iOS 15

https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/

by plg • 5 years ago

341 417 5 years ago

judge20203• 5 years ago

The RC had a lot of bugs and was unusable for some users on r/iOSBeta. The actual release is indeed two builds newer (19A346) so hopefully they've fixed these issues.

Edit: looks like it's only available for people seeking it out[0]. Maybe they won't auto-update till 15.0.1?

0: https://i.judge.sh/troubled/Flam/YOWIKKHUYu.png

alibert• 5 years ago

"iOS may now offer a choice between two software update versions in the Settings app. You can update to the latest version of iOS 15 as soon as it’s released for the latest features and most complete set of security updates. Or continue on iOS 14 and still get important security updates."

https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/

pacificmint• 5 years ago

Interesting that they say “may” offer a choice. My phone does seem to offer the choice, while my iPad apparently doesn’t and only shows 15.

mark_l_watson2• 5 years ago

I was running the betas for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS since they were released. The iOS and iPadOS betas were buggy, but I expected some problems.

judge20203• 5 years ago

Looks like it was available via beta.icloud.com (With an iCloud+ subscription):

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/25/icloud-custom-email-dom...

radicaldreamer2• 5 years ago

A big red flag that this is buried in Software Update... I would wait until the next point release if you value stability over everything else for your primary device.

digianarchist• 5 years ago

Firefox would crash every 10 odd pages for me. Hopefully they've fixed it.

Wilkolicious• 5 years ago

I was on the beta profile, received the RC last week, removed the profile straight after, and now received iOS 15 (19A346). It's possible it's only available on the stable release profile.

E: Ah, you're talking about from 14.8

BryanBeshore• 5 years ago

For anyone wondering, this was supposed to be the release where Apple could scan your photos for child abuse. This was delayed for this release: https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-delays-child-abuse-phot...

gruez• 5 years ago

it's also worth noting that ios 14 is supposed to get security updates even after ios 15 is released, so if you care about that kind of stuff it's probably better not to upgrade.

edit: more info in sibling comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28596442

iosquestion• 5 years ago

I wonder if upgrading to iOS 15 will increase the chance of receiving this spyware when they do roll it out?

I mean 15.X - 15.Y will likely occur automatically while the phone is connected to WiFi and charging.. but 14 to 15 should require user approval, meaning we should be safe as long as we never upgrade >14..?

r00fus2• 5 years ago

I honestly doubt it. They will likely roll this out to both latest versions. I think they said as much.

Someone123410• 5 years ago

Either turn off automatic updates or don't. You're overanalyzing this.

Lamad1232• 5 years ago

I smashed the iphone I had into pieces, and I'm wondering what to do with my mac. Maybe install some linux or something, but I don't really know much about that! It'll take me a couple months of reading on it.. I am still using Mojave anyways.

makerofthings• 5 years ago

I think switching off automatic updates and running a few months behind is the safest plan. There are risks around not getting security updates as fast, but they are probably not large for any individual user.

I’m hoping they’ll realise that they confused privacy and trust and get back on track soon enough.

danudey6• 5 years ago

Turn off uploading photos to iCloud, and then if they start rolling it out, disable automatic updates.

krrrh• 5 years ago

Or just don't use iCloud photos since the local device scanning for CSAM is limited to the Photos app and only scans prior to upload to iCloud photo library which is easy to turn off.

It's also not too difficult to have your unencrypted photos synced to Google Photos, Dropbox, One Drive or another provider as an alternative. They will scan your photos in the cloud which people on this site seem to have a vastly strong preference for. If you don't trust any of those then you're probably already using NextCloud or something like it.

beezischillin2• 5 years ago

Considering that they got the algo reverse engineered from 14 (it is already in the code running on all those devices) there seems to be a possibility that a security update could bring it online on 14 as well. Just my speculation but it seems plausible.

babesh3• 5 years ago

Yes if you agree to iCloud terms as far as I can tell.

simion3142• 5 years ago

Did they removed the code? commented it or defaulted it to off for now but the code is there and ready to scan.

tmp_anon_22• 5 years ago

I would assume no. People decompile binaries all the time and would likely catch it. It also could introduce dependencies and bugs that would require QA work and dev work.

KennyBlanken8• 5 years ago

Run an on-device scan against a hash database. Using a technology shown to have very frequent collisions.

And then they notify law enforcement if they get a hit. Which means even if you're innocent - all your devices get confiscated for months, you probably rack up tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, maybe lose your job, probably lose your friends and get the boot from any social organizations or groups.

They're waiting for two things.

One, CSAM to get out of the news cycle and the furor among users about CSAM to die down. This is standard corporate PR "emergency" management practice.

Two, to slide it into a point release after some minor, inconsequential change to say they "listened to users." iPhones with auto-updates enabled won't automatically upgrade to a new major release, but they will happily automatically upgrade to a point release.

You can of course upgrade to iOS 15 and turn off auto-updates, but then you won't get security updates, like the people staying on iOS 14.

Stay on iOS 14 until Apple surrenders completely on this.

Jtsummers4• 5 years ago

If they get 30 (?) hits then they review the data and then they refer it to law enforcement if the reviewers determine that they were CSAM images. It's not for a single collision and it's not immediately referred to law enforcement. There are still major risks and concerns with this model, but at least describe it correctly.

GeekyBear11• 5 years ago

Run an on-device scan against a hash database. Using a technology shown to have very frequent collisions.

Google and Microsoft have been scanning everything in your account against a hash database for the past decade.

Also, unlike Apple's system which doesn't even notify Apple of the first 30 positive results (to protect you from the inevitable false positives) Google and Microsoft offer users no such protection.

then they notify law enforcement if they get a hit. Which means even if you're innocent - all your devices get confiscated for months, you probably rack up tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, maybe lose your job, probably lose your friends and get the boot from any social organizations or groups.

Again, Google and Microsoft have already been doing this for the past decade.

a man [was] arrested on child pornography charges, after Google tipped off authorities about illegal images found in the Houston suspect's Gmail account

https://techcrunch.com/2014/08/06/why-the-gmail-scan-that-le...

sharikous• 5 years ago

Two, to slide it into a point release after some minor, inconsequential change to say they "listened to users."

I doubt it will happen. Apple is not known for that sort of interaction. Whatever will happen it will happen silently without Apple admitting to bend down to any backlash.

Also, the pressure to implement device scanning is coming from governments. So it is naive to think Apple will ever surrender. Most probably in the near future every single electronic device will try to leak your data as much as it physically can do.

c7DJTLrn• 5 years ago

Stay on iOS 14 until Apple surrenders completely on this

Or vote with your wallet and abandon the Apple ecosystem. But nobody will because they don't have the bollocks.

jkelleyrtp2• 5 years ago

Apple Maps is so close to being a fantastic app, but is sorely missing “search along route” that Google has. Right now, you can press the “coffee” or “gas” button but there’s no way to say, search for a CVS on the way back home from work. I really wish Apple added this instead of just suggesting searches that might be useful.

toomuchtodo2• 5 years ago

https://www.apple.com/feedback/maps-ios-ipados.html

judge20203• 5 years ago

Posting on HN is probably more valuable when your feedback is requesting new featureful changes and not just bugs. There are likely quite a few Apple engineers that browse this subreddit which might be able to make an internal push for these changes (eventually).

ericmay2• 5 years ago

That and reporting accidents and items like that (unless those are in the release - haven't dove into it much).

BugsJustFindMe2• 5 years ago

You can do that already since 14.5. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212226

But only in the US and mainland China for some bizarre reason.

covercash• 5 years ago

Reporting accidents, hazards, and speed traps has been in there since iOS 14.

BugsJustFindMe2• 5 years ago

And not funneling me out to install the awful Yelp app just to read restaurant ratings. :|

Someone123410• 5 years ago

Agreed. Aside from my general distaste for Yelp and their business practices, it is also an objectively bad user experience.

Makes me wonder if Apple made some exclusive Yelp agreement before Apple Maps launched, so they'd have good ratings data, and we have to wait for the agreement to expire before Apple can move on.

To me it would make good market sense for Apple to fully compete with Google Maps and offer Apple Maps on the web. It would give them more data to feed back into their review/ratings/business info database to further improve the mobile experience.

matt-attack2• 5 years ago

Agreed. I refuse to use Yelp and hate that Apple doesn’t host their own photos of sites.

bound008• 5 years ago

Just an FYI, you can definitely do this when using CarPlay and Apple Maps. There is a set list of categories you can search while currently navigating. I wish you could make an arbitrary on route search, but you can't.

robot_erotic• 5 years ago

Adding onto this. You can actually ask Siri specifically the added stop and append "along the way", so something like, "Starbuck on the way". It has always found my requests on the route I was already on as well as the added time it will take away from me.

Hippocrates2• 5 years ago

Agree on this and multi-stop routes. I've been using Apple Maps with CarPlay for the last few years and I can confidently say it is better than google maps by a wide margin. The voice, UI, traffic and routing, map design won me over. The aerial and street view quality, while not the most important, are second to none.

jkelleyrtp2• 5 years ago

Agreed. I don't know if Apple is handicapping Google maps on iOS (ie locking system APIs) but Apple maps is smoother, cleaner, and exactly what I want out of a helpful navigation assistant. Apple Maps give instructions in the way I as a navigator would. Things like "take a right turn after the next light" are way better than Google/Waze. Apple Maps just struggles in discovering an area and planning a journey - both of which Google excels in.

sneak6• 5 years ago

Sadly, you can't enable CarPlay unless you enable Siri, and you can't enable/use Siri without uploading your phone's contacts to Apple.

jdgiese• 5 years ago

Agreed! I live in NYC and don't drive too often. I just got back from a two-week trip with a car rental and was really surprised at how great Apple Maps was. The map design is nice and clean and it works well with CarPlay. I also felt like the audio instructions were very clear and easy to follow. E.g., "pass this light and turn right at the next one." I also liked the "Share your ETA" feature which I used a few times. Really nice job Apple!

jensensbutton• 5 years ago

I'm sorry, CarPlay is awful. I'm forced to use it and the UX is TERRIBLE. I'm actually somewhat surprised that they've left it in the state it's in.

aeharding• 5 years ago

No directions for people on bikes in Madison, WI makes this app still utterly useless for me.

maxclark• 5 years ago

I default to Apple Maps, but Google Maps

* is more accurate * has way better local search and reviews (Yelp is garbage)

Arrath• 5 years ago

I have consistently found the apple maps experience to be subpar when compared to competing navigation apps, most lately with laggardly updates to road closure status due to wildfires here in California. Other apps updated the roads in a fairly timely manner, but apple showed roads closed for several days after they were reopened by authorities.

btmiller• 5 years ago

I’d also really like multi-stop navigation planning like Google Maps has. I’m planning on a cross-country road trip to see family for the holidays and I’d love if Apple could improve upon the multi-stop planning experience that Google threw together. It’s nice, but it’s also cumbersome.

yepthatsreality3• 5 years ago

In NYC, Apple Maps this last weekend suggested I go way out of my way on one subway line and then backtrack on another to get to my destination. It also suggested none of the other direct routes that Citymapper was able to discern. Not sure what happened in the 3+ years that I’ve stopped using Apple Maps but I used it the whole way there and the experience was awful. I will continue not using it.

Matheus28• 5 years ago

At least on CarPlay, there is that option, but you have to use voice for anything that isn't gas and a couple of other categories.

perfectstorm• 5 years ago

does it support offline maps/offline navigation? why don't they support offline maps? it's not like they have to pay royalty fees to support it when they own it end to end.

Waterluvian2• 5 years ago

Is apple’s photo search any less terrible now?

Dunno if anyone else suffers this? Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Finding a years-old photo to upload is TERRIBLE. It's trivial to do in Google Photos, but then getting a handle on the photo when using the "photo selector" widget to upload it to Twitter or an existing email is horrible.

I do this workflow dozens of times per week and the best I can come up with is:

1. text search Apple photos in the upload widget and be disappointed

2. text search Google photos and instantly find the image I want

3. "Delete from device"

4. "Download to device" (which puts it at the very front of the list)

5. Go back to Safari, finish composing Tweet, add photo, pick newest photo.

torben-friis• 5 years ago

Yup, been there done that. Google photos search is miles ahead, and the main reason I use the app (aside of obviously the cloud backup)

DeRock• 5 years ago

Can you give an example of the type of search where Apple photos fails but Google photos succeeds? I only use Apple photos, but it supports my use case of date/location/"object detection" search, but wondering if I'm missing out on something much better.

radicaldreamer2• 5 years ago

Object detection is much more broad in Google Photos and complex queries are in a different league ("dogs in new york city")

BoorishBears4• 5 years ago

Everything. Compared to Google Photos there's not one query that isn't vastly inferior.

Finding text in images, finding obscure relationships between a query and a photo.

I mean, I can search for my cars by make! Like, no logo showing, I type in "Porsche" and my old Boxster shows up including photos that don't have a visible logo.

I had out of town guests visit and we went to Times Square. I could find pictures from a specific vantage point by searching for specific text in billboards

The facial recognition is a million miles ahead too. Across all my photos Apple only recognizes a handful of recurring faces. Google recognizes people I don't even realize were in multiple pictures.

I suspect Apple is behind because they're using less invasive indexing or something, so I'm not saying switch... but also Apple Photos might as well not have search once you've tried Google Photos.

Waterluvian2• 5 years ago

"Driveway"

"Winter backyard"

"forest with cats"

"<childname>'s first birthday"

"<name> and <name> at cottage"

It's ridiculous how powerful and indispensable this intelligent search is. I have tens of thousands of photos, growing every day. Being able to text search their contents is the killer feature that makes it useful. Apple's photo library is not useful without this.

aborsy• 5 years ago

Is there a timeline for the client side scanning?!

Or has that plan been dropped for good?!

Cause I am not gonna upgrade if these features come at a cost to privacy caused by client side scanning.

Someone123410• 5 years ago

No. They've put a pin in it, but publically haven't discussed when it may ship (or what changes could be made).

All we know right now is that it isn't in iOS 15.

hughrr• 5 years ago

I’m going to upgrade. If they roll it I’m going to sell the phone.

sneak6• 5 years ago

According to Apple, it's been postponed.

It's obvious that people as smart as Apple wouldn't be doing this tremendous damage to their brand if they weren't deadset on launching it, so it's likely that it will launch quietly later, once the furor over it has died down.

pt_PT_guy2• 5 years ago

Is it me or most of the features could be a simple app update?

paxys• 5 years ago

Most of these apps (Facetime, iMessage, Safari, Maps, Wallet, Photos) aren't built using their public SDK but rather have deep dependencies on the OS itself.

pt_PT_guy2• 5 years ago

Humm. gotcha. thank you

Someone123410• 5 years ago

Which is why when these apps suffer a security vulnerability they've resulted in privilege escalation (inc. root) previously.

I actually think it is a bad look for Apple not to dogfood their own public APIs. Microsoft used to do the same thing with Windows and Office, and it was a bad look then too.

Credit to Google on this, since many of their apps are just normal apps. No special privileges or bypasses. Even their special stuff has pretty aggressive sandboxing and can be updated like a normal app via the store.

slig• 5 years ago

I wonder how Chrome, WhatsApp, Google Photos, Instagram, etc, can make their apps run anywhere using only public APIs and Apple can't.

noahtallen• 5 years ago

One of the biggest ones (focus modes) might not be, as well as SharePlay (if it uses a new platform SDK). But new maps features totally could be an app update. I’m guessing apple has determined it to be more beneficial to do one big update at the same time instead of incrementally adding features to apps.

whywhywhywhy• 5 years ago

Starting to feel that way with a lot of phone features too. Remember when they put Memoji only in the iPhone X. I know they used the IR camera for fancy expression detection but really it's debatable how far ahead it was from anything Snapchat etc were doing on all hardware.

xeroaura• 5 years ago

Anyone that's been on the beta find any nice to have Safari extensions?

And do these extensions also apply to (non-safari) apps using the webkit UI to render a page? Like content blocker applies to these as well as safari.

yoavlavi• 5 years ago

iOS apps aren't allowed to release updates targeting new OSs until they're out, so we're all in the same boat there

jshier• 5 years ago

1Blocker has released an update for all platforms which adds a script extension to block YouTube ads. Doesn't help in the YouTube app or on the AppleTV, which is most of my usage, but is nice on the Mac (with today's Safari 15 release).

cloin• 5 years ago

There's a list of a few available now here: https://9to5mac.com/2021/09/20/here-are-the-best-new-safari-...

Aaargh203182• 5 years ago

I just installed Amplosion. The fact that I can now get rid of that AMP bullshit completely makes iOS 15 a major upgrade for me already.

shantara2• 5 years ago

The feature the impressed me the most during the WWDC presentation - the cross-device drag and drop functionality between Mac and iPad - unfortunately won't be included in the initial 15.0 release.

zaptrem• 5 years ago

FindMy for AirPods also delayed

mig392• 5 years ago

Was there a new feature? My AirPods have been on FindMy for a long time already.

Qi_2• 5 years ago

Can anyone speak for iPhone 6S performance with 15? I'm on 14 currently and it runs quite smoothly. I assume it would be similar on 15.

mig392• 5 years ago

I've been running the developer beta on the 6S since the beginning. Seems just fine to me!

Qi_2• 5 years ago

Glad to hear it! Seems like not too long ago mobile devices were worthless after a few years, but those days are past.

dmitshur2• 5 years ago

I’m using a 6s Plus temporarily for a few days, and only installed iOS 15 less than an hour ago. So far subjectively speaking it seems about the same as iOS 14.8 was.

ShakataGaNai3• 5 years ago

Check out Mac Address’ review. It might help. https://youtu.be/6Rr_drLC-jk

nicwolff• 5 years ago

Still supported on the 1st Gen iPhone SE, nice.

zatkin• 5 years ago

I’m using this device now and it sure does pack a punch! I do have to charge it throughout the day when on heavy usage, but it’s snappy and responsive just like my previous device, iPhone 12 Pro.

DantesKite2• 5 years ago

I had the first generation iPhone SE. Great phone. Some part of the phone degraded though and it started rapidly overheating, and then the iPhone SE (second generation) came out.

If yours dies, I recommend that one. It’s a love letter to the first generation.

yepthatsreality3• 5 years ago

I’m switching to a Linux phone but recently upgraded from a Gen 1 SE to the newer models and I’ll be purchasing another SE as a backup phone instead once I make the leap because I personally think the no headphone port and larger screen (even on the Mini) is a very powerful phone but also worse to use in many ways. Long live Gen 1 SE.

DangerousPie• 5 years ago

Wow, I had no idea they were going to add support for cross-platform Facetime calls with this. If that works well that will definitely replace Zoom for me.

Someone123410• 5 years ago

Cross-platform is giving it too much credit. They aren't releasing native FaceTime on any non-Apple platforms, and you get a limited set of features in the browser based client that runs on Windows/ChromeOS/Android.

It is better than nothing though. Mostly feels like a late response to Zoom eating Apple's lunch though.

horsemans• 5 years ago

Less a "late response" and more the start of keeping a promise made by Jobs in 2010 to make FaceTime an cross-platform product supported by open standards, that was hampered by various legal I/P battles: https://www.imore.com/wheres-facetime-android

diebeforei485• 5 years ago

My phone is the electronic device I use the most (not counting my work laptop, which I don't own), so I'm going to wait a couple of days to make sure there are no glaring issues before I install the update.

Someone123410• 5 years ago

I've been using iOS 15 for a month or more, and I've had no glaring issues aside from Exposure Notification using excessive battery usage.

tandr• 5 years ago

Excessive battery usage IS a good example of a "glaring issue", especially for a mobile device.

thebean11• 5 years ago

The notification upgrades look promising! I always thought iOS was way behind Android in terms of customizing notification modes, and how each app behaves in each mode.

reacharavindh2• 5 years ago

The only feature I am looking forward to is “live text” where it lets me simply copy text in images. That can be quite handy.

JxLS-cpgbe0• 5 years ago

Google Lens has had the feature for more than a year now and it's incredibly useful. I wonder how the accuracy of Apple's version will compare.

reacharavindh2• 5 years ago

Does Google lens also recognise text based on local models? I am not so happy about the idea of having Google analyse all my photos.

dmd• 5 years ago

works great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jb889eVN5U

fudged71• 5 years ago

The most useful time I have ever used this was to enter one of those super long randomized string WiFi passwords that is printed on paper. Every text field in iOS now has the option to enter text via OCR!

ShakataGaNai3• 5 years ago

I’m astonished how well and how quickly it works. I just upgraded with the release, but it’s quite snappy. At least as good as my previous experiences with Google lens.

thefabsta• 5 years ago

I just found out the hard way that this feature is only supported on iPhone XS and later (seemingly any device with at least an A12 chip): https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212630

schmorptron2• 5 years ago

Uuh, I wonder how visual lookup will compare to Google Lens. I almost never use google assistant because of privacy concerns, and having it done locally sounds wonderful. (Although, on a second look, the website doesn't mention whether it's local or not. I just know Siri is now partly done on device).

apetresc• 5 years ago

Apple has confirmed it's on-device.

schmorptron2• 5 years ago

That's promising then!

CountDrewku2• 5 years ago

What's the best foss option out there now? Graphene? Lineage? I hate that they're both Android based...

I specifically dumped android phones because I was sick of Google and Apple still seemed to be the better option.

Edit: Guess I upset the Apple and Google shills ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

culopatin• 5 years ago

Your comment is just very off topic.

CountDrewku2• 5 years ago

Not really, iOS 15 is when they introduce image scanning. There are several other comments in this thread discussing that. Ergo, an alternative mobile OS discussion for people that don't want to go down Apple's invasive scanning route is completely appropriate.

jsudi• 5 years ago

Anybody running AltStore on this and can confirm whether it works right?

chaoskanzlerin• 5 years ago

I can't confirm it's running, but I guess it's been working on the iOS 15 beta versions? https://twitter.com/altstoreio/status/1413181075426213890

DanTheManPR• 5 years ago

Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE also gets the latest and greatest.

Meanwhile, my flagship android phone from 2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9, is stuck on the last version of Android. At least it still gets security updates, some manufacturers don't even go that far.

omegalulw• 5 years ago

It's one of my biggest gripes with Android. At best, I have gotten 2 years of updates (updates which come 8-12 months after the official Android release).

I could, of course, install a custom ROM. But that usually means (in my experience) that not all hardware features work, battery life is worse, I have to install updates myself and I am usually not as confident about device security. Despite these, I used to install and love custom ROMs a lot in college. when I had the time but not anymore.

On my iPad (while it lasted, RIP), I would get updates on the same day as official iOS release. Night and day difference.

bmcahren2• 5 years ago

What led you to not buy the official android phone? Are you aware of it?

Considering all the major non-Google Android phone manufacturers are also the same that manufacture Black Friday TVs that fail on schedule, don't you sense this was a problem not with Android but with your choice of manufacturer?

brewdad• 5 years ago

I don't think I've even gotten two years of Android updates on any phone. I don't tend to buy my phones right at the release date and it seems most Android phones offer 2 years of updates from the first day the phone was available, not 2 years from purchase/activation.

I now have an iPhone 12.

arenaninja4• 5 years ago

This is why I started buying iPhones. The resale value of a device after 2 years of usage is over 50% of the original cost if it's in good condition

OEM quality is all over the place for Android, crapware is standard. It's been 4 years of iPhone for me and the only complaint I have is how bad Apple Maps can be

brundolf3• 5 years ago

Apple Maps has been great for me, though I've heard the data quality varies widely based on where you live

For me it's just a cleaner, simpler, less ad-infested version of Google Maps

rootusrootus3• 5 years ago

This, exactly, is why I switched to iPhones. The only way Android devices are cheaper is if you run them into the ground and don't upgrade until you must. Invariably they go on 50% off sale within a year for the flagship models, which tanks their resale value. Combined with the utter lack of support more than the first couple years of ownership.

I can upgrade my iPhone every 2 or 3 years and spend a lot less overall. My wallet was always open when I tried to stay current with Android flagships.

danudey6• 5 years ago

I bought my iPhone 13 Pro, and there was an option right there on the page to trade in my existing hardware. I chose yes, and, because I bought that phone with my same apple account which I also have linked to the hardware, my phone showed up right there as an option. I tapped on it, said yes it's in good condition, and got like $530 CDN off my purchase.

Could I sell my phone for more than $530? Yes. Is it worth my time to deal with asshats on Craigslist who arrange a time to meet up and then ghost you for three days, just to get a bit more out of it? Nah.

(Despite initially trying to sell it, my iPhone Xs sat on a shelf for two years until someone saw it and said "Hey are you selling that? My phone is dying.")

Presumably that also means that the phone is going to get refurbished, or maybe stripped for parts and recycled by Apple's fancy disassembly robots, which is nice.

Server6• 5 years ago

I mainly use the Google Maps app on the iPhone.

DrBenCarson• 5 years ago

Apple Maps is pretty good these days IMO. I used it ahead of Google Maps by choice

rewddit• 5 years ago

This is the key reason I'm moving to iPhone. The mobile hardware / software that utilizes it are no longer moving quickly enough to justify buying a new phone every few years for my use case.

Getting meaningful updates for the duration of how long I want to use the hardware for is a huge differentiator to me.

mdasen• 5 years ago

It's so aggravating on the Android side. While a Motorola One 5G Ace might not be a flagship, it came out in 2021 and I'm stuck on Android 10. I don't know if Motorola (who says I should expect Android 11) is the issue or if it's my carrier. Android 11 came out 4 months before the Motorola One 5G Ace came out. A year later, no Android 11.

I guess it's probably even more frustrating if you're paying Apple-like prices for a Galaxy S series device and not getting updates. At least I can think, "well, I got what I paid for."

GeekyBear11• 5 years ago

The original iPhone SE was $399 back in 2016 and is starting its sixth year of OS and security update support.

You can get both an affordable device and many years of support after the sale.

stingraycharles• 5 years ago

At the same time, I do have to admit that things got very, very slow on the original SE. Maybe it’s the battery life throttling thing, but just felt at the end of its life, even though the software kept updating.

msk-lywenn• 5 years ago

It is perhaps indeed the battery because I’m using an SE 2016 with a battery that I changed a few months back and it works wonderfully with iOS 14.

vanilla_nut• 5 years ago

Probably a deteriorated battery — I’m still using my SE 2016 and it’s still going very strong. But I have replaced the battery twice, once every 2-3 years.

Retric• 5 years ago

It’s very much worth replacing a battery on year 3 if you’re planning on keeping an iPhone to end of life. Harder to justify on year 5+, but still a real quality of life improvement.

signal11• 5 years ago

Meanwhile, my flagship android phone from 2018, the Samsung Galaxy S9, is stuck on the last version of Android.

That's inexcusable, and this attitude carried over to security updates is a big reason some corporates left Samsung and went to Apple -- e.g. the A5, a midrange phone comparable with the iPhone SE, lost access to updates when the device was perfectly usable.

Samsung must've felt the feedback, because this year they announced a formal policy on security updates -- too late for the S9, but customers from S10 onwards ought to benefit[1]. They've been a lot better with Android updates on newer phones too -- Project Treble probably played a role.

Galaxy devices will now receive regular security updates for a minimum of four years after the initial phone release. By extending support for security updates delivered on a monthly, quarterly or biannual basis

[1] https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-takes-galaxy-securit...

foepys• 5 years ago

Quarterly and biannual are still a joke. It's not like Google is keeping all patches and releases them at once without notifying vendors. Nokia was a little known a few years ago for releasing security patches before Google did for their Pixel models. Sadly, this has changed.

TrueGeek• 5 years ago

Leaving updates up to carriers makes it super hard to test mobile apps. You get a bug where it only happens on Samsung Whatever on Android 11, but the phone you bought for QA hasn't yet gotten that update. So you test on an emulators which, of course, don't reproduce the bug.

nrvn• 5 years ago

Send regards to the Android architecture team at Google. The fact that OS is tightly coupled to the underlying hardware has no justification. Not does the fact that they have not yet reviewed the architecture…

MS Windows is Heaven on earth in this regard.

cogman102• 5 years ago

The only reason I buy a new phone at this point is because it falls out of security support.

I'm at the point of thinking of ditching the android ecosystem for the apple ecosystem for my next phone precisely because no android carrier seems to want to support devices for much longer than 3 years.

There are no hardware problems which keep me from using the phone, just the lack of software updates.

The other issue is that we seem to be at somewhat of a plateau of phone performance. My pixel 5 is not significantly faster than my old pixel 2XL.

jldugger• 5 years ago

Samsung must've felt the feedback, because this year they announced a formal policy on security updates -- too late for the S9, but customers from S10 onwards ought to benefit[1].

Well yea. The longer the lifespan of a phone, the higher the resale value, and the higher the retail price you can support. If you want to sell at AAPL prices, you should be able to support devices for AAPL durations.

flyingchipmann• 5 years ago

Exactly. I am done with android. I will get a linux phone instead if there is a decent model and just get an ipad for mobile app needs.

themodelplumber3• 5 years ago

Why do iOS upgrades past one major version always slow down my devices so much though. It's been such a disappointing waste of system resources.

Personally this is why I tried out Android and have so far stuck with it, (splitting my devices up between two OSes but whatever). So far my Androids get 2 years of bi-monthly security updates and at least 2 major Android releases by manufacturer policy, which is all I've needed, and they don't effectively render my device useless (so far, fingers crossed).

tsywke44• 5 years ago

Slowing down is mostly caused by battery wear. All my Android devices have had the same problem.

0x000000001• 5 years ago

Every major iOS update adds more functionality that consumes more CPU cycles even in the background. Unless something strictly requires new hardware to work, they include the features.

Maybe if Apple refused to support new features on old hardware it would solve this issue, but then you just anger users who are forced to buy new hardware to get a new feature...

SkyMarshal• 5 years ago

How do Google's pure Android phones compare in this regard? Are they supported for longer?

Eg, is this premature ending of support a Samsung thing, or is it endemic to the whole Android ecosystem, including Google?

Taywee• 5 years ago

Usually get 3 years. Pixel 3 launched in October 2018, and its updates end in about a month. I feel like that's still way too short, and causes many millions of still-usable phones to be trashed or recycled every year. Aftermarket OSes aren't an option for a lot of people, because some apps will refuse to run on an unofficial OS.

windowsrookie• 5 years ago

Google provides 3 years of updates. The Pixel 2XL, released in 2017 (two years after the iPhone 6s) received it's last update December 2020.

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en

GeekyBear11• 5 years ago

They have slowly been forced to offer longer support, but are still currently at half as many years as Apple.

One aspect in which Android has always fallen behind iOS is updates, with iPhones receiving as many as six years worth of updates, while some Android phones are lucky to get two years. In this area, Google’s Pixel series have held the crown, offering their phones three full years of updates, including monthly patches and three major Android versions. The original Google Pixel was gradually updated from Android 7.1 Nougat to Android 10 — an extension from the original promise to only offer two major updates.

https://9to5google.com/2021/02/22/comment-four-years-android...

summerlight• 5 years ago

Usual Android phones' support is bounded by Qualcomm's commitment, which had been 3 years. I think they now have extended it to 4 years though. This is one of the biggest motivation of why Google is developing its own silicon.

(Added) Of course, this doesn't explain why Samsung doesn't provide longer support. And I also don't know the reason but I guess their mobile division perhaps doesn't have enough power to negotiate against its chip division...

sneak6• 5 years ago

Meanwhile, after having every single major iPhone version since the original jesusphone, I'm switching from iOS to Android because I'd rather run out-of-date hardware and slightly more out-of-date software just to not have my phone spy on my local media contents for a remote master.

Apple's days as a head-and-shoulders above clear winner are over.

jonfw• 5 years ago

You think switching from Apple to Google is a plus for your privacy?

user-the-name3• 5 years ago

Google already does the exact same scanning of images that Apple has now delayed, so, uh, not exactly gaining much there are you?

memco• 5 years ago

I haven't made any moves away from Apple yet, but I'm cautious about upgrading because it isn't clear to me where the code for the scanning is in the current releases. They announced they were going to start scanning one day before the planned rollout, but it wasn't mentioned that an update was necessary so it seemed like it could've already been in iOS 14.x. I am willing to update to the newest version so long as there's still an opt out option by not upgrading to whatever version will include the on-device scanning. But if the code is bundled in already and is just dormant until some undetermined date then I'll be moving on. I'm not sure how I'll even know if it's safe to upgrade, but I'm hoping if there's any concern there'll be some news about it in the coming weeks.

danudey6• 5 years ago

Maybe worth noting that, internally, the first-gen iPhone SE is an iPhone 6s; same CPU, GPU, and RAM. It's missing some hardware features, like 2nd gen TouchID, 3D Touch, hardware image stabilization, and some other minor things, but from a performance/capability perspective it's the same phone.

mikepurvis• 5 years ago

The screen is identical, though, which is awesome— I was rocking an iPhone 5S and was able to buy for dirt cheap someone's cracked-screen SE and swap the screen over.

I fully intend for my next device to be an iPhone 8 so that I can eventually pull the same thing with an upgrade to the SE 2.

ccouzens• 5 years ago

The majority of the changes in iOS 15 are updates to system apps. Your Samsung galaxy s9 will be recieving updates to the equivalent apps.

vvillena• 5 years ago

Over the life of my S9, I got one major OS update, a change from a builtin obnoxious "Samsung news" feed to another equally obnoxious feed, and updates to the builtin apps that brought almost no new important features (the only new feature I actually use is the option to use a Spotify song in the alarm app). It just does not compare against six years of full blown OS updates.

Oh, and the S9 comes with so much preinstalled, unremovable shit that it's not even funny. It's a shame, because the phone itself is really nice, and the Samsung custom UI and apps can be awesome at times. The problem is that Samsung sells a premium phone at prices similar to Apple's (if you buy brand new at release time), but this doesn't translate into a premium experience. This also happen with other Samsung products such as TVs.

gozzoo• 5 years ago

Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago. Nor is it reserved for their flagship models - the 2016 iPhone SE also gets the latest and greatest.

I'm not sure whether this is a good thing though. After each major update, older devices become less and less usable. I would appreciate security updates, but I'd gladly skip all these new features that make my phone crawl.

katbyte• 5 years ago

I have a 10 year old iPad mini which still works just fine and still holds a charge.

kgermino• 5 years ago

You actually have that option now. I don't the specifics (how you do it) but I believe you can choose from two tracks: the traditional "update to iOS15" and "stay on 14 but get security updates". It's new this year though, so who knows how it will work in practice

GloriousKoji• 5 years ago

Also all the updated assumes a 21:9 aspect ratio that started with the iPhone X. Sometimes I can't use apps on the 2016 SE because part of the menu will render off screen or the interface is terrible because the true area of interest gets squashed down to the side of two postage stamps.

beagle33• 5 years ago

That used to be true, but hasn’t been in a while. My 6s got snappier with iOS 13 and snappier still with 14. Haven’t tried 15 yet.

serverholic3• 5 years ago

This is one of the reasons I switched from Android to iPhone. The phones are just higher quality, last longer and get software updates for longer.

I had like 3 Android phones in a row who's GPS would start acting up after 1.5-2 years. My Apple devices are fantastic.

Overall, the largest benefit of Apple devices is that they just work. I can buy them and not have to worry about them.

Krasnol2• 5 years ago

Too bad the general public doesn't care about all that.

I know people who are actually annoyed but the update notification...

bserge3• 5 years ago

That's me, I don't care.

I could, and someday will, install a custom ROM, but for now, shit just works.

ksec• 5 years ago

I think it used to be a good thing and people actually like the update. But now they got update fatigue, mostly because updating aren't exactly a smooth process and doesn't actually add any value to their usage.

They should go back to the old style where major OS update happens every two years. Although I am not sure the current Apple understand this.

johnvega• 5 years ago

Last time I checked several weeks ago, 2016 SE looks like it wasn't going to get it. This is great.

pgodzin• 5 years ago

Don't you have access to most of these similar improvements through updates to the respective Android apps (Photos, Messages, Translate, Camera, etc) rather than OS updates?

rozhok• 5 years ago

System apps doesn't receive separate updates. You can get update for Google translate though.

josephcsible2• 5 years ago

Even Apple's mobile device security update lifespan is pathetic compared to desktops and laptops. If you bought a computer with Windows XP when it first came out, you got 13 years of support, and even more if it could upgrade to Windows Vista or 7. And if you're willing to run Linux or BSD, you can easily run supported software on decades-old hardware. This is the standard we should be holding mobile device manufacturers to.

marviio• 5 years ago

We will eventually, but mobile devices are still changing rapidly. We have giant performance, battery, storage, screen improvements every other year. Comparing a iPhone 3 to iPhone 13 is like comparing a 286 with ThreadRipper.

And how is the condition of that 15 year old Thinkpad's battery, keyboard and fans?

DCKing4• 5 years ago

If in October 2013 you bought a just released Google Nexus 5, you would have had official updates until December 2016. At the end of support, you could have then bought the recent Google Pixel (1). And you would have had official updates until December 2019. A little over 6 years out of two devices is as good as it gets on Android, at least it's as good as it got in the mid-late 2010s.

If in October 2013 you bought a just released iPhone 5S, you would have had official updates until - apparently - June 2021. Three months ago. Assuming that was really the last security update to iOS 12.

An official Apple device has received one and a half year's worth more updates than two official Google devices put together. The difference between Android support and iOS support is insane.

It's easy to point out that you'd probably need to get your battery fixed at least once to make a 5S last that long, and in 2021 it won't be any fun to use. The people that want to make things last have had the option though, and that's what's important. And with Moore's Law being dead and buried, it's going to be a lot easier to get things to last, too.

b9a2cab5• 5 years ago

If you bought a Nexus 5X or 6P, your device eventually bricked itself due to overheating literally melting the solder connections between the CPU and mainboard. Software support isn't the only thing Android vendors are skimping out on.

jiggawatts• 5 years ago

I have a lot of older relatives that love the "hand-me-downs" of older iPhones and other i-gadgets. They're not power users, they just want to FaceTime with their grandkids and take photos of the flowers they grew in their yard.

This is one reason I pay the Apple premium: as a family, we get a lot more mileage out of the devices. Also, I don't have to stress about security, because I know they will be protected by updates and cloud backup for years and years to come.

beagle33• 5 years ago

My daughter inherited my 4S from 10 years ago that was sitting in the drawer for 6 years now since I got my 6s (the week it came out, oct 2015). She’s bot yet 12.

The 4S never had a screen or battery change. It’s battery doesn’t last long with YouTube or video calls, but if charged at night and used for emails and voice calls, will last the whole day. It is perfectly usable, can do FaceTime etc.

We will need to replace it soon, though. Her school buddies all use WhatsApp which is no longer supported on iOS 9 (the latest on 4S).

I wouldn’t let her use it much longer for lack of security updates. The hardware - and even battery - are still usable at 10 years. Almost pleasant, even. Best form factor ever.

briffle• 5 years ago

This is litterally 1 of the 2 reasons I went from a pixel (3XL) to an iphone.

that and not having to mail in my phone, and wait a week for it to come back. that was completely frustrating and silly.

nebula88044• 5 years ago

If in October 2013 you bought a just released Google Nexus 5, you would have had official updates until December 2016.

Wait a second are you sure about that? The last official version released was 6.0.1 which was released in October of 2015.

I remember this because the Nexus 5 was the phone that finally sealed the deal for me in leaving the Android ecosystem for good.

These "engineers" on the Android team did not QA their software so when I upgraded to 4.4.4, it broke the camera such that every video I recorded had messed up garbled audio. It totally ruined a special eurotrip where I had taken tons of video. I guess it was my mistake for trusting Google enough to update right before the trip started.

Anyway seeing that there is a section on Wikipedia devoted to all the hardware/software issues of the Pixel line, I think I made a wise choice to stop wasting my time with this ecosystem.

Went to a used iPhone 5S and ended up using that phone for 5 years. Was the best phone I ever owned.

red369• 5 years ago

While I agree completely with the idea, I have trouble deciding how secure the 5S should be considered. I couldn’t find anywhere Apple state the level of support, and it seems to receive some security patches but not others. Did the June update patch all known vulnerabilities at that point? Is it now insecure again since it did not receive a patch for ForcedEntry? The 6S/SE might be better examples? iOS 15 is now available on both.

ewzimm2• 5 years ago

It's ironic that unofficial builds have been able to support these devices so much longer than their makers. LineageOS has done great things. And Amazon has shown that longer support is possible. The Kindle Fire HDX, released on September 25, 2013, and still somehow their best tablet, received its last security update on November 3, 2020.

Shad0w59• 5 years ago

I've replaced my iPhone 6s Plus battery 3 times since 2015, it continues to be my main daily driver.

The cost of a new battery is around 10 bucks and some patience to install it.

cjohansson• 5 years ago

Yeah I have 3 iPhone 6 from 6 years ago with new batteries but can't update iOS or install modern apps. No hardware issues at all but will have to throw them into the garbage for the sake of Apple software support policy

bserge3• 5 years ago

My OnePlus is on 9, there's some update available, I don't see the point. It works fine.

MikusR• 5 years ago

On Android important software, like browser, is updated independently from the os.

uniqueid2• 5 years ago

  Apple continues to support OS updates on the iPhone 6s, a device released almost 6 years ago

If that benefited customers, Apple wouldn't prohibit downgrades. Allowing software that runs painfully slowly on old devices primarily benefits Apple.

firecall• 5 years ago

I fully think this is great, and we have an iPhone 6S in the house that’s still going strong!

However, it’s not exactly the latest and greatest!

There is a very long list of features not supported on the older phones!

So whilst the 6S to X may support iOS 15, it’s little more than a version number and PR realise for those phones!

Apple get free PR and credit for keeping old phones alive, when in reality the features are stripped out and not supported on older devices!

What do iOS version numbers even mean at this point!

hyperstar• 5 years ago

My i-thing says it's up to date at 12.5.4. Wonder what that means securitywise.

philwelch8• 5 years ago

It means it's old and doesn't support iOS 13. My iPad says the same thing.

And according to Wikipedia, iOS 12 isn't receiving security updates anymore :(

tompazourek• 5 years ago

However, the 12.5.4 is still quite a recent update (from June). I think there could still be some security fixes in the future, but probably only for very serious vulnerabilities.

vxNsr• 5 years ago

Looks like you lost updates a few years ago, if anything big securitywise happens there's a chance they'll fix it otherwise you just gotta be hopeful you don't run into anything nefarious.

cmg• 5 years ago

That's where I'm at with my iPad, which is stuck at iOS 10. It still works pretty well for taking notes or browsing the web, even though that version of Safari is getting pretty old.

For security, it's completely signed out of iCloud and all other services, and Safari is mostly for research purposes (so no social media, email, etc).

babesh3• 5 years ago

What's up with the iCloud terms and conditions?

suyash2• 5 years ago

Does anyone still use FaceTime ? How is the latest Apple Maps compared to google's ?

r00fus2• 5 years ago

Most our family comms is FaceTime.

Bud• 5 years ago

FaceTime is more popular than ever, and adding the ability to use it with Android folks will help even more.

Apple Maps has gotten fairly close to Google Maps at this point. I actually strongly prefer Apple Maps' interface, although the data is still not as good overall. (Disclaimer: I'm biased. I worked on Apple Maps during its very early days.)

suyash2• 5 years ago

+1 to privacy centric apps even over inconvinience

isatty• 5 years ago

Does extensions on iOS safari mean I can finally get ublock origin on it?

dotdi• 5 years ago

Content blocking has been possible for a long time.

hundchenkatze• 5 years ago

with uBlock origin?

thedrbrian• 5 years ago

Since 2015 https://www.hackingwithswift.com/safari-content-blocking-ios...

brundolf3• 5 years ago

I don't know much about ublock, but I've got a Safari content-blocker set up that pulls from a custom set of easylist files and blocks all requests to those URLs from within safari

onedognight• 5 years ago

Unlikely. Safari supports stateless filtering (ie the blocker app doesn’t get to see your traffic, but just submits rules), and Gorhill has said uBlock cannot work with this restriction[0]. I understand Apple’s wanting to keeping blocking apps from spying and to ensure performance of the blockers, but the lack of uBlock on iOS is a huge pain point for me.

[0] https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158

lights0123• 5 years ago

The whole point of the parent comment asking is that you can now install proper WebExtensions, so depending on what APIs they allow, this could change.

Terretta2• 5 years ago

Try 1Blocker.

https://1blocker.com/

sneak6• 5 years ago

Supplement it with NextDNS, too, which also blocks most tracking inside of apps.

someonehere• 5 years ago

Warning to those with AirTags. Mine are gone from Find My. When attempting to reset one of my working/paired tags before the upgrade, I get a Bluetooth error when trying to set up. So all of my tags are dead right now and will not connect to my phone.

However a friend who had one of my tags for a couple of days gets the notification that my tag was with them and to tap to contact the owner.

kstrauser• 5 years ago

Oh, interesting. Mine still works as expected but I'll keep an eye out.

staunch• 5 years ago

Is there a good breakdown of any changes/improvements to PWAs on iOS 15, like can a PWA app do background audio finally, etc?

codyswann2• 5 years ago

No background audio.

pcurve• 5 years ago

Love all these pandemic driven sharing functions. Very solid upgrade.

AbrahamParangi• 5 years ago

I find it interesting to look at the differences between the localized versions of this page. Largely the same, but not entirely!

English: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/

Chinese: https://www.apple.com.cn/ios/ios-15/

Japanese: https://www.apple.com/jp/ios/ios-15/

ch4s3• 5 years ago

Care to mention the major differences?

lgats• 5 years ago

CN: No Grid View Facetime Featured, No street-view walking directions, no "driver’s license or state ID" Wallet feature, no "Visual Look Up", no anonymous "Hide My Email" relay feature

JP: No Wallet (license/state id/hotel&garage unlock), no visual lookup

This is just the difference in how the page are displayed and I didn't go and check to see if the actual features are there or not

jumelles• 5 years ago

I've got a few minutes:

Top image collage: Weather app is specific to city (China shows air quality). Chinese page replaces Ted Lasso with a Mojito music video.

Japanese page has Greeen instead of Valiant on Apple Music.

Chinese page is missing the spatial audio section with people's faces, and FaceTime sharing and links sections.

Shared With You has six examples in English; four in Japanese and Chinese.

Chinese page is missing some Maps info. Japanese page is missing the Wallet section. Visual Look Up is English-only.

Spotlight section on Chinese page is missing a Billie Eilish screenshot; iCloud Private Relay is missing.

captn3m0• 5 years ago

IN (Missing Features) based on the feature diff at https://editor.mergely.com/t2bxJa0q/

- "ID cards"

- Weather: "precipitation" isn't mentioned, and Weather app is just more "powerful", not "more engaging and powerful" (US). Air Quality maps are available for India, not sure about other maps.

- Immersive walking directions

- redesigned transit map

- Nearby transit

- Home Keys does not mention "Hotel Keys" or "Corporate Access Badges"

- Car Keys

- Visual lookup learning

- Share health data with your doctor

- Lab results enhancements

- Apple Card

- Buy directly from the Search tab

- 5G

- Redesigned News feed

- Podcasts: Personalized recommendations

- Next-hour precipitation notifications

Comparison based on the following links:

IN: https://www.apple.com/in/ios/ios-15/

US: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-15/features/

TheCowboy• 5 years ago

Anyone have a guess about when iOS will support web push notifications? One shouldn't really have to spin up a native app just get this single feature that all other browsers support on every other platform.

hbn2• 5 years ago

Hopefully never, at least not in their current state.

I've said it a few times on HN, but web notifications are almost entirely used for malicious purpose. Copy-pasting from a comment I made previously on the topic:

Take a look at your grandma's Android phone and she probably has 12 Chrome notifications saying she won a free iPad because she went on a site that asked to send notifications, and users are so used to user-hostile UX's that force you to agree to everything to use the site, they just hit "allow" so they can get to the content. I'm not surprised Apple doesn't want that on the iPhone.

b3nji• 5 years ago

The Facetime update. Enabling you to be even further away from people interaction, including, but not limited to, watching a thing while on a Facetime conversion?

This truly is the end if all things

rsfinn• 5 years ago

So I don't know whether you've noticed, but there's this thing that's been going around that makes some people want to keep their distance from other people, even if they might otherwise want to converse with them?

More seriously: my father, who is about to turn 94, lives 500+ miles away from me, and I haven't seen him face-to-face for a long time. It would be nice to be able to watch a baseball game "together", for instance. I hope I can talk him through setting up FaceTime...

zimpenfish• 5 years ago

It would be nice to be able to watch a baseball game "together", for instance.

I've watched TV programs simultaneously with people in the same city, even, whilst talking to them on IRC/whatnot. It's a fun experience. Especially in these nonsensical times!

gigatexal• 5 years ago

Loving focus mode and the Safari url bar at the bottom.

jenny91• 5 years ago

Looks like they're slowly starting to compete with Zoom on all those new FaceTime features.

yepthatsreality3• 5 years ago

I just bought a Iphone 12 Mini (from Iphone SE Gen 1, which is the better phone btw) the day before the CSAM flurry started. I will not be upgrading my OS this year and will be switchching to Linux device this winter (Pinephone most likely). Good luck and thanks for all the -ish Apple.

ngrilly• 5 years ago

Apple please translate Swedish to English! In the meantime I'll still have to rely on Google Translate for this :)

tradertef• 5 years ago

Google translate is ages better..

systemvoltage• 5 years ago

They doubled down on animations and now they’re longer than ever. Facepalm.

zepto4• 5 years ago

You can turn them off for the most part. I have.

bombcar• 5 years ago

Where?

dillondoyle• 5 years ago

The photos ML search from spotlight or whatever they call it is creepy accurate. Maybe just my brain bias but it seems to find context in images that aren't labeled. Adding OCR adds to that.

But it doesn't have the same search within the photos app itself?

dmitshur2• 5 years ago

This is the iOS version that adds WebGL 2 support. (https://webglreport.com/?v=2)

astlouis442• 5 years ago

Can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this - it’s huge for cross-platform games that can run at much higher performance, and the best part - no 30% fees from the walled garden App Store when you deliver via a webpage!

mzkply• 5 years ago

The go-to-market for games without an app store (ios or android) is so bad that most game devs were rather get 70% of something rather than 100% of almost nothing... and that's probably why more people aren't talking about it.

It'll make it easier to make cool sites, but I wouldn't expect any change in the games landscape. Plus it really looks like the 30% isn't here to stay.

speg• 5 years ago

I stayed away from the beta but hopped on as soon as this was released. Loving the bottom tab bars in safari, I don’t know what all the fuss was about.

Interesting that this “add comment” button on hacker news has some weird default style with a bright blue background.

flixic• 5 years ago

Initial Safari design was quite different from what shipped today (beta process worked!). The main differences were: all the buttons where crammed into the address field, dropping the toolbar (shipping design returned the toolbar), and the address bar was floating over content, detached from the bottom. This caused many sites to break.

pentagrama2• 5 years ago

Now you can install Safari extensions on your iPhone

Someone knows if uBlock Origin has plans/is able to develop the extension for Safari iOS?

For Safari MacOS is kind of not available. Does not work for Safari 13+, and is maintained externally https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#safari-macos

pacbard• 5 years ago

uBlock Origin has been broken on macOS since Safari 13 / macOS Catalina [1].

If they ever get the port to work on a newer version of Safari, it could work on iOS.

[1] https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158

cwizou• 5 years ago

If they ever get the port to work on a newer version of Safari, it could work on iOS.

I looked at it at the time but sadly the Content Blocker API that Apple released is incredibly crippling compared to the feature set of uBlock Origin.

Basically, you can onlly generate lists of domains that you want to block, package that in (multiple !) batches of 50k (at the time I think) and let Safari do the blocking for you.

This removes the ability to do anything non-static basically, which is where uBlock Origin really shines, so I don't expect anyone to make a meaningful port anytime soon, sadly.

temp0826• 5 years ago

Hoping this will allow (some?) firefox extensions as well (considering how firefox on ios actually works). My single biggest gripe with the phone is no ublock with firefox.

pentagrama2• 5 years ago

You are right, since Firefox (and all other browsers) on iOS are somewhat Safari with a skin, maybe Firefox for iOS now can introduce extensions. At least the same "approved" extensions that now works on Firefox Android (more are coming).

dont__panic2• 5 years ago

I would really love an extension like AMP Redirect on my iPhone. AMP pages are almost completely unusable on my phone.

Additionally, an Old Reddit Redirect clone for Safari would be a huge QOL upgrade too.

iscmt2• 5 years ago

Released today, fully open source as well.

https://apps.apple.com/app/amplosion-redirect-amp-links/id15...

happybuy2• 5 years ago

Most functionality that people use Ublock Origin for doesn't actually require Safari extensions – it can be more efficiently and privately implemented using Content Blocker extensions. These have been available on iOS for a long time now.

We develop an ad blocker [1] for iOS (and macOS) that has complete ad blocking functionality simply by using the content blocking mechanism.

The only time we've found that we've needed to resort to using Safari extensions is for our YouTube ad blocking; specifically to block the pre-roll video ads. So at least on iOS this will now be supported as well as of iOS 15.

[1] https://www.magiclasso.co/

joe_guy2• 5 years ago

Does this get detected by the ad blocker blockers? My current iOS solution is burdened by that.

thih9• 5 years ago

I really like the bottom tab bar in Safari; however the screenshot is very unfortunate, it shows a website with the mobile hamburger menu icon at the very top. Looks like the need to reach the top part of the screen is still there. I wonder if this will be the reality, at least for a while.

alberth• 5 years ago

Has anyone noticed the “add comment” button on HN is now a blue-pill color/style with iOS 15?

EDIT: this appears to only happen on mobile iOS web and not desktop macOS

mmcnl• 5 years ago

Focus Mode / Do Not Disturb infuriates me. All I want is for my notifications to not light up the screen and make any sounds except for calls. Is that so hard? It keeps getting more complex.

xtat2• 5 years ago

The inevitable end state of a closed ecosystem is compromise and that's why I'm out.

CharlesW• 5 years ago

Is that so hard?

YMMV, I guess—I found the customizable flavors of Do Not Disturb immediately useful. And if you don't, the old Do Not Disturb is still an option.

illiac7862• 5 years ago

And Actionable Notifications are gone?? On gmail for example, I could swipe to the left, tap "display" (I think that's what it was called) and it would show me actions like "archive", "delete", etc. Now I have to open the app. Why??

xtat2• 5 years ago

Is it me or do these updates look more and more like they should be dot releases?

yborg2• 5 years ago

So widgets anywhere is kind of a step backwards for iPadOS ... if you place any widgets on a homescreen page it forces the "large icon" grid on that page :( Since this happens with no warning, any "extra" icons are shoved onto the next page.

Apple really needs to do something about the homescreen management, it's been over a decade now and we're still subjected to the infuriating drag one at a time mechanism. Does nobody at Apple use more than one screen of apps?

The mechanism that once existed in iTunes where you could drag and drop with a mouse among your available app homescreens was the closest thing to a usable interface. But it boggles the mind that there isn't at least a way from the edit homescreen dialog to just select an icon and "Assign to Page X" option.

maxgashkov• 5 years ago

It has 'drag multiple' functionality -- you have to start dragging one icon and quickly tap on several others to grab them also. Personally I don't have the finger dexterity (or maybe understanding how this actually is supposed to work) to reliably perform the gesture, so I resort to dragging one at a time :(

FragenAntworten• 5 years ago

It looks like you start dragging one, far enough away from its initial position that you are unambiguously dragging it, then (while maintaining contact with the dragged icon), tap the other icons you want to drag as well.

babesh3• 5 years ago

iCloud Terms and Conditions include

If you agree to the terms of service, they can change it at any time and not tell you if there are governmental reasons.

Furthermore, you agree to not use the services for things that Apple seems unlawful, harassing, threatening, harmful, abusive, tortious, defamatory, libelous, abusive, violent, obscene, vulgar, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or otherwise objectionable.

ShakataGaNai3• 5 years ago

The government piece is more to let you know than anything else. The government’s of the world have repeatedly demonstrated that they can get any info they want from companies and use their powers to make sure you don’t know. See also proton mail.

singularity2001• 5 years ago

"Add link" in Quick notes doesn't work in safari if JavaScript is disabled

tells a lot about their QA

iOS 15

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