Apple Seeds Second iOS 9.2 Beta to Developers
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 9.2 to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the first iOS 9.2 beta and two weeks after releasing iOS 9.1 to the public.
The new iOS 9.2 beta, build 13C5060d, is available as an over-the-air update and through the Apple Developer Center.
The first beta of iOS 9.2 introduced some changes for the Safari View Controller within apps, letting it work more like the standard Safari app with support for third-party Action Extensions and the ability to long tap on the Reload button to reload content without content blockers or request desktop site.
iOS 9.2 also includes a number of bug fixes and performance enhancements, many of which are under-the-hood improvements. Thus far no other outward-facing changes have been discovered, but updates in the second beta will be listed below if found.
Bug Fixes in iOS 9.2 Beta 2:
– Un-paring and re-pairing the Apple Watch will no longer cause the Stocks glance to go missing.
– Syncing Music to the Apple Watch has been fixed.
– An issue impacting audio quality when playing audio over USB in some car stereos has been fixed.
– A bug with iCloud Keychain has been fixed, so users should no longer see “Could Not Set Up iCloud Keychain” errors.
– Videos with ‘folw’ track associations will no longer fail yo play on 32-bit devices.
New Features in iOS 9.2 Beta 2:
– It’s now possible to dismiss the Safari View Controller with an edge swipe.
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Apple Releases First iOS 9.2 Beta for Public Beta Testers
Earlier this week, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 9.2 to developers, just under a week after the public release of iOS 9.1. As of today, Apple is also making iOS 9.2 available to its public beta testers.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program will receive the iOS 9.2 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.
Those who want to be a part of Apple’s beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas. Because iOS 9.1 was just released, it will likely be a month or more before we see the public release of iOS 9.2.
iOS 9.2 fixes several bugs in the operating system and it includes other under-the-hood enhancements. According to the release notes for the first beta, the Safari View Controller (the view of Safari you see within apps) is being updated with support for third-party Action Extensions that will let it more closely mirror the Safari app. It also includes options to reload content and request a desktop site, as in Safari.
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iOS 9 Users Having Issues With POP Email Accounts and Attachments
Since iOS 9 was released to the public on September 16, some users with POP email accounts have been having trouble opening emails with attachments. There’s a 22 page thread on the Apple discussion forums covering the issue, which currently has more than 200 replies from users who are all experiencing the same problem.
Customers with a wide range of devices are receiving a “Message not yet downloaded from server” error whenever they attempt to open an email message with an attachment. The problem appears to be affecting Apple customers who have POP email accounts and is causing issues with both new and old emails.
I am having exactly the same issue. Many of my old mails on my iPad just saying not yet downloaded from the server. I am using a pop account on both my iPad and windows live mail. I have tried deleting my email accounts and adding back in. Even some emails that were received this morning are now showing as not being downloaded from the server.
Deleting email accounts and adding them back in does not fix the issue, but downloading an alternate email program from the App Store seems to have worked for many users as a temporary fix. Turning off Wi-Fi also allows some users to read their previously downloaded emails and access attachments, but images are not viewable.
One customer experiencing issues received a response from Apple’s engineering team, suggesting the email issue occurs when an email account has been configured to remove a copy of emails on the server. This has left some wondering whether the behavior is an intended function or a bug, but while leaving messages on the server solves some of the problem, sent and trash emails remain unaccessible. The requirement to leave messages on the server also defeats the purpose of a POP email account.
This issue usually starts if one of the devices/computers that was setup with this email account has been configured to remove a copy of emails on the server. If this is the case, the customer will need to check the settings of all the devices and computers that are running this email account.
iOS leaves messages on the POP3 server by default. iOS never stores email permanently, whether POP3 or IMAP. If they are removed from the server by another device then this issue can occur.
A test that you may want to do to confirm this is to have the customer produce the error by opening one affected mail on the iOS device, and then locate that specific email on his webmail. If not found, then the device is behaving as expected. If found, please try to forward it to the same mailbox and see if the same issue occurs.
While these email problems have been plaguing users since iOS 9 was released, Apple did not fix the problem in iOS 9.0.1 or iOS 9.0.2, the two minor bug fix updates that have been released to the public since September 16. It is not clear if iOS 9.1, the first major update to iOS, fixes the issue, and Apple has not given any statement on whether some kind of fix is planned or if there’s been an intentional change to the way POP email accounts work on iOS in iOS 9.
Apple iPhone 6S Impressions… from an Android user
As with every year, Apple introduces a new smartphone that it calls its most advanced yet and hopes to challenge the might of the Android world. This year was an ‘S” year, which meant the company introduced a few new tweaks but withheld the major design changes for the non-S cycle.
Unlike previous ‘S’ years, this year’s iPhone 6S actually has a fair amount of new features, and more than you might expect from this part of the iPhone product cycle. Is it enough to challenge the flagships of the Android world or is it better to wait for the iPhone 7 next year? As a former iPhone user who converted to Android many years ago, the iPhone 6S definitely looks like the company’s best iPhone to date. After nearly a week with the iPhone 6S, here’s my thoughts on Apple’s latest handset.
Design
As expected from Apple, an S year handset comes with an identical design to the handset that precedes it and this year’s iPhone 6S is no different. At first glance, the smartphone looks just like the iPhone 6 and shares the design traits that have made the iPhone so popular.
As an Android user who’s grown accustomed to large smartphone displays, the 4.7-inch screen on the iPhone 6S is tiiiiiny and Apple’s tall but narrow smartphone design actually makes my hand cramp a little when stretching across the screen. Like I said, I’m used to the wider and larger displays on Android, which makes the aspect ratio and design of the iPhone 6S somewhat difficult to enjoy.
That being said, as far as smaller devices go, the iPhone 6S definitely ticks the boxes of being powerful yet easy to use in one hand. At 7.1mm thick, the iPhone 6S isn’t the slimmest smartphone I’ve ever used – that accolade is reserved for the BLU Vivo Air LTE – but coupled with the 143 grams’ weight, it does feel quite reassuring and sturdy in the hand.
Touch ID & Apple Pay
Beneath the screen is Apple’s trademark Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which is built into the home button. Apple was arguably the first company to introduce a one-touch fingerprint sensor on a smartphone and while Touch ID has been made even faster on the iPhone 6S, the feature set is still limited to just unlocking your phone. Having used the Huawei Mate S, which also lets you control your phone using the fingerprint sensor, Touch ID does feel like it could do more.
That being said, Touch ID is a key part of Apple Pay and this is where Apple holds the trumps over the rest of the market. While some companies have attempted mobile payment solutions with varying degrees of success, Apple Pay is ahead of the market (by a considerable amount) because banks have jumped over themselves to support it.
In a word… Apple Pay is seamless
Setting up Apple Pay requires scanning your card and adding your CV2 code. After this, you verify by either ringing your bank or activating via text message. Once done, you’re good to go and Apple Pay can be used in any retailer who supports Apple Pay or contactless payments. I went into my local supermarket and buying a few groceries (for less than £30 which is the current limit) required just putting my phone near the card terminal and holding my finger on the fingerprint sensor.
It was quick and seamless but if you do have more than one card added, you can select which card you want to pay with when launching Apple Pay by double pressing the home button from the lock screen. You can also set one of the cards as a default and then it becomes as quick as holding your phone near the reader. Apple Pay is quick and intuitive to use and with wide support, it’ll take a lot for Android Pay or Samsung Pay to even be competitive. In a word… Apple Pay is seamless.
Here’s a video of Apple Pay in action (in my local supermarket, which isn’t Apple Pay certified but does accept contactless payments):
Retina Display & 3D Touch
Aside from Apple Pay – which is also present in last year’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus – the standout feature in the iPhone 6S is the new 3D Touch layer atop the 750p Retina Display. The 3D Touch feature works by measuring the pressure you apply to the screen to bring up different options and although it’s the first-generation, the feature set is certainly impressive.
From the home screen, applying pressure to an app icon can bring up shortcuts to the the commonly used features in that app. For example, additional pressure on the Maps icon gives you shortcuts for Directions to your home address, lets you mark your location, send your location to others or search nearby locations.
The list of shortcuts varies according to each particular app as the menu on the camera icon lets you take a selfie, record video or take a photo and the clock menu lets you create an alarm, start the stopwatch or start the timer, all directly from the homescreen. It’s also possible for third-party apps to use 3D Touch, with Twitter one of the first to bring support; the latest update brings a menu that lets you compose a new tweet or direct message or search Twitterland.
3D Touch isn’t just limited to apps on the homescreen however as it also adds a few other interesting features. First, from any app you can now access the multitasking menu by applying force to the left hand side of the display, but this feels more convoluted than double pressing the home button.
Inside of apps, 3D Touch lets you peek at items without actually opening them; for example, when you’re in your messages app and apply force to a link you’ve been sent, it brings it up in a pop up window that lets you view the link without opening the link in the browser. In the Photos app, you can peek at images without opening them and then either swipe up to view options or apply additional pressure to open the photo in full.
Yes, 3D Touch can be a longer way of doing things but with long press missing from Apple’s iOS operating system, the feature is a great way to bring up additional options. From the past few days with the iPhone 6S, I can say that the feature is somewhat useful; the peek feature is something you’ll use a lot while the shortcuts from the homescreen are less useful and the multitasking menu is a shortcut you’ll probably never use.
Apple wasn’t the first to offer a pressure-sensitive display – that accolade is reserved for the Huawei Mate S Luxury Edition with Force Touch – but the company has certainly thought about what 3D Touch can be used for. As a first-generation feature, it’s unfair to expect it to have a wide feature set, but given that Huawei’s implementation is really basic, 3D Touch is certainly well thought out. Not everything is integral to the iPhone 6S experience but it’s certainly an interesting feature and one that can only get better in the future.
Hardware & Performance
As with every year, the iPhone 6S comes with updated internals that include a dual-core Apple A9 CPU, 2GB RAM and hexacore PowerVR Graphics chipset. Considering that Android flagships are powered by octa-core CPUs and 3GB or 4GB of RAM, it would be easy to write off the iPhone based on its specs list, but this would be ignoring the key thing that sets Apple devices apart: Apple.
Unlike Android OEMs, Apple has the benefit of controlling both its own hardware and its software, and can achieve optimisations that Android OEMs dream of. As such, in actual use, the dual-core CPU and 2GB RAM in the iPhone 6S seems to deliver performance that’s on par with the best in the Android world.
As you’ve probably come to expect, the iPhone doesn’t have a removable battery and the 1715 mAh unit inside the iPhone 6S is actually 95 mAh smaller than the 1810 mAh unit inside last year’s iPhone 6. That being said, the iPhone 6 drove me crazy, as the battery regularly died inside a day, and over the past few days with the iPhone, I’ve not yet had it drop beneath 20 percent by the end of the day.
iOS 9
Like every year, a new iPhone means a new version of Apple’s mobile OS and this year’s iOS 9 aims to be the company’s most advanced platform yet. As an Android user who’s used to customising a smartphone heavily, the closed nature of Apple’s iOS certainly comes as a shock, but iOS has been getting better and iOS 9 is certainly the company’s best version yet.
As far as comparisons to Android go, the two platforms are completely different yet share many similarities in that they both aim to deliver information to use proactively rather than reactively. Google Now has been doing that for a long time now but in iOS 9, Apple aims to play catch up and the new proactive Siri does somewhat of a good job in doing so.
We’re preparing a full review of iOS 9 over at our sister site TabTimes (where we’ll also look at iOS 9 on tablets in more detail) but for now, I will say that iOS 9 is a lot nicer to use than previous generations of Apple’s platform. Yes, it doesn’t quite compare to the flexibility of Android and the limitations (at least in my eyes) of the icon-based home screen do fail to make full use of the larger screen but if you are planning to switch to iOS 9, you’ll find it a lot nicer to use than previous Apple handsets.
Of course, this barely scratches the surface but stay tuned for the full review over on TabTimes in a few days’ time. It’s going to be in-depth and I’ll also touch on iOS 9 further from an Android user’s perspective.
Camera
On paper, the iPhone camera has traditionally had lower megapixels than its chief Android rivals but as they say; cameras are about more than megapixels.
In the case of the iPhone, this has never been truer and a combination of larger pixel size and clever image processing algorithms mean the iPhone camera has been one of the best on the market over the past few years.
This year’s iPhone 6S sees Apple ‘improve’ the camera further, with a slightly larger pixel size and more megapixel coupled with better algorithms and while we’re preparing a shootout against some of the best Android devices on the market, I will share my initial thoughts on the camera.
Until last year, Apple was conspicuous in being one of a few manufacturers not to employ stabilisation in its smartphones but this changed with the iPhone 6. Or to be more precise, the iPhone 6 Plus. With two very similar smartphones on the market, Apple needed a differentiator and alongside battery and display size, it chose Optical Image Stabilisation in the camera as a key difference.
Sadly, this continues with the iPhone 6S and while the larger iPhone 6S Plus does have OIS, the iPhone 6S is missing this feature. Regardless of how Apple has improved the camera, the lack of OIS in the iPhone 6S does mean camera shake can cause final images to be blurry. Here’s a few shots captured on the iPhone 6S:
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As you can see, although the images do have good colours and clarity, the lack of OIS can result in blurred images that would most likely be a lot better had they been taken by the larger iPhone 6S Plus.
A ‘new’ feature on the iPhone 6S is the Live Photos – which is the same feature as HTC Zoe and lets you record 2 seconds of video either side of hitting the shutter button – and while it’s an interesting feature, it can drain the storage of your iPhone considerably. An average image you capture is 2MB while a Live Photo comes in at 3.8MB on average.
I’ve got a 16GB iPhone 6S, which has around 11GB available and you’ll definitely fill this up quickly if you don’t turn the feature off. As a point of note, I’ve turned this off several times but after a while, when I launch the camera it’s turned on again and there’s no way to turn it off permanently.
Final Thoughts
Before becoming almost exclusive to Android smartphones – out of choice but also thanks to the sheer number of Android smartphones and my career as a journalist – I spent a fair amount of time using Nokia smartphones and then the iPhone.
Since switching to Android, I’ve found that Google’s OS meets my needs more than Apple does but that being said, the iPhone 6S is certainly Apple’s most advanced smartphone yet. The design is atypical of the iPhone – remember the advert – if it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone? – and while I’m not ready to jump ship or anything, Apple certainly has my attention again.
Specifically, Touch ID v2, Apple Pay and 3D Touch all have me excited, not just for the iPhone but for smartphones in general. 3D Touch especially has the potential for uses that have not even been conceived yet while Apple Pay will definitely cause the likes of Android Pay and Samsung Pay to innovate and improve in order to be competitive.
However, despite the iPhone 6S being the most advanced iPhone yet, it still doesn’t quite compare to the flexibility of Android, but that’s a personal decision. For users who don’t need all the flexibility of Android but want a smartphone that just works, the iPhone 6S will certainly fit the bill and this may be the iPhone that persuades some Android users to make the switch (which Apple wants to help you with).
What do you think of Apple’s changes and improvements in the iPhone 6S? Are you an Android user and would you make the switch? Let us know your views in the comments below guys!
A9 Chip Manufacturing Split 60/40 Between TSMC and Samsung, Not Segmented by Device Size
Teardowns of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have revealed two different A9 chips inside the devices, one created by TSMC and one developed by Samsung, which is slightly smaller in size, having been manufactured on a 14-nanometer process instead of a 16-nanometer process.
There was early some speculation that the chips were divided by model, with the iPhone 6s getting the smaller Samsung chip and the iPhone 6s Plus receiving the larger TSMC chip, but new data collected by an iOS developer suggests that is not the case.
Hiraku Wang has created an app that’s able to determine whether an iPhone has a TSMC chip or a Samsung chip, and has shared some data on results gathered from users who have installed his app.
According to results from approximately 2,500 iPhones, there are more TSMC chips than Samsung chips. TSMC chips were found to be installed on 58.96 percent of devices, compared to 41.04 percent for Samsung chips.
The iPhone 6s Plus appears to have relatively equal split of Samsung and TSMC chips, with slightly more Samsung chips. Of 1,329 iPhone 6 Plus devices, 56.81 percent have the Samsung chip while 43.19 percent have the TSMC chip.
With the iPhone 6s, the numbers skew heavily towards the TSMC chip. Of 1,086 devices, 78.27 percent have the TSMC chip while 21.73 percent have the Samsung chip.
At this point in time, there is no evidence that the two chips perform differently, as more extensive testing must be done to determine any performance discrepancies. Though the chips are two different sizes, it’s highly unlikely there are going to be performance differences large enough to be noticeable during daily usage.
It is possible for users to check which chip version is installed in their iPhones using Wang’s tool, but users should be cautious about installing an app via enterprise certificate from an untrusted developer. We do not recommend MacRumors readers install the app.
Apple Releases Second iOS 9.1 Public Beta
Apple today seeded the second iOS 9.1 beta to public beta testers, two weeks after seeding the first beta a day after its “Hey Siri” fall media event. Today’s beta is the same as the second iOS 9.1 beta seeded to developers yesterday.
Public beta testers who already have iOS 9.1 installed can get the second beta as an over-the-air update, and those interested in getting early release software from Apple can sign up to participate in Apple’s Beta Software Program.
iOS 9.1 is an update mainly designed for the iPad Pro, adding support for accessories like the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil, both of which require deep integration with iOS 9. It will also include support for the new Apple TV.
The update also includes support for Unicode 8, introducing new emoji like taco, burrito, hot dog, popcorn, turkey, cheese wedge, and more, and it includes a new Siri setting that lets users give voice examples for the “Hey Siri” feature that can be activated whenever the iPhone is connected to power. With the new iPhone 6s, the new feature will be essential because “Hey Siri” can be used even when an iPhone is not plugged in.
Google should steal these iOS features for Android
After the recent announcement of Apple’s iPhone 6S and iOS 9 (along with the confusing iPad Pro), I started thinking that there is a lot Android could learn (or just steal) from. There are a few features Google has yet to implement or get right with Android even to this day.
Also, due to Android being on more devices than iOS, I won’t be talking about things like build quality or better cameras because Android is meant to run on many different types of devices, all at different price points. It’s not fair to say Android should get a better camera, like the iPhone’s, when this would be a manufacturer issue and not actually an Android problem.
Fast Updates
Google may release new versions of Android every year or so but good luck actually seeing it come to your phone. Even the most expensive high-end Android phones usually don’t see the latest version of Android until about six months later. If you have a low-end or mid-range device phone, your chances of seeing multiple updates in its lifetime are slim.
Apple’s iOS 9, on the other hand, was officially announced on June 8 with public beta testing starting on July 9. A month later, on September 9, the company unveiled the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus running an official version of iOS 9. Both will be available around the world on September 25. iOS 9 actually came out a bit before the iPhone 6S on September 16. Not only is that a fast release, but the amount of included devices to get the iOS 9 update on the same day is huge. Even as far back as the iPad 2, which was unveiled in March 2011, by Steve Jobs, will be receiving the iOS 9 update. Look at all the devices that saw the update on September 16.
I understand Android is a much larger ecosystem with many more devices having to be coded for the latest update, but the wait is just crazy. You would think at least the flagship devices from the top manufactures would receive the latest updates in a timely fashion but that isn’t the case. Once Google creates the next version of Android, it has to be passed down to the device manufacturers and after that the carriers perform tests of their own. This creates a sluggish release and most of the time results in bugs which aren’t taken care of until the next update. You could be waiting up to an entire year to receive the next update just to fix small bugs you got from the last update. It has gotten a bit quicker over the years but is still comically bad compared to how Apple handles the process.
Full Phone Backups
One of the first things I noticed when I made the switch to Android from iOS was that there was no way of backing up my device. If it got lost, stolen, broke, or I just wanted another phone, there was no easy way of loading all data to it. This became extremely annoying and frustrating. The most insane part was the only way to do a full backup was to root your phone in order to install an app that could back it up. You couldn’t even get an app from the Play Store without having root access.
Nowadays there are apps like Helium, which can backup your phone without ROOT access, but this is not something users should have to install, but should be included directly into Android. Other manufacturers, like Samsung, have backup tools as well, but they aren’t that easy to use and, again, shouldn’t even be needed.
With iOS you can back up to iCloud or plug the iPhone into your computer to back up with iTunes. Very simple and hassle-free. I have had problems with iPhones and Android devices, both having to fully return the device for a new one. When I returned the iPhone 3GS and got a new one, I just plugged it into my computer and iTunes set everything up just like how I had it. When I returned my Android phone and got a new one, it was basically hours of re-downloading apps and entering passwords for each one. I am not an app-heavy person, but I can not imagine how horrible it would be for people with tons and tons of apps installed.
Google has said the next version of Android, Marshmallow, will be able to backup all your app data to Google Drive for free. It has a limit of only 25MB per app, but at least we are heading in the right direction.
No Bloat
I am so tired of paying huge amounts of money for high-end phones only to have half their internal storage gone towards useless pre-installed apps. The carrier ones are especially annoying because they never offer anything great and are usually ripoffs of better apps. Feel free to make all the apps your want, but release them in the Play Store and tell your customers to get them. Don’t force these apps down their throats.
I bought an unlocked phone from one carrier and use it on another carrier, but still have the first carrier’s garbage installed. Obviously, I’m never going to use their apps to check my plan or whatever, but I’m forced to have them installed forever. Again, this is an unlocked phone that I paid full price for. I have no connection with this carrier at all and there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to uninstall their apps.
Manufacturer bloat is sometimes as bad as the carriers’. I can understand that each manufacturer has to give consumers a reason to choose their phones. And when most of your competition is also using the same operating system, it becomes more difficult. They have to create unique apps and user interfaces to get consumers to buy their products over the rest. Fair enough. However, it is extremely annoying having apps like Facebook pre-installed on my phone. The most infuriating thing is being unable to remove them. Android is supposed to be all about choice and personal freedom, but having apps like Facebook forcefully installed ruins all of that.
I’m sure everyone has installed an app from the Play Store and seen a huge list of requesting permissions for you to accept. I appreciate being shown this list as it gives me the decision to install it or not. When apps are pre-installed, that choice is taken away, and since you can’t uninstall them, those apps can “spy” on you forever. I can just picture Mark Zuckerberg sitting at his desk, laughing away, knowing that you can never escape his control.
Apple knew from the first day of the App Store’s existence that this would be annoying and forced the carriers to agree to not include any extra apps on the iPhone. They also don’t pre-install any third-party apps.
Uniformity/Simplicity
This is another one that is tricky to fix. As I mentioned already, Android has a huge user base with different devices, making it very difficult to keep everyone on the same page. Google does a good job creating guidelines, such as Material Design, for everyone to follow, but many developers do not care to implement them into their apps, creating a problem when actually using many Android devices as nothing ever matches very well. There really isn’t an easy way to fix this without having harsh penalties towards developers who don’t modify their apps to reflect the new design principles, and that would go against what Android is all about.
However, there is no excuse for large manufacture skins. They have the money to hire the best designers in the world and their skins should reflect that. I hate buying a new Android phone only to instantly replace the keyboard, messaging app, and launcher because they don’t match anything else or function horribly.
Technically, the purest form of Android would be on a Nexus device. Definitely the smoothest of all Android phones, but compared to the latest iPhone, it’s really not that smooth. There are always little bugs or animation glitches that don’t make it perfect compared to the iPhone. Anyone who has used a Nexus device and an iPhone will know exactly what I mean.
There are other little things like the icons being all different sizes. Luckily, aftermarket launchers like Nova Launcher are adding uniformed icons that are visually the same size while still maintaining different shapes, but this shouldn’t be something aftermarket launchers even have to worry about and definitely already built into Android.
Plus, features like the notifications bar including quick toggles. Only recently did stock Android get this feature and it’s not implemented as well as it is in iOS, in my opinion.
Other things like showing the actual battery percentage at the top, as far as I know, still isn’t possible in stock Android. Just look at the status bar on the iPhone compared to the Nexus 6. Both are probably about 44%, but it’s impossible to tell on the Nexus 6 since it won’t tell you real numbers.
Android provides a lot of unnecessary work.
Battery Efficiency
The iPhone 6 has an 1810mAh battery and the iPhone 6S has a 1715mAh battery. Apple made it smaller this time around! Both batteries are very small compared to Android flagships and yet they last roughly the same amount of time. For a phone with a battery that is basically half of an Android phone’s, it should be much worse. One reason they get such long lasting performance is because iPhone’s barely lose any battery while in standby mode. When you aren’t using it, you basically aren’t using the battery either. Android phones will have double the size battery and lose 4%-20% just while you are asleep. Again, this is with basically double the size! If the iPhone drained that much, you would go to sleep just to wake up to basically a dead phone every morning.
Fortunately, Google sees this as a huge problem too and is working on a new feature called Doze for Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It is tasked with watching how you use your phone and adjusting certain things when you aren’t using it to give you maximum standby battery life. Will this feature realistically improve battery life? I can’t say right now, but we can certainly hope it will. The only problem I can see is where Google says Doze will only work when your phone is perfectly still. Once you start moving, the feature turns off. This means if your phone is in your pocket all day, literally doing nothing, Doze will seemingly not be working and battery drain will be the same. If you leave your phone on a desk all day, that is when Doze would be saving you battery. I think, overall, it’s meant for when you are asleep and won’t be looking at your phone at all. Also, don’t forget Doze is only for devices running Marshmallow, meaning you probably won’t be receiving it on your device anytime soon. Either way, this is a huge area that Android needs improvement in.
Rogue apps are another huge problem for battery life. Most of the time, apps use what I would consider to be a normal amount of battery drain, but every once in a while a ‘noob’ developer will release an app that works great yet murders battery life. Even huge apps like Facebook are always notorious for using an absurd amount of battery life. Whether the developer isn’t as skilled to create an app with battery efficiency or a large developer does not spend the time making their app energy-efficient, this has got to change. Apple’s iOS never runs into these problems, and Google definitely needs to investigate how they do it, and implement it into Android.
Tap To Top
On any iOS device, you can just tap the top of the screen in any app to get back to the top of it. This is amazing for long webpages where you would reach the bottom, but want to go back to the top; all you had to do was tap and you were there. With Android, you have to scroll for what feels like days. After knowing a feature like this exist elsewhere, it feels so primitive having to physically scroll to the top. I assume Apple has a patent on this feature, which is why no one has ripped it off yet. Samsung, though, did try to clone it on their Galaxy S III, but asked users to tap the phsysical top of the device to get to the top. It wasn’t as clean to use since the device was much larger than an iPhone at the time, but the worst part was it only worked in certain Samsung supported apps. Something like Apple’s ‘tap to top’ feature would be highly welcomed in Android.
So what do you think — which features does Google need to consider implementing in Android?
Come comment on this article: Google should steal these iOS features for Android
Apple Says iOS 9 Installed on More Than 50% of Active Devices, Fastest Adoption Ever
Apple has announced that iOS 9 is the fastest adopted software update ever, with more than 50% of active devices running the latest version as measured by the App Store on September 19.
“Customer response to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has been incredibly positive, we can’t wait to get our most advanced iPhones ever into customers’ hands starting this Friday,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iOS 9 is also off to an amazing start, on pace to be downloaded by more users than any other software release in Apple’s history.”
Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller says that iOS 9 is on pace to be downloaded by more users than any other iOS release since the original iPhone was released, while noting that iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus response has been “incredibly positive” leading up to their September 25 launch date.
Apple Outlines Fix for Unresponsive ‘Slide to Upgrade’ Screen on iOS 9
Apple has published a new support document on its website that outlines a fix for users experiencing an unresponsive “Slide to Upgrade” screen after updating to iOS 9 (via iPhoneHacks).
The issue has affected a growing number of users on the Apple Support Communities, MacRumors discussion forum and social media.
Apple recommends restoring your device from an iTunes backup to resolve the problem.
1. Connect your iOS device to your computer and open iTunes.
2. Select your device. If you don’t see it listed, force restart your device by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home button for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
3. If you made an iTunes backup of your device before updating to iOS 9, restore your device from that backup. If not, you need to make a backup of your device in iTunes, then restore from that backup.
Apple released iOS 9 on Wednesday for iPhone 4s or later, iPad 2 or later and the fifth-generation iPod touch or later.
Apple’s Move to iOS app yet another example of ‘innovation’
Earlier this week Android fans were treated to Apple’s first app that could be used on Android. The downside was that the app’s purpose is to help users migrate their data from an Android device over to an iPhone, ostensibly to help support consumers ordering a new iPhone 6S or iPhone 6S Plus, although it would worker with older models. Predictably, this triggered a bunch of ire on the part of Android fans. The tale gets even better as Apple appears to have lived up to a frequent criticism – that their idea of “innovation” is slapping their name on someone else’s creation – as it has been discovered the Move to iOS app is merely a repackaged app produced by another company.
As part of a dive into some of the source code for Move to iOS, it has been determined that the creator of the app is actually a company from the U.K. called Media Mushroom. Further, the app is not even new as versions of it have been available in both the Google Play Store, as Copy My Data, and in iTunes as Device Switch. Both apps, along with the rebranded Move to iOS, were designed to aid users in migrating between different devices which is the claimed specialty of Media Mushroom.
Sources have noted that Apple does note on their website that they have access to “an extensive library of reusable white-label software” if a particular need has to be met on a short time frame. The move to get an app out to help Android users move to a new iPhone, an app with Apple’s name on it, appears to have fallen within that category.
source: Phandroid
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