Apple Delays Some iOS Features

Apple is delaying the launch of some new features for its iOS software due to quality issues.

According to news from Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter, executives at Apple made the decision to delay some features in its iOS 12, which was expected to have a redesigned home screen app, multiplayer mode for augmented reality games and the merging of third-party apps that run on Apple’s different devices. Combining apps is still expected to be included in the iOS update, but the redesigned home screen will likely be delayed until the software update next year. It’s also likely to delay an overhaul of its photo management app that relies on algorithms to sort pictures. There will be some smaller updates to the Photo app during 2018, noted Bloomberg.

Bloomberg said the move appears to be driven by flack Apple has been receiving in recent months after rolling out iOS updates that included bugs that required subsequent updates. The newswire noted that this isn’t the first time Apple delayed features for the iOS. It pointed to a move by Apple to delay a feature for synching text messages across all the different Apple devices and its Apple Pay Cash peer-to-peer payment platform.

On track to make it into the update this year: tools to help parents better monitor how long their children are using a mobile app and improvements to FaceTime video calling. One person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Apple executives informed software engineering groups about the changes in January. The delay is also expected to impact updates for Mac computer software but not on such a large scale. Apple Watch and Apple TV software upgrades aren’t impacted by the company’s decision to delay features of iOS. Back in 2015, Apple urged engineers to focus more on performance instead of new features with the launch of iOS 9, noted Bloomberg.