3 ms·

Apple refuses to do things all the time. Aside from the aforementioned window-management gaffes, here's what I think is the most ridiculous design defect of th

Apple refuses to do things all the time. Aside from the aforementioned window-management gaffes, here's what I think is the most ridiculous design defect of the iPhone, which I reported first as an engineer there and repeatedly as an independent dev: It does not provide audible notifications of MISSED CALLS. I mean... WTF? A 1990s StarTAC (and probably most other phones) provided this obvious feature. So did 1980s answering machines. My 1992 microwave beeps if I forget to take the food out. But Apple's handheld Unix computer-phone remains silent if you happen to miss a call while you're in the shower, or down the hall doing laundry, or watching a noisy movie. If my parents have some kind of emergency, they're going to CALL ME. But Apple doesn't think that's important. That was the first bug I filed against the iPhone, probably on the day we were given them (the day of release). FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, it's still not fixed. But what did Apple petulantly do instead? Add repeating notifications to TEXTS... but leave that option off of the essentially identical settings screen for the Phone app. That is Apple refusing to do something, to the detriment of all customers. I was not the only person to file this bug; I checked Radar (Apple's bug-tracking system). So it's not as if they haven't heard the complaint. You can also find plenty of references to it in a general Web search. When Apple finally allowed developers to write real applications, I expected that problem to be addressed quickly (by me or someone else). But NOPE; developers can't access telephony functions.

Bud 3y ago
It's not fixed because it's not a bug. Obviously. It's a feature that you want that would annoy the vast majority of users. Which is why they aren't implementing it. Who wants an annoying continuous beepy sound? It's 2023. We get alerts in all kinds of ways these days. If your phone is silenced, then you want it to BE SILENT. You complaining doesn't make something a "bug".
shortcake27 3y ago
If your parents had an emergency why would they call once and only once? Every person thinks that their missing feature is the most important feature ever and they’re mad Apple hasn’t implemented it yet. You have even resorted to incorrectly labelling a nonexistent feature as a bug. Imagine what iOS would be like if Apple actually implemented the billions of niche edge-case features like this. It would be an absolute disaster. I’m glad that Apple sticks to their guns instead of bending to loud niche users.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  What a dumb argument. As I already pointed out, this is a feature that was standard for years on EXISTING PHONES and other products, which Apple "forgot." In the modern world, it is expected that if you call someone, they will be notified. Why on earth should someone have to call every few minutes until he "gets through?" Do you think this is the '50s, where someone tells the operator "Keep trying!" Not to mention, this is an OPTION, one that Apple already added for TEXTS. Why is it OK for texts, but not phone calls? Are you similarly outraged over the option for texts?
pjmlp 3y ago
Apparently one would consider macOS, iOS, iPadOS and watchOS real applications, written by developers. Or maybe they just appear out of thin air, created by pixie dust.
mixmastamyk 3y ago
“Apple” is too broad. Likely some mid-level manager made the decision to do nothing and never revisited. I remember a bug I wrote 15? years ago for gtk/gnome file manager. The left pane tree widget doesn’t support the arrow keys we used extensively in WinXP. Also doesn’t support the full context menu. Why? No reason, some mid-level person decided the left pane should be gimped.
- OneLeggedCat 3y ago
  > gnome Gnome is the Apple of Linux world. A lot of Linux people hate gnome.
robbiep 3y ago
I would HATE if my phone kept on informing me of missed calls or messages when I’ve put it down somewhere. I’ll check it in my terms; that’s why it’s not in my hand
- gramie 3y ago
  One of my previous (Android) phones had a red light that would blink if there was a missed call or message. I found it extremely convenient.
  - ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
    1990s phones had this option, in addition to AUDIBLE alerts. Again, as an OPTION. It's incredible that people go apeshit when you suggest this optional feature that everyone accepted as standard for years. You can see it right here in this thread of "tech" people. This is why design and usability are going backward.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  That's why it is an OPTION. An OPTION. As I said, Apple already implemented this exact feature for TEXTS. Are you outraged over that? Nobody said you'd be FORCED to endure the horrible nightmare of being informed of missed calls. What world do you live in?

Bud 3y ago

It's not fixed because it's not a bug. Obviously. It's a feature that you want that would annoy the vast majority of users. Which is why they aren't implementing it. Who wants an annoying continuous beepy sound? It's 2023. We get alerts in all kinds of ways these days. If your phone is silenced, then you want it to BE SILENT. You complaining doesn't make something a "bug".

shortcake27 3y ago

If your parents had an emergency why would they call once and only once? Every person thinks that their missing feature is the most important feature ever and they’re mad Apple hasn’t implemented it yet. You have even resorted to incorrectly labelling a nonexistent feature as a bug. Imagine what iOS would be like if Apple actually implemented the billions of niche edge-case features like this. It would be an absolute disaster. I’m glad that Apple sticks to their guns instead of bending to loud niche users.

ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
What a dumb argument. As I already pointed out, this is a feature that was standard for years on EXISTING PHONES and other products, which Apple "forgot." In the modern world, it is expected that if you call someone, they will be notified. Why on earth should someone have to call every few minutes until he "gets through?" Do you think this is the '50s, where someone tells the operator "Keep trying!" Not to mention, this is an OPTION, one that Apple already added for TEXTS. Why is it OK for texts, but not phone calls? Are you similarly outraged over the option for texts?

pjmlp 3y ago

Apparently one would consider macOS, iOS, iPadOS and watchOS real applications, written by developers. Or maybe they just appear out of thin air, created by pixie dust.

mixmastamyk 3y ago

“Apple” is too broad. Likely some mid-level manager made the decision to do nothing and never revisited. I remember a bug I wrote 15? years ago for gtk/gnome file manager. The left pane tree widget doesn’t support the arrow keys we used extensively in WinXP. Also doesn’t support the full context menu. Why? No reason, some mid-level person decided the left pane should be gimped.

OneLeggedCat 3y ago
> gnome Gnome is the Apple of Linux world. A lot of Linux people hate gnome.

robbiep 3y ago

I would HATE if my phone kept on informing me of missed calls or messages when I’ve put it down somewhere. I’ll check it in my terms; that’s why it’s not in my hand

gramie 3y ago
One of my previous (Android) phones had a red light that would blink if there was a missed call or message. I found it extremely convenient.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  1990s phones had this option, in addition to AUDIBLE alerts. Again, as an OPTION. It's incredible that people go apeshit when you suggest this optional feature that everyone accepted as standard for years. You can see it right here in this thread of "tech" people. This is why design and usability are going backward.
ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
That's why it is an OPTION. An OPTION. As I said, Apple already implemented this exact feature for TEXTS. Are you outraged over that? Nobody said you'd be FORCED to endure the horrible nightmare of being informed of missed calls. What world do you live in?