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iOS 12 released

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171–180 of 373 posts

Re: iOS 12 released

#171
post #20

“Apple believes privacy is a fundamental human right, which is why iOS has always been designed with built-in encryption, on-device intelligence, and other tools that let you share what you want on your terms.” It isn’t often that you see any company the size of Apple take that strong of a stance. Privacy is their best feature and it seems like they are doubling down.

Provided this position is 100% genuine (and by all accounts, there is no clear indication that it isn't), that it comes from Apple gives the pro-privacy stance a hell of a lot of clout. If a company like Apple is investing in privacy then the consumer must assume that privacy has a lot more value than the government insists, no?

For those who are security conscious it's a great reason to get an iPhone over an Android (or whatever variation). For those who aren't and who just like the iPhone because it's trendy and cool, they are getting privacy for free. There's a chance that this might set an expectation when choosing the next phone, as privacy pushes further into the public consciousness.

I would like to think there's a greater play, though, and that is humanity. Apple doesn't solve all its problems with tech/machine learning; they don't give you up to the mathematics. This makes some of their offering flawed when you compare it against what Google offers, but at the same time that's not such a bad thing. You won't get your entire digital life wiped out of existence, without recourse, because a calculation made an executive decision. If, as a developer, your app gets removed from the App Store or doesn't pass in the first place, it's because a human looked at it while also using a specialised toolkit. You get proper customer service, physical stores and authorised resellers...

They make as many poor choices as any other company but I appreciate their priorities and values.

Re: iOS 12 released

#172
post #132
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but they have not highlighted it much in the past Sure they have. Every instance where they stonewalled an investigation was undoubtedly seen at least in part as a way to differentiate themselves from their main competition, which is an run by what is essentially an advertising company that functions by gathering user information. If you can do something that differentiates you from your competition and they can't…

They haven't much highlighted privacy in keynotes, marketing material etc. in the past. For the longest time, it was tucked away in the iOS security white paper. Now they're ramping it up. I am just arguing against GP's dismissal of Apple's stance on privacy as a marketing move. I believe it's truly close to their heart, and it's a happy coincidence that it's also increasingly a marketable asset (given the despicable…

> I believe it's truly close to their heart, and it's a happy coincidence that it's also increasingly a marketable asset

I think it's both, and impossible to separate. It's a public company, it doesn't have stuff close to it's heart, but it does have ideals it strives for that it presents to the board as the path forward. Part of that explanation is explaining how it helps the company.

> So, just asserting that it's purely a marketing move and then furthermore implying that a deviating assessment is delusional strikes me as unjustified.

But, if you read carefully, it wasn't asserted that it was purely a marketing move. Just that it was one (which we've sort of covered tangentially), and it was delusional to think that it wasn't (which we've also covered). There wasn't any statement that it also wasn't something they've incorporated into their company ideology.

That's one of the shortcomings of delayed text communication. What could have simply been a quick reply of "sure, it may not be the only reason, but it can't be discounted" from the original author gets blown out into a larger discussion where people are arguing slightly differently things based on their contextual interpretation of the statement.

Re: iOS 12 released

#173

How is using a custom keyboard on iOS? I remember it being really bad... like it always resetting to the stock keyboard etc.

The only problem I have with it is you can't use them for password fields. It would be nice if my password manager could provide a keyboard.

You'll be pleased to see this: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/password-autofill-ios-12-wit...

Re: iOS 12 released

#174
post #20

“Apple believes privacy is a fundamental human right, which is why iOS has always been designed with built-in encryption, on-device intelligence, and other tools that let you share what you want on your terms.” It isn’t often that you see any company the size of Apple take that strong of a stance. Privacy is their best feature and it seems like they are doubling down.

This is the primary reason I'm sticking with Apple over Android, even as Android hardware gets nicer and Apple software gets worse.

I don't take everything they say on faith, of course, but it seems plausible for them to take that stance given that their business model is to build and sell phones and software, as opposed to building up a profile of me to sell to advertisers.

Re: iOS 12 released

#175
post #9

I was hoping to see some Siri improvements but unfortunately nothing major there. It does seem like they fixed the issue where Siri would give you snarky replies when it misunderstand you, but that’s about it.

Apps can let you assign custom commands in Siri now. Some examples here:

https://www.cultofmac.com/576807/these-apps-just-got-an-ios-...

Requiring you to record your own phrases has a big tradeoff in that all your apps don't get automatic Siri support across all of their features, but it avoids the homophone hijacking and discoverability problems that other voice assistants have run into.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/08/resea...

Re: iOS 12 released

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS 12 will likely not be iPhone SE's last update, since iPhone 5S got the update this year. And iOS 12 specifically focuses on performance for older devices.

Until a couple of days ago, the SE was still on sale directly from Apple. I expect many more major updates to come.

Right - it should be at least 3 years more.

Re: iOS 12 released

#179
So from my testing with the beta, then having to roll back and losing 100GB of music, be aware that if you have an original Apple Watch, it’s not compatible with iOS12.

Re: iOS 12 released

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which app is providing the SSH action?

It is the app formally named "workflow" that apple acquired some time ago. It got renamed to "shortcut" for iOS 12 and has this ssh action in it. If you already had the old "workflow" app it will be updated to the new "shortcut" app, if you do not have it you need to install it from the App Store.

I am familiar with shortcuts, but I didn't think that there was an actual SSH action that was shipped with it, I thought there was an SSH action that an application may be providing.

I'll have to check it out.

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