2020 OS upgrades: iOS 14, iPadOS 14, WatchOS 7, Big Sur (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

Ah, pinned contacts in Messages. This is a true improve-my-life feature

 

[DaveF]

I hope so. It just seems like a huge, intentional omission.

Yeap. Can't tell if it's "no time to add feature" or "won't make iPad be big iPhone even if it's a good idea"

Because they are there on the widgets pane that is slide-left from home screen or that appears in landscape mode.

 

[Sam Posten]

 

[DaveF]

I’ve settled on a home screen layout. I’m trying to give widgets a fair shake. All three are multi-widgets (stacks?) when some attempt at internal logic / theming. I don’t know if they’re better or just different. But it’s been fun to play with them. I think they could be better. What I lose in app density and accessibility on the Home Screen, I might be gaining back easy access to info I care about.

Unfortunately the widget setup and editing features feel half baked. Within an afternoon, I immediately ran into problems, weaknesses, bugs, and obviously missing features in managing widgets. I dont see how they got out the door in such a rudimentary fashion. Hopefully we’d get updates before iOS 15, but that’s not been Apple’s style.

Particularly, You can’t add widgets to a stack from the stack editing tool. You have to add a whole widget to your screen and then clumsily drag it onto the stack of interest to add it in.

Another limitation: stacks only move by rows of two. None od those stacks can be moved a single app-icon down. So, you can’t have a single row of apps at the top with a widget following. You can have two rows of icons, or no icons (as in my screen).

And none of this is available on the iPad Home Screen. Which is a big bummer, having figured them out and wanting to play the same interactions on my iPad.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

One big annoyance in iOS 14 (for now) is that if you use an Apple Watch, the Fitness app is no longer displaying routing information on the map for walks, runs, etc that you have done. It only displays a pin drop for the starting location.

 

[JohnRice]

iPadOS 14 seems to have bricked the Oppo app. With Oppo out of the game, I wonder if that will be fixed.

When I launch it, it just crashes.

 

[DaveF]

One big annoyance in iOS 14 (for now) is that if you use an Apple Watch, the Fitness app is no longer displaying routing information on the map for walks, runs, etc that you have done. It only displays a pin drop for the starting location.

Is that fixed in 14.0.1?

I did a big workout yesterday. iPhone on 14.0.1, but watch was still 6.0. Activities mapping is normal. Will go jogging tomorrow with updated watchOS 7.0.1 Will try to remember to check back in on this m

 

[Johnny Angell]

One big annoyance in iOS 14 (for now) is that if you use an Apple Watch, the Fitness app is no longer displaying routing information on the map for walks, runs, etc that you have done. It only displays a pin drop for the starting location.

Well, that’s stupid. Why would they think a pin drop is useful?

Is that fixed in 14.0.1?

I did a big workout yesterday. iPhone on 14.0.1, but watch was still 6.0. Activities mapping is normal. Will go jogging tomorrow with updated watchOS 7.0.1 Will try to remember to check back in on this m

Yes, let us know what you find.

 

[DaveF]

One big annoyance in iOS 14 (for now) is that if you use an Apple Watch, the Fitness app is no longer displaying routing information on the map for walks, runs, etc that you have done. It only displays a pin drop for the starting location.

Well, that’s stupid. Why would they think a pin drop is useful?

Yes, let us know what you find.

Took a 2 mile walk just now, with both iPhone and Watch, using Watch Fitness for outdoor walk. Map route is in Fitness (formerly Activity) app like normal.

Tomorrow, I'll have a jog with just Watch and no iPhone.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Interesting. I was already on iOS 14.0.1 and my Watch updated to 7.0.1 overnight. Took a mile long walk this morning and used Outdoor Walk on the Watch...still no route showing in the Fitness map on my iPhone afterward.

 

[DaveF]

Bummer! Sounds like one of those bugs that affects some people, but not all (or most). LIke some were having trouble with major battery consumption after the 7 update. (The fix for that was to unpair and re-pair the watch.) Don't know if there's a known fix for the map data issue.

 

[DaveF]

Anyone know how to enable the Smart Autoplay feature in Music? Does this require a Music service subscription?n I've tried several songs in my library and there's no "infinity" symbol to activate the autplay feature. Big bummer if it needs streaming sub, that would be a great feature for me.

How to get the most out of Apple Music's updates in iOS 14 | AppleInsider

The release of iOS 14 brings with it an updated Apple Music app, which has been given an overhaul. Here's how to use all of the new features included in the app for all those who updated their iPhone and iPad.

appleinsider.com

 

[DaveF]

A decent ios 14 best-features summary

 

[DaveF]

Took a 2 mile walk just now, with both iPhone and Watch, using Watch Fitness for outdoor walk. Map route is in Fitness (formerly Activity) app like normal.

Tomorrow, I'll have a jog with just Watch and no iPhone.

4 mile jog, watch only. Map / gps synced to Fitness on iPhone when I got home, like normal.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Ugh...

Missing workout routes? Erase your phone and watch

 

[DaveF]

Bummer! Sounds like one of those bugs that affects some people, but not all (or most). LIke some were having trouble with major battery consumption after the 7 update. (The fix for that was to unpair and re-pair the watch.) Don't know if there's a known fix for the map data issue.

guess the unpair/pair fix is now official and for multiple problems.

Ugh...

Missing workout routes? Erase your phone and watch

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I was having a wealth of sync problems between my iPhone and watch. I unpaired and set up as a new watch and the problems still existed.

I have a new watch coming today (yeah I finally caved in) so I am hoping those issues are resolved with a fresh install.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Since updating to iOS 14.0.1, I have began experiencing random CarPlay disconnects where my iPhone completely disengages from my head unit and reengages causing music or podcasts to stop and sometimes restart from the beginning as well as disconnecting the call if I’m on the phone. It’s really really annoying. Rebooting doesn’t help and my head unit is on the latest firmware.

I’m also burning through my iPhone battery at a rate of about 25% per hour with normal usage. Before the update I could go from 3AM to close to 9PM and still have about 30-40%battery charge left. Without changing any behavior, my phone now goes into low power mode by 6:30-7 AM if I don’t put it on a charger when I get to work.

 

[Sam Posten]

All I want for next iOS update is the ability to make dynamic wallpapers from any Live Photo. Requiring long presses to animate is so 2018.

 

[DaveF]

Are there dynamic wallpapers besides the dumb colored bubbles Apple provides? Seems like it should be a neat feature, but a choice limited to red or blue bubbles that move slightly is Zzzzzzz....