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iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

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Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#71

I upgraded to iOS 8 on my 4S, and regret it immensely. Sluggish doesn't even begin to describe it. Animations have gone from ~30 fps to maybe 2 or 3 fps. It's almost as if the update disabled the GPU or something, I can't even begin to understand it. A popular game like Subway Surfers is now completely unplayable -- it'll run smoothly for a couple seconds, then freeze for half a second, and bam, you run into a train.…

> What really pisses me off is the attitude of app developers to only support the newest version of iOS. I'd upgraded from iOS 6 to 7 simply because I needed HipChat and FourSquare for professional reasons, and both companies had completely dropped support for iOS 6.

I'm baffled that you expect developers to continue developing for outdated OSes, at substantial support and development costs, in exchange for $0-$5.* This is an especially surprising since there's nothing stopping you from continuing to use your working, non-updated version of the app.

Plus, this:

> I don't criticize Apple so much for creating new iOS versions that require greater processor power -- I criticize the app developers which force us to upgrade to OS's our phones can't support.

Directly contradicts your complaint. The reason developers require the newer OS is so that they can support the new APIs Apple has released, without fragmenting their user-base. It's the same rationale as Apple dropping support for older phones, albeit with APIs rather than processors.

*HipChat does actually seem a bit inappropriate in this instance, since it's an SaaS product. Given the amount the user is paying, they really ought to support the last iOS version in addition to the most current.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#72

I upgraded to iOS 8 on my 4S, and regret it immensely. Sluggish doesn't even begin to describe it. Animations have gone from ~30 fps to maybe 2 or 3 fps. It's almost as if the update disabled the GPU or something, I can't even begin to understand it. A popular game like Subway Surfers is now completely unplayable -- it'll run smoothly for a couple seconds, then freeze for half a second, and bam, you run into a train.…

If an app you bought in the past doesn't support the latest iOS version, I believe you now have the option of downloading the last version that still supports your current OS.

[deleted]

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#73
post #65
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And those of us on Linux who have no Mac or Windows PC? I haven't upgraded my iPod and iPad precisely because of the space issue. Looks like I won't be upgrading.

If you go into an Apple store they'll let you use their computers to do it.

I'm in London so this seems the easiest thing to do when I get the chance.

The VM route feels a lot like yak-shaving.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#74

I upgraded to iOS 8 on my 4S, and regret it immensely. Sluggish doesn't even begin to describe it. Animations have gone from ~30 fps to maybe 2 or 3 fps. It's almost as if the update disabled the GPU or something, I can't even begin to understand it. A popular game like Subway Surfers is now completely unplayable -- it'll run smoothly for a couple seconds, then freeze for half a second, and bam, you run into a train.…

If an app you bought in the past doesn't support the latest iOS version, I believe you now have the option of downloading the last version that still supports your current OS.

This is only true if your _device_ does not support the latest iOS version. i.e. if I have version 1.0 that supported iOS 7, and just released version 2.0 that only supports iOS 8: User on an iPhone 4/iOS 7 will see 1.0 in the App Store. User on an iPhone 4S/iOS 7 will see 2.0, and "you must update to iOS 8" if they try to download it.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#75
post #70
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not really sure those comparisons are accurate any more. Most developers can target Android >= 4.0 and not worry about exactly which point version users are on. Coupled with that, things like the browser, maps, e-mail and keyboard are updated through the Play Store now, not through OS updates. Google have done a pretty great job with this.

> I'm not really sure those comparisons are accurate any more They never were accurate because it's mostly not in the users control if/when they upgrade. The carrier has to 'bless' you with the privilege of even being offered an update. This is one of the reasons I just switched to an iPhone.

It's as if you totally ignored the rest of my post. Was this in the Android 2.x era? That was awful, I agree. But like I said, these days it doesn't matter very much. Almost every single core app is updated via the Play Store, out of the control of carriers.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#76
My own personal experience is that iOS 8's feature set is muted until Yosemite comes out.

Once people with recent enough devices are able to enjoy Continuity, Handoff, and fully experience iCloud Drive, then adoption will (I predict) increase; and I believe the "not much difference" statements (which are arguably currently correct) will subside.

I believe Apple could have done well to coordinate a simultaneous launch for Yosemite and iOS 8.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#77

I upgraded to iOS 8 on my 4S, and regret it immensely. Sluggish doesn't even begin to describe it. Animations have gone from ~30 fps to maybe 2 or 3 fps. It's almost as if the update disabled the GPU or something, I can't even begin to understand it. A popular game like Subway Surfers is now completely unplayable -- it'll run smoothly for a couple seconds, then freeze for half a second, and bam, you run into a train.…

Agreed. I understand there is some need for the world to move on at some point, I don't expect my 5 year old computer to run the latest games (although it mostly does). But from apple we now see an annual update, with quite a few apps immediately relinquishing support for a previous version. The problem? You can't install old versions supported for your OS from the app store, even though they work perfectly fine on any device that installed them before the update came around.

That's just painful. I didn't even update to iOS 7 on my phone, my girlfriend did and no joke, she literally sold it 40 days later as she couldn't take how slow it was and got a Nexus 5. So I'm still on iOS 6 (and iOS 7 for my iPad). My phone works great, it's quick, and runs the apps for iOS 6 perfectly. But I've also been locked out of getting lots of apps, so I'll be dumping this phone soon while it works just fine, just so I can use basic apps I didn't happen to download in time at a normal framerate.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#78
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For many people who's phone is their sole device, this is asking the impossible.

We're talking about iPhones here. I would be shocked if anyone's iPhone was their sole computing device.

True, but Apple has advertised "PC-Free" as a selling point of iOS devices since they rebranded iCloud in 2011. Theoretically the device should function perfectly fine as your sole computing device. I suppose their solution to this problem though would to have a larger storage option.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#79
post #69

I bet a big part of it is that you need ~5GB of free space which is really difficult on 8 or 16GB devices. iOS 7 only needed 1 or 2, if my memory is accurate.

It's popular to suggest this is a symptom of the paltry entry-level storage -- but I think that's naive. People's storage use expands to the capacity of their device. Even if the entry level was 64GB, Apple would see this effect. [1] As these devices are increasingly sold to people who have never plugged them into a PC running iTunes, the storage problem is exacerbated: without being able to dump everything to a (che…

Just anecdotally, even though I'm at least technically literate and no stranger to transferring files between portable devices and desktop/laptop PCs, I've found that the need to do so really has fallen off with the newer remote hosted "cloud" options. Up until the past year or so I would plug my phone into my PC to dump photos, notes, contacts, etc. for backup and freeing up storage but on my current phone (Nexus 5) I've just started using the included online backup option.

Now, even though this media backup saves in a private folder, I don't use it for anything sensitive like "racy" photos or banking/identity details. Even if I captured such info on my phone, I'd keep it local for a modicum of security but in most cases, I'd imagine that what people are really looking for is a way to keep snapshots and other memories while occasionally freeing up local phone storage.

As a hobbyist photographer I'm well aware of the importance of redundant backups (local, hosted, RAID, etc) but for the typical pile of concert photos and snaps of that awesome dinner you made, I think the ability to automatically back up to a private "cloud" hosting can cover a lot of the casual backup and offloading of phone images and video clips.

Re: iOS 8 Adoption Stalls at 47% of Users After Three Weeks

#80
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For many people who's phone is their sole device, this is asking the impossible.

We're talking about iPhones here. I would be shocked if anyone's iPhone was their sole computing device.

Again with the anecdotes but a good friend of mine does exactly this. He's not a tech enthusiast and hasn't owned a computer since I've known him. His wife has an old laptop but he doesn't use it and isn't familiar with it.

At some point in the past couple of years he wanted a smartphone after seeing all of us using ours for instant messaging, Instagram, etc. and he chose an iPhone specifically because they have a reputation of being user friendly for even the inexperienced user.

His phone recently ran out of space due to the large number of photos he had taken so I advised him to hook it up to his wife's computer and use iTunes to back everything up. He looked at me like I had three eyes. Up until then he had never done this. Everything came over the air and he treated it as a standalone "appliance".

I did my best to walk him through it and stress that he might want to get a Dropbox or Google Drive account for some level of redundant backup since his wife's laptop isn't what I'd call reliable. As far as I know he sort of glossed over when I got to that second part but at least he managed to get his phone working again. It had actually gotten to the point where things stopped working due to lack of available storage.

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