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Apple's Software Quality Crisis

eliseomartelli.it

121–130 of 1001 posts

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#121
A good writeup of just a smaller subsection of my grievances with Apple under Cook's recent leadership: stellar hardware increasingly hobbled by bungled software.

Funny enough, I had the exact issue the OP had with my M1 iPad and Notes, writing down Kubernetes coursework and notes by hand to try and make it "stick" better mentally (an entirely different post, someday) only for Notes to crash, losing most of my work since the last time I opened the app. It got so bad that I was regularly synchronizing and duplicating notes to preserve my work ahead of the next crash, and splitting notes up into quarter-chapters to reduce the likelihood of app crashes and iPad overheating.

Apple has been so feature-focused to keep up with shareholder demands and industry fads, that they've neglected the core user experience. iTunes used to be the best way to organize and consume music, and nobody has really taken up that mantle since Apple abandoned it in favor of their streaming service. Same with local media and shared libraries, now tucked away into obscure apps in favor of more streaming platform priority.

That feature-focus extends to general OS stability as well. Safari gulping down battery life on my iPhone because it's not properly suspending tabs anymore. iPad suddenly no longer charging without any error message or warning until a reboot is triggered or the battery completely dies. Siri responding as far away as physically possible from the actual speaker, including on devices I don't even own, bypassing multiple other devices that stand between the speaker and the responding device. The AppleTV needs weekly reboots because apps don't load video streams properly, giving a black screen with audio or an HDCP error message despite every other device in the chain showing it's the AppleTV not engaging HDCP. HomePods suddenly ceasing music playback without any command to do so, often mid-song.

It's just getting worse and worse, to the point (pre-RIF) I was seriously looking into an honest-to-god HiFi to replace stereo homepods in my bedroom. I've already ditched the Music app in favor of Plex's Music App (don't even get me started on how awful it is, but it's still better than Apple Music), I've all but given up engaging in music discovery via CarPlay, and I've long since moved local media onto a Plex Server in lieu of a single, simple, efficient iTunes library. That's just the media side of things, too.

Don't get me wrong, Apple's kit is still lightyears better than an equivalent Windows 11/Android setup, especially for my family members who don't want to wrangle with confusing UX and have largely moved into a streaming-only lifestyle - though even they're increasingly frustrated with Apple's updates breaking things or forcing them to rework their processes.

But that only works for so long before users get so sick and tired of it, that they'll take a chance on an upstart competitor.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#122
In comparison, my experience with a Quest 3s with MetaHorizonOS.

It has a screen recording feature that when you use it the first time it asks you whether it can use the microphone. It claims that this can be reset somewhere in the settings. So the first time I used the feature, I disabled the mic.

A couple days later I wanted to record with mic and searched through the settings but found nothing. Googled it and discovered little. Many posts and answers pointing out that other feature settings require a factory reset to be able to alter initial settings made.

I searched again in the settings, fiddling here and there but found nothing in the settings nor anything that fixed the setting.

In the end, I had to do a factory reset. Then I was able to enable the mic for screen recording.

The device is good enough but the UI is a nightmare. Bulk deletion of notifications? Not possible. Getting out MetaHorizion? Three to four menus until a pause button can be used.

Much prefer my Apple devices - no BS, no factory reset.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#123
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need an Apple account to install an adblocker. You just install it from here https://adguard.com/en/adguard-mac/overview.html And you don't have to pay for it, just close the ask.

Do you need a blocker if you run PiHole? It seems to do the job for the house very nicely.

Probably not. I don't own one as I'm lazy. I actually paid for AdGuard and use it on my iPhone and iPad. It comes with a mini PiHole implementation built in.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#124
post #91

Here's my personal canary in the coal mine that something must be fundamentally broken in Apple's software development process: - on a recent macOS version, right click on the desktop, select 'change wallpaper' => the new settings panel opens - click on 'Custom Color' - now hold and drag around the 'color cursor' in the color selection circle for a few seconds - stop dragging and notice how the color cursor continues…

> - stop dragging and notice how the color cursor continues jumping around erratically (it's impossible to actually select the exact color you want) Tried dragging color cursor for 30 seconds+, no issues at all. MacOS 15.3.1 (24D70) on 16" M2 Max.

Ah now it's getting interesting :) So far I could reproduce the issue across several machines, also on new demo machines at the Apple booth of electronic discounters - so I don't think it's something about my configuration, but maybe it has something todo with how I'm using the trackpad (but I'm just sliding around with the right-hand pointer finger).

PS: the mystery might be solved => that buggy 'Custom Colour' UI item only shows up under specific circumstances, which for my specific usage pattern is 'obvious' - see my sister comment for details.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#125
post #4

I drank the "creating products that prioritize user experience over feature checklists" kool-aid back in ~2013 sometime, and got myself a first Macbook when I worked at a software startup the first time. While it certainly gave a more "premium" impression in terms of hardware/UI/UX for the first few years, around 2016 I had to move back to Linux because the software experience and the user experience is just too poor…

> around 2016 I had to move back to Linux because the software experience and the user experience is just too poor, outright buggy and changes all the time. Honestly, I have difficulty believing someone could find these kinds of issues to be less of a problem on Linux than on Mac

If you haven't tried out the various Linux desktop environments for a long try, give it a try yourself. I'm having a way more stable experience with Gnome than I ever had with Windows or macOS the last decade or so, especially when I can chose when I want to upgrade, and I don't get nagged about it once a day.

But before that, I'd agree with you, it would have be stupid to prefer anything Linux over OSX or Windows, back when they were rock-solid. But today?

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#126
In general if I buy some hardware and the OS is ok, but any supplier apps are just an afterthought. If that be from Huawei, Samsung, Microsoft, Apple, etc, a TV, a phone, a computer. On my iphone I have a folder with all the Apple apps, just in case) but otherwise I use other apps. I also have an extra Samsung phone, same thing.

Supplied apps are free and therefore paid for otherwise. Normally full of ads and only sporadically receive updates to repair bugs or add new features.

The goal is often only to keep my tight to their platform, be it Samsung, Apple, etc. Those apps are an investment in the future which probably do not do well in a companies one quarter horizon.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#127
post #113
post #4

I drank the "creating products that prioritize user experience over feature checklists" kool-aid back in ~2013 sometime, and got myself a first Macbook when I worked at a software startup the first time. While it certainly gave a more "premium" impression in terms of hardware/UI/UX for the first few years, around 2016 I had to move back to Linux because the software experience and the user experience is just too poor…

What Linux CarPlay alternative do you use?

I don't, I still use my horrible iPhone 12 Mini for CarPlay. Waiting for it to either get too old to get updates, or for it to break before I move back to Android, I guess.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#128
post #85

I wouldn't call Apple's hardware as premium quality. Premium price yes, quality no - not since PowerPC times. I was an owner of the original crackbook, have had a magic keyboard, magic mouse both fail shortly after warranty period, I can't count the number of power leads that have started fraying (thank goodness for USB C!). Ass for iPhone screens - seem to be very breakable compared to other manufacturers.

> Ass for iPhone screens - seem to be very breakable compared to other manufacturers.

That one always seemed weird to me, some people break their screen, iPhone or otherwise, regularly, but I've never even scratched one.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#129
A couple of months ago I had an iPhone in my hands for half an hour, for the first time. I was helping to debug some WiFi and also a minor printer issues, and all there was was this iPhone.

It was hard to use. It was all full of inconsistencies and some things that were simply illogical, which left me wondering for a while. Maybe I just was forced to deal with the wrong apps and it might have been a similar experience in Android, but Apple's marketing department really does a superb job at selling those devices.

Re: Apple's Software Quality Crisis

#130
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can assure you that if you "went back to linux" you are the furthest thing from the target audience you can be. Not to downplay your experience, but it is almost certainly not what Apple uses for user feedback.

I went back to Linux because I can at least decide when I'm ready for updates that changes my workflow. Neither Windows nor macOS gives me that experience. I wouldn't put Linux on a pedestral when it comes to UX/UI/design, but at least it doesn't rugpull me once a year (or more often with Windows) with forced updates. As someone who cares deeply about UX that doesn't get in the way and allows professionals to do thei…

I’m not sure where you saw forced updates. I’m usually 2 to 3 major versions of macOS behind.
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