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Ask HN: Is iOS 7 Beta reliable and stable enough to use on your primary phone?

8 points by awwstn 13y ago

I'm installing it now, but still curious what bugs and crashes people are experiencing.

glisom 13y ago
Minus a few apps, yes
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
lsiunsuex 13y ago
Airdrop didn't work for me last night (to a new Macbook Pro) BUT I haven't installed the latest OS X update so maybe that was it. Weather app (built in) crashed on me. And the wife says eBay's app crashes on her.
martingordon 13y ago
I installed it on my old iPhone 4S. Battery life is atrocious (even with WiFi-only Airplane Mode enabled) and everything is choppy. I've had the phone reboot on me a few times. I've also read that Apple's Podcasts app doesn't work. I can deal with all the other issues, but terrible battery life is a dealbreaker. I'll hold off putting it on my primary phone until it improves.
- xauronx 13y ago
  I'm easily going a full day on the 4s with iOS 7. Not sure what your definition of atrocious is though. Also experiencing a little choppiness but nothing deal breaking. A couple of crashes here, but they seem to be more of Springboard crashes than full reboots.
alexgaribay 13y ago
It has been working pretty well for me. I had an issue during install where I couldn't activate my phone. I had to restore back to iOS 6 and then "restore" from iTunes by selecting an upgrade file. It was a pain but it turned out okay. As for bugs and such, I haven't encountered any that would stop me from using the beta or are frustrating. The only app I have right now that crashes on my is Google+.
nayefc 13y ago
On my 4S, it's pretty slow (mine was a little slow on iOS 6). Battery life is pretty much the same.
VanV 13y ago
Put on my 5, no show stopping issues but I definitely agree on the awful battery life. Started at 90% and was at 60% 2.5 hours later with pretty light use. Doesn't seem much slower to me outside of the music app, which is really slow currently. Have had a few issues with apps, most notably the Apple podcast app which is completely broken. Had one incident where the lock screen was totally blank other than the top bar but was fixed by a restart.
tagabek 13y ago
iPhone 4S here: Pros ~ Two words - Control Center. I can easily change anything that I want without jailbreaking. It seems like they are moving towards an SBSettings-like iOS. For reference, SBSettings is a jailbreak-only package that allows you to change nearly every aspect of your iDevice. Cons ~ Some apps are broken and will just not really work (ie. Alien Blue) with iOS 7 yet. Lag is very small but just enough to be noticeable. Restoring from a backup may take overnight, depending on the amount of data you already have. Some features can take some getting used to before you feel comfortable (ie. displaced 'delete' button when typing in passcode).
meerita 13y ago
Not on iPhone 4. I tested it on my friend's phone and it went unusable and you're also risking geting the phone locked. I would wait the last version, more polished in all aspects, specially on the speed one, because on iPhone 4 is WAY slower.
mikestew 13y ago
Well, if you're "installing it now" it's a little late to ask, isn't it? :-) I put it on my iPhone 5, which is my primary phone. Having been through many betas before, I'm prepared for some things to not work. Previously, mail, SMS, and phone functionality have always worked and that's what I expected this time. Those important functions work reliably in iOS7. I've restarted once because something in Safari locked the whole phone. Some apps are broken (Podcasts), or look wonky in spots (Find My Friends). Everything mostly works, though. Even the Pebble app to connect to the Pebble watch. I figured if anything would break, it would be that. If you want everything to work all of the time, never put the first iOS beta on your phone. Something is always not right. (Last year I was at WWDC, and the new maps app wouldn't render maps for me, just a grid. Not knowing SF that well, that was a major breaking change for me. <G>) Wait until beta 3 or so if you need reliability.
callmeed 13y ago
I put it on my iPhone 4 last night. It's mostly unusable. I installed Stitcher and can listen to podcasts but that's about it. Lots of apps crashing/won't install, camera is totally borked, battery life blows. Upside is it's nice having a break from my phone.
alex_g 13y ago
I'm running it on my 4S. It's a bit slow, somewhat choppy, and there are a lot of annoying glitches. The reminders app is currently stuck frozen, which sucks because I use it everyday. Also the mail app is intermittently freezing as of yesterday afternoon. Don't forget that certain apps will not work. For example, neither the eBay app or MLB apps are working for me (and I use those everyday too).
askar 13y ago
Had it on my iPhone 4S and the installation was the smoothest so far. Running it on your primary phone could be a bit risky, depends on how you use it. I use Podcasts app a lot and having that completely broken is unacceptable to me. I'm going to revert back to iOS6 for now until Beta 3 or higher comes out. Also, I hate the Home screen and the icons...just so terrible of a job from Ive and his team.
bcj 13y ago
I'm running it on my primary phone. The battery life is terrible, it crashes semi-frequently, and a bunch of apps are really buggy. If you are fine with that, then yes.
morkfromork 13y ago
I have seen it crash a lot. Some landscape orientation apps load in portrait mode and are unusable.

8 points by awwstn 13y ago

I'm installing it now, but still curious what bugs and crashes people are experiencing.

glisom 13y ago

Minus a few apps, yes

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

lsiunsuex 13y ago

Airdrop didn't work for me last night (to a new Macbook Pro) BUT I haven't installed the latest OS X update so maybe that was it. Weather app (built in) crashed on me. And the wife says eBay's app crashes on her.

martingordon 13y ago

I installed it on my old iPhone 4S. Battery life is atrocious (even with WiFi-only Airplane Mode enabled) and everything is choppy. I've had the phone reboot on me a few times. I've also read that Apple's Podcasts app doesn't work. I can deal with all the other issues, but terrible battery life is a dealbreaker. I'll hold off putting it on my primary phone until it improves.

xauronx 13y ago
I'm easily going a full day on the 4s with iOS 7. Not sure what your definition of atrocious is though. Also experiencing a little choppiness but nothing deal breaking. A couple of crashes here, but they seem to be more of Springboard crashes than full reboots.

alexgaribay 13y ago

It has been working pretty well for me. I had an issue during install where I couldn't activate my phone. I had to restore back to iOS 6 and then "restore" from iTunes by selecting an upgrade file. It was a pain but it turned out okay. As for bugs and such, I haven't encountered any that would stop me from using the beta or are frustrating. The only app I have right now that crashes on my is Google+.

nayefc 13y ago

On my 4S, it's pretty slow (mine was a little slow on iOS 6). Battery life is pretty much the same.

VanV 13y ago

Put on my 5, no show stopping issues but I definitely agree on the awful battery life. Started at 90% and was at 60% 2.5 hours later with pretty light use. Doesn't seem much slower to me outside of the music app, which is really slow currently. Have had a few issues with apps, most notably the Apple podcast app which is completely broken. Had one incident where the lock screen was totally blank other than the top bar but was fixed by a restart.

tagabek 13y ago

iPhone 4S here: Pros ~ Two words - Control Center. I can easily change anything that I want without jailbreaking. It seems like they are moving towards an SBSettings-like iOS. For reference, SBSettings is a jailbreak-only package that allows you to change nearly every aspect of your iDevice. Cons ~ Some apps are broken and will just not really work (ie. Alien Blue) with iOS 7 yet. Lag is very small but just enough to be noticeable. Restoring from a backup may take overnight, depending on the amount of data you already have. Some features can take some getting used to before you feel comfortable (ie. displaced 'delete' button when typing in passcode).

meerita 13y ago

Not on iPhone 4. I tested it on my friend's phone and it went unusable and you're also risking geting the phone locked. I would wait the last version, more polished in all aspects, specially on the speed one, because on iPhone 4 is WAY slower.

mikestew 13y ago

Well, if you're "installing it now" it's a little late to ask, isn't it? :-) I put it on my iPhone 5, which is my primary phone. Having been through many betas before, I'm prepared for some things to not work. Previously, mail, SMS, and phone functionality have always worked and that's what I expected this time. Those important functions work reliably in iOS7. I've restarted once because something in Safari locked the whole phone. Some apps are broken (Podcasts), or look wonky in spots (Find My Friends). Everything mostly works, though. Even the Pebble app to connect to the Pebble watch. I figured if anything would break, it would be that. If you want everything to work all of the time, never put the first iOS beta on your phone. Something is always not right. (Last year I was at WWDC, and the new maps app wouldn't render maps for me, just a grid. Not knowing SF that well, that was a major breaking change for me. <G>) Wait until beta 3 or so if you need reliability.

callmeed 13y ago

I put it on my iPhone 4 last night. It's mostly unusable. I installed Stitcher and can listen to podcasts but that's about it. Lots of apps crashing/won't install, camera is totally borked, battery life blows. Upside is it's nice having a break from my phone.

alex_g 13y ago

I'm running it on my 4S. It's a bit slow, somewhat choppy, and there are a lot of annoying glitches. The reminders app is currently stuck frozen, which sucks because I use it everyday. Also the mail app is intermittently freezing as of yesterday afternoon. Don't forget that certain apps will not work. For example, neither the eBay app or MLB apps are working for me (and I use those everyday too).

askar 13y ago

Had it on my iPhone 4S and the installation was the smoothest so far. Running it on your primary phone could be a bit risky, depends on how you use it. I use Podcasts app a lot and having that completely broken is unacceptable to me. I'm going to revert back to iOS6 for now until Beta 3 or higher comes out. Also, I hate the Home screen and the icons...just so terrible of a job from Ive and his team.

bcj 13y ago

I'm running it on my primary phone. The battery life is terrible, it crashes semi-frequently, and a bunch of apps are really buggy. If you are fine with that, then yes.

morkfromork 13y ago

I have seen it crash a lot. Some landscape orientation apps load in portrait mode and are unusable.