Yearly Archives: 2018

What’s New in iOS 12.0.1

iOS Development, ,

Lew from Unbox Therapy says iOS 12.0.1 fixes that spurious random non-charging issue, appropriately dubbed ChargeGate. I’m glad the issue has been fixed, although Apple does not officially acknowledge that there even was a problem.

From the Upgrade Dialogue:

iOS 12.0.1 brings performance improvements and exciting new features to iPhone and iPad.

  • Photos introduces new features to help you rediscover and share the photos in your library
  • Memoji—a new, more customizable Animoji—make Messages more expressive and fun.
  • Screen Time helps you and your family understand and make the most of the time spent on devices
  • Siri Shortcuts deliver a faster way to get things done with the ability for any app to work with Siri
  • augmented reality becomes even more engaging with the ability for developers to create shared AR experiences
  • and new privacy features help protect you from being tracked on the web.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:

ChargeGate: What’s going on with wired charging on iPhone XS?

Opinion,

Lew from Unbox Therapy posted a slightly shocking video a couple of days ago in which he examines what appears to be a random charging issue on the new iPhone XS models (both max and… well “non-max”). He’s appropriately dubbed it ChargeGate.

The issue was brought to the worlds attention by an Apple Forum Thread, in which user xMASTIFFSx observed that when his iPhone XS is in sleep mode (blank screen), it refuses to charge from a wired connection to a charger. However, if he wakes the phone up, then sometimes it starts to charge – at other times it does not.

Soon after the thread started, over hundred other iPhone XS users have responded that they had a similar problem. That’s never good when technology does that. We coders are used to boolean states. Random Booleans are not something we’re good at.

So Lew took out his 8 iPhones XS versions and put them all to the test. Watch the above video to see his staggering findings: MOST of the new iPhone models seem to behave in this strange way, refusing to charge when in sleep mode. But even when woken up, not all models start charging immediately. Some freeze, some start charging 10 minutes later, some never charge at all.

We can only assume at this time that Apple thoroughly tested the wireless charging option (which appears to work fine, whether the iPhone is asleep or awake), but it perhaps already hatching plans of removing that godforsaken final port on the “best iPhone ever” in the next iteration. Let’s be honest: why should they fix something if they could just REMOVE it instead? That plan worked so well with removing both the headphone jack and the home button.

This problem may or may not be related to Apple’s latest “software innovation” in iOS 12, in which a phone must be unlocked to start charging when connected to a Mac. Why they’ve implemented this ridiculous check is anyone’s guess. Security? Stupidity? We’ll never find out.

How’s your new iPhone XS doing? Does it start charging when you plug that lighting connector in?

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iPhone XS and XR: It’s like New Coke all over again

Opinion

I’m a little concerned about the recent iPhone releases. In particular, I’m not sure I like where this “experimental” Face ID thing is going.

Here’s my gripe: as of September 2018, we no longer have a choice about Face ID. At least last year, when the original iPhone X came out, we had a choice whether to adopt this new gimmick or not. The iPhone 8 still had “the button”.

But with this year’s release of Xclusive iPhone Xtravaganza (see what I did there?), I cannot help but think back at a time when Coca Cola decided to change their original loved-by-so-many default flavour with the release of New Coke. A mistake never to be made again. By any major brand.

Unless you’re Apple of course.

The issue I’m having with Face ID is not so much Face ID itself. It’s the fact that Apple have decided it’s the only way to operate my iPhone going forward. I’d like to make that decision myself – and quite frankly, I’m not ready to use it yet. I would like a button to unlock my phone. I’m the customer. I should be able to make that decision.

But I can’t. Because Apple have decided that I no longer need that button.

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What’s New in iOS 12

iOS Development,

Straight from the Update Dialogue that we can’t view anymore as soon as we hit “update”:

iOS 12 brings performance improvements and exciting new features to iPhone and iPad. Photos introduces new features to help you rediscover and share the photos in your library, Memoji—a new, more customizable Animoji—make Messages more expressive and fun, Screen Time helps you and your family understand and make the most of the time spent on devices, Siri Shortcuts deliver a faster way to get things done with the ability for any app to work with Siri, augmented reality becomes even more engaging with the ability for developers to create shared AR experiences, and new privacy features help protect you from being tracked on the web.

This update introduces new features and improvements to [the following areas]:

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