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iOS 11 reviewed

226 points| cstuder | 8 years ago |arstechnica.com | reply

289 comments

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[+] masklinn|8 years ago|reply
> Practically speaking, do I need to be able to play phone games from 2009 on my 2017 iPhone? Not really.

The problem is not that you can't play phone games from 2009 on your 2017 iPhone, tying 32b deprecation to a hardware revision would actually have been nice (regardless of the hardware still being able to run in 32b mode).

But that's not what's happening, the problem is that you can't play phone games from 2009 on your 2013~2016 iPhone which had been able to run them right until you updated iOS.

> users (who get some free space back in iOS 11)

"Free space" which they could already have gained back by removing the applications in the first place.

[+] 013a|8 years ago|reply
I find it hilarious that every time Apple does anything like this, people complain and Apple still sets record sales. You're fundamentally wrong and Apple knows it. They can rip the headphone jack out. They can deprecate 32 bit apps. They can remove TouchID. They can block installing third party apps. Keep complaining; neither they nor their customers care.
[+] scarface74|8 years ago|reply
The problem is not that you can't play phone games from 2009 on your 2017 iPhone, tying 32b deprecation to a hardware revision would actually have been nice (regardless of the hardware still being able to run in 32b mode).

The latest processor doesn't support 32 bit code. All 64 bit phones can support the latest OS. Why should Apple waste time, resources, and space on the device to support 32 bit code?

[+] smitherfield|8 years ago|reply
The arbitrary removal of 32-bit app support could be thought of as a heuristic to clear away abandonware. Which, for obvious reasons (security), Apple would like to have as little of in its App Store as possible. It also lets them aggressively deprecate and remove legacy APIs going forward.
[+] ohfouroneone|8 years ago|reply
It's not that games from 2009 don't run, only games that haven't been updated since 2009 don't run. All a developer needs to do is recompile and push an update.
[+] oneeyedpigeon|8 years ago|reply
> the problem is that you can't play phone games from 2009 on your 2013~2016 iPhone

Devil's advocate: you don't have to install iOS 11 on your four-year-old iPhone.

[+] mikeash|8 years ago|reply
And not only does the upgrade semi-arbitrarily make old apps stop working, it's impossible to go back.
[+] marban|8 years ago|reply
Speaking of games, are there any archival initiatives for a future retro apps scene? Not that I can think of any games that would be worth it — but just for the sake of it.
[+] wlesieutre|8 years ago|reply
>"Free space" which they could already have gained back by removing the applications in the first place.

Were apps previously installed as fat binaries with 64 and 32-bit architectures included, and the 32-bit chunk has now been removed?

Or was that already taken care of with the "app thinning" stuff a couple of years ago?

[+] scarface74|8 years ago|reply
"Free space" which they could already have gained back by removing the applications in the first place.

It's not the free storage space that is a big deal, it's the freed memory from not having to keep 32 bit and 64 bit dll's in memory.

* iPhone which had been able to run them right until you updated iOS.*

Every OS update whether they had deprecated 32bit apps or not breaks abandoned apps. Apple also removed support from the Mac years ago for PPC apps that could run on x86 apps up to 10.6.

[+] clarky07|8 years ago|reply
Considering the fix is simply re-compiling, I don't think this is the end of the world. There aren't THAT many apps that are both still very good, and haven't been updated in YEARS. Yes there are some, but not that many.
[+] acqq|8 years ago|reply
It's not just the games. I've paid some 45 USD for a dictionary which won't work on iOS 11 on the same phone where it worked three years.

The developer however wasn't able to renew the license, so he can't make a new version even if he would like to do it.

[+] EpicEng|8 years ago|reply
Agreed. On a sort-of-but-not-really-related note, I assume Android specifically because I can run an emulator (SNES, OSX, etc.) on it. If I could do that on iOS I'd jump back over.
[+] timbo1642|8 years ago|reply
There are TONS of apps that aren't game that haven't been updated or are never going to be updated, but are good or very useful.
[+] cm2187|8 years ago|reply
If I have to choose between my beloved Tetris app and iOS 11, I stick to my Tetris app.
[+] darthbanane|8 years ago|reply
Review is not thorough.

One huge change in the control center is that the wifi “toggle” doesn’t toggle wifi off anymore (wait what?). It just disconnects from the current network and doesn’t reconnect for a minute or so.

If you don’t want to be tracked by wifi APs it seems you have to force touch settings into wifi and disable the adapter from there. Huge step backwards IMHO.

[+] tammer|8 years ago|reply
Eh it sounds to me that this is a great quick fix for the "I'm slightly too far from the AP to have bandwidth but I'm still maintaining a connection" problem I have almost daily. Will make an obscure security concern you've identified slightly more difficult to deal with. If you don't prefer trade offs like this, Apple likely isn't the best digital provider for you.
[+] Crontab|8 years ago|reply
Agreed. That's bad and a lot of people will expect the old functionality.
[+] irrational|8 years ago|reply
Is there some sort of interface element that indicates when a setting can use force touch? Or does a user just have to do a long hold on everything to find out what does and doesn't accept force touch?
[+] diffset|8 years ago|reply
The reason the WiFi and Bluetooth controls now work the way they do is to leave Apple's accessories (Watch, Pencil, etc.) connected and working while disconnecting you from other networks and devices.
[+] mrblue182|8 years ago|reply
I remember reading that iOS 11 also come with MAC address randoming so that you can't be tracked by wifi.
[+] _kush|8 years ago|reply
The same is true for the Bluetooth toggle. It just turns it off for any new connections.
[+] walterbell|8 years ago|reply
Yikes, this is a security issue.

Does airplane mode still turn off wifi and bluetooth?

[+] _jal|8 years ago|reply
Oh, that's really annoying. I turn wifi off when I leave home.

More and more things are pushing me to one of the fringe-phone platforms. Which is too bad - I otherwise really like the iPhone.

[+] mcgarnagle|8 years ago|reply
Misleading ui is terrible and making me consider other phone OS. I have wanted a toggle for location services in the control center for so long. Now they are going even further to remove useful functionality like toggling wifi and bluetooth. just horrible.

Why is apple moving further away from intuitive ease of use?

[+] archagon|8 years ago|reply
Hmm, I figured this was an iOS 11 beta bug? It certainly didn't reconnect reliably after a minute, but would do so maybe once an hour.
[+] cromwellian|8 years ago|reply
The 32-bit deprecation issue points to a larger issue of cultural decay. We can still obtain old Commodore 64s, Nintendos, Gameboys, and other old HW and run old SW on it.

However, the way these walled garden DRM'ed online app stores work, once something is taken out of circulation, it's just GONE. You won't be able to buy an old iPhone 5 10 years from now and go download an old game.

My son really liked this old Simpsons game on the iPhone, but now there's no way to run it, or even find it in the store anymore.

This isn't an Apple specific problem, but I wonder, if future archaeologists will even be able to find anything left of our culture, as it digitally disappears behind upgrades and silos.

One thing I love about the Web, is we can have sites like Archive.org. And I can still view the very first Web page ever in my browser. Spacejam still works!

But what if the first iOS games I loved on my original 2007 era iPhone? Will there be an Archive.org emulator? Unlikely.

[+] kawsper|8 years ago|reply
There is one thing I hope they that they fix in iOS, and that is to guide app-makers to understand bilingual users, I type a lot on both danish and english, and having to switch language in the keyboard for every conversation can get pretty tiresome.

Luckily both iMessage and WhatsApp seems to support it now, so I hope they somehow can get other apps in on it. Telegram does not support this :/

[+] odammit|8 years ago|reply
After using iOS11 for a few hours I have to say my favorite new feature is the gigantic “iMessages” header.

The “Contacts” one is pretty good too but the “iMessages” one seems much faster and it consumes far less RAM in some benchmarks I ran.

It’s a real disappointment that they didn’t add a banner in Safari. I generally find myself using Safari and wonder “am I using safari?” I end up having to close my apps and reopen safari to double check.

Update: I am currently using Safari. My heart was racing for a second totally didn’t know what app I was using.

[+] Exuma|8 years ago|reply
What's up with the absolutely MASSIVE title text at the top of every single app?? Looks horrible.
[+] rayiner|8 years ago|reply
iOS 11 running on the new iPad Pro is pretty awesome. Its incredibly responsive, and the combination of Files and the task bar make it possible to get real work done. (Surprisingly, even without a keyboard--I've almost gotten to be able to type with my thumbs without looking.)
[+] JBReefer|8 years ago|reply
The new default image/video codec that no other browser supports seems like it's going to be ... interesting. Of course they couldn't use VP9, just like USB-C - this is marginally better, and completely fucks over everyone developing outside the tiny Apple ecosystem.
[+] jakelazaroff|8 years ago|reply
It's for the camera, not the browser, and it looks like you can change back to h.264 and JPG [1]:

> If you’re currently running iOS 11 beta 1, you can verify this by switching between the High Efficiency and Most Compatible formats under iOS Settings → Camera → Formats. Under the High Efficiency format, images will be saved as HEIC and movies as an HEVC .mov file. Under Most Compatible, images will be saved as JPGs and movies as an h.264 .mov file.

[1] https://9to5mac.com/2017/06/08/ios-11s-new-heifhevc-camera-f...

[+] 013a|8 years ago|reply
To be fair; HEIC and HEVC are industry standards. If browsers don't support them, that's on the browser.
[+] zeveb|8 years ago|reply
I think Apple's response to that is, 'come, enter our walled garden!'

Apple's ecosystem is a lot like the Hotel California: you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.

[+] cm2187|8 years ago|reply
Also be aware that iOS 11 seems to be incompatible with Windows Server 2016. Seems to be an http2 implementation problem.
[+] odammit|8 years ago|reply
I think the thing I'm most excited about is Multipath TCP. I can't even count the times my cell signal has been strong and my phone favors some crappy wifi and it seems like I've been time traveled back to a 28k modem.
[+] pier25|8 years ago|reply
One of the most annoying things in iOS is not being able to change your wifi network from the control center. Apparently this hasn't been fixed in iOS 11.

At least it seems we can now add a quick access button to Settings.

[+] walterbell|8 years ago|reply
No VPN button in Control Center? Do Apple employees use public wi-fi?
[+] chadlavi|8 years ago|reply
Gutted that they removed the 3D Touch App Switcher. That was was more comfortable and intuitive for me than double-clicking the home button.

It's especially annoying that there was no good reason to remove it on devices that already had it. I don't know if they took it out because it didn't work on the new X or what, but dang. Feels like a significant UX hobbling to me.

[+] odammit|8 years ago|reply
I always see a lot of flak around space on iOS upgrades. I seem to always have a ton of space.

I never delete iMessages, I take a fair amount of photos (16GB) and I have about 10GB of podcasts and 3GB of Spotify tracks...

What generally burns up people's space on their iPhones? Am I just not taking enough photos?!

[+] amatheus|8 years ago|reply
I've installed iOS 11 on my iPhone and iPad and one thing I've been disappointed with is third-party integration on the Files app. From everything I've read before installing iOS 11 I've got the impression there would be true integration, as in, the files from the provider would appear inside the interface of the Files app in the same way; however, what I see is that, when I select for example Dropbox in the Files app, a popover appears and shows the Dropbox app interface unchanged (in fact, on the iPad the popover does not even goes full screen). Now I'm wondering if this is that the way it's supposed to be or if the apps need to be updated.
[+] microcolonel|8 years ago|reply
> All iPhone cameras support slow-mo video and Burst Mode shots, and all iPhones now include Touch ID fingerprint sensors.

All except one. ;- )

> its never-look-back approach to software compatibility.

You mean no approach to software compatibility? Is walking down the street an approach to eating ice cream?

[+] arethuza|8 years ago|reply
Not a hugely important feature - but Siri can apparently now understand my accent :-)
[+] CoreXtreme|8 years ago|reply
It's funny to see that they are not even able to implement an Ebook reader mode. Crowd sourced data to selectively enable/disable JavaScript for invasive/resource hungry websites will save a lot of battery too!
[+] walterbell|8 years ago|reply
The Brave browser on iOS has per-site Javascript control.