21 ms·

iOS 11 reviewed

226 points by cstuder 9y ago

microcolonel 9y ago
> 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?
- ReverseCold 9y ago
  If down the street there is a new ice cream shop, then yes.
walterbell 9y ago
No VPN button in Control Center? Do Apple employees use public wi-fi?
- AceJohnny2 9y ago
  > Do Apple employees use public wi-fi? There are apps and security profiles for that. My company uses a VPN-on-demand, where the VPN is used only for select sites when on public networks.
- jonathanbull 9y ago
  VPNs are configured in Settings->General. Any reason why that would need to be regularly toggled, out of interest?
  - mikeash 9y ago
    I haven't used it in a while, but when I did, it wasn't very good at reconnecting after sleeping the device or switching networks.
    - RKearney 9y ago
      Sounds like it may have been an issue with the remote end of the VPN tunnel then. I've been connected to VPN for days at a time, switching between Wi-Fi and cellular (including switching between IPv4-only, IPv6-only, and dual-stack networks), and have never had an issue with the device automatically re-establishing the VPN tunnel. Of course things could have also just improved over time.
      - walterbell 9y ago
        Which VPN provider or enterprise gateway? Does your VPN Profile have an "Always-On" setting? That's only available on managed devices and it ensures that no traffic is passed unless the device is connected to a VPN, which is what causes the VPN to automatically reconnect. If you have a standalone VPN app, it may also reconnect silently. But the system VPN does not stay reliably connected across device sleep and network status changes.
        kccqzy 9y ago
        You don't need managed devices. You just need to configure the VPN in the Configurator app and push a profile to your device. Though there are still some manual plist editing required to get this working.
        walterbell 9y ago
        Always-on VPN is possible on non-Supervised devices? Would appreciate a pointer to the relevant XML tags. Is it selectable, e.g. can you have multiple VPN profiles and then toggle (in Settings) which profile is Always-On?
        astrange 9y ago
        It's not possible, but you can use VPN on Demand and it should solve the work VPN problem.
        kccqzy 9y ago
  - zimpenfish 9y ago
    I know a few people who use it a lot and toggle it based on where they are. However those people definitely aren't your average consumer types. I'd imagine probably 90% of iOS users don't even know it has a VPN toggle. (I don't use it on cellular, do use it on insecure wifi, don't use it on some secure wifis depending on who controls it, never use it at home/parents/etc. Some days that's 4/5 toggles.)
  - jandrese 9y ago
    Typically for turning it back on when it failed to automatically connect, again.
  - walterbell 9y ago
    Some reasons: - VPNs do not stay connected - VPNs use a lot of battery - switching VPNs (e.g. work, personal) - mandatory for public wifi, optional elsewhere - some sites block VPNs (netflix, best buy, american airlines) - some networks block VPNs
    - kccqzy 9y ago
      VPNs can stay connected if configured correctly. For cases when staying connected really is an issue (non-IKEv2 MOBIKE), you can also configure it to auto-connect whenever anything tries to establish a network connection (this is misleadingly called "Connect on Demand"), though the configuration process involves pushing a profile to your device.
  - Accacin 9y ago
    I use a VPN 99% of the time, but when I want to watch some Netflix I have to turn it off. Not often, but enough to appreciate a nice toggle!
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- Robdel12 9y ago
  I'm sure they do. Do you think most of iOS 11 users do? I'm willing to bet they don't.
masklinn 9y ago
> 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.
- mikeash 9y ago
  And not only does the upgrade semi-arbitrarily make old apps stop working, it's impossible to go back.
  - RKearney 9y ago
    Apple is still signing 10.3.3, so it's not impossible to go back (yet).
    - mikeash 9y ago
      True, but that will only last some days or weeks.
      - js2 9y ago
        The iPhone 5C won't update past iOS 10 so Apple will keep the signed version of that around and you can find 5C's for cheap. I mean if you really want to keep using 2009 apps. (I am not claiming that this is at all a reasonable work-around, just that there is a work-around.)
        mikeash 9y ago
        That's a good point. They can be stupid and inconvenient about it, but it's not making this stuff completely inaccessible.
cm2187 9y ago
Also be aware that iOS 11 seems to be incompatible with Windows Server 2016. Seems to be an http2 implementation problem.
- JBReefer 9y ago
  In what way? That seems like an extremely serious problem, given how many LOB apps run on Windows Server.
  - cm2187 9y ago
    I don't have much details. https://portal.smartertools.com/community/a89593/ios-11-and-windows-2016-compatibility-issue.aspx https://portal.smartertools.com/community/a89593/ios-11-and-... http://www.kraftkennedy.com/critical-issue-apple-ios-11-mail-app-exchange-2016online-windows-server-2016/ http://www.kraftkennedy.com/critical-issue-apple-ios-11-mail... Where I work we received an email urging us not to upgrade, I believe for that reason.
- sigzero 9y ago
  Seems to be Mail.app if it's a fault on Apple's side. I wonder if the Outlook.app works correctly?
CoreXtreme 9y ago
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 9y ago
  The Brave browser on iOS has per-site Javascript control.
  - sigzero 9y ago
    How do you like Brave?
    - walterbell 9y ago
      It's good, works with most sites, can be configured for private browsing only.
darthbanane 9y ago
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.
- Crontab 9y ago
  Agreed. That's bad and a lot of people will expect the old functionality.
  - darthbanane 9y ago
    It feels like they’re trying to educate me as a user that switching wifi off to save battery is not super smart. It’s true, the difference is minuscule at best (20-30 minutes of battery life) but maybe I want to micromanage to get these 20 minutes. Or because I am concerned about privacy. My take is that if you want to “educate” users on how best to use a feature you must leave them the freedom to do it wrong (depending on the consequences). If you’re right they will do what you want (profit) and if you’re wrong then you have avoided alienating them.
    - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
      > My take is that if you want to “educate” users on how best to use a feature you must leave them the freedom to do it wrong This is diametrically opposed to Apple's tradition, about which they have been clear and consistent.
    - Spooky23 9y ago
      Those 20-30 minutes matter when you travel, which is when the iPhone's undersized battery is already a liability. After about a year of wear and tear, a day trip to Manhattan requires an external battery or finding an outlet somewhere. Ditto on killing or removing abusive/"too big to fail" apps like Facebook and Facebook Messenger.
kawsper 9y ago
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 :/
- mashehu 9y ago
  Try 3rd-party keyboards like Swiftkey, where keyboard/autocorrect is bilingual, so no more switching needed (now I would only need a trilingual keyboard for my use case...).
  - jwr 9y ago
    This. Swiftkey solved this problem for me. The only remaining problem is that iOS is so annoyingly buggy wrt third-party keyboards.
- wlesieutre 9y ago
  I admit I'd never even considered that. I suppose the ideal is to remember the active keyboard language for different documents as well as chats, so most apps should be looking at this.
  - cormacrelf 9y ago
    iMessage has done this since iOS 6. iOS 10 lets you type in two languages on the one keyboard and not fluff around with autocorrect.
- renaudg 9y ago
  Bilingual user here. I think predictive typing is a keyboard issue, not an app issue, and the iOS keyboard has been smart enough to use dictionaries in both languages without switching since iOS 9 or 10.
  - 9y ago
JBReefer 9y ago
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 9y ago
  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-formats-will-save-you-50-on-storage/ https://9to5mac.com/2017/06/08/ios-11s-new-heifhevc-camera-f...
  - discreditable 9y ago
    It seems unfortunate that photos shared from iOS will be subject to an extra step of lossy compression in order to go to JPG.
    - jakelazaroff 9y ago
      HEIC and HEVC are both lossless, so there shouldn't be an extra step of lossy compression.
      - ac29 9y ago
        HEVC is definitely not lossless.
      - discreditable 9y ago
        They may have lossless modes but I'd bet money iOS is not using them. The file size would be huge even compared to JPEG.
rayiner 9y ago
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.)
- Eric_WVGG 9y ago
  It's not so hot on an A7 iPad. Just reading and responding to a text message (in the old notification mode, not even the side docking) grinds the CPU badly. I'd recommend that iPad Air 1 and Mini 2 users stay in the past, and start saving for new hardware. I hear that A7 iPhone 5S performance is just dandy, though.
  - dep_b 9y ago
    I have a beta on the Mini 2. Didn't update yet to the GM beta. Seeing a ton of glitches and stutters but it's a beta from two months ago. Battery life is abysmal as well. I'm waiting for the official release to see how it goes. It's not really bad once inside apps. I expect it to work a bit better, if not I'll reinstall clean.
pier25 9y ago
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.
- DigitalJack 9y ago
  That's interesting. You do that a lot? What's this about a quick access to settings? That's something I've wanted forever, but I don't see a way to add it?
  - pier25 9y ago
    I do it a couple of times every day. As for the quick access you can customize control center in the Settings app. It doesn't make much sense to me that you can't access that customization directly from control center, but Apple works in mysterious ways.
    - DigitalJack 9y ago
      I think I misunderstood. I thought you were saying there was a way to add a link to the settings app to the control center. In other words, having a button in control center to open settings. I go there enough I wish there was a fast access to it.
      - pier25 9y ago
        I was wrong. I thought you could add any app to the control center but it’s only certain predefined features like flashlight.
      - pier25 9y ago
        Yes, that's what I meant in the first part. But in the second part I meant accessing the settings of control center particularly.
odammit 9y ago
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.
arethuza 9y ago
Not a hugely important feature - but Siri can apparently now understand my accent :-)
ProfessorLayton 9y ago
Its pretty ridiculous that despite all these improvements in Safari, the permanent website data bug persists in both iOS and OSX
- grzm 9y ago
  Would you provide a reference for this? Searching for "Safari permanent website data bug" didn't lead me to any definitive conclusion as to what you mean.
  - ProfessorLayton 9y ago
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7910096?start=0&tstart=0 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7910096?start=0&tstart=... Website data is viewable in Settings> Safari> Advanced> Website Data. Some items won't delete even if they appear so, when you check again you'll see them return. This is especially onerous considering Apple's stance on privacy. This happens even with private browsing on both iOS and OSX
    - grzm 9y ago
      Thanks for the reference. Given the changes Apple highlights in iOS 11, I'm surprised this wasn't addressed. I'd be interested in reading a more technical, in depth piece on the issue looking at it from both the client and the server side (to determine exactly what is potentially available to an attacker). Browsing through 17 pages of user-submitted forum content isn't something I have a lot of patience for (though I suspect that's a reflection more of how little I am (perhaps naïvely) concerned about it). Thanks again for following up with the link!
odammit 9y ago
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?!
- csomar 9y ago
  No. You have the 128Gb version. If I recall correctly when buying the iPhone the options where 32Gb/128Gb. As you did calculate, 32Gb is not enough for the usual person. 128Gb on the other hand, is very plenty.
  - masklinn 9y ago
    The base configuration was 16GB until the 7's release in September 2016 (following which the 6S and SE were updated with 32GB base configurations as well).
- dionidium 9y ago
  I seem to be in the same ballpark: - Photos & Camera 16.89 GB - Overcast 2.57 GB - GroupMe 1.12 GB
  - odammit 9y ago
    I have a bunch of random apps w/ 200-300MB but I still have about 79GB available of 128GB
    - masklinn 9y ago
      I have 47GB available out of 128. ~30GB of music, 2GB podcasts, 1GB photos & videos, the rest is a large subset of my ios applications.
      - odammit 9y ago
        Wow! Thats a seriously impressive amount of music.
Exuma 9y ago
What's up with the absolutely MASSIVE title text at the top of every single app?? Looks horrible.
- ali_af 9y ago
  To add to the list of questionable UI changes, they are continuing to push iMessage Apps and there is no way to remove the icon from the input bar. Now with iOS 11 they have added an additional bar whether you use any apps or not.
  - Exuma 9y ago
    If you click the gray app icon it will disable that secondary bar at least.
- thinkythought 9y ago
  The wildest thing to me is you'd think this space would be used for the "forehead" on the iPhone X... but it's NOT: https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/overview/iphone-x/ https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/o... There's actually just even MORE wasted space
- lord_jim 9y ago
  IMO there are some extremely questionable design decisions in 11. Some of these are just ugly (like the super bold date on the calendar icon) or wasteful of space (like the headers), but others hide useful info or decrease discoverability (like requiring force touch for normal flows). I’ve only been using it for half a day but right now the details feel sloppy and the bigger picture UX feels poorly thought out.
amatheus 9y ago
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.
- glhaynes 9y ago
  Dropbox has an update coming soon that I believe will make it do what you're looking for. Edit: Maybe? Discussion on the topic here: https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/910083191695953921 https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/91008319169595392...
  - saagarjha 9y ago
    It appears that Dropbox has pushed version 64.3, which contains this feature, to the App Store, but it's not available yet.
chadlavi 9y ago
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.
- MBCook 9y ago
  They switched the way you do it on the X, so I guess for ‘consistency’ they removed it. It wasn’t a bad feature but I could never remember it was there. Too many years of muscle memory double-clicking the home button.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
cromwellian 9y ago
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.
- rubatuga 9y ago
  Why not just keep the iphone, and make a backup of the whole phone? If your phone breaks, then you can always restore the same backup file to a new one.
- shurcooL 9y ago
  It's best to think of iOS apps exactly as they are, a service. When you buy/download an app, it's not your own, you're using a service in the form of an app. The app will continue to work as long as it's supported by its developer and Apple doesn't forcibly remove it. If the developer no longer supports it, it's just a matter of time before it'll stop working.
- ac29 9y ago
  >You won't be able to buy an old iPhone 5 10 years from now and go download an old game. Why not? You can't sideload apps on iOS? If not, it definitely is a Apple-specific problem (at least as compared to Android, where applications can be backed up and restored without any use of google's store).
- valuearb 9y ago
  Why not? The App Store has always kept around your older apps when you stated on older operating systems.
shurcooL 9y ago
Is it normal for arstechnica.com to be taking up 30-60% CPU in Chrome whenever the tab is in focus? I don't have any extensions installed. [1] http://instantshare.win/1b0agfj3j7xey.png http://instantshare.win/1b0agfj3j7xey.png
turtlebits 9y ago
Might be premature, but iOS 11 on my 6S plus feels.. slow. It was snappy on iOS 10. Hope it improves, or I may look into downgrading.
shurcooL 9y ago
Since it hasn't been mentioned, an awesome part of iOS is the fact that Mobile Safari supports WebAssembly and WebRTC standards now. \o/
- styfle 9y ago
  This! It still makes me sad that safari is updated as part of the OS like IE instead of out of band like Chrome.
odammit 9y ago
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.

226 points by cstuder 9y ago

> 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?

ReverseCold 9y ago
If down the street there is a new ice cream shop, then yes.

walterbell 9y ago

No VPN button in Control Center? Do Apple employees use public wi-fi?

AceJohnny2 9y ago
> Do Apple employees use public wi-fi? There are apps and security profiles for that. My company uses a VPN-on-demand, where the VPN is used only for select sites when on public networks.
jonathanbull 9y ago
VPNs are configured in Settings->General. Any reason why that would need to be regularly toggled, out of interest?
- mikeash 9y ago
  I haven't used it in a while, but when I did, it wasn't very good at reconnecting after sleeping the device or switching networks.
  - RKearney 9y ago
    Sounds like it may have been an issue with the remote end of the VPN tunnel then. I've been connected to VPN for days at a time, switching between Wi-Fi and cellular (including switching between IPv4-only, IPv6-only, and dual-stack networks), and have never had an issue with the device automatically re-establishing the VPN tunnel. Of course things could have also just improved over time.
    - walterbell 9y ago
      Which VPN provider or enterprise gateway? Does your VPN Profile have an "Always-On" setting? That's only available on managed devices and it ensures that no traffic is passed unless the device is connected to a VPN, which is what causes the VPN to automatically reconnect. If you have a standalone VPN app, it may also reconnect silently. But the system VPN does not stay reliably connected across device sleep and network status changes.
      - kccqzy 9y ago
        You don't need managed devices. You just need to configure the VPN in the Configurator app and push a profile to your device. Though there are still some manual plist editing required to get this working.
        walterbell 9y ago
        Always-on VPN is possible on non-Supervised devices? Would appreciate a pointer to the relevant XML tags. Is it selectable, e.g. can you have multiple VPN profiles and then toggle (in Settings) which profile is Always-On?
        astrange 9y ago
        It's not possible, but you can use VPN on Demand and it should solve the work VPN problem.
        kccqzy 9y ago
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  I know a few people who use it a lot and toggle it based on where they are. However those people definitely aren't your average consumer types. I'd imagine probably 90% of iOS users don't even know it has a VPN toggle. (I don't use it on cellular, do use it on insecure wifi, don't use it on some secure wifis depending on who controls it, never use it at home/parents/etc. Some days that's 4/5 toggles.)
- jandrese 9y ago
  Typically for turning it back on when it failed to automatically connect, again.
- walterbell 9y ago
  Some reasons: - VPNs do not stay connected - VPNs use a lot of battery - switching VPNs (e.g. work, personal) - mandatory for public wifi, optional elsewhere - some sites block VPNs (netflix, best buy, american airlines) - some networks block VPNs
  - kccqzy 9y ago
    VPNs can stay connected if configured correctly. For cases when staying connected really is an issue (non-IKEv2 MOBIKE), you can also configure it to auto-connect whenever anything tries to establish a network connection (this is misleadingly called "Connect on Demand"), though the configuration process involves pushing a profile to your device.
- Accacin 9y ago
  I use a VPN 99% of the time, but when I want to watch some Netflix I have to turn it off. Not often, but enough to appreciate a nice toggle!
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Robdel12 9y ago
I'm sure they do. Do you think most of iOS 11 users do? I'm willing to bet they don't.

masklinn 9y ago

> 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.

mikeash 9y ago
And not only does the upgrade semi-arbitrarily make old apps stop working, it's impossible to go back.
- RKearney 9y ago
  Apple is still signing 10.3.3, so it's not impossible to go back (yet).
  - mikeash 9y ago
    True, but that will only last some days or weeks.
    - js2 9y ago
      The iPhone 5C won't update past iOS 10 so Apple will keep the signed version of that around and you can find 5C's for cheap. I mean if you really want to keep using 2009 apps. (I am not claiming that this is at all a reasonable work-around, just that there is a work-around.)
      - mikeash 9y ago
        That's a good point. They can be stupid and inconvenient about it, but it's not making this stuff completely inaccessible.

cm2187 9y ago

Also be aware that iOS 11 seems to be incompatible with Windows Server 2016. Seems to be an http2 implementation problem.

JBReefer 9y ago
In what way? That seems like an extremely serious problem, given how many LOB apps run on Windows Server.
- cm2187 9y ago
  I don't have much details. https://portal.smartertools.com/community/a89593/ios-11-and-windows-2016-compatibility-issue.aspx https://portal.smartertools.com/community/a89593/ios-11-and-... http://www.kraftkennedy.com/critical-issue-apple-ios-11-mail-app-exchange-2016online-windows-server-2016/ http://www.kraftkennedy.com/critical-issue-apple-ios-11-mail... Where I work we received an email urging us not to upgrade, I believe for that reason.
sigzero 9y ago
Seems to be Mail.app if it's a fault on Apple's side. I wonder if the Outlook.app works correctly?

CoreXtreme 9y ago

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 9y ago
The Brave browser on iOS has per-site Javascript control.
- sigzero 9y ago
  How do you like Brave?
  - walterbell 9y ago
    It's good, works with most sites, can be configured for private browsing only.

darthbanane 9y ago

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.

Crontab 9y ago
Agreed. That's bad and a lot of people will expect the old functionality.
- darthbanane 9y ago
  It feels like they’re trying to educate me as a user that switching wifi off to save battery is not super smart. It’s true, the difference is minuscule at best (20-30 minutes of battery life) but maybe I want to micromanage to get these 20 minutes. Or because I am concerned about privacy. My take is that if you want to “educate” users on how best to use a feature you must leave them the freedom to do it wrong (depending on the consequences). If you’re right they will do what you want (profit) and if you’re wrong then you have avoided alienating them.
  - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > My take is that if you want to “educate” users on how best to use a feature you must leave them the freedom to do it wrong This is diametrically opposed to Apple's tradition, about which they have been clear and consistent.
  - Spooky23 9y ago
    Those 20-30 minutes matter when you travel, which is when the iPhone's undersized battery is already a liability. After about a year of wear and tear, a day trip to Manhattan requires an external battery or finding an outlet somewhere. Ditto on killing or removing abusive/"too big to fail" apps like Facebook and Facebook Messenger.

kawsper 9y ago

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 :/

mashehu 9y ago
Try 3rd-party keyboards like Swiftkey, where keyboard/autocorrect is bilingual, so no more switching needed (now I would only need a trilingual keyboard for my use case...).
- jwr 9y ago
  This. Swiftkey solved this problem for me. The only remaining problem is that iOS is so annoyingly buggy wrt third-party keyboards.
wlesieutre 9y ago
I admit I'd never even considered that. I suppose the ideal is to remember the active keyboard language for different documents as well as chats, so most apps should be looking at this.
- cormacrelf 9y ago
  iMessage has done this since iOS 6. iOS 10 lets you type in two languages on the one keyboard and not fluff around with autocorrect.
renaudg 9y ago
Bilingual user here. I think predictive typing is a keyboard issue, not an app issue, and the iOS keyboard has been smart enough to use dictionaries in both languages without switching since iOS 9 or 10.
- 9y ago

JBReefer 9y ago

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 9y ago
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-formats-will-save-you-50-on-storage/ https://9to5mac.com/2017/06/08/ios-11s-new-heifhevc-camera-f...
- discreditable 9y ago
  It seems unfortunate that photos shared from iOS will be subject to an extra step of lossy compression in order to go to JPG.
  - jakelazaroff 9y ago
    HEIC and HEVC are both lossless, so there shouldn't be an extra step of lossy compression.
    - ac29 9y ago
      HEVC is definitely not lossless.
    - discreditable 9y ago
      They may have lossless modes but I'd bet money iOS is not using them. The file size would be huge even compared to JPEG.

rayiner 9y ago

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.)

Eric_WVGG 9y ago
It's not so hot on an A7 iPad. Just reading and responding to a text message (in the old notification mode, not even the side docking) grinds the CPU badly. I'd recommend that iPad Air 1 and Mini 2 users stay in the past, and start saving for new hardware. I hear that A7 iPhone 5S performance is just dandy, though.
- dep_b 9y ago
  I have a beta on the Mini 2. Didn't update yet to the GM beta. Seeing a ton of glitches and stutters but it's a beta from two months ago. Battery life is abysmal as well. I'm waiting for the official release to see how it goes. It's not really bad once inside apps. I expect it to work a bit better, if not I'll reinstall clean.

pier25 9y ago

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.

DigitalJack 9y ago
That's interesting. You do that a lot? What's this about a quick access to settings? That's something I've wanted forever, but I don't see a way to add it?
- pier25 9y ago
  I do it a couple of times every day. As for the quick access you can customize control center in the Settings app. It doesn't make much sense to me that you can't access that customization directly from control center, but Apple works in mysterious ways.
  - DigitalJack 9y ago
    I think I misunderstood. I thought you were saying there was a way to add a link to the settings app to the control center. In other words, having a button in control center to open settings. I go there enough I wish there was a fast access to it.
    - pier25 9y ago
      I was wrong. I thought you could add any app to the control center but it’s only certain predefined features like flashlight.
    - pier25 9y ago
      Yes, that's what I meant in the first part. But in the second part I meant accessing the settings of control center particularly.

odammit 9y ago

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.

arethuza 9y ago

Not a hugely important feature - but Siri can apparently now understand my accent :-)

ProfessorLayton 9y ago

Its pretty ridiculous that despite all these improvements in Safari, the permanent website data bug persists in both iOS and OSX

grzm 9y ago
Would you provide a reference for this? Searching for "Safari permanent website data bug" didn't lead me to any definitive conclusion as to what you mean.
- ProfessorLayton 9y ago
  https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7910096?start=0&tstart=0 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7910096?start=0&tstart=... Website data is viewable in Settings> Safari> Advanced> Website Data. Some items won't delete even if they appear so, when you check again you'll see them return. This is especially onerous considering Apple's stance on privacy. This happens even with private browsing on both iOS and OSX
  - grzm 9y ago
    Thanks for the reference. Given the changes Apple highlights in iOS 11, I'm surprised this wasn't addressed. I'd be interested in reading a more technical, in depth piece on the issue looking at it from both the client and the server side (to determine exactly what is potentially available to an attacker). Browsing through 17 pages of user-submitted forum content isn't something I have a lot of patience for (though I suspect that's a reflection more of how little I am (perhaps naïvely) concerned about it). Thanks again for following up with the link!

odammit 9y ago

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?!

csomar 9y ago
No. You have the 128Gb version. If I recall correctly when buying the iPhone the options where 32Gb/128Gb. As you did calculate, 32Gb is not enough for the usual person. 128Gb on the other hand, is very plenty.
- masklinn 9y ago
  The base configuration was 16GB until the 7's release in September 2016 (following which the 6S and SE were updated with 32GB base configurations as well).
dionidium 9y ago
I seem to be in the same ballpark: - Photos & Camera 16.89 GB - Overcast 2.57 GB - GroupMe 1.12 GB
- odammit 9y ago
  I have a bunch of random apps w/ 200-300MB but I still have about 79GB available of 128GB
  - masklinn 9y ago
    I have 47GB available out of 128. ~30GB of music, 2GB podcasts, 1GB photos & videos, the rest is a large subset of my ios applications.
    - odammit 9y ago
      Wow! Thats a seriously impressive amount of music.

Exuma 9y ago

What's up with the absolutely MASSIVE title text at the top of every single app?? Looks horrible.

ali_af 9y ago
To add to the list of questionable UI changes, they are continuing to push iMessage Apps and there is no way to remove the icon from the input bar. Now with iOS 11 they have added an additional bar whether you use any apps or not.
- Exuma 9y ago
  If you click the gray app icon it will disable that secondary bar at least.
thinkythought 9y ago
The wildest thing to me is you'd think this space would be used for the "forehead" on the iPhone X... but it's NOT: https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/overview/iphone-x/ https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/o... There's actually just even MORE wasted space
lord_jim 9y ago
IMO there are some extremely questionable design decisions in 11. Some of these are just ugly (like the super bold date on the calendar icon) or wasteful of space (like the headers), but others hide useful info or decrease discoverability (like requiring force touch for normal flows). I’ve only been using it for half a day but right now the details feel sloppy and the bigger picture UX feels poorly thought out.

amatheus 9y ago

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.

glhaynes 9y ago
Dropbox has an update coming soon that I believe will make it do what you're looking for. Edit: Maybe? Discussion on the topic here: https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/910083191695953921 https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/91008319169595392...
- saagarjha 9y ago
  It appears that Dropbox has pushed version 64.3, which contains this feature, to the App Store, but it's not available yet.

chadlavi 9y ago

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.

MBCook 9y ago
They switched the way you do it on the X, so I guess for ‘consistency’ they removed it. It wasn’t a bad feature but I could never remember it was there. Too many years of muscle memory double-clicking the home button.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

cromwellian 9y ago

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.

rubatuga 9y ago
Why not just keep the iphone, and make a backup of the whole phone? If your phone breaks, then you can always restore the same backup file to a new one.
shurcooL 9y ago
It's best to think of iOS apps exactly as they are, a service. When you buy/download an app, it's not your own, you're using a service in the form of an app. The app will continue to work as long as it's supported by its developer and Apple doesn't forcibly remove it. If the developer no longer supports it, it's just a matter of time before it'll stop working.
ac29 9y ago
>You won't be able to buy an old iPhone 5 10 years from now and go download an old game. Why not? You can't sideload apps on iOS? If not, it definitely is a Apple-specific problem (at least as compared to Android, where applications can be backed up and restored without any use of google's store).
valuearb 9y ago
Why not? The App Store has always kept around your older apps when you stated on older operating systems.

shurcooL 9y ago

Is it normal for arstechnica.com to be taking up 30-60% CPU in Chrome whenever the tab is in focus? I don't have any extensions installed. [1] http://instantshare.win/1b0agfj3j7xey.png http://instantshare.win/1b0agfj3j7xey.png

turtlebits 9y ago

Might be premature, but iOS 11 on my 6S plus feels.. slow. It was snappy on iOS 10. Hope it improves, or I may look into downgrading.

shurcooL 9y ago

Since it hasn't been mentioned, an awesome part of iOS is the fact that Mobile Safari supports WebAssembly and WebRTC standards now. \o/

styfle 9y ago
This! It still makes me sad that safari is updated as part of the OS like IE instead of out of band like Chrome.

odammit 9y ago

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.