One more thing… Goodbye from iMore

[EdwinG]

Time for me to post my thoughts… this is a long one!

While sad about iMore's finality joining the digital graveyard in the sky, I can't say that I am surprised. I have seen this coming for the last 4 years.

The sad bit​

The quality of iMore's content has progressively reduced since Mobile Nation's acquisition in 2020. I'm not firing any arrows at the iMore's staff, but at the higher-ups. And it makes sense, because they want to make back the money they had just spent.

And when the Mobile Nations podcasts (iMore Show, Windows Central Podcast) became irregular in late 2023, the future became gloom; the site didn't get the 2024 refresh removing the country selector that Windows Central had. Also, the Forums never received an iPhone 16 category after they were announced this month; something that normally happened for previous devices.

So yeah, I'm not surprised. And I can't blame Future plc for trying to make money.

My highlights​

This is the most pleasant part to write But I know I'm forgetting a ton of people that made this place what it was.

I still remember buying my first Apple device, a iPod Touch (2nd generation) in January 2009, and I searched how to access its internal SSD so that I could use it as a flash drive. This led me to The iPhone Blog at the time; I don't remember the article or who wrote it (spoiler alert: you couldn't do that natively). Then I went my merry way, until I got back somehow into the TiPB days.

From there, I have listened to the Debug, TiPB Live (iPhone live when there were two podcasts?), iMore Show, Vector podcasts and I forget some (I changed podcatchers since).

I vividly remember spending a day outdoors listening to René Ritchie and Leanna Lofte talking about iPhone photography, or iPhoneography. I might have my years wrong, but I think that was the same day I snapped these two pictures in April 2012.



Then, there was the terrific duo of Georgia Dow and René Ritchie that gave two perspectives on Apple and technology, and how it has a direct impact on people's lives. Georgia refusing to update her phone and having hundreds of outdated apps. Something I now observe with my own friends and - through her telling her perspective - makes me appreciate that they might not want to update their devices ASAP. I do gently nudge them from time to time for good reason.

Finally, Mikah Sargeant that became a podcaster at TWiT and Serenity Caldwell's famous Apple Pencil review using an Apple Pencil:

In drawn form, here's what we think about the first-gen Apple Pencil

Here's Serenity's review of the Apple Pencil — drawn entirely on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.

www.imore.com

The Community​

I really miss and will miss the days when iMore - and Mobile Nations - was just that fun and quirky website and organisation. It was just such a (mostly) fun community to be a part of, with a pre-2020 Apple whose corporate greed had not yet fully set in.

I sincerely hope that we will hear some day a podcast that will reunite iMore's alumni once again. I really miss hearing them on a regular schedule. I think the only two alumni that still record podcasts are Mikah Sargeant (TWiT) and Stephen Hackett (Relay).

On a personal note, I have not yet decided what I am going to do. Do I want to continue discussing Apple with people in the current state of thigs, I don't know. Until the forums close on 2024-11-01, I will continue to visit here.
After that, I think I will only have an idea right after Thanksgiving (by mid-October) of where I'm heading.

So stay tuna!

 

[blessed2bamommie]

It was.

Mobile Nations had quite a number of sites at their peak:

Mobile Nations

web.archive.org

Ah yes! I’m that old! Then I was so excited to be a cool kid and join Apple!

 

[blessed2bamommie]

Yeah I’m sure I need to update….I don’t stay on top of it like I used to. I also have three kids now that I homeschool. Well I graduated the oldest. She was younger my youngest who’s 10 and her 13 yo brother was a baby when I got that shiny new iPhone! I checked I’m 16.4 we’ll, aren’t we at 18 or about to be so yeah….some Mamas in my tech parenting because they all have iOS devices say some of the updated break controls so I think it’s discouraged me. We are really loving the hidden apps in 18.

Well I guess I might well wait now! I think I read some cool stuff!

This is the most active I’ve been in years! A send off to my tech forums. We should have a post about where folks are going once they digest the news. I do need some support every now and again!

 

[3022484000]

This site has been a part of my daily routine for many years, providing me with the latest news to start my day.
A big thank you to everyone responsible and involved in the iMore team who invested so much time to bring this page to life.
Thank you for everything, and wishing you all the best in the future!

Daniel

 

[khurtwilliams]

It’s hard to put into words how much iMore has meant to me over the years. You’ve been my go-to for all things Apple, always delivering with passion and insight. While I understand the reasons, it still feels like saying goodbye to a dear friend. Thank you for all the memories, knowledge, and joy you’ve shared. You’ll be missed more than you know. Our time together (12 years for me) was too brief.

 

[FFR]

Sad news indeed.

 

[jfs101]

Thanks for the run, this was a good and smart place to hang around.

 

[goku_vegeta]

Time for me to post my thoughts… this is a long one!

While sad about iMore's finality joining the digital graveyard in the sky, I can't say that I am surprised. I have seen this coming for the last 4 years.

The sad bit​

The quality of iMore's content has progressively reduced since Mobile Nation's acquisition in 2020. I'm not firing any arrows at the iMore's staff, but at the higher-ups. And it makes sense, because they want to make back the money they had just spent.

And when the Mobile Nations podcasts (iMore Show, Windows Central Podcast) became irregular in late 2023, the future became gloom; the site didn't get the 2024 refresh removing the country selector that Windows Central had. Also, the Forums never received an iPhone 16 category after they were announced this month; something that normally happened for previous devices.

So yeah, I'm not surprised. And I can't blame Future plc for trying to make money.

My highlights​

This is the most pleasant part to write But I know I'm forgetting a ton of people that made this place what it was.

I still remember buying my first Apple device, a iPod Touch (2nd generation) in January 2009, and I searched how to access its internal SSD so that I could use it as a flash drive. This led me to The iPhone Blog at the time; I don't remember the article or who wrote it (spoiler alert: you couldn't do that natively). Then I went my merry way, until I got back somehow into the TiPB days.

From there, I have listened to the Debug, TiPB Live (iPhone live when there were two podcasts?), iMore Show, Vector podcasts and I forget some (I changed podcatchers since).

I vividly remember spending a day outdoors listening to René Ritchie and Leanna Lofte talking about iPhone photography, or iPhoneography. I might have my years wrong, but I think that was the same day I snapped these two pictures in April 2012.

View attachment 134180View attachment 134181

Then, there was the terrific duo of Georgia Dow and René Ritchie that gave two perspectives on Apple and technology, and how it has a direct impact on people's lives. Georgia refusing to update her phone and having hundreds of outdated apps. Something I now observe with my own friends and - through her telling her perspective - makes me appreciate that they might not want to update their devices ASAP. I do gently nudge them from time to time for good reason.

Finally, Mikah Sargeant that became a podcaster at TWiT and Serenity Caldwell's famous Apple Pencil review using an Apple Pencil:

In drawn form, here's what we think about the first-gen Apple Pencil

Here's Serenity's review of the Apple Pencil — drawn entirely on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.

www.imore.com

The Community​

I really miss and will miss the days when iMore - and Mobile Nations - was just that fun and quirky website and organisation. It was just such a (mostly) fun community to be a part of, with a pre-2020 Apple whose corporate greed had not yet fully set in.

I sincerely hope that we will hear some day a podcast that will reunite iMore's alumni once again. I really miss hearing them on a regular schedule. I think the only two alumni that still record podcasts are Mikah Sargeant (TWiT) and Stephen Hackett (Relay).

On a personal note, I have not yet decided what I am going to do. Do I want to continue discussing Apple with people in the current state of thigs, I don't know. Until the forums close on 2024-11-01, I will continue to visit here.
After that, I think I will only have an idea right after Thanksgiving (by mid-October) of where I'm heading.

So stay tuna!

I think what did it was the saturation of outlets dedicated to covering Apple related news. The strategy of Apple itself has also changed over the years. They went from being a company that was able to keep what they were working on under control with minimal media leaks.

As the iPhone in particular became a more widely used product and the supply chain increased in complexity with additional vendors to allow for Apple to produce enough to keep up with demand, leaks became more readily available from more sources. In the current day, there isn't much that actually surprises us when it comes to the major launch announcements such as the September iPhone event. We tend to have a much better idea of what's going to be revealed now than we did in 2009 for instance.

There's also changes from Apple's perspective. They aren't trying to be as restrictive to media outlets anymore, and it goes back to the original point on media outlet saturation. Apple provides fairly comprehensive information about their products on their websites, in recent years they've streamed their events on their website for the public, and also on YouTube as well. Notable personalities and outlets get hands on time with the iPhone, something that didn't occur in the early days, which means even right after the announcement there will be news about the iPhone disseminated to the public. Conventional media outlets also tend to cover Apple news - although just in brief. Plus there's the entire social media universe that I haven't even mentioned yet. So if someone wants to learn about an Apple product, there are a lot more options.

Then there's perhaps the ultimate reason, the iPhone has become too mainstream. With the iPhone closing in at being around for nearly two decades, it's a mature product with less notable changes year over year. Chances are when you buy a new iPhone, there is a certain level of expectation one has with the new product. It will tend to work largely in the same way, the same feature set is more or less maintained, and particularly for users who have grown up with an iPhone as possibly their first (not even smartphone, but rather just phone in general) phone, there's a high level of familiarity with the product.

I believe it was a good run, especially for those who had been around in the early days. We can look back and reminisce of the days and years past. The community members grew with the community itself. While iMore will be no more, we've all grown and iMore was a part of that for all of us.