Is Upgrade to iOS 8.3 a Good Idea?

[durango]

Seems like many problems are being encountered. Is it maybe best to wait for a version 8.3.1 that eliminates (most of) these problems?

Are most members doing the upgrade (I don't know how to implement a poll)?

 

[RadDave]

Seems like many problems are being encountered. Is it maybe best to wait for a version 8.3.1 that eliminates (most of) these problems?

Are most members doing the upgrade (I don't know how to implement a poll)?

Well, I suspect that many of us are doing the iOS update - I have an iPad Air 2 & wife iPad Mini and iPhone 6 - updated all last week w/o a problem.

The new version addresses a lot of issues - check HERE for a list - below is just some of the Wi-Fi fixes, which seems to have been a problem for a number of iPad owners. Dave

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth fixes

-Fixes an issue where you could be continuously prompted for login credentials
-Addresses an issue where some devices disconnect intermittently from Wi-Fi networks
-Fixes an issue where hands-free phone calls could become disconnected
-Fixes an issue where audio playback could stop working with some bluetooth speakers

 

[chscag]

No problems here with the update - 2 iPhones and an iPad. If you do decide to update, make sure you backup your iPhone to your computer first from iTunes. (Not to iCloud.)

 

[durango]

No problems here with the update - 2 iPhones and an iPad. If you do decide to update, make sure you backup your iPhone to your computer first from iTunes. (Not to iCloud.)

Why do you say don't back up to iCloud? I had decided to update my iPad to 8.3, but I just backed it up to the iCloud (that took about an hour).

Did I make a mistake?

 

[durango]

Well, I suspect that many of us are doing the iOS update - I have an iPad Air 2 & wife iPad Mini and iPhone 6 - updated all last week w/o a problem.

The new version addresses a lot of issues - check HERE for a list - below is just some of the Wi-Fi fixes, which seems to have been a problem for a number of iPad owners. Dave

Thanks for the response and info. As soon as I get my iPad and iPhone backed up, I plan on doing the update.

 

[chscag]

No, you didn't make a mistake. An iCloud backup will work but backing up to your computer is faster and a surer way of restoring in case of difficulty. I've restored both ways and found the iCloud restoration somewhat slow compared to restoring from my iMac with my iPhone attached. I actually backup both ways but prefer to restore from my computer. Of course if you're out on a trip somewhere and need to restore your iPhone, then the iCloud backup is your only choice.

 

[durango]

OK, I understand.......thanks. My iPhone was hooked up to my computer at the time updating some apps, so I just decided to backup to iCloud. And it was slow!

 

[ChrisCM]

Hasn't worked well for me, I use an external GPS unit on my IPad, since upgrading to 8.3 this has stopped working correctly and the position fixes are all over the place, if I can get it to communicate at all. From reading other forums it seems that this problem is common to all makes of GPS dongle, even those, like mine, which are "Apple Certified". Prior to the upgrade from 8.2 it worked perfectly.
Seems Apple are aware of the problem but how long it will take to get a fix, who knows??

Chris

 

[chas_m]

Why do you think this is Apple's problem to fix? Developers had plenty of time and opportunity to beta test iOS 8.3 before it came out. Isn't it THEIR job to support their product?

 

[ChrisCM]

Hi Chas,

Because it is not one device but many that are affected including those that are Apple Certified, surely they, Apple, bear some responsibility to ensure that "improvements" are not going to lock out existing customers.

What is happening is that the iPad communicates and pairs with the GPS device by Blue Tooth but the problem seems to be how the GPS data is then handled by the OS before passing it on to the App that requires the data. Sometimes the device is not "seen" by the App, other times the position is incorrect or does not update. If it was just one device then I would tend to agree, that it the device manufacturers problem, but when it seems to be happening to all Blue Tooth GPS devices then, to me, it suggests that the problem lies with the OS.

As I said, it appears from other forums, including those of the GPS device manufacturers, that Apple are aware, and acknowledge the problem so hopefully we will have a fix soon, I did try and roll back to 8.2 but my iPad / iTunes was not happy and I had to revert to 8.3.

Chris

 

[ChrisCM]

Just been doing a bit more research and have found the following:

iOS SDK Release Notes for iOS 8.4 Beta 2

Seems that it has been fixed in this Beta!

Chris

 

[ChrisCM]

Just reverted my iPad to iOS 8.2, all is now working as it should, next time, before updating
I shall wait for a couple of weeks to find out what bugs are crawling around.

Btw, just in case you're of the opinion that I am anti Apple, I certainly am not, having in our household a 27" iMac, a Mac book pro, 2 iPads and 3 iPhones with all of which I am generally very happy, but any company can make mistakes - look at Microsoft

Chris

 

[chas_m]

I did not get that impression from your posts, but one issue with one third-party peripheral does not equate to a "bad update." There is no such thing as a bug-free piece of software -- there is only software that doesn't not have any bugs that affect you personally.

You're lucky you reverted while you still could. Apple has stopped code-signing iOS 8.2 so that option is no longer available.