The iOS 8 Review
by Brandon Chester on September 17, 2014 1:00 PM EST
It's hard to express how I feel about iOS 8. On one hand, it's a massive release for developers and those new tools and APIs will eventually translate into better and more functional applications for users. From this point of view, iOS 8 could be considered even more exciting than iOS 7, but from the perspective of a user there's no real wow factor with iOS 8 right now.
There are some great new features like SMS Relay and Handoff, but they require being a user with multiple Apple devices, and the former isn't here yet. That isn't to say that users with only an iPad or an iPhone are left out. The improvements across iOS in apps like Messages and Photos are solid improvements, and features like Actionable Notifications finally address complaints that have existed for years. But a great deal of the additions are currently just a promise that great things are coming from the developer community, and many of the most exciting features that can be used right now are part of continuity.
As someone who does use multiple Apple products, I'm happy with what Apple has brought in iOS 8. I think many of the continuity related features are things that are very hard for another company to replicate without the control over hardware and software that Apple maintains. When I imagine myself as a user who can't take advantage of the new features given to users of multiple devices I believe I would still be pleased with what iOS 8 brings to the table, but not to the degree I was when iOS 7 was released.
Many of the improvements are in areas of the OS that have long needed to be improved or changed. There are also number of additions that take a great amount of inspiration from other mobile operating systems. While this may be seen as copying by some, for users the end result is that their experience is improved and they have features they did not have before, which is what really matters. Apple looking to other operating systems to see what deficiencies they need to fix in their own ultimately benefits users.
iOS 8 runs on all the devices shown above. It's great to see Apple supporting devices like the iPad 2 that launched in 2011, but I'm not without my concerns, primarily regarding Apple's A5 devices and all iPads in general. Even under iOS 7.1, the UI smoothness on devices like the iPhone 4s and the iPad 2 is far from exceptional. That performance doesn't get any better with iOS 8, and I believe that users of those devices may want to try out the iOS 8 experience on someone else's device before upgrading their own.
The iPad concerns in particular are ones I've had since iOS 7 initially launched. For about a year now I've felt that the iPad build of iOS has been neglected by Apple. The Springboard crash bug that took until iOS 7.1 to patch crippled my iPad Mini with Retina Display. If a similar bug had widely affected iPhones I believe it would have been patched much sooner. Other various bugs and performance issues that existed on the iPad but not my iPhone resulted in me eventually selling it. Many of these still remain today, and iOS 8 even introduces some issues of its own.
Given that the iPad 3 I have for testing falls into both the Apple A5(X) camp and the iPad camp, I won't be updating it to iOS 8. While the new features like SMS Relay will be nice, the missing features and issues like keyboard lag outweigh the benefits of updating.
Despite my concerns, iOS 8 makes me feel excited for the future more than anything else. Apple's steps to open up more options for customization by developers and users on iOS marks a significant departure from their previous releases. It's not Android but it isn't meant to be. It brings new features and capabilities that are implemented in a very Apple-like manner, for better or for worse. I don't think it's going to do much to sway Android fans toward iOS, but it gives a lot of reason for current iOS users to stay with Apple. This is especially true for users who can take advantage of continuity. iOS 8 feels like another step in the maturation that began with iOS 7. Most exciting of all is that it's still only the beginning.
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Brandon Chester - Saturday, September 20, 2014 - link
No I'm not. None of the A5 devices maintain 60fps everywhere on iOS 7.1.2 (I own an iPad 3 and a relative owns a 4s). Scrolling lists like the settings app are one of the best examples.mjh483 - Saturday, September 20, 2014 - link
"From the perspective of a user there's no real wow factor with iOS 8 right now".I get what you are saying, but I don't get why you say it. This just tells me that you are EXPECTING to be amazed by just downloading one software update and not using anything other than the stock apps. The general expectation for Apple products is just purely wrong. I am not saying it's perfect, but criticising the lack of a wow factor doesn't SEEM AT ALL like a way to judge a new mobile operating system. If you only use Whatsapp, Facebook and play a few casual games, there's only so much any software update can improve your experience.
houkoholic - Friday, September 26, 2014 - link
> but criticising the lack of a wow factor doesn't SEEM AT ALL like a way to judge a new mobile operating systemYet that is always done with other OS like Windows Phone.... "oo but it lacks this WOW feature the other OS has".
WakarusaJack - Saturday, September 20, 2014 - link
Updated my iPad to iOS 8 and now I leave it on the table, virtually unusable. Slow. Locks up. So sorry I upgraded!!!!raj5151 - Saturday, September 20, 2014 - link
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dopehat - Sunday, September 21, 2014 - link
Okay... I understand your love for Madoka Magica... lolAppleCrappleHater2 - Sunday, September 21, 2014 - link
Worship the holy apple.The apple way, selling over expensive crap to stupid consumers that like to
get robbed.
This has been a disastrous launch in every respect. The iwatch is such an
ugly piece of crap, it is truly unbelievable how a company, formerly known for
its remarkable design, dares to put out such a crap ton of shit. Some
characteristics are glaringly obvious and inherent to it: over expensive,
hardly innovative, limited functionality and usability (need of an iPhone to
make it work), looks exactly like a toy watch and so on.
There are of course way better smart watches out there, especially form the
likes of Samsung, Sony, Motorola, Asus, LG, simply put, there is no need for
another piece of over expensive junk.
The iPhone 6 is technologically stuck in pre-2011 times, a base model with
a capacity of 16GB without the possibility to use SD cards isn't even funny
anymore. The screen resolution is horrendous, it isn't water proof, shock and
dust resistant, it offers nothing innovative, just some incremental
updates over its predecessor, both lacking severely behind their competitors at
their respective launch dates.
Now the Iphone 6 Plus offers a „Retina HD“ screen, full 1920x1080p, oh wow,
where have you been for the past 4 years apple, talk about trailing behind.
That’s pathetic. The interesting thing about that is the fact that apple
always manages to sell backwards oriented, outdated crap to its user base, all
while pretending to be an innovative technology leader. The similarities
regarding any form of sectarian cult are striking.
You gotta love how Apple always comes up with new marketing bullshit terms,
aka "Retina HD", with the intention to manipulate its users while preventing easy
comparisons with its competitors by withholding the actual specs. Apparently it’s
not enough to have a 1080p screen, you have to call it "Retina HD" to make those
suckers buy it, otherwise someone could look at the 4K Amoled and Oled screens
form LG and Samsung devices and get outright disappointed. Same goes for
everything else. Every outdated „feature“ needs to get its own marketing label
to persuade buyers with crappy „experience“ and „usability“ ads, while covering
the truth with marketing gibberish, knowing full well that only a fraction of
aforementioned buyers cares to look at the facts and dares to compare them.
Car engines come to mind. For comparisons shake let’s look at a 1.0 liter, turbo
charged petrol engine and a V8 compressor. What’s better should be obvious, but
by calling the former an „ecobooster“, thus giving it a special marketing label,
this joke becomes a „feature“, something positive that can be added tot the list
of features of a car.
By doing so a negative aspect is transformed into a positive one, the
reality is distorted, non tech savvy buyers are manipulated and comparisons are
made more difficult (another layer of marketing bullshit to overcome), well done
marketing department. You see , if something is seriously lacking (of course for
profit, what else), don’t bother explaining, just give it a nice marketing term, distort
reality, make it a feature and call it a day. Fuck that!!
The Apple Iphone 1 and Ipad 1 might have been innovative at their time,
but since then, the bitten apple has been continuously rotting from the inside
outwards, always swarmed by millions of Iworms which regale themselves with its
rotten flesh, not forgetting all other Americans who support apple by means of
their tax dollars to finance its bought US Treasury/Government bond interest rates.
Last but not least, every Apple product includes a direct hotlink to the nsa,
free of charge, something that might make it a good value, after all.
Ceterum censeo Applem esse delendam.
Breach1337 - Sunday, September 21, 2014 - link
Rendered my wife's iPhone 4S completely unusable. It's not just lag and worse performance compared to 7.x - the whole thing just stops responding, touchscreen, couldn't even reboot it. So much for it simply works for me.xenol - Sunday, September 21, 2014 - link
I lost it at the Madoka Magica Nendroid figures.phoenixash87 - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
Not sure if this was already posted, but to undo an unintentional delete, one can simply shake the iPhone which is the standard gesture for undo-ing any action.