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It seems hypocritical to laud fragmentation when it happens in iOS and decry it in Android. These changes seem similar to the Android differences in gingerbread

It seems hypocritical to laud fragmentation when it happens in iOS and decry it in Android. These changes seem similar to the Android differences in gingerbread and post-honeycomb. The resulting effect on developers will be the same. iOS 7 has made it apparent which bloggers are unable or unwilling to be fair in their criticism when it comes to Apple. The mismatched gradients on the new icons are beautiful to them, the wire frame and confusing UI elements are revolutionary, and fragmentation is simply just creating fertile ground for change. Great.

thisisdallas 13y ago
This is a very a good point. As a major Apple fan I completely agree with you. After looking over the iOS changes I see absolutely nothing that is more "revolutionary" than what we have now in iOS6, or even what Android and Windows Phone offers. At best, it looks like iOS7 is nothing more than a mix of Android and Windows Phone plus a few extra UI elements. I am not a big fan of Marco's obsession with drama but I do respect his opinion and find his take on certain thing within the tech industry enlightening. Unfortunately, this post does seem like nothing more than turning a blind eye to what Apple has done with iOS7.
- btipling 13y ago
  I'm also an Apple fan. I love my Macbook Pro Retina, it's the best computer I've ever owned. Being a fan of a company shouldn't blind you to their missteps when they happen though. It shouldn't lead to unfair application of criticism.
  - sbuk 13y ago
    You're absolutely right. Much of the caterwauling hasn't been fair though. This isn't a final release we are discussing. It a beta. It's a redesign that has been on the boards for less than 7 months, and it looks that way. Does it need more work? Yes, absolutely. I don't thing a single engineer or designe at Apple is sitting back in their chair and thinking "job done". What it is is an interesting direction. Accusations of 'missteps' are off the mark. It's difficult to have a sensible discussion as the signal-to-noise in any Apple discussion is just awful. Criticism is good, however most are utterly incapable of doing so constructively, which is plainly bad.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  Combine Marco and Gruber's [1] insight - This is a major house cleaning/forest fire. Someone (Jony, et al.) has stepped back, looked at the confusion that has developed over the last 3-5 years on the iPhone, and has decided to recreate the iPhone as a conceptual platform. The introduction (and hopefully consistency) of multiple dimensions onto the phone, and a cross-system approach towards geometry, means that iOS7 will be a complete re-think of how applications work and behave on the iPhone. And don't be so quick to say, "or even what Android and Windows phone offers.." - Those are awesome platforms, and Apple can learn a lot from them (as Android and Windows have learned from the iPhone.) Indeed, the "Cards" approach in multi-tasking is actually reminiscent of what Palm's WebOS did [2] - so Apple has learned from them as well. I am very intrigued as to how well the Multitasking/Notification driven background/User-interaction-Dependent-CPU-scheduling-for-background-processess will work - That's pretty innovative solution to a common problem of Craptastic background apps that you don't think about sucking your battery dry. [edit: And all the discussions about Apps checking in when you've got the radios on, when you are powered up, etc... - I've been dreaming about exactly that for 2+ years. Finally! (Non-ironically)] Don't kid yourself - iOS 7 is the big one, and, will likely be as ugly as the upgrade was from 10.6.8 to 10.7.0 was on OS X - My prediction is that iOS 8 will basically be fixing all the glitches and problems created from this complete platform rethink - but, sometimes, to make an omelet... Forest Fire Indeed! [1] http://daringfireball.net/2013/06/ios_7_signature http://daringfireball.net/2013/06/ios_7_signature [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c20uhGxSxWo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c20uhGxSxWo
  - untog 13y ago
    iOS7 will be a complete re-think of how applications work and behave on the iPhone. Of course it won't. That just reads like hyperbole. Apps on iOS7 will work almost entirely the same as they do on iOS6 and below.
    - mafro 13y ago
      Although that does sound like hyperbole, the point is that they will be doing a "complete re-think of how applications work" - even though the end result will be much the same as it is at present.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
chasing 13y ago
It's not fragmentation. Within a year, the vast majority of iOS users will be on iOS 7. It's evolution.
- btipling 13y ago
  Except for all those not so old iPhones that are stuck on iOS 6 forever.
  - melling 13y ago
    That would be the 3Gs. I had mine for 3 years before I upgraded to the 5. It felt like a pretty old phone. What are the odds that people who have a 3-4 year old smart phone, really want to use a lot of apps?
    - sunnybythesea 13y ago
      I have a 3GS. And even though I've had it for so long, it still doesn't feel dated to me. Apple did a good job with the hardware and the software support. It is finally starting to feel a bit sluggish after almost 4 years of very heavy use. Compare that with my old phones which I essentially threw away after a year or so and never missed them...and the crappy Razr that died after a year.
    - fpgeek 13y ago
      The 3GS was on sale as recently as last September (maybe a bit later in some emerging markets).
      - jamesaguilar 13y ago
        At least it was never sold with an previous-version installed OS like half of Android phones.
  - lostlogin 13y ago
    With each suggestive generation selling more than all previous generations combined, it's not a big issue for long. Obviously this pattern can't last and I'm not sure if it hold for the iPhone 5 even, but its a big factor in the equation. Edit: removed bad link to old article. I can't find the Asymco graph I'm after, sorry... Maybe it was someone else's?
melling 13y ago
I think you forgot the part where Android fragmentation leaned more towards the 3 year old version. 2.3 is still huge. If Android had simply evolved fast and all the new phones had the new Android the problem wouldn't be so bad.
- dannyr 13y ago
  2.3 is still big but its share is dwindling pretty fast. Vine only supports 4.0 and above & there's no uproar. It is a Top 3 app on Google Play.
  - ghshephard 13y ago
    I don't know about "Dropping Fast" - it's slowly dropping away, even after they changed how they gathered statistics to only count devices visiting the android store. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Android-dist-by-dessert.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Android-dist-by-dessert.pn...
  - ceejayoz 13y ago
    > Vine only supports 4.0 and above & there's no uproar. It is a Top 3 app on Google Play. Are people really likely to get in an uproar over Vine? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, sure... but Vine?
    - dannyr 13y ago
      Do you know that Vine has already overtaken Instagram as the biggest social sharing on Twitter?
      - zimpenfish 13y ago
        Overtaken due to the Android release but pretty soon back in sync according to this: http://www.itproportal.com/2013/06/12/vine-and-instagram-in-fierce-twitter-shares-scrap/ http://www.itproportal.com/2013/06/12/vine-and-instagram-in-... And really, I'm not entirely shocked that a Twitter-owned service is getting more sharing on Twitter compared with a service that gets a reasonable amount of obstruction from Twitter.
jusben1369 13y ago
Android would not have a real fragmentation issue if 70% of all users could easily update and did so within 12 months. Important distinction that negates this argument I think. (I am Android user for day to day phone)
- Zr40 13y ago
  But the fact is that they haven't upgraded, regardless of whether that's due to unwillingness or due to unavailability. Willingness to upgrade doesn't matter if you can't upgrade; you're still stuck on the old version.
gfodor 13y ago
Fragmentation implies "fragments". iOS 6 has a 93% install base. An ever-shrinking 7% isn't much of a fragment to worry about. iOS 7, due to it's new shiny factor, will likely see an even faster adoption than iOS 6.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  It really helped that Apple introduced over-the-air updates and PC Free (activation without a computer) in iOS 5. iOS 7 introduces automatic updates, but I don’t know whether that’s only for apps or for the OS as well. If both, then versions past iOS 7.0.0 should have an even faster adoption rate.

thisisdallas 13y ago

This is a very a good point. As a major Apple fan I completely agree with you. After looking over the iOS changes I see absolutely nothing that is more "revolutionary" than what we have now in iOS6, or even what Android and Windows Phone offers. At best, it looks like iOS7 is nothing more than a mix of Android and Windows Phone plus a few extra UI elements. I am not a big fan of Marco's obsession with drama but I do respect his opinion and find his take on certain thing within the tech industry enlightening. Unfortunately, this post does seem like nothing more than turning a blind eye to what Apple has done with iOS7.

btipling 13y ago
I'm also an Apple fan. I love my Macbook Pro Retina, it's the best computer I've ever owned. Being a fan of a company shouldn't blind you to their missteps when they happen though. It shouldn't lead to unfair application of criticism.
- sbuk 13y ago
  You're absolutely right. Much of the caterwauling hasn't been fair though. This isn't a final release we are discussing. It a beta. It's a redesign that has been on the boards for less than 7 months, and it looks that way. Does it need more work? Yes, absolutely. I don't thing a single engineer or designe at Apple is sitting back in their chair and thinking "job done". What it is is an interesting direction. Accusations of 'missteps' are off the mark. It's difficult to have a sensible discussion as the signal-to-noise in any Apple discussion is just awful. Criticism is good, however most are utterly incapable of doing so constructively, which is plainly bad.
ghshephard 13y ago
Combine Marco and Gruber's [1] insight - This is a major house cleaning/forest fire. Someone (Jony, et al.) has stepped back, looked at the confusion that has developed over the last 3-5 years on the iPhone, and has decided to recreate the iPhone as a conceptual platform. The introduction (and hopefully consistency) of multiple dimensions onto the phone, and a cross-system approach towards geometry, means that iOS7 will be a complete re-think of how applications work and behave on the iPhone. And don't be so quick to say, "or even what Android and Windows phone offers.." - Those are awesome platforms, and Apple can learn a lot from them (as Android and Windows have learned from the iPhone.) Indeed, the "Cards" approach in multi-tasking is actually reminiscent of what Palm's WebOS did [2] - so Apple has learned from them as well. I am very intrigued as to how well the Multitasking/Notification driven background/User-interaction-Dependent-CPU-scheduling-for-background-processess will work - That's pretty innovative solution to a common problem of Craptastic background apps that you don't think about sucking your battery dry. [edit: And all the discussions about Apps checking in when you've got the radios on, when you are powered up, etc... - I've been dreaming about exactly that for 2+ years. Finally! (Non-ironically)] Don't kid yourself - iOS 7 is the big one, and, will likely be as ugly as the upgrade was from 10.6.8 to 10.7.0 was on OS X - My prediction is that iOS 8 will basically be fixing all the glitches and problems created from this complete platform rethink - but, sometimes, to make an omelet... Forest Fire Indeed! [1] http://daringfireball.net/2013/06/ios_7_signature http://daringfireball.net/2013/06/ios_7_signature [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c20uhGxSxWo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c20uhGxSxWo
- untog 13y ago
  iOS7 will be a complete re-think of how applications work and behave on the iPhone. Of course it won't. That just reads like hyperbole. Apps on iOS7 will work almost entirely the same as they do on iOS6 and below.
  - mafro 13y ago
    Although that does sound like hyperbole, the point is that they will be doing a "complete re-think of how applications work" - even though the end result will be much the same as it is at present.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

chasing 13y ago

It's not fragmentation. Within a year, the vast majority of iOS users will be on iOS 7. It's evolution.

btipling 13y ago
Except for all those not so old iPhones that are stuck on iOS 6 forever.
- melling 13y ago
  That would be the 3Gs. I had mine for 3 years before I upgraded to the 5. It felt like a pretty old phone. What are the odds that people who have a 3-4 year old smart phone, really want to use a lot of apps?
  - sunnybythesea 13y ago
    I have a 3GS. And even though I've had it for so long, it still doesn't feel dated to me. Apple did a good job with the hardware and the software support. It is finally starting to feel a bit sluggish after almost 4 years of very heavy use. Compare that with my old phones which I essentially threw away after a year or so and never missed them...and the crappy Razr that died after a year.
  - fpgeek 13y ago
    The 3GS was on sale as recently as last September (maybe a bit later in some emerging markets).
    - jamesaguilar 13y ago
      At least it was never sold with an previous-version installed OS like half of Android phones.
- lostlogin 13y ago
  With each suggestive generation selling more than all previous generations combined, it's not a big issue for long. Obviously this pattern can't last and I'm not sure if it hold for the iPhone 5 even, but its a big factor in the equation. Edit: removed bad link to old article. I can't find the Asymco graph I'm after, sorry... Maybe it was someone else's?

melling 13y ago

I think you forgot the part where Android fragmentation leaned more towards the 3 year old version. 2.3 is still huge. If Android had simply evolved fast and all the new phones had the new Android the problem wouldn't be so bad.

dannyr 13y ago
2.3 is still big but its share is dwindling pretty fast. Vine only supports 4.0 and above & there's no uproar. It is a Top 3 app on Google Play.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  I don't know about "Dropping Fast" - it's slowly dropping away, even after they changed how they gathered statistics to only count devices visiting the android store. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Android-dist-by-dessert.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Android-dist-by-dessert.pn...
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  > Vine only supports 4.0 and above & there's no uproar. It is a Top 3 app on Google Play. Are people really likely to get in an uproar over Vine? Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, sure... but Vine?
  - dannyr 13y ago
    Do you know that Vine has already overtaken Instagram as the biggest social sharing on Twitter?
    - zimpenfish 13y ago
      Overtaken due to the Android release but pretty soon back in sync according to this: http://www.itproportal.com/2013/06/12/vine-and-instagram-in-fierce-twitter-shares-scrap/ http://www.itproportal.com/2013/06/12/vine-and-instagram-in-... And really, I'm not entirely shocked that a Twitter-owned service is getting more sharing on Twitter compared with a service that gets a reasonable amount of obstruction from Twitter.

jusben1369 13y ago

Android would not have a real fragmentation issue if 70% of all users could easily update and did so within 12 months. Important distinction that negates this argument I think. (I am Android user for day to day phone)

Zr40 13y ago
But the fact is that they haven't upgraded, regardless of whether that's due to unwillingness or due to unavailability. Willingness to upgrade doesn't matter if you can't upgrade; you're still stuck on the old version.

gfodor 13y ago

Fragmentation implies "fragments". iOS 6 has a 93% install base. An ever-shrinking 7% isn't much of a fragment to worry about. iOS 7, due to it's new shiny factor, will likely see an even faster adoption than iOS 6.

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
It really helped that Apple introduced over-the-air updates and PC Free (activation without a computer) in iOS 5. iOS 7 introduces automatic updates, but I don’t know whether that’s only for apps or for the OS as well. If both, then versions past iOS 7.0.0 should have an even faster adoption rate.