4 ms·

I love that this whole thing was a non-fix to a non-issue. The fix didn’t change any signal strength issues. It just changed the UI a bit.

47282847 1y ago
A cosmetic fix to a cosmetic issue. Still a fix and still an issue :) Some might even say UX is more important than the underlying tech!
- philipallstar 1y ago
  Only if you define UX as including all the really hard stuff that goes into engineering the device, and not just the externalities. A car that looks nice but doesn't go isn't as important as a car that goes but doesn't look nice.
  - cut3 1y ago
    of course, why wouldnt you intclude all the experience
    - philipallstar 1y ago
      Because the people doing UX are generally just UI people who want to claim credit for all the hard stuff as well. So they have no ability to change any of the experience other than redesigning the cosmetics.
jebarker 1y ago
I remember this episode but not the details. Why was it a non-issue if holding the phone did cause the signal strength to drop? Is it just the case that the drop was too small to affect call quality/stability?
- danhau 1y ago
  I don‘t remember it at all, but based on the post it sounds like it was just a UI quirk that made the signal loss look much worse than it really was. I‘m guessing gripping any phone will drop signal strength, but the iPhone made itself look worse.
  - lern_too_spel 1y ago
    That's exactly the opposite of what the post says. It says that holding the phone wrong caused the signal strength to drop precipitously, but the UI still showed that the signal was strong.
    - danhau 1y ago
      Ok, then I guess Apple changed the UI to more reflect reality?
jml7c5 1y ago
No, it was a real hardware issue, too. Applying a thin layer of kapton tape would reduce the drop by 8 dB. https://web.archive.org/web/20241210053556/https://www.anandtech.com/show/3821/iphone-4-redux-analyzing-apples-ios-41-signal-fix/3 https://web.archive.org/web/20241210053556/https://www.anand...
addicted 1y ago
This wasn't a non issue. You touched the phone in the wrong places and you would drop off an existing call. Most people solved this by indeed not "holding it wrong" or getting cases (I don't know if the cases worked, but there was a whole industry built around advertising cases that solved this problem).
- jerlam 1y ago
  Apple's interim fix was to give all the owners a case.
- pipe01 1y ago
  AFAIK the cases worked because they prevented the hand from making electrical contact with the metal parts

47282847 1y ago

A cosmetic fix to a cosmetic issue. Still a fix and still an issue :) Some might even say UX is more important than the underlying tech!

philipallstar 1y ago
Only if you define UX as including all the really hard stuff that goes into engineering the device, and not just the externalities. A car that looks nice but doesn't go isn't as important as a car that goes but doesn't look nice.
- cut3 1y ago
  of course, why wouldnt you intclude all the experience
  - philipallstar 1y ago
    Because the people doing UX are generally just UI people who want to claim credit for all the hard stuff as well. So they have no ability to change any of the experience other than redesigning the cosmetics.

jebarker 1y ago

I remember this episode but not the details. Why was it a non-issue if holding the phone did cause the signal strength to drop? Is it just the case that the drop was too small to affect call quality/stability?

danhau 1y ago
I don‘t remember it at all, but based on the post it sounds like it was just a UI quirk that made the signal loss look much worse than it really was. I‘m guessing gripping any phone will drop signal strength, but the iPhone made itself look worse.
- lern_too_spel 1y ago
  That's exactly the opposite of what the post says. It says that holding the phone wrong caused the signal strength to drop precipitously, but the UI still showed that the signal was strong.
  - danhau 1y ago
    Ok, then I guess Apple changed the UI to more reflect reality?

jml7c5 1y ago

No, it was a real hardware issue, too. Applying a thin layer of kapton tape would reduce the drop by 8 dB. https://web.archive.org/web/20241210053556/https://www.anandtech.com/show/3821/iphone-4-redux-analyzing-apples-ios-41-signal-fix/3 https://web.archive.org/web/20241210053556/https://www.anand...

addicted 1y ago

This wasn't a non issue. You touched the phone in the wrong places and you would drop off an existing call. Most people solved this by indeed not "holding it wrong" or getting cases (I don't know if the cases worked, but there was a whole industry built around advertising cases that solved this problem).

jerlam 1y ago
Apple's interim fix was to give all the owners a case.
pipe01 1y ago
AFAIK the cases worked because they prevented the hand from making electrical contact with the metal parts