IIRC it started with the 6s and 3D press, and changed to long-press (and it’s not a very long press really) when 3D press was stopped, I think with the Xr. So I think that’s iOS 9 and iOS 12.
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I’d say that, again, those are not mutually exclusive. (In fact they are probably well-correlated.)
In an ideal world perhaps, but not in the world we live in today (imho).
I did not read this initially because there’s too much I can’t afford keeping up with, or rather my natural desire to know something about everything isn’t as good as it sounds. I don’t use my Mac enough and when I do I try to be focused on getting something done. I’m still using Catalina and I’m not upgrading anytime soon even though my Intel Mac is only a couple years old (and loaded with RAM).
Apple’s software priority should be producing the most elegant (as opposed to flashy), intuitive, secure, bug-free software as possible. New features are important but secondary - but unfortunately, this is all too often reversed. I agree with the person who said new features are important for Apple programmers’ interests. Giving in too much to this practice, which is otherwise natural and should be good, results in unpleasant user experiences. Getting all things right should be what’s paramount.
I use Tab Groups heavily on my iPad out of necessity. I’ve lost tabs so many times that I want to kill someone. They still get lost on occasion and opening a tab with search-for context lamely throws you out of your current group. The Safari function and tab structure is a holy mess. Worse is beyond Safari but more just iOS (touch screen) and less bad in macOS: you did something - you are not sure what you did - and you need things to be put back as they were - a general “Finder” undo (go back) is needed - the os is screaming for it!
For a long time now, when I click on a link in iOS Safari, Safari displays a web page from “history” - I have to click on a link or go back many many times for the correct web page to display. This is beyond ridiculous and was supposed to have have been fixed in iOS updates but it hasn’t been. I suspect that it’s because that even though I’m using the latest iOS, my iPad is now considered older to Apple. Apple lets “older” systems degrade disgracefully. I’m used to that. I use several browsers but Safari is by far dominant because I started using it first. It’s debatable whether the better strategy for me would be to never use Safari so I don’t get stuck with it when it degrades. New features be damned.
Does anyone find it slightly ironic that the company that introduced its main product with the ‘1984’ advert is the same one to introduce SharePlay? We will all end up staring at screens, slack-jawed and homogenous in our grey slops. Will there be a hammer to wake us all up?
I don’t think there is a hammer big enough for the job. Our house is already on fire, but we just put our feet up and dream about our next new toy.
Some of these new features we may all be using unknowingly. A key to the return to profitable operation when Jobs returned to Apple was stopping work on projects which did not contribute to profits. I think that principle is at work here, at least in some cases. The example of which I am thinking is Memories, but this may apply to other “new features” as well.
One function in Photos is automatic identification of people, nominally by their faces. Photos face identification technology has long been not especially capable, but it keeps improving. Recently Apple has announced Photos has gained the ability to identify other features in photos, such as beach scenes, trees, dogs, etc. Apple also has widely touted its application of AI to many aspects of various applications. Applied to face recognition, one aspect of AI is aggregation of photos with similarities into groups. Memories is a simple graphical interface which allows users to observe these groups. That is kind of interesting, but I think this independent feature is not the only, nor even main, purpose of these groups. I think Apple Photos face recognition AI uses correlations between groups to establish, verify and/or extend confidence in identification of faces. This allows “face recognition” to identify individuals whose face is not shown.
Other work which does require a face for recognition can be applied to Photos, but also to Face ID as an unlocking mechanism. Thus work toward identification of a face, has two products with marketable potential: Face ID for unlocking, plus identification of individuals in the user’s photo library.
Similarly, development of AI for enhanced recognition of persons (not just their faces) will greatly increase the appeal of Photos, while simultaneously developing and refining AI methods which can have many applications. Developing Artificial Neural Network (ANN) AI methods requires extensive training on vast and varied data sets, with some human oversight. Photos libraries provide this. Plus, as identification of individuals becomes more reliable, Apple’s need to demonstrate the success of its AI methods will already be widely observed. This can be coup for marketing to the individual user who observed the success on his machine. Plus Apple’s past has shown the effectiveness of word of mouth from pleased users in expanding sales.
I agree with most poll respondents that most new features seem gimmicky, and of no use to me. But I have long spent much time working with Photos, and recently read about improvements to face identification technology. When I started thinking about it, the thoughts above congealed and Memories, which I had thought were cute but of little value, suddenly appeared to make a lot more sense.
Do any of the other seemingly trivial new features have more subtle value? I do not know, but as an Apple stockholder I hope the principle of focussing on research and development of maximum salable potential is still in operation. Also, in years of watching Apple, I have noticed that much speculation on many things goes on online, but for a year or more before a product is released the gossip seems to dry up.
My overall point, responding to the survey question, is we may all be using iOS 15 and macOS 12 features unknowingly, or at least without being aware of their potential purpose in the greater scheme of things.
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My thinking is that SharePlay is another of Apple’s kicks in the pants to Facebook, and this one might be a very, very big kick where it really, really hurts. It makes FaceTime able to act kind of like a social media service, but a service that does not collect or sell user information, or make money serving ads to users. Like other Apple services, it’s laser focused on privacy. And I think this will be an effective selling point for just about every market segment.
And SharePlay could be an outstanding selling point for TV+ subscriptions. Apple recently inked deals with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer. And it looks like they are currently negotiating with the National Football League. Negotiations between other sports leagues and Apple are reportedly ongoing across the globe.
I couldn’t help but remember my dad watching games on TV and talking about them to his brother on the phone. My thinking is that in the not very distant future SharePlay could benefit Apple’s sales and stock prices.
Absolutely agree. My wife (who says she was born in the wrong century) absolutely hates it when I have to update her iPad. She has just learned how to operate it when Apple in their ‘infinite wisdom’ decides that the 1% (or less) that constitutes the Super Users needs something else to crow about. As a result the 99% are obligated to learn how to work around the changes. Not a good selling point.
I agree 100 percent and have long held that we do not need complete OS upgrades every year. There are very few features I avail myself to use in these new upgrades. What’s worse is when you DO find something useful, it’s gone a year later.
Apple has been putting profit ahead of its customers for the last 11 years. That is why buggy software is released, customers reports of bugs and other problems are ignored, etc. in lieu of their push for high profit “services”.
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It works on my iPhone 12 with iOS 15.6
And if we believe this rumor, Apple lately has been thinking about pushing ads onto its users even beyond the App Store and the TV/music apps. 
I find annoying enough that I cannot switch off “Guides” in Maps. I’d rather see more of my favorites and recents than flashy social media BS like “Guides We Love”. At least that junk is at the bottom. But if they inject ads into Maps, I will burn that app to the ground. Tim seriously, that’s why I don’t use Google Maps in the first place. 
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Oh! I thought you could hold on an individual app and update that way. I do get that menu for the App Store
Diane
All I ever get when I long-press individual apps is the default 3 options at the top (Remove…, Share…, Edit…) then options particular to that app below them. I wonder if the next time I see there are updates available in the App Store, I just see which ones are listed then try the long-press on them individually to see if an “Update…” option appears. Of course that is even MORE steps then the three I do now:
- launch App Store app
- tap on my photo
- tap on “Update All”
Some show more! CVS has Find a Store, ExtraCare card and Print Your Photos
Diane
Yes, that is what I meant by “…options particular to that app…”.
OK, I just did a test on 4 apps that the App Store app said had updates. I went to each of them in their particular folder and did a long-press. None of the drop-down menus had an “Update” option listed. So updating will still be a 3-step process no matter which way I do it:
- Launch App Store app
- Tap on my photo
- Tap on “Update All”
OR
- Long-press on the App Store app
- Tap on “Updates”
- Tap on “Update All”
You can combine the first two to get a 2-step process:
- Long-press on the App Store app, slide down on menu that appears, and release when on “Updates”
- Tap on “Update All”
Well, maybe, but the act of sliding is really a Step 2, so it still takes 3 steps. 