Apple, What Have You Done?
I’ve been an Apple user for over a decade and generally very happy with that life choice, but since iOS / iPadOS 26 and MacOS Tahoe were released a few months ago, I honestly want to tear my hair out.
I’m trying to get on with the new OS, but there’s so many little bugs that Apple software no longer feels like it just works. It seems less intuitive and like nobody has really tested it thoroughly. Do Apple staff even use their products anymore, or are they all secretly harbouring Android devices?
Here’s a few issues that annoy me regularly, this list is far from exhaustive:
iPhone
My iPhone 14 Pro has 35Gb of “system data” which has basically filled up the entire storage I had left. If I delete some apps or data to free up room, the system data then takes it! I can’t update easily because updates need lots of space and sometimes I can’t even take a photo! Call me cynical, but this feels like a tactic to force me to buy a newer iPhone1.
My white home screen widgets no longer blend into my white wallpaper thanks to the glowing liquid glass border. I was so happy when Apple allowed you to hide widget names so they could look like part of the home screen, now they’ve basically undone this.
Random restarts. This has always happened occasionally, but now it’s at least once a week, most commonly when taking a photo.
iPad
The search box in the App Store doesn’t auto-focus – when you bring it up, you immediately want to type, but Apple makes you tap into it as well. That’s shoddy UI design.
It’s SO aggressive with tab refreshing in Safari! I have an M1 iPad Pro, yet this happens whenever I open a couple of different tabs and go back. Other browsers don’t do this.
Mac
Why, oh why did Apple take the app launcher away! I had everything neatly put into folders and now they’re all gone. No warning, no option to organise them a different way, just gone. I used muscle memory to access most of my apps, sometimes I can’t even remember their names, but now I have to because the new way to open apps is to search for them2.
Hardware
It’s not the just the software that has issues unfortunately….
My Magic Keyboard sometimes loses connection with the iPad and I have to detach/reattach it. Oh, and occasionally it rattles!! If you think I might have just been unlucky, this is the second one I purchased – the first had a lump on the bottom!3 Obviously not an OS issue, but I’ve never known such poor quality control from Apple.
My iMac screen also flickers sometimes and this never happened before Tahoe. It feels like a bug with the auto-brightness, but I’m terrified it’s going to die on me.
So is it just me? Or is this OS definitely a bad Apple?
There are 2 comments – tap to view!
Sebastian 🇺🇸 commented via the Guestbook:
I was just LAST NIGHT complaining about how Apple is irritating the hell out of me right now. I was trying to figure out why my Apple Music with no downloaded music was eating up 9 gigs of space, and found there is really no user-facing way to correct the issue. I’M AN OLD HUMAN! I remember when Apple products JUST WORKED.
(Also, love your blog. Keep up the good words. Don’t be a stranger!)
- My Apple Music has mysterious data too! I deleted every downloaded song, album, playlist etc to no avail. Goodness knows what’s going on, something has definitely changed. Lovely to have another comment from you, I’m really glad you’re enjoying the blog. 🙂 ~Becky
Ruth commented via the Guestbook:
Your complaint about the System files taking over your entire iPhone reminded me of this post I read last week: How Apple Nearly Ruined My Vacation.
There isn’t really a solution offered in that post other than the full wipe that you don’t want to do for very reasonable reasons, and I don’t use Apple any more so can’t provide any insight personally, but it seems likely to be a similar problem relating to the system caching too much shit. Personally, MacOS peaked around 2015 Yosemite and has largely been downhill from there.
- I agree it’s definitely a caching issue, just strange that we’re not allowed to manually flush it. Apple deciding it knows best as usual! Thanks for the link to Lou’s article, I remember reading that one! ~Becky
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Yes, I could wipe the phone and reinstall from scratch, but that always terrifies me as I’ve managed to lose data in the past, despite backing up.↩
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I’ve noticed a few third party launchers have popped up, initially free and then switching to paid once they’ve lured you in.↩
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Purchased in “mint condition” off Amazon and it was most certainly not (badly scuffed & peeling), but the lump must have been there since new as it was inside the silicone trim! It went straight back to Amazon.↩
