Stupid feature changes/removals in iOS 15

[rexone]

It’s truly amazing how many people seem unable to adapt to things these days and expect everything to bend to their will.

I think anyone here on a tech forum is quite capable of adapting to changes.
The issue is we are seeing is pointless change just for changes sake. To say people are expecting things to 'bend to their will' when the conversation is about sensible functionality that has been needlessly removed is just trolling.
When the usability & functionality of something is decreased by changes, just because the change looks really funky, then you are not moving forwards. That's a retrograde step.
The bar you need to touch is so small, it jiggles around with any movement & that it does not persist for even a few seconds after you have scanned makes it frustrating & less user-friendly.

 

[rexone]

Why is 'Focus' so dominant?
It was set on by default when I upgraded & took lots of messing around to switch everything off.
Then it has a double-sized button in Control Centre which, as far as I can see, you cannot remove.
I have no plans to use Focus, anyone know if this button can be removed?

 

[Rigby]

Then today I was out the first time since iOS 15 came out (I'm currently in lockdown) so needed to check in with a QR code and in iOS 14, when you scanned a QR code in camera, you got a lovely big easily tappable notification/banner with the URL. Now, you get a stupid tiny popup with a fiddly touch target, which disappears as soon as the QR code goes out of focus. WHY APPLE? WHY??

Another strange thing: if Safari is your default browser, the popup shows you the domain part of the URL encoded in the QR code before opening it (as seen here). If you choose another browser as default browser, it just says "Open in <name of browser>", so you can't see where the link is going without opening it, which is a privacy and security risk.

 

[Rigby]

Again, a simple two step process is turned into a much longer one. Three taps in iOS 14. Six taps + unlocking device in iOs 15.

The whole point of control centre is to avoid going into settings.

Not a complete replacement, but you can use the Shortcuts app to create a shortcut that turns off Wifi and/or BT (Scripting/Set Wifi or Set Bluetooth) and place that on the home screen. Now you can turn them off with a single tap.

 

[oldmacs]

Not a complete replacement, but you can use the Shortcuts app to create a shortcut that turns off Wifi and/or BT (Scripting/Set Wifi or Set Bluetooth) and place that on the home screen. Now you can turn them off with a single tap.

Yeah I've added it to a widget that I can access by swiping left. It's in some ways better in some ways worse!

 

[dcp10]

It is not a problem I've created for myself.

It is a problem Apple has caused by removing a feature.

Simples.

Everyone has unique use cases, but companies design for the least common denominator.

Why does Apple make it harder to turn off Bluetooth? Because it affects a whole lot of functionality.

Here’s a list from Apple Support

About Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
When you toggle the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth buttons in Control Center, your device immediately disconnects from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth accessories. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will continue to be available, so you can still use these features:
AirDrop
AirPlay
Apple Pencil
Apple Watch
Continuity features, like Handoff and Instant Hotspot
Instant Hotspot
Location Services
Unlock with Apple Watch

And this doesn’t include Find My, which needs Bluetooth to locate lost items, or Apple Remote.

Apple doesn’t really want it turned off cause it’s tied into so many features. I suspect the support reps could attest to the number of calls where the problem was BT being switched off. I can only imagine how many more they’d get if it was easier to completely turn it off.

 

[oldmacs]

Everyone has unique use cases, but companies design for the least common denominator.

Why does Apple make it harder to turn off Bluetooth? Because it affects a whole lot of functionality.

Here’s a list from Apple Support

About Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
When you toggle the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth buttons in Control Center, your device immediately disconnects from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth accessories. Both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will continue to be available, so you can still use these features:
AirDrop
AirPlay
Apple Pencil
Apple Watch
Continuity features, like Handoff and Instant Hotspot
Instant Hotspot
Location Services
Unlock with Apple Watch

And this doesn’t include Find My, which needs Bluetooth to locate lost items, or Apple Remote.

Apple doesn’t really want it turned off cause it’s tied into so many features. I suspect the support reps could attest to the number of calls where the problem was BT being switched off. I can only imagine how many more they’d get if it was easier to completely turn it off.

I get this, but there are plenty of ways they could have implemented this better.

They could have a setting which lets you revert the functionality. Most users won't touch it and those who do would know what they'e doing. Alternatively a long press could have been used to give the option to turn it off completely.

 

[Vlad Soare]

I still don't get what exactly is bothering you so badly. Is it just that the BT button in the Control Centre doesn't turn BT off permanently, but just until the next day?
Why does this matter? Are you flying for more than 24 hours without a break? When you go to bed, do you intend to be sleeping until the day after tomorrow? I would expect that by the time it reactivates by itself you would have reactivated it manually anyway.

 

[Slartibart]

It's still a clunkier way of doing things.

Hold button in to active Siri. Wisper 'Turn on aeroplane mode'. Wait for Siri. Press button again, Whisper 'turn off wifi'. Press button again, Whisper 'turn off bluetooth'.

As apposed to swipe down, tap aeroplane mode, tap wifi, tap bluetooth. Done.

mmh… but that’s tedious, isn’t it? After reading all your replies here I think opening shortcuts and creating this automation (iOS/iPadOS 15 screenshot below) is slightly more elegant:

Here are are the settings for Wifi and bluetooth expnded:

Took me about 3 minutes including looking up some example in google.

The automation turns off both bluetooth and wifi when airplane mode is activated. Both will turn on when you deactivate airplane mode. 🤓

 

[matrix07]

1. Firstly when setting alarms they have reverted back to the scroll wheel, it takes so much longer than just typing it in.

The 60-minute scroll wheel in the Calendar time picker finally drive me back to Fantastical, which lets me just type in the time.

You’re still be able to type the time like in 14. Just tap on the wheel and type for example, tap Minutes to type any minutes you want.

It would be better, of course, if we can type the time directly on the time field. Apple, please correct this.

 

[matrix07]

Did it do this when we had scroll wheels previously??? Please tell me it didn’t as I have waisted precious minutes of my life lol

Of course it didn’t.

 

[oldmacs]

mmh… but that’s tedious, isn’t it? After reading all your replies here I think opening shortcuts and creating this automation (iOS/iPadOS 15 screenshot below) is slightly more elegant:

View attachment 1848146

Here are are the settings for Wifi and bluetooth expnded:

View attachment 1848145

Took me about 3 minutes including looking up some example in google.

The automation turns off both bluetooth and wifi when airplane mode is activated. Both will turn on when you deactivate airplane mode. 🤓

Oh this is fantastic!! Just what I'm looking for. Thank you.

I need to look more into using automatons!

 

[oldmacs]

I still don't get what exactly is bothering you so badly. Is it just that the BT button in the Control Centre doesn't turn BT off permanently, but just until the next day?
Why does this matter? Are you flying for more than 24 hours without a break? When you go to bed, do you intend to be sleeping until the day after tomorrow? I would expect that by the time it reactivates by itself you would have reactivated it manually anyway.

Yes it is that its now impossible to turn the Bluetooth radio off from control centre.

Why does it matter? I like to turn off bluetooth at night. The battery saving is minimal but adds up.

I get why the functionality has changed, but what frustrates me is that there is no way to revert it, or that a better solution wasn't implemented.

 

[Vlad Soare]

Why does it matter? I like to turn off bluetooth at night. The battery saving is minimal but adds up.

So, while you're still in the Control Centre, having just fiddled with the Airplane mode, just touch the BT icon while you're at it. It will turn off bluetooth for the entire night.
Why would you need to go to Settings for that?

 

[Slartibart]

Why does it matter? I like to turn off bluetooth at night. The battery saving is minimal but adds up.

you can set the condition in the example automation I posted previously even to a time. then you don’t even have to tap anything.

I get why the functionality has changed, but what frustrates me is that there is no way to revert it, or that a better solution wasn't implemented.

I think we have established now that there is an easy, even better solution, haven’t we? 😃

 

[oldmacs]

So, while you're still in the Control Centre, having just fiddled with the Airplane mode, just touch the BT icon while you're at it. It will turn off bluetooth for the entire night.
Why would you need to go to Settings for that?

No it doesn't turn off bluetooth, that merely disconnects some devices overnight, leaving the bluetooth radio on.

you can set the condition in the example automation I posted previously even to a time. then you don’t even have to tap anything.

Yes I acknowledged previously that it's a good solution. I would have just preferred Apple offer a toggle to control this functionality then automations wouldn't be required at all.

 

[Vlad Soare]

No it doesn't turn off bluetooth, that merely disconnects some devices overnight, leaving the bluetooth radio on.

Are you sure about that? Have you seen it explicitely stated anywhere, or have you actually tested it with an RF scanner?
Or are you simply inferring it by taking their words literally? "Disconnecting all devices" may as well mean turning off the feature altogether. I have a really hard time believing that the phone would merely disconnect each device one by one, then disallow any new device to see the phone and to connect to it, all while keeping the radio itself on. It would be absolutely stupid. I'd wager that they've just worded it in a way that they thought would make more sense to most users (most of whom aren't technically inclined, let's not forget that).

 

[oldmacs]

Are you sure about that? Have you seen it explicitely stated anywhere, or have you actually tested it with an RF scanner?
Or are you simply inferring it by taking their words literally? "Disconnecting all devices" may as well mean turning off the feature altogether. I have a really hard time believing that the phone would merely disconnect each device one by one, then disallow any new device to see the phone and to connect to it, all while keeping the radio itself on. It would be absolutely stupid. I'd wager that they've just worded it in a way that they thought would make more sense to most users (most of whom aren't technically inclined, let's not forget that).

This is from Apple's website:

Use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in Control Centre – Apple Support (UK)

Find out how to control Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from Control Centre on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

support.apple.com

Disconnect from Bluetooth accessories​

Open Control Centre on your iPhone or iPod touch, or iPad and tap the Bluetooth button

. The icon dims and your device disconnects from any accessory it's connected to, except for Apple Watch, Instant Hotspot, Apple Pencil and Continuity features such as Handoff.

The bluetooth radio has to be on for Handoff, Apple Pencil, Instant Hotspot and Apple Watch to continue working

 

[Vlad Soare]

I see. Oh well, tough luck.

 

[Vlad Soare]

Apple needs to cater to the bulk of its customer base. And if there are many, many, many thousands of people who want their watch to stay connected no matter what, and just a handful of obsessive-compulsive users who struggle to gain two and a half seconds of extra battery life per day, then it's easy to see whose side Apple will take. They cannot please everybody. It may not be fair, but it is what it is.

 

[oldmacs]

Apple needs to cater to the bulk of its customer base. And if there are many, many, many thousands of people who want their watch to stay connected no matter what, and just a handful of obsessive-compulsive users who struggle to gain two and a half seconds of extra battery life per day, then it's easy to see whose side Apple will take. They cannot please everybody. It may not be fair, but it is what it is.

Would have been super easy to give the option in settings to revert the functionality.

There are plenty of features in iOS that are used only by a minority. Should Apple remove them all?

 

[Vlad Soare]

Sure, it would have been nice to have an option. But Apple isn't exactly known for giving us options. Their core philosophy has always been: "it's Apple's way or the highway". Besides, I think implementing an extra option in Settings would have been significantly more involving, from a programmer's perspective, than simply changing the behaviour of an existing switch, which was probably done with just one or two lines of code.

In this particular case, I don't think they see it as removing a feature, but rather as fixing a feature that didn't work right - i.e. one that gave (or would be likely to give in the future) their tech support team too much headache.

 

[Rigby]

Are you sure about that? Have you seen it explicitely stated anywhere, or have you actually tested it with an RF scanner?

You can easily test it yourself with another iOS device using apps like Lightblue. Bluetooth not only remains on, but the device remains discoverable via BLE (you'll see the name of your phone in Lightblue if BT isn't fully disabled). BTW, this is also used by many retail stores to track you through the store via BT beacons.

 

[Daverich4]

Well, this may not bother anyone else but they took away the ability to print directly from Apple News which is something I had been doing on a regular basis. Apparently you now need to open the Apple News article in Safari if you want to print it.

 

[Daverich4]

You can revert to the iOS 14 safari design in settings

Is that someplace in settings besides Safari? I can’t find it on either my iPad or iPhone. Thanks.