDP packets to the hubs for the device, or depending on the device it might send direct without any hub. The devices then responds accordingly.

      I use HomeBridge running in a Docker image on my NAS, to get various things that don't have native HomeKit support working (LightwaveRF gen 1, Dyson fans, Neato robot vacs, Logitech Harmony remotes). You can see this UDP packet behaviour by watching the logs.

    13. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Local control is good, but phone ecosystem lock-in is not so good. Must be why I've never heard of it. Then again, true local control seems to not be available much at all.

    14. Re:What does IOS have to do with SIRI? by mccalli · · Score: 1

      No, you're not missing anything and are correct. Original question was "what does iOS have to do with Siri?" with the question text being that the person thought all Siri processing was done in the cloud.

      The answer is as you say - all speech-to-text is done in the cloud, however then that text is sent back to the originating iOS device and it is iOS that actually interprets it.

  7. Re:Does bluetooth still gurgle? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Does this fix the frustrating every-few hours bluetooth sound gets chopped up and gurgle-y for about 30 secs issue?

    Dunno.

    Did you bother to report it?

  8. Re:Does bluetooth still gurgle? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Good luck with whatever input your iOverlords deem worthy for the collective. I'm certain it will be stupidly complex, obscenely priced, and will become obsolete fast enough for you to always label it a rip-off.

    That's really funny.

    iOS is compatible with iPhones from the 5s and forward, and iPads from the iPad mini 2.

    http://osxdaily.com/2018/06/05...

    Let's see: That's from 2013 for the 5s and the iPad mini 2. A cool FIVE YEARS of FULL SUPPORT, and Counting...

  9. Re:Does bluetooth still gurgle? by mccalli · · Score: 1

    Yes. Happens with my car bluetooth - it almost feels like a buffer misalignment where it goes through junk and then crackles like an old vinyl record every few seconds, which I would guess is it trying to play random memory.

  10. That's a complete load of crap. by jcr · · Score: 1

    Apple puts a lot of work into performance across the board in every iOS release, and it's the older devices that show the most benefit. They want people to update, because the more people are on the latest release, the lower their support costs are.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  11. Re:You hear that Google? Available for iPhone 5S. by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    They're "available" because Apple tries to cripple older devices through software "updates" designed to do nothing but make them unusably slow. That's all that is. iOS only really works on two generations of phones: the new one they release with it, and the previous generation. Every earlier phone is intentionally slowed down even though they're "supported."

    Hey, FUCKING ILLITERATE HATER!

    You APPARENTLY Can't READ!

    https://arstechnica.com/gadget...

    https://9to5mac.com/2018/06/05...

    No kindly FUCK OFF, Hater!

  12. iOS Mail: I have to know... by davros74 · · Score: 1

    Does iOS12 Mail app finally bring back the Edit... Move All Messages to Trash for IMAP folders?

    Introduced in iOS9. Removed in iOS10. Still missing in iOS11. Sadly needed to be a fully competent email application. (Have Edit... Mark All as Read, and we have Edit... Delete All Messages, except Delete All Messages only works for the Trash folder!)

    If it has been brought back, I will upgrade to iOS12 immediately. If not, I will wait to make sure there are no ill side effects from the new iOS first.

  13. "Siri is smarter than ever in iOS 12" by scdeimos · · Score: 1

    That's good, because it's been crap in every other iOS.

  14. Agreed, it's a good release, but .... by King_TJ · · Score: 1

    I do have a couple complaints -- and these are unfortunately typical of Apple's new software releases these days.

    1. The new, enhanced Apple Maps only start out with improved map data for California. The rest of the nation gets added over time. (Because California is clearly the most important place in the nation, right? 49 other states not ready yet is no big deal.)

    2. I understand the screentime feature that lets you limit your kids' time they can use the iPhone is buggy. Kids can mess with the settings and give themselves more time, undermining the whole point of the restrictions. (A number of people on forums said they reported these bugs during the beta, but none of it was fixed by the release.)

    Realistically? This stuff will get sorted out within a few months. But I've seen this with OS X releases too .... things that *really* should have been working properly by release day simply aren't. (It took Apple several releases to get multi-display support with more than 2 displays working properly on the "trash can" Mac Pro, even though you could boot into Windows on the machine and get them working just fine. Pretty embarrassing oversight on a multi-thousand dollar "Pro" workstation!

    It always feels to me like Apple doesn't employ enough software developers, and people working on one project regularly get pulled off of it to assist elsewhere, whenever something is nearing a deadline.

  15. iPhone 5S and iPad Mini 2 by guacamole · · Score: 2

    It is astonishing that these two devices from 2013 are still going to be supported by the latest Apple OS well into 2019. Apple hardware usually costs more than the Android competition, but iOS support for updates stretches for 6 years or more. Amazing. I have owned both of these devices and I am surprised that there are many still being used (the 5S battery died and I traded mini 2 for iPad 2017)

  16. Re:Does bluetooth still gurgle? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Good luck with whatever input your iOverlords deem worthy for the collective. I'm certain it will be stupidly complex, obscenely priced, and will become obsolete fast enough for you to always label it a rip-off.

    That's really funny.

    iOS is compatible with iPhones from the 5s and forward, and iPads from the iPad mini 2.

    http://osxdaily.com/2018/06/05...

    Let's see: That's from 2013 for the 5s and the iPad mini 2. A cool FIVE YEARS of FULL SUPPORT, and Counting...

    After a few people try and make room for the 1GB+ worth of space iOS 12 requires to upgrade their five-year old device, they will likely learn the valuable life lesson understanding the difference between compatible and functional.

    And five years of support on a device with a non-removable battery is like putting a 10-year warranty on car tires. It's a nice gesture, but ultimately rather worthless in the end. That said, it is better than ending support prematurely.

    Was any of that even REMOTELY relevant?

  17. Re:Does bluetooth still gurgle? by Harvey+Manfrenjenson · · Score: 1

    What we need is a low-latency bluetooth standard. It's annoying to watch a show on a phone via bluetooth earbuds. The spoken lines don't match the mouth movements as though the A/V sync were faulty (it isn't). The latency is quite noticable, probably on the order of 200 milliseconds or so.

    Low-latency bluetooth would also be great for musicians who want to monitor a mix in real time (for recording overdubs, live performance, or just low-volume rehearsal at home). It would have to be really low though, like 5 ms or less, and I have no idea if that's feasible for bluetooth.

  18. Wuh?!? by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

    An iOS release where older devices open apps FASTER than in the previous version? I find that difficult to believe. (Source: HISTORY.)

    --
    Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
  19. Indeed impressive on my 6 Plus by Camembert · · Score: 1

    Just updated my 4 year old 6 Plus and indeed the whole experience is indeed noticeably smoother and more responsive.
    Quite impressive actually that they went for lean/effcient programming if you realise that the the current phones are so much (4 times? more?) quicker, and I am happy that I can use my phone comfortably for another year, maybe 2, and delay investing in a new phone a bit longer.
    I thought about treating my wife and me on an XR or XS by Xmas, but that can wait another year. My main attraction for new phones is the much improved camera, and that improves noticeably every generation.