Is iOS falling behind?

Shearie

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I feel like it's lagging behind from a productivity sense. I'm a university student with both an iPad Pro 9.7" and a 2013 Macbook Pro and basic things like the ability to have multiple versions of the same app open, which would also allow same app split-screen, would really boost convenience and ease of use for productivity on the iPad since I run into situations quite often where these features would help greatly. It's even worse for Computer Science majors like me who only want to carry 1 device with them (I don't mind carrying around a Mac and iPad Pro since I think both devices are the best of their form factors even though both are lacking features in some way in respect to each other) and there are no coding IDE's on iOS that I'm aware of where you can compile your code on the iPad, pretty much making learning to code on an iPad impossible. While iOS is my favorite OS for the most part, there are serious improvements and features that it needs to be able to compete productivity wise with other OS's.
 

cuttheredwire

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Yes...Apple is falling behind. Be we accept that because we love what Apple offers. I think there's a difference between what we will accept vs what is current. In my opinion, Apple is behind others. But that's not because they aren't capable of offering what others do. It's because they choose to take their time and offer things on their terms. Not the terms of others.

So it's really not a negative, in my opinion. But typically, Apple is behind to offer things that have been around for a while in other forms. They just tend to offer those items better than their competition.

Request: An article on what iOS is missing, and not just from Android. I don't bother reading Android news, other than security issues (that's my field). I'm curious where it is behind.
 

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cuttheredwire

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Coincidentally @Rene Ritchie posted an article today similar to what you're asking for:

Here's how Apple can take iOS to 11 (not sorry!) | iMore

I have a comment there already. :p Thanks though.

What I an curious about is what *specifically* is iOS lacking and behind on. Inspired the "it's not what you read, but what you ignore" notion, I ignore Android news. So, for me, Quis89 has valuable knowledge.

Rene's article doesn't mention Android much, if at all. I don't think it has a dark mode. I do know it uses NFC for more than payments (e.g. pairing Bluetooth), but Rene doesn't even mention as a feature he wants.

As far as I can tell, both have unique feature sets. I love Live Photos and Memories; my family loves the videos I make with them. My family members with Android ask me how to do that on their phones: they can't. Now they are starting to switch to iPhones.
 

Quis89

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I have a comment there already. :p Thanks though.

What I an curious about is what *specifically* is iOS lacking and behind on. Inspired the "it's not what you read, but what you ignore" notion, I ignore Android news. So, for me, Quis89 has valuable knowledge.

Rene's article doesn't mention Android much, if at all. I don't think it has a dark mode. I do know it uses NFC for more than payments (e.g. pairing Bluetooth), but Rene doesn't even mention as a feature he wants.

As far as I can tell, both have unique feature sets. I love Live Photos and Memories; my family loves the videos I make with them. My family members with Android ask me how to do that on their phones: they can't. Now they are starting to switch to iPhones.

Are we speaking compared to Android, what is iOS missing?

  • The ability to set default applications,
  • file system access,
  • wireless charging functionality,
  • multi-window support for phones (I'm aware it exists in the iPad line),
  • customization including theme support,
  • VR support,
  • automatic low power mode (I currently have to enable this myself. On Android it can be enabled once your device reaches a certain percentage),
  • app installations from the web or anywhere I choose,
  • cache clearing,
  • multi-user support,
  • NFC functionality allows for things like setting NFC chips to perform certain tasks.


I may be missing a few. For the record, some of these are items that I personally don't even care about. But they are items that others may enjoy and a few instances where, in my opinion, Apple is behind Android.

I say "behind" because, off hand, I can't think of an iOS specific feature that Android doesn't offer in some capacity. Maybe AirDrop?
 

deadaim00

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Android does support live photos. I have the ability on my ZTE Axon 7. It comes down the manufacturer and the implementation of the feature through their camera app is all. Apple makes the camera app for the iPhone, therefore they can allow all of them to have the ability. As far as the memories is concerned, Google Photos is capable of the same thing as well. Just a heads up!
 

pjs37

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There are three ways that I feel iOS itself is falling behind: 1) Notifications 2) Widgets 3) Home Screen Layout

A lot of the other things that come to mind are specific app problems, and not iOS problems (i.e. cannot mark Messages as Unread, Favorites in the Health app aren't available by 3D Touching the app icon, etc.)

The notification system on iOS completely sucks. It's worse than Android, which doesn't have a great history here, and it's worse than BB10. Notifications seem transient and spacing is not nearly dense enough. Actions require a 3D Touch. A couple icons for the most-used actions would be faster.

Widgets are very useful and, like 3D Touch on apps, let you complete tasks more quickly. They also give you the most pertinent information without having to open an app. Widgets need to be present on the app/home screens.

Which brings me to point 3, screen layout. Apple needs to allow placing app icons, folders, and widgets anywhere on the screen. Automatically top-left aligning/sliding everything is outdated and makes using the phone more cumbersome.

So much this. The OS is incredibly stable and you can update it as soon as an update rolls out but come on we have had the tile and grid screen since the beginning. And on top of that the last major update was folders...

I mean I guess we had the notification updates too but that was even worse before so they basically made it...acceptable...but it just feels messy now.
 

Jay Mobile

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Personally I don't think that iOS is falling behind, I feel as though that it is the opposite in a sense. Apple and in this case iOS was so ahead of the game that now that everyone else has caught up it just isn't normal for a flagship os to be on par with others. Not to mention if it ain't broke.... I'm not saying that there are not things that can't be added or addressed but for the most part the vast majority of iOS users are beyond satisfied. Its like when the iPhone 5 came out with a slightly bigger screen then the iPhone 6 and 6 plus came and now many are realizing that there is still a huge market for people who want a 4inch iPhone. One thing that I truly admire about apple is that they are not afraid to move at their own pace, ever since getting an iPhone (3G-3Gs) I tried doing the galaxy 2 but the operating systems were worlds apart and since then I vowed to stick with iOS because it just works but more importantly it just works for me. Others may feel differently however numbers don't lie
 

sjohnvivian

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I think what lies ahead will likely put Apple at the forefront. iOS runs so smoothly and doesn't suck up juice as much as any other OS out there, which is why iPhone 6s still competes against latest flagship Android devices.

With that said, Apple takes it's bloody time to offer features that by now have become standard and work well on other platforms for years. I know that the rumours point to finally switching to OLED panels, but I think this should have happened long ago. There's also talks that Apple will finally offer wireless charging, which has been offered by Android devices for a long time and has continued to improve over the years that it matches the speed of plugging in. There are other features that Apple lacks, but maybe aren't fully needed in other devices either. But I think those two for me showcase that iOS/Apple lags a bit behind.

However, Apple provides superior integration and I don't think anything can compete with iMessage and iCloud Photo Library. These things are what I miss about using an iPhone. I still have a product from every Apple category, including services. And I have invested heavily in Apple, including buying the 5K iMac despite not really needing all that much resolution or screen real estate. But I switched to the Samsung Galaxy S8 because I wanted some features that were lacking in iOS. And I've discovered that the trade off of what I lose from iOS has become acceptable because my S8 offers me features and functionality that I really appreciate and have begun integrating into what I use a smartphone for. Quick & wireless charging are chief among them.

Add to that is the fact that the days of ugly and hard to use UI on Android have been eradicated with Nougat on the S8. In fact, it is perhaps more elegant than iOS is now. I'm sure Apple will again refine iOS and make it more elegant (hopefully with a dark theme option across the entire OS), but really there hasn't been many substantial changes since iOS 7 was introduced. We've gotten added features, yes, and some that I couldn't live without, but it didn't drastically change the experience.

Apple focuses so much on fine tuning that they sometimes lag behind. But because of that they do offer a solid OS experience. However, I don't see why some physical changes can't be implemented to better refine iOS and innovate it as well. But that's my take. I still think Apple will always dominate. Apple users are incredibly loyal. I have been for years, even before Apple hit their stride with iPhones and iPads. But dipping my toes in the S8 pond has made me want to dive in completely. It's refreshing and nice to see what I can gain from what the iPhone has lacked.
 

k4ever

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The problem is that for most things, once Apple has finally gotten around to doing them, Apple hasn't done them right. The first things that come to mind are notifications, 3rd party keyboard support, widgets, and multi-windows (which is still only available on the iPad). Then there are the things that Apple hasn't added, but are extremely useful and vital to me -- like expandable storage, home screens that can be reorganized to improve workflow (and look cool), (safe) fast charging, wireless charging, and better OS support for 3rd party applications.

I am admittedly an Android fan, but that has been mostly out of necessity. I'm not impressed by sparkly things, so I judge products based on what they can do for me -- not how they look. Since Android 4.4, Apple's mobile products haven't been appealing to me. I got an iPhone 6 for work and wanted to be impressed by it. However, I ended up forwarding stuff to my personal Android phone. iOS is smooth and snappy, but it lacks too many things for me to take it seriously.
 

k4ever

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I have had some masses discussions online in the past few days in reference to iMessage. For anyone not using an iPhone or iPad, iMessage plain sucks. It is not that Apple hasn't done a good job on it, or that it is not a great messaging app -- it is the fact that iMessage doesn't play well with other messaging apps. Apple needs to fix the group messaging bugs with non-iPhone users that iMessage has. BTW, iCloud is not even in the top 3 for cloud services. If you continue to buy and use Apple products, they work well together. However, once you break out of the Apple bubble you quickly begin to realize that Apple's stuff just doesn't play well with others.

I agree that "Apple takes it's bloody time to offer features that by now have become standard and work well on other platforms for years." I believe that this is the best statement on this thread so far, is painfully true, and is probably the reason this thread exists. I will add that (lately) once Apple does add something, they go their own route and make it worse than what is offered by others.
 

Quis89

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I have had some masses discussions online in the past few days in reference to iMessage. For anyone not using an iPhone or iPad, iMessage plain sucks. It is not that Apple hasn't done a good job on it, or that it is not a great messaging app -- it is the fact that iMessage doesn't play well with other messaging apps. Apple needs to fix the group messaging bugs with non-iPhone users that iMessage has. BTW, iCloud is not even in the top 3 for cloud services. If you continue to buy and use Apple products, they work well together. However, once you break out of the Apple bubble you quickly begin to realize that Apple's stuff just doesn't play well with others.

I agree that "Apple takes it's bloody time to offer features that by now have become standard and work well on other platforms for years." I believe that this is the best statement on this thread so far, is painfully true, and is probably the reason this thread exists. I will add that (lately) once Apple does add something, they go their own route and make it worse than what is offered by others.

What iMessage Group Messaging bug are you referencing, by chance? I've got a couple group chats with non-iPhone users and I don't experience any issues. I'm curious as to what bugs may be out there.

I agree with your point about iCloud. Apple could really do well to focus on that.
 

mavsguy842

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I think some people are conflating what they want to see in an iPhone with iOS.

I would LOVE wireless charging built in to iPhone. I currently have a lightning Qi adapter constantly plugged in and stuck to the phone underneath my case because I've been using only wireless charging for 3 years and can't see changing back to plugging in to charge. However, that's not an iOS issue, that's a hardware issue.

The same goes for OLED screens. The battery savings can be real, depending on the apps you use, background image etc. but there's nothing in iOS that would need to change to switch to OLED screens. To take FULL advantage, sure iOS could use some tweaks and some sort of universal dark theme option.

Bigger batteries, less bezels, quick-charge capability: all of these are hardware issues, not problems with iOS.

Bugs with iMessage or iCloud are app problems, not necessarily iOS problems.
 

Wotchered

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No, not falling behind, staying steady, working well. Everyone I need to speak to uses Apple 'cos it works..... have no need or interest in comms as a playpen.
 

mavsguy842

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One other way iOS is behind is on scaling to iPad. The stretched iPhone layout for app icons has always been hideous, and with an even larger iPad Pro it's even worse.
 

Joaquin Montaner

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I've been using Android as my main OS for years, and I've used IOS a few times also, currently my main phone is an Iphone 7, and while there are areas where it's maybe even superior, there are plenty of other where it's has definately fallen behind, some of them are because of Apple's stubbornnes to let other apps do what their apps do, I'd love to be able to set which app I want to use as predetermined, and other are just better implemented on Android, for example battery consumption information, or more intuitive menus, i.e. if you want to acces Wi-Fi settings from home screen, just hold the switch on the quick access bar and there you go, no need to access configuration, and then Wi-Fi, same for bluetooth, screen options, and all other options. Other thing is the actual multitasking, i.e. there's no need to have location services activated to upload photos to Google Photos, nor have the app running. On a personal oppinion, I like how Android handles notifications better. Lack of NFC. Very little to none customization, I've found some apps or games that you can play on all Android devices that are Ipad-only on IOS. I like it better if I can see my files and folders and not just all my content in different apps. Screen resolution is really far behind on regular Iphone 7. Sometimes I miss the "back" button on the screen or next to the home button.

Battery life should really improve! I had a Xiomi Redmi Note 3 Pro (Almost 2.5 times battery capacity than Iphone 7) and I would get to the end of the day with 50/40% battery left, heavy use, even gaming for 1 or 2 hours (pokemon go / space marshalls 2 / the banner saga 1 and 2)

On the other hand, IOS runs really smooth, with almost no delay, and the build quality of all Iphones is outstanding, fingerprint reader usually works better on IOS, Apps and games library is so much better, even if it is easier to explore on Android as you can do it from the browser, without any Itunes install needed nor anything, but just the quality of the library is better, and mostly everything gets to IOS first, I do miss Humble Bundle Bundles with games and apps tho.

There aren't many things that you can't really do, but it just feels harder for no reason on IOS.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really liking the Iphone 7, I just know there are some areas where IOS HAS to improve.
 

cuttheredwire

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They all steal ideas from each other. It's a game of cat and mouse

SJ felt that Android as a whole was a stolen idea, and Google was planning on a BlackBerry ripoff before have inside info on iOS. This came out later.

That said, both mobile OSs have ideas in testing that change, mature, and even die that we are unaware of; we only what is released (and patents). It is hard to say who copies who. We only know who did it first, and Apple is happy to let others go first and find mistakes for them. They release things when they are done.

Keep in mind that Apple is very secretive while Google announces things that never come to light (e.g. modular phones).
 

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