Apple iOS 27 to Be No-Frills 'Snow Leopard' Update, Other Than New AI (bloomberg.com) 17
Apple's next major iPhone software update will prioritize stability and performance over flashy new features, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who reports that iOS 27 is being developed as a "Snow Leopard-style" release [non-paywalled source] focused on fixing bugs, removing bloat and improving underlying code after this year's sweeping Liquid Glass design overhaul in iOS 26.
Engineering teams are currently combing through Apple's operating systems to eliminate unnecessary code and address quality issues that users have reported since iOS 26's September release. Those complaints include device overheating, unexplained battery drain, user interface glitches, keyboard failures, cellular connectivity problems, app crashes, and sluggish animations.
iOS 27 won't be feature-free. Apple plans several AI additions: a health-focused AI agent tied to a Health+ subscription, expanded AI-powered web search meant to compete with ChatGPT and Perplexity, and deeper AI integration across apps. The company has also been internally testing a chatbot app called Veritas as a proving ground for its re-architected Siri, though a standalone chatbot product isn't currently planned.
Engineering teams are currently combing through Apple's operating systems to eliminate unnecessary code and address quality issues that users have reported since iOS 26's September release. Those complaints include device overheating, unexplained battery drain, user interface glitches, keyboard failures, cellular connectivity problems, app crashes, and sluggish animations.
iOS 27 won't be feature-free. Apple plans several AI additions: a health-focused AI agent tied to a Health+ subscription, expanded AI-powered web search meant to compete with ChatGPT and Perplexity, and deeper AI integration across apps. The company has also been internally testing a chatbot app called Veritas as a proving ground for its re-architected Siri, though a standalone chatbot product isn't currently planned.
Creating artificial problems to later fix them... (Score:2)
This could all have been avoided by treating programming like physics, with emphasis on thermodynamics.
Proof ... (Score:1)
Correction (Score:3, Insightful)
after this year's sweeping Liquid Glass design overhaul in iOS 26
"after this year's pointless solution-looking-for-a-problem Liquid Glass redesign overhaul in iOS 26", or...
"after this year's Liquid Glass redesign solution for a problem no one ever fucking had"
There FTFY.
Re: (Score:1)
All those project&product managers trying hard to stay relevant. More pointless stuff to follow imo.
*Only* OS 26 issues?!? Only iOS?!???! (Score:1)
Engineering teams are currently combing through Apple's operating systems to eliminate unnecessary code and address quality issues that users have reported since iOS 26's September release
That's all they're looking at? Holy fuck they need to go way the fuck back to find all existing underlying performance issues; most of them aren't that new.
This should be the way for OS updates (Score:1)
This is a breath of fresh air. OS updates should always focus on refining the OS not overhauling it. It should be iterative. If there's a new way of doing things, then introduce it naturally as a preference that the user can change and adopt if they wish. Don't save all of the new features and dump them all at once, introducing significant changes without a chance for the user to adapt and making the user feel like they are forced to catch up on everything new at once.
... Other than some crap that's going to break it (Score:3)
Dear OS software engineering people.
AI isn't ready for primetime at the OS level yet. Please stop.
Fire Alan Dye (Score:5, Insightful)
Look, it's not just that iOS 26 has bugs. Bugs are fine. All software has bugs.
But iOS 26 is incoherent. It makes the system less intuitive and harder to use. It reneges on design principles laid down in Apple's Human Interface guidelines. I don't even mind how flashy it is--the glass effect really IS cool sometimes. But touch targets are worse, information bleed-through is confusing, and it does the EXACT OPPOSITE of the claimed design intention to show you more of your content. The UI is bigger and more in your way at every turn. You can see less of what you want to see at any given time in a measurable way. (Seriously, people have measured it.)
Try this out: take a screenshot. Go into the screenshot interface. The control to delete the screenshot is under the checkmark, not the X. The X dismisses the screenshot but also deletes it, though it doesn't give any indication that it's going to delete the screenshot. Now if you take a screenshot of THAT screenshot, it adds a second one, fine. But if you go into the checkmark, your option is to delete BOTH. If you tap the X, NOW there's a control to delete just one.
Apple's stuff really did used to be simpler and more usable, based on tested and measurable design principles. Design wasn't just a look, it was also a science that included usability and interaction.
Alan Dye has ruined every interface he's come into contact with. I was on board with the iOS 7 flat-design revolution even with all its flaws, but we're in a whole different, unusable space now. Bring Scott Forestall back.
Re:Fire Alan Dye (Score:4, Informative)
Thanks for the name (I’d not heard before). This update is a fucking hot mess and from Apple a shocking fucking hot mess . Liquid Glass does add a few cool UI bits, but nothing that needed an entire UI overhaul.
If you’re going to overhaul the UI you had damn well better test it, and then test it again, and it’s so painfully obvious that they did not .
Within an hour of installing iPadOS 26.1 on my iPad Pro 13 I went to check Notifications by swiping down from the top of the screen (standard UI gesture, done it thousands of times).
However this time:
Within a second’s time my entire UI had changed in a way I didn’t want, didn’t do, and didn’t understand. (We’re now in, “30-minute call with my older relative tying to explain what happened,” territory)
That’s bad. That’s really, really bad UI/UX design. However
I then tried:
(We’re now way past, “90 minutes on the phone with my older relative, pulling my hair out, trying to quite their crying, while we both do our best to figure out what the fuck is going on,” territory.)
I just installed macOS 26.1 on my Macintosh Studio and it too is hot mess, but a little hot mess. Mostly (so far) it’s just UI elements that don’t mesh well, aren’t aligned, and seem to take up way too much space for what they do.
I’ve used these products since they were released and I’ve never seen an OS update as bad as this one. They really should focus on making AppleOS 26 work, and look good, before they give any thoughts to AppleOS 27.
Sacraficing Everything for AI (Score:2)
Bloat (Score:2)
Just iOS? (Score:2)
Kind of sad that Snow Leopard, (Score:2)
I have stopped updating (Score:2)
Meantime the whole OS is becoming harder to use, I now search for system settings because I have no idea where they will be located these days.
Apple Books is an unloved abandoned bastard son, its whole UI is a piece of garbage.
Try this, select a book then do -I , in music it will bring up a way to edit the information, in books it does ZERO
I use my iPad for both work and for home.
There is ZERO way for me to load say just s
Starting point (Score:2)
Starting with Apple "Intelligence" should be an easy win!
macOS 26 NEEDS IT MORE! (Score:1)
macOS 26 has more technical debt than iOS. Let's hope, cool heads prevail.