On the first day of Christmas Apple gave to me: 12 ways to fix iOS 7

Apple’s iOS 7 may be running on almost three quarters of Apple-supported mobile devices but that doesn’t mean that user experience on the operating system is perfect. If anything, it’s an exercise in acute frustration for many.

The tech giant’s fanbase may baulk at the suggestion but Apple’s ongoing war with its competitors is taking a toll on user experience.

As we head to Christmas, I have made a list for Apple (and checked it, twice) about the ways it can fix iOS 7.

Sharing is caring

iOS 7 is Apple’s seventh major mobile software operating system and yet it still fails to accomplish one touch sharing.

For example, why am I still being forced to login to Facebook or Twitter within the Safari app when I want to share something interesting, especially when I'm already logged into the apps? 

How is that a better experience than using the app itself?  (The answer: not at all).

Apple is trying to keep people within its custom web browser, even if the user experience suffers. Instead of simply bringing up a "share" page within the Facebook app with the link in question already embedded, one has to copy the URL, click out of the app and manually paste it into the Facebook app.

Which brings me to number two on my Christmas wish list:

Fix your login permissions

I haven’t the foggiest why I would want to login to Facebook or Twitter within the Safari app but say I do, don’t make me login again when I’m already logged into the apps.

Learn my language

The messaging experience in iOS 7 is an unholy, unintuitive mess.

If Macquarie dictionary lists the word “f***” as a word, then iOS should too. I’m not sure I’ve ever needed to use the word “duck” in my entire life yet there it is, every time I try to type an expletive. A good messaging system learns how you speak the more you use it. iOS 7 fails completely to do this. Autocorrect continues to replace real words with fake ones. Is “kirby” a word? iOS 7 seems to think so.

One calendar to rule them all

This is where pettiness between brands really comes to fore. I have a Google calendar, I have my iPhone calendar and I have my work calendar - all because Apple, Google and Microsoft won’t play nice.

Take down the silos and let me use one calendar for all of my events, regardless of what email services I use.

Bring back Airplay

I have two Apple phones, a Macbook Pro, Apple TV and an iPad and yet Airplay continues to elude me. It appears and disappears on the iPad and iPhone with no particular pattern that I can recognise. I don’t care what video player I’m using, having spent thousands of dollars buying up Apple’s entire ecosystem - not to mention the purchases made in iTunes - the least it could do in return is me play it on my TV. The same goes for Mac computers.

Kill that awful, awful Podcast app

Apple's move to complicate things with a separate Podcast app makes little sense.

The UI is terrible and switching between music and audiobooks or podcasts also means switching between apps. It's a cumbersome experience that is entirely unnecessary.

A swift re-integration back into the Music app is in order.

More chat heads

Facebook chat heads show up everywhere on Android phones but only within the Facebook app on iOS 7. Yes, technically I can set up Facebook notifications but they're annoying at the best of times. Chat heads are such a nifty way of keeping track of all my communications and if I don't have time to reply they can just sit silently on the side of my screen until I'm ready. I can’t believe I’m saying this but more Facebook chat heads everywhere please.

Battery life, fix it.

Apple claims to have remedied the widespread complains about battery life with its latest upgrade, but I’ve yet to see any evidence of that.

Fix iMessage

The single most common problem with iOS 7 is iMessage’s complete failure to deliver on its end of the bargain. I’ve received thousands of emails from users complaining they’re still waiting to be approved to use iMessage but even after they’ve been approved it only works half the time. Most of the time iMessage doesn’t even seem to work. But even when it appears to be working many messages simply disappear into the ether.

And that brings us to Facetime.

Fix the Facetime fallouts

I’ve only successfully used Facetime once since iOS 7 was introduced. But even then the call dropped out. Twice. Consistent service delivery has seemingly gone missing in the upgrade.  

Maps - the road to nowhere

Apple’s had plenty of headaches, courtesy of the misbehaving Maps app, and even after all the updates, Maps continues to tell me to turn down roads that don’t exist or are actually one way streets. I’m not sure what data Apple is basing its Maps off of but it seems to be dated.

Bluetooth

The Bluetooth recognition is so patchy that syncing the iPhone to the iPad, much less the other devices at my home, is a hit and miss affair.

“Have you tried turning it on and turning it off again” isn’t good enough, frankly.

Don’t get me wrong, Apple revolutionised the mobile space with the iPhone and it did it by taking our phone thing and turning it into a everything device. It’s not just a phone, it’s a personal organiser. But iOS 7 has killed a lot of the intuitiveness of Apple’s previous mobile operating systems. Before it begins working on the next OS, it might be worthwhile getting the basics right.