On a site such as this, and on my syndicated tech radio show, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of living in a bubble. So the discussion about a mobile OS might be focused on tiny technicalities such as the color schemes and shading, and whether or not Apple should be using buttons or links, which most people really don’t care about.

Yet another example: Consider the reasons cited by some for favoring the Google Android platform. One is a far wider choice of handsets, a legitimate claim if the choices include products you’d like to buy, but aren’t being offered by Apple. Another is the extensive customization options, where you have more power to adjust the environment that suits your needs. But most people seldom stray past the default settings. Many of the custom settings in Android are quite granular, the consequences aren’t always clear to the end user, and the results are often of little practical value.

But we still talk about such things.

So with the original release of iOS 7, there were complaints about unfinished icons, visual effects that made people dizzy or nauseous and possible crashing issues with some iPhones. Certainly anything that impacts your comfort level is important, and Apple soon addressed the complaints by offering ways to reduce or eliminate the parallax view and other visual flourishes for those who didn’t like them. These are the settings that offer a real benefit for some people.

As to the rest: Yes, icons could have been improved. Fit and finish of iOS 7 was ragged, and the changes in iOS 7.1 have, by and large, been welcomed as a result. There are more choices in the Accessibility settings to improve — or alter — type faces, contrast and even restore buttons for those who find simple links inadequate. The downside of making choices that might polarize some people is the need to allow you to alter those choices if you like.

No matter what Apple might do, however, some people will find it inadequate. Their choices might not be yours, but there’s also the risk on getting so hung up on minor technicalities that you lose sight of the whole picture. Before you dissect every single element of the OS interface and underpinnings, consider whether or not it’s actually doing the job it was designed to do.

So does iOS 7 merely look different from iOS 6, or does it provide a superior experience? It’s fair to say that iOS 7.1 focused heavily on interface glitches and refinement, but there were notable feature improvements. Touch ID, for example, is now more reliable. There was this troubling symptom, one I had experienced, where the accuracy of Apple’s fingerprint sensor would deteriorate over time. After I installed iOS 7.1, accuracy improved noticeably, approaching the level that existed when I first set up my iPhone 5s.

The interface differences, impacting the shut-down switch, the Phone app and other functions, are different. Better? I suppose that’s debatable, although iOS 7.1 does impress as a tad more finished than the original iOS 7 release. Was that the result of addressing the shortcomings of a rushed release?

Now the normal customer, who doesn’t follow tech blogs and probably doesn’t listen to tech radio shows, won’t care about much of this. Problems with Touch ID, particularly involving inconsistent fingerprint recognition, are crystal clear. The same is true for chronic crashes with some apps or, in fact, anything that impairs the actual user experience. But other issues are probably not on their radar.

One positive change was to place the Touch ID & Passcode setting in a category by itself, rather than burying it under General, which essentially makes many settings almost invisible. This is one of those important usability issues, and it will encourage people who casually examine preferences to actually give it a try. It’s about discoverability, which is one key issue that makes iOS superior to Android.

Yet another issue that may seem subtle is that iOS 7.1 contained fixes for over two dozen security bugs. That’s beyond the separate SSL bug fix pushed ahead of 7.1 because the problem was so serious.

Now Apple’s critics made a huge deal of the SSL or “gotofail” bug, which made an iOS device or a Mac vulnerable to being taken over by hackers. But it’s not as if any large numbers of Apple customers — or any — were compromised. The security leaks fixed in iOS 7 .1 are more theoretical. Under some circumstances, they could create problems, but iOS users are still far safer than anyone running an Android handset or tablet.

You see, Google has yet to figure out a way to push critical security fixes to more than a few customers. Only a small percentage of users ever get the latest and greatest OS. Market penetration of Android 4.4 KitKat, released last fall, is still in the low single digits. In contrast, some 12% of iOS 7 users installed iOS 7.1 in the first 48 hours, meaning tens of millions of people.

With Android, the best approach is to install security software and cross your fingers. Google only cares about platform freedom, not security, or at least that’s what their people say. So maybe Android offers more handset choices, and more settings to pore over. But does that matter if the settings aren’t needed, and you’re on your own when it comes to protecting yourself from security threats?

According to tests run by Ars Technica, the 2010 iPhone 4 at last delivers adequate performance with the iOS 7.1 update. It wasn’t so good with the original iOS 7 release.

That’s no mean achievement when you consider that, in the smartphone world, a product that’s over three years old is positively ancient. Consider it the rough equivalent of trying to set up a ten-year-old Mac to run OS 10.9 Mavericks. Of course you can’t, because Apple doesn’t support anything that old, but you get the picture.

It would seem that offering support for an iPhone 4 was done, in part, because that product was still being sold in some parts of the world when iOS 7 first came out. Sure, some of the fancier animation flourishes and resource-hungry features were set aside. But users still reported slow application launch times, ragged scrolling and other symptoms that were more in keeping with what you might encounter with a midrange Android smartphone.

So perhaps some iPhone users felt abandoned by Apple, or were just willing to put up with the situation since downgrading is not an official option. Perhaps it made the prospects of buying a new iPhone all the more tempting. But it’s clear from the iOS 7.1 update that Apple did not give up in fine-tuning the OS.

According to those performance tests conducted by Ars Technica, an iPhone 4 exhibits improved application launch times, sometimes refreshingly close to iOS 6, sometimes just a tad slower. So-called user interface “jerkiness” appears to be reduced. So those tempted to somehow hack a way into returning to iOS 6 may not be so inclined after all.

But the performance improvements aren’t restricted to the oldest iOS gear. Even on an iPhone 5s, iOS 7.1 seems a tad snappier. Zooming effects are faster, and instant screen refresh seems more instant. All those zooming effects clearly contributed to the perception that iOS 7 was really slow, and those complaints surely impressed Apple enough to do something about them.

For the iPhone 4, this is clearly the end of the line. iOS 8 will probably work on nothing older than an iPhone 4s, but that only makes sense. Apple can only look backwards so far while adding features that exploit the power of the latest and greatest chip technology. Unlike the Android platform, where developers may have to ignore new OS features to provide support for the vast majority of users who will never be able to upgrade, Apple encourages upgrading and makes it easy. A developer wanting to take advantage of iOS 7 goodies can be assured that the vast majority of the user base is ready.

With OS X Mavericks, Apple probably did something above and beyond the call of duty. Essentially the same Macs that ran Mountain Lion are fully compatible with OS 10.9. Sure, some features may not extend to older models because of hardware limitations, but that makes sense too. It also makes sense in encouraging developers to look forward rather than worry about legacy equipment in delivering updates.

The limits for Mavericks aren’t severe. AirPlay Mirroring works with a second generation Apple TV or later, and most Macs released in 2011 or later. PowerNap also has restrictions because it requires newer hardware. If you don’t care about either, you can be assured of nearly the full Mavericks experience on a supported Mac with decent performance. Mavericks is the rare breed of an OS that runs more efficiently, and, on some equipment, faster.

Yes, I grant there are probably hacks out there to induce older Mac hardware to take a Mavericks installation, but the tradeoffs in performance and compatibility may just not be worth the bother. That won’t stop some people from making the attempt. After all, there are also ways to install OS X on white box Windows PCs with a little hacking here and there of the setup files. We call them “Hacintoshes.” But it’s not something you should want to depend on for anything other than just seeing if it can be done.

Sure, Apple would rather have you buy new hardware. But OS X and iOS are still backwards compatible with tens of millions of devices and, for the most part, will deliver decent performance. You can hardly expect more from one of those greedy multinational corporations. Even better, OS X has joined iOS in becoming free.

Of course, there is that argument that the changes in iOS 7.1 should have been there already in the original iOS 7 release. But that’s the sort of argument that has no practical value. So it’s true that some of the interface excesses have been tamed. In some cases, thin type isn’t quite so thin, and most of the changes appear to have been viewed positively.

So far, I’ve only found one app that doesn’t like iOS 7.1: Time Mobile. When I launch the app, I get a “Hierarchy Download Failed” warning with a request to tap OK to try again. Only that step delivers little more an endless spinning wheel. So one hopes the developers at Time Warner will stop spinning their wheels and deliver an update real soon now.

Nearly six months after the release of iOS 7, surely a somewhat controversial release, Apple unleashed iOS 7.1 with loads of improvements and bug fixes. But even before people had a chance to download and evaluate the free update, online fear merchants were busy doing their thing.

First is the perception that iOS 7 was a rush job. How so? Well, since Sir Jonathan Ive didn’t get the assignment to manage software design for Apple until the fall of 2012, it must be assumed that work didn’t begin until that very day, or shortly thereafter. All the interface work previously done had to be thrown out with the bathwater.

Now there are certainly things about iOS 7 that appeared unfinished, or at least somewhat ragged. It makes sense that many key design elements weren’t finalized until after Ive was on the job. But that’s only the surface. The core of iOS 7 was likely being developed long before iOS 6 was out the door. That’s how such things work.

So I would regard the claim of a rush job as, at best, half true. There were midstream changes after the final release, and perhaps Apple could have done better had Ive took on the assignment a few months earlier. But the all-or-nothing argument is too simplistic to warrant serious comment.

The other is that a “mere” 82% of eligible iOS gear had been upgraded to iOS 7, which, to the critics, means that millions chose not to upgrade because of lingering bugs or interface oddities, or whatever. That doesn’t a survey make. Without actually doing some sort of poll of iOS users to see why they might have held off updating to iOS 7, any publication that pretends to know anything about the numbers is just making things up.

Besides, Apple gets a far higher upgrade percentage than other platforms. How many Android users are running version 4.4 KitKat? It’s in the low single digits last I heard, but that’s because Google’s upgrade system is sadly broken, and hundreds of millions of customers won’t be able to upgrade to take advantage of new features and/or security updates. They have no choice in the matter, other than buying new gear that ships with KitKat.

That’s the real comparison, and Google doesn’t come across so well.

So will iOS 7.1 convince the stragglers to finally get with the program? That’s hard to say until it’s been out for a while. Yes there are some interface changes that may represent improvements, depending on your point of view. Contrast in interface elements is better. The keyboard, Phone app, shut-down button and other features look different and are arguably better. Accessibility options are improved, so iOS 7’s excesses can be tamed more thoroughly.

I haven’t had a chance to consider all the bug fixes, although iCloud Keychain may finally work for me on an iPhone 5s. Up till now, entering usernames and passwords would just stall, taking long seconds between each character. That situation appears to have been resolved, at least based on my brief testing. I’m just surprised iPhone 5s users haven’t made such a big deal about it.

It also seems that Touch ID is more efficient. I had begun to suffer the same symptoms reported by some others, where accuracy seemed to diminish over time. Without making any changes, it does appear recognition of my thumbprint is almost normal. We’ll see.

There are other iOS 7 enhancements and fixes, and I won’t mention them here except in passing. CarPlay, the iOS feature that gives you the equivalent of AirPlay in a motor vehicle, is supported. But you will have to buy a new car to take advantage of this feature, unless the car makers figure a way to offer it as an aftermarket dealer-installed item. If they do, I’ll start saving up. There are also improvements to Siri, iTunes Radio and the Calendar. Performance on the iPhone 4 is said to be somewhat better.

Apple’s support document on iOS 7.1’s security fixes will flesh out the picture even further if you’re curious about the specifics. At least Apple does fix security problems. Google merely touts the freedom of the Android platform, but is that the freedom you want?

No doubt other fixes and changes, not documented by Apple, will come to the fore as the update spreads into the wild. There are already reports of support for previously unknown iPads, although they might represent minor configuration alternatives.

There might even be problems that’ll require a quick iOS 7.1.1 release, but three installations here — on an iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and iPad 3 — were seamless.

But Apple will remain in the damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t crosshairs. Exaggerated complaints about the alleged ills of iOS 7 abound, and Apple’s efforts to fix the most serious issues will be deemed inadequate. Besides, why did Apple dare release iOS 7 in the first place if they knew it was a bug-ridden, half-finished mess?

But it’s also true that the worst of iOS 7 largely amounted to a handful of interface elements that could have been done better, and now are at least different. Apple’s biggest crime at the start was not considering the impact to people with Accessibility issues. Some people complained about getting dizzy, or nauseous, due to the subtle motion effects. Apple offered ways disable those special effects early on, but maybe that off switch should have been offered more quickly?

But the uptake of iOS 7 shows that an amazing number of Apple customers did install the update, and it appears most were satisfied. Except for the Apple critics who will never be satisfied.

Even when Apple reports record sales and profits for a quarter, there has to be a “but.” It doesn’t matter if that exception involves a huge logical stretch. It has to be there because, well, this is Apple and Apple got to where it is because of a fluke.

You see, some crazy, mercurial guy named Jobs once ran the company, and he had this magic wand that made up iPods, iPhones and iPads out of nothing, nothing at all. But now that the wand wielder is no longer around to make magic, Apple becomes a “normal” company. It’s time to face reality.

Now fair stories about CEO Tim Cook will point out that he is smart, talented, and is a great manager. He knows how to express his authority with a hard stare in situations where Jobs might have had a hissy fit. But if it accomplishes the same result, what difference does it make?

Continue Reading…