iOS fragmentation - Is it worse than Android's?

How do we define fragmentation?

This is what fragmentation (frgmn-tshn) actually means:
The scattering of parts of a computer file across different regions of a disk. Fragmentation occurs when the operating system breaks up the file and stores it in locations left vacant by previously deleted files. The more fragmented the file, the slower it is to retrieve, since each piece of the file must be identified and located on the disk.

Below we will try to explain the FUD term propagated by Steve Jobs and spread by Apple fans that also have a very vague idea of it's meaning.

• the inability to update the OS because of the manufacturer?
• the user's choice not to update?
• the coexistence of multiple app stores?
• exclusive apps?
• different hardware configurations?

So let's start with updates

    If we are to consider updates as the sole factor in fragmentation, we would certainly be wrong. Both Android and iOS can run the same Apps. Forcing partial updates like iOS 4 on iPhone 3G and 3GS has lowered the device performance considerably while still not bringing the same features iPhone 4 had. Apple might have reduced fragmentation in statistics, but it has decreased user experience by making 3G and 3GS laggy devices.

So how are iPhone updates doing in 2011?
According to statistics, not too well. So far iOS 5 is only on 38% of all iPhones:

"According to Chitika Insights, one month after release, the new OS is on 38 percent of iPhones, 30 percent of iPads and 12 percent of iPod Touch.

iOS5 distribution in 2011

 The firm uses mobile ad network impressions to analyze traffic."

In comparison, Android's latest major distribution for Phones 2.x.x is spread across 95% of the devices, and the latest subversion, Gingerbread or 2.3.x is spread across 38.2% of the devices.

We should also mention that Android has a market share or 52.5% while Apple has a market of ~15%. Given the fact that there are 443 unique Android devices released and only 7 iPhones, I'd say Apple's closed eco-system idea is doing a lot worse in the real world than it did on paper.

iPhone 4S packs Bluetooth 4.0 - no, you still can't beam anything over

   After a selective benchmark that only displayed the results where iPhone 4S excelled, Apple now tries to claim the title for "the first Bluetooth 4.0" phone. The FUD spread by Apple pretty much consists of obscure features such as collecting data from various sensors or connecting headsets, features that are available for everybody since bluetooth 1.0. Of course as with any bluetooth iteration there's lower power consumption and higher transfer rates - of course useful for phones that can actually beam data; so far the best bet is a jailbroken phone. It's unknown if Apple may allow sending files via iMessages to iOS only devices so Bluetooth is actually in the same status quo it's always been in on iOS.

   Unfortunately for Apple, the file transfer and the remote SIM access protocols are parts of the Bluetooth standard and with those missing it simply "ain't got no standard", just the same way iPhone doesn't really have USB but that is another story.

Kudos Apple for making the news and deceiving your fans all over again!

Why does it take an hour to put an album on an iPhone?

    Why does Apple force users into an experience that almost inevitably ends in sadness, if not outright disaster? There's a straight answer to that question and it's what pushed me away from my iPhone 3G and onto a Nexus One in the summer of 2010. 

    The whole point of selling an iPhone/iPod touch isn't to sell a piece of hardware, it's to loop an end-user into a system that continually drains their credit card.

     But here's the thing: what if you don't want to go all-in with that ecosystem? What if you enjoy casually using an app here or there on the iPhone, and what if you just want to throw a record on your device five minutes prior to heading out on a ten-day road trip? What if you want to make quick and subtle changes to your iPod, iPad or iPhone, without iTunes selfishly consuming what's left of your day? That, friends, is apparently an impossible task, especially if you've got a handful of devices or - gasp! - more than one computer that your device talks to.

The Apple/iOS user tracking & privacy breaking roundup

    You’ve probably heard by now about the detailed log your iOS device keeps of your movements, but it's about time a roundup o the whole story was made. Now there’s a tool to prevent that plus some more clarity on the issue, which like all freedom on Apple products, requires jailbreaking.

    Apple's location services pinpoint your location using GPS, Cell-ID and Wi-Fi hotspots. Early devices used Google and Skyhook databases to do that, but since iOS 3.2 Apple has been building up their own database - you become their Guinea Pig (read: lab rat).

     A file kept unencrypted on your iProduct holds a record of all your movements from about an year ago and that file is copied to any computer you’ve synced it to and any backups you might have made.

As usual with Apple software, there's no security between anyone and your private data (called consolidated.db), either by copying it from a computer that contains a copy of the file or simply stealing the device itself, can easily extract a log of your whereabouts over the last year.(red more about Steve Jobs's opinion and Android below)

Apple completley breaks iPad and iPad 2 USB compatibility

    Apple has reduced the amount of power that the iPad’s 30-pin connector can emit from 100mA to 20mA. The good part about this is that your iPad’s battery will probably last longer but the downside is that Apple’s iPad Camera Connection Kit is crippled for many people. The Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit includes two adapters: 1 USB connector and 1 SD card reader.

    The core issue is that connected devices that require power of more than 20mA will no longer work. That means that many USB keyboards (Apple’s included) as well as USB flash drives will no longer work with the iPad. When the user connects a device that is not self-powered and requires more than 20mA of power from the iPad they get the following alert: “The connected USB device requires too much power.”

     This problem not only pertains to camera-related devices but also is an issue for microphones. USB microphones were compatible with the iPad running iOS 3.2.2 but now some of them apparently use more than 20mA of the iPad’s power. Although many users are unhappy that they cannot use many of their USB flash drives, USB keyboards, or USB microphones anymore, users are even angrier that many of their USB cameras no longer work with the iPad.

iPhone alarm not working in 2011

     Although it sounds very similar to recent Daylight Savings Time trouble we witnessed back in November, this is much worse, we saw both repeating alarm and single alarm failures. The issue seems to be affecting iOS 4.1 and 4.0.2 as well.

    Following the standard reply all of us annoyed custommers got,  9to5 Mac sayd that the bug will get fixed all by itself once the calendar hits January 3rd:

We're aware of an issue related to non repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2. Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3.

    What now? It's January 3rd. You know, the day you're supposed to return to work / school / life. And the day you're supposed to catch a flight you've had booked for three months and probably a day that you're supposed to accomplish lots of other tasks. Unfortunately you actually believed that your iPhone alarm would fix itself when today rolled around, but based on hordes of complaints seen on Twitter and Facebook, said fix is still hibernating. And thus, you're still sleeping. Who knows when Apple's code-apes will step up to the plate and address the issue; maybe it will be a new feature in iOS 5, alarms & DST!. In the meantime, go get a more reliable Symbian or Android device that probably won't replace your PSP and send your private data to 3rd parties, but hey, at least it will make a good smartphone!

Yet another story on unreliable Apple software: Fixing MobileMe

     Apple's never been so great with sync. Nonetheless, the idea of MobileMe is great. In practice, unfortunately like most Apple products and services, it just doesn't work. 

     The way to fix MobileMe can basically be summarized in three words: reset, reset, reset. When you're syncing with a bunch of devices, MobileMe will often have trouble deciding what data to delete and what to keep. It will err on the side of either deleting or keeping everything and no matter how many times you delete address book contacts, calendars, or whatever, you find them popping back up again. This is extremely frustrating as you will have to sync all those 20GB of whatever is on your iPhone all over again - it takes ages...

     So, to make use of those 99$ you paid for this lousy service, let's start resetting your data. First, the MobileMe preference pane in System Preferences is where you want to start, but you also have to reset syncing data in iSync as well. 

If you're syncing to an iOS device, you should also reset sync data on the phone (in Setting-> General-> Reset). 

iOS 4.2 postponed indefinitley because of iPad WiFi bug

     It looks like Apple's incompetence in designing hardware can only be matched by their inability to code reliable software and the poor build quality of the products made in The Far East (read: Shenzhen, China, new MacBook Air).

     After weeks of slumbering, Apple's iOS update has today gone from "gold" to cancelled as the severe iPad Wi-Fi *leak* has *spilled* over the dev team yet again. How something that was fixed in the first place can break with an "update" is beyond me but, hey!, so is the way they managed to patch a hardware flaw with software.

     Many users of the Golden Master version of 4.2 reported that a WiFi connection could be established by their devices but, once made, they were unable to actually do anything on the 'net, and not being able to do anything on the 'net is what we like to call a Very Bad Thing. No word on exactly when a new version will be available, but it should still drop within the next few weeks. [Edit]It looks like a new beta of the beta version has shown up that is supposed to fix the WiFi flaw; if it doesn't a long wait for iOS 4.3 awaits...

    Please don't come asking how Google manages to roll full OS updates on dozens of feature packed devices with different CPUs at once and Apple can't even manage a few wimpy wannabe smart devices that can't even send a picture through bluetooth, connect to a PC or anything else for that matter...

iOS4 - Jailbreaking fiasco

     Now that all the jailbreaking tools use the same exploit

• greenpois0n Mac, Windows and Linux,
• Limera1n, redsn0w Mac and Windows
• PwnageTool Mac

it looks like finding the right one that won't break your device is no longer an issue - they all break your device!

     The reasons why most hackers only use know security holes  are either trying to be one step ahead of Apple, so the hole doesn't get patched on the next iOS release or simply keep the secret that gets them your credit card number. 

     So with the new jailbreak out everybody should be happy right? With all the unlocked features like working bluetooth transfers, mass storage mode, Symbian/MeeGo visual style (real) multitasking, even a half backed Flash version taken from Android and hundreds of other tricks they should be!

     But unfortunately for most of the users the cellular data connection. and FaceTime are broken. There have been reports that jailbreaking your iOS 4.1 device with one of the latest jailbreaks (Greenpois0n, Limera1n, or PwnageTool) can result in breaking FaceTime and getting no cellular data connection. Not exactly what you expected when you wanted those common sense features any other manufacturer offers, now is it?

Thankfully, there is already a fix that well, seems to work for most users. Apparently the issue has to do with some low-level SMS communication and a reset of the phone's carrier bundle, things that can only be fixed by downloading yet another app from Cydia and tinkering into the phone's settings.

iPhone, not only a bad phone but an awful alarm clock too! [new iOS bug]

      Australian iPhone users have found out the hard way how unreliable iPhone is, as their handsets have failed to adjust repeated alarms to allow for daylight saving - if they've gone off at all.

      We're indebted to the Sydney Morning Herald, and reader Adrian Esdaile, for alerting us to this latest iOS bug, which isn't limited to the iPhone. Anyone depending on an iOS device to wake them is suffering from the same problem, which persists in sounding repeating alarms without regard for daylight saving, despite updating the system time correctly.

      It'a not the first time Apple has struggled with the shift of an hour. Earlier this year iPhone users found their handsets unable to cope with the start of the summer. One could set an alarm each night and expect to be woken at the right time, and one can always set a repeating alarm with a one-hour offset to allow for the peculiarities of the operating system - but it's not ideal.

      Australia isn't the only country running an hour out thanks to Apple - it seems that New Zealand Apple fans have been waking up an hour early for a week now, and learnt to cope with it while expecting a fix before the US switches off daylight saving on 7 November.

      Once Americans start getting inconvenienced Apple will no doubt take action, as support for the device is somewhere between none and nonexistent for the rest of the world

iOS 4.1: some bugs fixed, some bugs added

      As with almost any software update, Apple has introduced new issues while ironing out a couple of others. As I said before iPhone is far from being the on-board companion you'd like it to be as rSAP (wireless bluetooth connection for your car) simply isn't there. Automotive forums around the web are ablaze with talk that iOS 4.1 has introduced any number of playback problems, with the bulk of complainers citing scratching, crackling or random disconnects when piping audio from their device to their vehicle via the dock connector. Prior firmwares have caused permanent incompatibilities between our iPods and vehicles before but that's not a surprise since the dock connector doesn't respect proper USB standards and not even the 3GS was able to properly handle AVRCP(remote control profile for wireless headsets). 

     I know it's impossible for the software engineers at Cupertino to test antenna designs, battery designs, security holes and apparently everything else for that matter, so probably it's time to completely cut all corners and hire a dev team from China, the closer to Shenzhen, Foxconn where iPhone is made, the better. It really makes no sense to pay developers that couldn't seem to grasp the concept of a mobile OS for almost four years now and even less of how the device is made.