Dave's iOS Whines
I've mentioned to a few people that I'm not planning on moving to MacOS or iOS 26 when Apple ships those. This attempts to collect some of my reasons for that stance. Not that things are organized by how I thought of them, not most important to me (at least not yet).
Continuing keyboard issues
The keyboard in iOS used to be pretty usable for me. Not as good as a physical keyboard, but during the three-and-a-half years I lived iOS-only, I got pretty adept at using the keyboard, and didn't have too many problems with it. But over time, Apple has done things attempting to fix problems for other people which have made the keyboard worse for me.
Dropping two keys pressed in rapid succession
If you type two keys rapidly on iOS (such as touch-typing “the”, when the “th” come very rapidly because they're on different hands), iOS simply throws them away. You get a solo “e.” This also bites me very frequently on “ng” at the end of a word, and I get a lot of words like “runni” when autocarrot generally mangles. This got noticeably worse in 2022 or 2023.
Slow autocarrot when it goes back multiple words
As you're typing, the “window” for autocarrot has grown, often past the capabilities of the device to keep up. On my iPad Air 5th Gen, when I'm typing rapidly on the on-screen keyboard, autocarrot will sometimes look back two or three words to make a correction, but I've typed multiple characters before it decides to make the change, so I end up with a word that's back a couple words getting selected, and rather than getting it changed, it ends up being what I'm currently typing, with words that should have been before it now after it, because autocarrot moved back.
Smaller bezels on everything
I have big hands. When I buy motorcycle gloves, I have to buy either 3XL or 4XL gloves in order to have them fit correctly. For work gloves in the yard, 3XL is also the minimum. As Apple continues to shrink the bezels on all of their devices, I get more false-hits from the hand holding the device. I've put a thick case on both my phone and my iPad, and still get false clicks near the edge of the screen which screw up whatever I'm trying to do at the time.
No Home Button
As I age, I have noticed that I'm developing a slight tremor in my hands. It's not bad, but it's enough to make it impossible to me to swipe reliably on an iOS device. If I'm trying to swipe up to get home, I frequently get a “swipe and a half” which takes me to the task switcher. Or a too-short swipe which activates one of the controls so many apps insist on putting across the bottom of the screen. The older I get, the more I need an actual Home button. I get by okay with the Assistive Touch home button, but that requires constant repositioning because there's always some control underneath it, and while it does move somewhat intelligently when the keyboard appears (for example), it doesn't always, and sometimes it just does the completely wrong thing.
Liquid Glass
The straw that broke the camel's back was Liquid Glass. Apple announced this for iOS and MacOS 26. I looked at a few examples and I just can't see the controls. There are supposedly ways to cut down on the effect to make the controls more visible, but this is a just plain stupid idea. Yes, content is important, but when you are working on content, the controls to work on it are also hugely important, and having them fade into the contents is... stupid. I may be looking at the past through rose-colored glasses, but I think SJ would've thrown a fit and fired people until this idea went away. It's a real shame Tim Apple doesn't have a similar sense of aesthetics.
Discuss... Reply to this in the fediverse: @davepolaschek@writing.exchange