by Jason Snell
Bloomberg: Apple changing software procedures in wake of iOS 13
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reports that Apple’s changing its software test procedures in the aftermath of the buggy iOS 13 launch:
The new approach calls for Apple’s development teams to ensure that test versions, known as “daily builds,” of future software updates disable unfinished or buggy features by default. Testers will then have the option to selectively enable those features, via a new internal process and settings menu dubbed Flags, allowing them to isolate the impact of each individual addition on the system.
According to Gurman, Apple’s test builds were so packed with broken features that testers couldn’t actually test anything, because many daily builds were unusable and therefore untestable. Gurman also floats the idea that Apple might pull features out of iOS 14 and defer them to iOS 15, in order to enhance stability—but also says that iOS 14 is still expected to “rival iOS 13 in the breadth of its new capabilities.”
The good news is, Apple seems to be reacting to the bugs of this fall. Whether the reaction will actually solve the problem remains to be seen.