A Call For Rollbacks To Previous Versions of Software 199
colinneagle writes "In a blog post, Andy Patrizio laments the trend — made more common in the mobile world — of companies pushing software updates ahead without the ability to roll back to previous versions in the event that the user simply doesn't like it. iOS 7.1, for example, has reportedly been killing some users' battery power, and users of the iTunes library app TuneUp will remember how the much-maligned version 3.0 effectively killed the company behind it (new owners have since taken over TuneUp and plans to bring back the older version).
The ability to undo a problematic install should be mandatory, but in too many instances it is not. That's because software developers are always operating under the assumption that the latest version is the greatest version, when it may not be. This is especially true in the smartphone and tablet world. There is no rollback to be had for anything in the iOS and Android worlds. Until the day comes when software developers start releasing perfectly functioning, error-free code, we need the ability to go backwards with all software."
The ability to undo a problematic install should be mandatory, but in too many instances it is not. That's because software developers are always operating under the assumption that the latest version is the greatest version, when it may not be. This is especially true in the smartphone and tablet world. There is no rollback to be had for anything in the iOS and Android worlds. Until the day comes when software developers start releasing perfectly functioning, error-free code, we need the ability to go backwards with all software."
Backward compatibility is expensive (Score:5, Informative)
That's because software developers are always operating under the assumption that the latest version is the greatest version, when it may not be.
No it's not. It's because engineering for backward compatibility and maintaining multiple versions is both difficult and expensive. Building, testing and maintaining multiple backward compatible versions is an expense that most app vendors probably can't afford.
Re:The ones I really hate... (Score:2, Informative)
Are the updates where the hardware requirements have changed so much that you effectively have to buy new hardware. Obviously, not an issue for phones
Clearly you have not tried to use an iPhone 3s or even iPhone 4 (non-s) lately. If you follow Apple's recommended IOS upgrade path, your device becomes unusable, which has been a pretty sound business model for them, I suppose.
Re:Shades of WinAmp 3 ? (Score:4, Informative)
Apple now lets you install old versions of Apps on iOS provided that
* You installed the old version when it was available
* The developer has not opted out of this policy in iTunes Connect
* The new version is not supported on your device
If they dropped the third requirement it might satisfy a lot of what you'd like to see.
Re:The ones I really hate... (Score:3, Informative)
I have an iPhone 3GS running iOS 6 - it took over our land line number. It runs fine - as well or better than it ever did on any version of iOS 4 or 5. So what are you talking about?