I downloaded the beta of iOS 5 almost as soon as it was available. I have to say, overall I’m impressed. You can see what I thought of specific elements in part 1 and part 2 of my beta preview. However great the setup, there are still some niggling bugs – plus features that don’t even work yet. So here goes:
1. Notification Syncing
You may have experienced differently to me on this, but, my two iOS devices don’t sync notifications. I’m not sure if it’s a bug, or just an oversight by Apple. A notification wil normally come through on both my iPad and iPhone.
What I mean is, if I get an iMessage and then proceed to read the message on one of my devices, the notification remains on the lock screen of other device. The same can be said for emails, Reminders, and calendar alerts.
You’d think with Apple being so invested in the “automatic updates” thing, this would work seamlessly. It can get pretty irritating having to dismiss alerts on my iPad, after I’ve read them on my iPhone. Have you had the same experience?
2. Camera button
Using the volume up key as a shutter switch is a great idea, until you realize it involves turning your phone the wrong way around. Normally when taking a snapshot I’d have the handset in landscape mode, with the home key to the right of my device, and the camera in the top left.
This is optimal, my left index finger generally secures the device by gripping on to the steel antenna, completely out of the way. However, by using a volume key as a shutter switch the camera then ends up in the bottom right, just by my right hand.
So many times I’ve missed a shot because of a straying pinky. Apple – if you’re going to adopt a hardware shutter switch, do it properly, don’t just incorporate a handy jailbreak hack.
3. Call notifications – laggy
Missed calls show up on your lock screen like any other notifications. To return the call all you need to do is swipe the icon from left to right. This should immediately initiate a call to the desired person.
What I’ve noticed – each time without fail – is that instead of being a fluid response and instant call, I end up waiting with my wallpaper and a couple of frozen icons on the screen in each corner. This lasts 3-5 seconds before the call is made. It’s not great, and I’m hoping the developer team at Apple works to make this more fluid.
4. Connectivity issues
A lot more often than previously, I’ve noticed a lot of dropped WiFi connection, and carrier signal. Even at home, sat a room away from my MicroCell the device will just drop signal completely for a few seconds and re-scan.
5. No Newsstand
This isn’t as much a flaw as it is an un-launched service. I’m presuming this will go live when iOS 5 is launched to the public later this year.
6. Home Sharing
A recently discovered flaw. When I access my new ‘Music’ app and select my shared library it shows playlists, but when I select ‘songs’, ‘albums’ or ‘artists’ it tells me I have no music to play. Upon restarting my device, they showed up fine. Either way, this inconsistency isn’t ideal.
Over to you guys. Have any of you downloaded the beta and experienced similar issues? Have you found major problems in other areas that I have yet to discover? Comment below
