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Apple Delays Release of WatchOS 2 Due to Bug

45 points by davidbarker 11y ago

Navarr 11y ago
I'm surprised. Has Apple delayed due to bugs before?
- filleokus 11y ago
  I don't think so. The only precedent I can think of is the delayed 10.5 (edited) release due to the release of the iPhone: "A year later, this was amended to Spring 2007, however on April 12, 2007, Apple issued a statement that its release would be delayed until October 2007 because of the development of the iPhone."
  - kozukumi 11y ago
    That was, from what I can remember/find from a quick search, simply a resource issue. They had all their top engineers working on iOS so ran short on engineers for OS X and as iOS so important to them they decided to take the hit on delaying the launch of their desktop OS. A good decision considering how well iOS has taken off.
    - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
      Similarly, OS X Yosemite came out quite a while after iOS 7.
      - josso 11y ago
        Mavericks was released later than Yosemite. I wouldn’t say either of those were delayed. Both were released in the ‘fall’ as Apple announced at both WWDC ‘13 and ‘14.
  - joao 11y ago
    I believe you are referring to 10.5 (Leopard), but you are correct. 10.4 (Tiger) was released in 2005.
- smackfu 11y ago
  HealthKit was one of the major features of iOS 8, but there was a last minute bug and they didn't allow the release of any apps that used HealthKit until a week later when iOS 8.0.1 was released.
- saurik 11y ago
  I have seen this happen a few times, including at one point just skipping an entire expected X.Y.0 release of iOS and going back into beta for an X.Y.1. I don't remember them failing at an X.0.0, though.
- apayan 11y ago
  iOS 4.2 was delayed to the point of never being released. Apple went straight to 4.2.1 instead. http://www.iphonehacks.com/2010/11/developer-reports-major-voip-bug-in-ios-4-2-gm.html http://www.iphonehacks.com/2010/11/developer-reports-major-v... Source: I found/reported the bug mentioned in the article.
filleokus 11y ago
This must be some kind of security issue, or the biggest understatement ever. "One" bug, there are plenty of bugs in watchOS. Perhaps something with Apple Pay?
- smackfu 11y ago
  There's been some reports of code-signing issues, where apps from the app store can't be installed on watches that have been upgrade to watchOS 2. That couldn't be tested before today because the watch apps weren't available from the app store.
  - jfaat 11y ago
    > That couldn't be tested before today Why not? Apple must have internal tools to test this.
    - mahyarm 11y ago
      Anything code signing related is janky because they don't dogfood the codesign system they create for 3rd parties.
e28eta 11y ago
My guess is the battery drain issue reported in the Apple Developer Forums: https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/17002 https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/17002
- filleokus 11y ago
  Seems plausible.
- asd 11y ago
  That's what I'm thinking also. I've been actively testing WatchOS2 since the second beta and had severe battery issues in beta 3-5. My watch would die by 2:00pm every day. I finally uninstalled all third party apps and that fixed things. I tried to find the culprit by reinstalling the apps one at a time but was unable to find the little vampire.
- alexjarvis 11y ago
  I'm also having battery issues since the GM release. Beta 5 was fine, but now it doesn't even get through the morning.
  - wanderfowl 11y ago
    Interesting, I'm on the GM and have better battery life than WatchOS 1.
    - alexjarvis 11y ago
      Apparently un-pairing and pairing again fixes the issue, so will give this a try.
- samstave 11y ago
  Reminds me of that joke: "How does an Apple Watch owner know when its noon?" "Their watch is dead"

45 points by davidbarker 11y ago

Navarr 11y ago

I'm surprised. Has Apple delayed due to bugs before?

filleokus 11y ago
I don't think so. The only precedent I can think of is the delayed 10.5 (edited) release due to the release of the iPhone: "A year later, this was amended to Spring 2007, however on April 12, 2007, Apple issued a statement that its release would be delayed until October 2007 because of the development of the iPhone."
- kozukumi 11y ago
  That was, from what I can remember/find from a quick search, simply a resource issue. They had all their top engineers working on iOS so ran short on engineers for OS X and as iOS so important to them they decided to take the hit on delaying the launch of their desktop OS. A good decision considering how well iOS has taken off.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
    Similarly, OS X Yosemite came out quite a while after iOS 7.
    - josso 11y ago
      Mavericks was released later than Yosemite. I wouldn’t say either of those were delayed. Both were released in the ‘fall’ as Apple announced at both WWDC ‘13 and ‘14.
- joao 11y ago
  I believe you are referring to 10.5 (Leopard), but you are correct. 10.4 (Tiger) was released in 2005.
smackfu 11y ago
HealthKit was one of the major features of iOS 8, but there was a last minute bug and they didn't allow the release of any apps that used HealthKit until a week later when iOS 8.0.1 was released.
saurik 11y ago
I have seen this happen a few times, including at one point just skipping an entire expected X.Y.0 release of iOS and going back into beta for an X.Y.1. I don't remember them failing at an X.0.0, though.
apayan 11y ago
iOS 4.2 was delayed to the point of never being released. Apple went straight to 4.2.1 instead. http://www.iphonehacks.com/2010/11/developer-reports-major-voip-bug-in-ios-4-2-gm.html http://www.iphonehacks.com/2010/11/developer-reports-major-v... Source: I found/reported the bug mentioned in the article.

filleokus 11y ago

This must be some kind of security issue, or the biggest understatement ever. "One" bug, there are plenty of bugs in watchOS. Perhaps something with Apple Pay?

smackfu 11y ago
There's been some reports of code-signing issues, where apps from the app store can't be installed on watches that have been upgrade to watchOS 2. That couldn't be tested before today because the watch apps weren't available from the app store.
- jfaat 11y ago
  > That couldn't be tested before today Why not? Apple must have internal tools to test this.
  - mahyarm 11y ago
    Anything code signing related is janky because they don't dogfood the codesign system they create for 3rd parties.

e28eta 11y ago

My guess is the battery drain issue reported in the Apple Developer Forums: https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/17002 https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/17002

filleokus 11y ago
Seems plausible.
asd 11y ago
That's what I'm thinking also. I've been actively testing WatchOS2 since the second beta and had severe battery issues in beta 3-5. My watch would die by 2:00pm every day. I finally uninstalled all third party apps and that fixed things. I tried to find the culprit by reinstalling the apps one at a time but was unable to find the little vampire.
alexjarvis 11y ago
I'm also having battery issues since the GM release. Beta 5 was fine, but now it doesn't even get through the morning.
- wanderfowl 11y ago
  Interesting, I'm on the GM and have better battery life than WatchOS 1.
  - alexjarvis 11y ago
    Apparently un-pairing and pairing again fixes the issue, so will give this a try.
samstave 11y ago
Reminds me of that joke: "How does an Apple Watch owner know when its noon?" "Their watch is dead"