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If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

macworld.com

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Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#261

Post by gonehome »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #257
gonehome wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Apple home and want to like it, but it mostly sucks. I think the main cause of this isn't so much Home, but the available third party hardware. I wish Apple would make a smart switch (I know that's fairly out of scope for them), but one high quality smart switch that actually worked reliably would resolve 90% of home tech issues. Homepods are similarly bad with basic actions. I have five of them in multiple roo…

I was really excited for a stereo pair of homepods but have similar issues and worse - even tho they still appear as grouped, music will often only happen on one or the other. If I was playing music from the phone, and then later ask siri to play something, it will play different music on each speaker - in a stereo pair! plus I have to shout for them to hear my command over the music, very bad experience, back to eba…

Another annoying issue is with timers.

When cooking we'll tell the one in the kitchen to set a timer. Then we'll ask what time is left. If another one hears the question it yells "there are no timers set" so we have to whisper to the closer one.

Another thing that to me suggests nobody at Apple is really using these things.

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#262

Post by throwvirtever »

loudthing wrote: post #180
mattnewton wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was at apple, we did this thing people called "keybote-driven development" where everything was made to look great in and keynote presentation to an exec. If it looked great you got the go ahead to finish it and ship it, and if not it got skipped. There are a lot of things to like about this approach. However, Time machine's UI to me feels like a quintessential blind spot of this incentive structure, where it…

Big yikes.

> When I was at apple, we did this thing people called "key[n]ote-driven development"...

> Big yikes.

If Apple's products are essentially sold via a "keynote", it makes sense to have a keynote presentation as the internal hurdle as well. If it can't be presented in way that looks like something people want to buy, there's no point in moving forward with the project.

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#263

Post by jazzyjackson »

alphaomegacode wrote: post #124
dymk wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're probably in the minority there, I've seen complaints few and far between about AirPods connectivity, but lots of glowing praise for. Personally, AirPods UX is better than any other Bluetooth product I've used.

I've had similar problems with the UX on AirPods. Here are the choices in Bluetooth for AirPods to connect to my Mac: 1. Automatically 2. When Last Connected to this Mac What does #2 even mean? I want my AirPods to connect when I last connected? It's been common for me using my AirPods to take a pause in talking and while using my PC for the AirPods to detect sound on my PC and then switch. Yes, definitely better tha…

“connect automatically unless the airpods were recently paired to a different device”

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#264

Post by hintymad »

makecheck wrote: post #204

While this article focused primarily on things being left unmaintained, etc. there is also a huge problem with things being touched for no reason and making them worse . When handed what must be a mountain of bugs and unfinished items, why the hell did they prioritize things like breaking notifications and Safari tabs, for instance? They’re in a position where engineering resources desperately need to be closing gaps…

This seems the problem of every big company. Eventually they become slow and their priority becomes puzzling to people outside of the companies. Complexity aside, my theory is that as a company grows, the headcount always grows faster than the quantity of work, and more people become obsessed with visibility and promotion, which leads to promotion-oriented and visibility-oriented project planning. Consequently, product quality deteriorates over time, first slowly and then suddenly.

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#265

Post by sneak »

azinman2 wrote: post #256
sneak wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> getting updated security signatures AKA phoning-home to Apple what apps you launch in realtime, in an unencrypted manner visible to your ISP/hotel/government too. It also connects to all of that crap even if you have LS off, analytics off, iCloud/FaceTime/iMessage/AppStore off, et c. Press F8 and your serial number gets transmitted to Apple.

I guarantee you there are no unencrypted communications going to Apple.

Wanna bet? Apple still hasn't yet made good on their promise of encrypting OCSP (the making of which I would like to believe is my fault).

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#266

Post by potta_coffee »

arthur_sav wrote: post #73
freediver wrote: post #18

Yesterday I prepared a few years old Windows laptop for my daughter to use in school. It took me a few hours just to install updates, remove bloatware (my oh my, the amount is staggering!) and fix privacy settings. And this was for Windows 10 which I hear is a mild version of a mess that Windows 11 is. I was instantly reminded why I appreciate Apple software more.

I wish we had more options though. Between Windows and Apple there's no other real competition. Linux is cool and all... but not user friendly (not even Ubuntu)

I set up Ubuntu with KDE (Kubuntu?) on an old laptop for my wife. Win 10 on the laptop was so slow that the machine was unusable. She uses Firefox, Google Docs, and she uses a printer. She's had zero problems in two years and I've updated the machine twice for her. Of course how usable the machine is will be dependent on what software you need.

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#267

Post by zokier »

slownews45 wrote: post #114
passivate wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like your PC vendor installed a whole bunch of crap. I put W10 on a fresh PC just a couple of months back and it was a painless process. It was a W10 Pro ISO from Microsoft.

I deploy windows 10 pro. Loaded down with crap. What businesses want Xbox companion and xbox game bar running on all their work computers - seriously -> if you are on Microsoft search for xbox on your work computer. Does Candy Crush Saga still come on the business pro ISO installs? That used to make the office laugh - who is paying $200/machine to get candy crush saga pre-installed. In fact, the trick was they also h…

Installed W10 Pro last summer, no candy crush in sight, no tricks done.

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#268

Post by spiderice »

marcellus23 wrote: post #149
taylodl wrote: post #144

Look at the mess that is Apple Home. They added it because Google and Amazon were doing it - and, that's about it. Hey, I can add some lights that I can change color to any color I want! Too bad if I want a thermostat, a doorbell, or... Okay, what about Apple Wallet? It'd be really nice to add my digital driver's license, health insurance cards, auto insurance card, frequent shopping cards - basically make it so I do…

You're wrong. You can definitely add thermostats, doorbells, cameras etc. to Home (I've done it). And you can definitely add health insurance cards, frequent shopping cards, etc. to Wallet (I've done that too). Please don't state things that are just factually incorrect. > Alright, so what about their iWork suite? On second thought, forget about it. People are using Google Docs or Office 365. Next... For collaboratio…

> I've done it

Same. I currently have a HomeKit thermostat, doorbell, and cameras in my house. Not really sure where GP is getting his info. They all work really well.

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#269

Post by zokier »

okareaman wrote: post #67
freediver wrote: post #18

Yesterday I prepared a few years old Windows laptop for my daughter to use in school. It took me a few hours just to install updates, remove bloatware (my oh my, the amount is staggering!) and fix privacy settings. And this was for Windows 10 which I hear is a mild version of a mess that Windows 11 is. I was instantly reminded why I appreciate Apple software more.

Windows in the Ballmer Era, Vista to Windows 8, was a disaster. Windows 10 was released a year after Satya Nadella took over and was an improvement. Windows 11 of the Nadella era is a big improvement. It seems like Microsoft decided to spend the money to get it right to create something stable and pleasing. I've been running it for a month and highly recommend it. I think a big attraction to Mac OS is that the UI has…

Windows 7 was a disaster?! macOS UI doesn't change over the years?! I feel you are living in some alternative universe compared to me.

Re: If Apple keeps letting its software slip, the next big thing won’t matter

#270

Post by gumby »

aunty_helen wrote: post #190
gumby wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of those are useful to me even if you don’t care about them…which proves your point: there’s no reasonable (and sometimes none at all) way to pick and choose.

Opt-in is no longer seen as a reasonable solution?

You’re automatically “opting in” whether you want to or not, so it’s hard to see what’s optional here.
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