The Huge iFailure

Tonight I've got what I would call a follow-up to my post the other night, Cause for Developer Concern.  Isn't completely on the same topic but it has some things in common.  The difference is that this one could cause problems no matter what operating system platform you are on.


With the release of the latest version of iOS, now version 6, came the famous mapping issue.  But what wasn't so largely publicized was the WiFi issues.  I say publicized because it wasn't covered on the news, local or world.  I'm not sure if it was the media's way to downplay Apple's huge failure with the new OS or not.  What I do know is that these issues are not only lingering on, but will cost people a lot of money in the meantime.  See, the first WiFi issue that was reported was that people were having problems connecting to WiFi.  I believe read something about Apple pushing out a fix for it though I could be wrong.  Now the reported issue is that even while connected to WiFi any data is coming via the cellular service (here's a good article).  Since most of these people are no longer on an unlimited plan this could cost them thousands!  Some people are stating that they went over their monthly limit in as little as one day!

So how might this cause issues for people on other platforms?  Glad you asked!  The simple fact appears to be from a change in a standard WiFi protocol, or so Apple claims.  A change like this that isn't tested for can cause any platform to struggle.  Where this is specific to iOS devices (yes, more then just the iPhone 5) is that iOS was reporting to the phone, and thus the user, that it was sending and receiving data over WiFi.  Not that this kind of issue can't happen with another platform, is just hasn't to this point.

But what makes this such a story is goes back to my complaint in that previous post is that Apple consistently states that their products just work.  This is a huge failure on that front.  But what gets me going is that Apple hasn't stepped up to say that they would, in some way, reimburse people for the additional usage.  In this day and age where unlimited data usage is disappearing people can't afford for an error such as this one, no matter the platform they choose to use.  Luckily for those on Verizon they will be "covered" for this issue.  I put that in quotes because in some fashion Verizon won't eat that cost.  If Apple won't fork over the cash Verizon will change prices so that all of it's subscribers will pay for it, whether an iOS user or not.