Apple has sold around 500 million iPhones, since the release of the original iPhone in 2007, which officially makes the iPhone the most popular phone in history. Smartphone users are usually divided in two: Android users and iOS users. You cannot really like both, because they’re very different, so clashes between the two groups have been going on for 5 years, or so.
But not matter what operating system you use, there will be bugs, there will be issues and there will be annoyances. Because there is no perfection, especially when it comes to operating systems. Still, if you were to ask any tech-savvy person, they will tell you that, as a rule, iOS is a bit more stable and bug-free than Android. Apple is releasing updates almost every other month, and while sometimes, an update isn’t really needed, other times, they are imperative.
Two days ago, Apple released an update to their iOS, called iOS 8.1.2. The decision to release this now took many by surprise, as it was quite unexpected. Today, we’re going to analyze this decision to launch a new iOS update, we’re going to take a look at what the update implies and we’ll see the issues iOS has dealt with in the recent past.
iOS is believed by many to be the best operating system for smartphones in the world. As mentioned earlier, when compared to Android, iOS gets no viruses, less bugs and system crashes. Android proponents argue that Android is much more customizable and personal. But in the end, it all comes down to personal preferences, really! Saying that one is simply better than the other, is not going to help anyone.
Apple’s iOS and iPhone
The first iPhone was launched in 2007, but Steve Jobs started planning the iPhone in 2005. The original iPhone was launched in June 2007 and the first iOS was announced on January 9, 2007 and released with the original iPhone. It was a smartphone operating system like the world hadn’t seen before. Keep in mind that the first version of Android was released in 2008 and before the iOS, there was Symbian and other clumsy operating systems that worked great for non-smartphones.
Apple really did invent the smartphone operating system and because of that, many people consider Apple to have a clear advantage over Android. iOS shaped the way we perceive smartphones and it will continue to do so until something better comes along.
Life after iOS 8.0
But let’s return to more recent iOSs. Out of all the versions of iOS put forth by apple, iOS 7.0 has to be one of the most successful ones. It had a fairly uneventful life, it did its job right, had minimal bugs and issues and people were even happy with it. But then came iOS 8.0, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to stir things up. Maybe it was the fact that the launch of the iOS was quite hurried because of the pressure put on it by the new iPhones, maybe they should have worked more on it, but iOS 8.0 had a plethora of issues and people in general weren’t happy with it at all. Little did they know that the update meant to fix all those issues would be the biggest fail in the history of Apple.
Ever since Apple launched their new iPhones, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, in the fall of 2014, they have had a string of unfortunate mishaps that have begun to chip away at the shiny Apple armor. First came Bendgate, the scandal about the iPhones that would bend in back pockets and then the now infamous iOS 8.0.1 fail.
The iOS 8.0.1 update went so horribly wrong, that many people were left unable to use their phones. The most complains had to do with dropped calls and TouchID fingerprint malfunctioning. Wondering just how many people were affected by the faulty iOS 8.0.1 update? Apple revealed the numbers and they are quite staggering: 40,000 iPhones had issues following the update.
After some serious, but swift, consideration Apple decided to pull the iOS 8.0.1 update. It was something Apple had never done before, launch an update and then only hours later, pull it off the market. Not only that, but before removing the update, Apple told their customers not to update. So many people found it hard to believe that Apple would do such a thing, that it issued a statement to confirm that they had indeed pulled iOS 8.0.1:
We have received reports of an issue with the iOS 8.0.1 update. We are actively investigating these reports and will provide information as quickly as we can. In the meantime we have pulled back the iOS 8.0.1 update.
The next day after they pulled the iOS 8.0.1 update, Apple released a new update, iOS 8.0.2. Many have joked that Apple engineers pulled an all-nighter, but we don’t think it’s a joke at all. We believe that some heads rolled at Apple and most did crazy overtime hours. Apple released this following statement along with their iOS update:
iOS 8.0.2 is now available for users, it fixes an issue that affected iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who downloaded iOS 8.0.1, and includes improvements and bug fixes originally in iOS 8.0.1. We apologize for inconveniencing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who were impacted by the bug in iOS 8.0.1.
Apple Pay and iOS 8.1
After the waters were called down by iOS 8.0.2, Apple released iOS 8.1. The most important update that came with this new operating system, aside from the fixes of bugs and various other tweaks, was the much anticipated Apple Pay. The company had been advertising this new service for quite a while, so when it was finally here, there was some serious buzz around it.
Unfortunately, Apple Pay only works on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus because the service uses the dedicated secure chip and NFC (Near Field Communication) connectivity to communicate with retailers. These two iPhone models also have a secure element that will store credit card information on the smartphone. In addition, they have a device account number, that is unique to each iPhone and that is going to add to the security of your information. With Apple Pay, your credit card information is completely safe!
Apple Pay supports credit cards and debit cards from MasterCard, Visa and American Express, issued by banks including the Bank of America, Citi, Chase, Capital One and Wells Fargo. Did you know that these banks make up 83% of credit card purchase volume inside the United States?
Another very important update that came with iOS 8.1 was the return of the classic Camera Roll. Apple decided to remove the feature without any notice when it introduced iOS 8, but hey had received so many complaints about it, that they decided it was wise to listen to their clients and have the feature return.
The Latest Apple iOS Update – iOS 8.1.2
At the beginning of this week, Apple released their latest iOS Update, the iOS 8.1.2. The update is a small one, around 20MB, but that cannot really tell us anything about the changes that will happen to your smartphone, once you download it. iOS 8.1.2 is available for iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, 5C and 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and all versions of iPad Air and iPad Mini.
Even though the iOS 8.1.2 update has only been on the market for a few days, some iPhone users have already started complaining. The main complaints dealt with battery life issues, installation problems, messages issues, the usual range of Wi-Fi problems and problems with front-facing camera and email, but there is no big issue so far. Not one that would require another less-than timely update.
No iOS release was ever perfect; in fact, if it were, there would not have been any need to improve it and update it. The bottom line is, however, that iOS 8.1.2 is not ridden with issues. It does, have some, but not many. For example, if you have an iPhone 5 and have updated to the new iOS 8.1.2, then you might notice a decrease in performance, but that really doesn’t have anything to do with the update itself, but with the fact that updates are optimized for the latest model of phone, and the older your phone is, the weaker its configuration gets and the worse the operating system performs.
We strongly advise all iPhone users to simply stop updating at some point, preferably right before iOS 9, which will most likely slow down your iPhone 5 quite a lot. Apple doesn’t allow all of its iPhone to upgrade to the latest operating system and this is exactly why, because the tech specs simply can’t handle it. But this is also a way to compel people to upgrade their phones.
iOS 8.1.2 Jailbreak
One more thing you need to keep in mind if you’re planning to stay with iOS 8.1.2 is the fact that you can jailbreak the update. It’s highly uncommon for Apple to release an update to its operating system that can be immediately jailbroken. Usually, when Apple release an update, hackers go back to the drawing board and start coming up with hacks for the new update, but this time that won’t happen because iOS 8.1.2 can be jail broken with the exact same tools as the previous version. We don’t know if Apple did this on purpose, or it was an oversight (quite a large one, might we add), but if you would like your latest iOS to be jailbroken, you can do that!
How to Downgrade to iOS 8.1.1 from iOS 8.1.2
As we mentioned earlier, Apple released their new operating system, the iOS 8.1.2, earlier this week and the main reason why they released it without much notice was to fix a serious issue that affected purchased ringtones. Many iPhone users who bought ringtones from App Store, found that they couldn’t use them if they switched their devices. This caused Apple to speed up the release of their iOS 8.1.2 ahead of its time.
As always, for a very limited period of time (until Apple stops singing it), Apple gives people the option to downgrade if they are not happy with the new operating system. Because even if the iOS 8.1.1 was flawed for some people, it worked perfectly for others. Even if iOS 8.1.2 offers bug fixes for many people, it also comes with bugs and flaws for others.
Next, we will tell you how you can downgrade to iOS 8.1.1 if you’re not happy with the new iOS 8.1.2. If you want to downgrade to iOS 8.1.1, then we recommend you do it as soon as possible, because it’s going to be impossible to do it in a week or so. Then, you will never be able to downgrade. It’s something that has worked for Apple for years and we think they’ll never permanently put the possibility for downgrade on the table.
Let’s begin! To downgrade you need to know that you can’t just open iTunes and downgrade from there. The first thing you need to do is to back up our device because downgrading will erase everything from your iPhone of iPad.
Next, you will need to head over to this website and then download the iPSW iOS 8.1.1 for the iOS device you have. We warn you that the files are pretty big, so depending on your internet connection it could take from anywhere from 3 minutes to a few good hours to download it.
Once the file is in your computer, you need to connect your iOS device to your computer and then open iTunes. Head over to the device’s summary page and then, if you’re using Windows, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and the Option/Alt key if you’re using a Mac. When you click Restore, you need to be holding the key down. This will allow you to browse to find the iPSW file, which iTunes will use to start and complete the restore iOS 8.1.1 process on your iPhone or iPad.
After the installation process is complete, your iPhone or iPad will be running the old iOS 8.1.1! How you proceed after this is entirely your business, but we do recommend that you restore your backup by going to iTunes and click on Restore Backup. Depending on how much you had on your device, the whole process of restore will take around 2 to 20 minutes. Once that is done, you’ll be operating your device as you were before the iOS 8.1.2 update.
We suggest you do the downgrade only if you are experiencing some major issues with the updated iOS 8.1.2. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time with the downgrade. Also, you could wait for the mysterious iOS 8.2 major update which is believed to be approaching with fast steps.
iOS 8.2 – What and When?
Yes, the iOS 8.2 is coming and hopefully it will bring with it less bugs than we’ve seen with iOS 8.1.0, iOS 8.1.1 and now the iOS 8.1.2. There is no denying that iOS 8 has been causing more issues than all of the previous versions of iOS and many hope that this will change with the release of iOS 8.2.
On Wednesday, Apple released the beta version of the iOS 8.2 to developers. This release saw the implementation of additional support for the WatchKit SDK and it fixed a number of issues related to languages. A beta version of any operating system is first released to developers for testing, in case you needed things cleared out.
If you, like the majority of Apple lovers, are not a developer, then you’re going to have to wait just a little longer, before you can download the new iOS 8.2 for your iPhone and iPad. But if you’re a developer and you’re lucky enough to have gotten your hands on the new update, then we wish you good luck on developing your app for the Apple Watch. Because this is what WatchKit does; with the new iOS 8.2, we should expect plenty of new apps made especially for the Apple Watch.
With the new iOS 8.2 beta, Siri now supports Singapore English and more information about international languages should be made available soon. If you are an Apple developer, then you can download the iOS 8.2 beta via the Apple Developer Center or as an over-the-air update.
Have you experienced any problems with iOS 8.1.1? Did you update to iOS 8.1.2? What do you think about it? Are you planning to downgrade or upgrade? Drop us a line and tell us about it!