Welcome to the nightmare Apple can’t wake up from. After promising to fix the functionality stripped from iOS 8.4 in iOS 9, Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch software has now been hit by an old foe…
WiFried is back with a vengeance. The bug makes any form of Internet access a nightmare by repeatedly dropping WiFi connections and slowing speeds to a crawl and Apple Support Communities has now started receiving WiFried complaints from frustrated users running iOS 8.4.
This is bad news for Apple since the main WiFried Communities thread now has over one million views, more than 3,000 replies and comments span beyond 200 pages. Worse still, WiFried complaints date back to 20 September 2014 when the bug first appeared with the launch of iOS 8. In fact WiFried has become so frustrating to many users after iOS 8 update after iOS 8 update failed to fix it that it has even spawned dedicated websites.
Read more - Apple iOS 8.4 Has One Nasty Surprise
A Step Backwards
What’s more, the new troubles in iOS 8.4 represent something of a step backwards for Apple. With the launch of iOS 8.3 in April, Apple finally acknowledged WiFried’s existence for the first time (it was the ninth version of iOS 8) and listed a fix:
“Addresses an issue where some devices disconnect intermittently from Wi-Fi networks”
It was far from perfect - many users still reported the problem remained after upgrading (in itself a torturously slow process for affected WiFried users) - but it was start. Unfortunately with the launch of iOS 8.4 in July no more references were made to the issue, though forums remained relatively quiet.
Did this mean an uncredited additional fix in iOS 8.4 had been made under the hood?
Sadly not. As July progressed so have the WiFried complaints and, as a vocal reporter of WiFried, I’ve now been contacted too many times to let it pass. Especially as the tone of the WiFried Apple Support Communities threads descend into chaos and infighting with an increasing number of bans dished out by Apple moderators.
Read more - Apple iOS 8.4: Should You Upgrade?
So what does the future hold? I see reason to be optimistic...
Look To iOS 9
While Apple has remained silent on WiFried since the iOS 8.3 release notes, the obvious place to look is its approach to another controversial iOS 8.4 problem: the removal of audio support from Home Sharing.
As anger rose here Apple did make a public statement with Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, tweeting that the company is actively working on bringing it back with iOS 9.
And this is where hope lies: Apple clearly sees iOS 8 as a wrap with all effort now focused on its successor which is due to be launched in September alongside the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.
Yes, Apple has bizarrely allowed WiFried to rumble on through ten versions of iOS 8 but it would seem madness for it to be allowed to muddy the launch of iOS 9 - itself a clean start. That may sound hopeful, but those unaffected will be glad to hear the back of it while those still affected have hit the stage where hope is all they have left.
Unlike more radical iOS versions, iOS 9 is primarily focused on polishing and optimising the iOS experience. Killing WiFried once and for all would be a very good place to start…
Read more - Apple iOS 9 Vs iOS 8: What's The Difference?
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