Apple has always been an excessive, over compulsive, perfectionist of a company. Recently however, it seems Apple has forgotten what they -Apple- has always stood for and what they are know for “…focusing on user experience.” and excellent products that “just work.”

This is and has been what Apple does best, providing us with almost flawless products that “just work”, and honestly, we have come to expect this high standard. It is why we stick with Apple products, and the reason we got them in the first place. Sadly, there seems to be a trend evolving, one that is focused of providing and adding as many features as possible (which is great!), but sacrificing stability and function. This is unacceptable. Apple has always been known for it’s stability and merely flawless functionality.

iOS 7.x

I am not sure how many people were effected with this, but it seems that in one of the mid version 7.0 updates, iMessage notifications magically disappeared from the Notification Center even though they were not viewed or manually closed. This is on an iPhone 5s, so it’s not due to an older phone.

Still to this day, even with iOS 8, it happens. After receiving an iMessage it simply disappears from the Notification Center without any interaction with it whatsoever from my part. So I hear a message come in, or I am using my phone and see the banner, and continue with I was doing. Once I want to address the message, I pull down the Notification Center and expect the still unread message to be there right? Ready to be interacted with. But, what have I seen happen? It’s not there!

Wait, what?! A notification just magically disappeared without the user’s interaction. Yes.

Sometimes I have even missed messages for hours, because as any other iPhone user would do, I check my Notification Center like I used to do before and address any and all notifications that were still pending. However, when pulling the Notification Center and seeing nothing there (iMessages specifically), I put the iPhone back in my pocket and continue with my day. It’s not until later that I had to exit to the home screen that I realize I had 5 unread messages.

iOS 8

With the recent launch of iOS 8 this fall, there is no shortage of bugs and Apple mishaps. Apart from “bendgate” (which I can see possible, but most likely is overblown-can’t tell personally as I don’t own and iPhone 6), here are some nick-nacks that have disrupted the nice unobtrusive flow iOS and Apple has been cherished for:

8.0

Everything seems to be working nicely. I did not like that they decided it was so necessary to explain how to use the OS that they needed to add the “Tips” app. Ok, I can understand some people will find it useful, but not allowing users to delete it…that is just so obtrusive.

8.0.1

This update was a huge headache and Apple had to actually pull the update after just releasing it to the public. Complete elimination of cellular service? Really. iPhones all over became a useless in their main function, a phone. Additionally, TouchID was bugged, resulting in limited or complete inability of use.

8.0.2

The most prevalent bugs from 8.0.1 are fixed, sans the ability to use the bluetooth in the car.

What is Happening

Bug after bug after bug…

Apple’s trust is being tested. I think consumers have become more weary of blindly trusting updates.

Personally, I used to trust and blindly update, knowing that version updates were flawless and mostly unnoticeable. Yet these recent events have yielded me to become more cautious, especially since I really on my iPhone for many things and require it’s full functionality.

My opinion is that they might be bitting more than they can chew. With new categories like ApplePay and new products like the Apple Watch, it seems to me that their efforts are skewed towards creating new products. Though very awesome, it looks like their OS engineers are suffering from support.

Hopes

I really hope Apple cleans up their act and starts focusing again on user experience in terms of functionality and not features. Yes, we love the features you give your customers, but if iOS is to retain its glamorous stability and functionality, the focal point should not be features but functionality.

Summation

I still think Apple is one of the best companies, and undoubtedly the best in this market. Surely things will start to normalize again -hopefully soon- and we can all enjoy Apple incredible products effortlessly and frustration-free.