Update on iOS7 - GUI and Gripes

When iOS 7 first came out, I was quite shocked - as were, I would presume, a substantial part of the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users. Human beings don’t like change for the most part, and what a change it’s been from iOS 6 to 7.

In the meantime, I’ve managed to digest the shock and am using iOS 7 on my iPhone and the newer of the two iPads. I’m quite convinced that the move to a less bubble-gummy GUI was the right way for Apple to go; I don’t miss any of the saturated colors and graduated buttons of the previous version.

In fact, when I do something with my iPad 1 (primarily used by the kids), I get the “eeck” Effekt from the garish design.

I will say this, though: both on the iPhone 4 and on the iPad 3, both - of course - with quite a bit less CPU horsepower than current devices, iOS 7 really takes a beating, performance-wise. In fact, it seems that without the periodic reboot, performance seems to drag more and more.

This article confirms my experiences:

“Those who haven't picked up either an iPhone 5C or iPhone 5S and who have instead installed iOS 7 on their current iPhone - or iPad - are likely experiencing a downgrade in speed, with hoards of angry iOS users slamming Apple for the slow-down they are experiencing.
The V3 team has installed iOS 7 on a third-generation iPad and an older iPhone 4, and the dip in performance is very noticeable. This is likely due to the updated operating system's fancy new motion effects, design features and reworked applications.”

I’m quite sure, though, that Apple is using propagating specific hardware capabilities of newer devices in “7”, which task older HW to excess. That, too, will convince a decent percentage of users of older hardware to upgrade, which - lets not forget - is what Apple “pays its rent” with.

Oddly enough, the App that shows the most annoying responsiveness - especially on the even-older iPhone 4 - is the Podcast App - this has such lengthy delays that it feels like a satellite-based phone call - you do something on the screen and you’re not sure if the system registered it. Very annoying.

This article contains a large collection of different issues and resolutions for them - unfortunately, none of my issues are covered...
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