How Apple Could Improve iOS 8 And The iPhone 6

I love my Apple products. I get excited for their new stuff to come out. I watch the keynotes live when they’re available and live news streams when they’re not. But as much as I love Apple’s products, they are not perfect. With iOS 8 and the iPhone 6 coming this year, there are many areas that I would like to see Apple improve upon. They can make improvements from a user’s perspective as well as from a developer’s perspective.

Apple is far from perfect. I love the way that they are able to focus on making a product like they have tunnel vision. It shows that they are not easily swayed by what others are doing but instead can build something with a very pure perspective.

The web is bubbling with the predictions for what is coming in the next iPhone and iOS releases. Here is a list of what I am hoping for.

• Social App Reviews. As a developer, it is frustrating when people leave a one star review without ever asking for assistance. I think it would be awesome if Apple provided a way to developers to reach out to these users through the app store. They shouldn’t release email addresses. Instead they could create a form to let a developer send a single message to the user to inquire of their issues and offer assistance. Developers and users alike would benefit.
• Better Battery Life. I generally get better battery life than others, but I couldn’t make it two full days. Instead of making the next phone thinner, they should use the extra space for battery. It matters to people.
• Bevel-less iPhone Display. I really don’t like the bevel on devices. It is precious real estate that I look forward to manufacturers reclaiming for us. Just look at some of the mockups on the web; they are gorgeous. Doing this would solve two problems: making the screen larger and making the device smaller. Granted we are expecting a screen that is larger than the current device, but it would be smaller in relativity.
• Quicker UI Animations. I like the zooming of the folders in iOS on the home screen, but come on. They’re too slow. I feel like I could brew coffee quicker. Things have sped up a little in iOS 7.1, but not enough. The transitions might be smooth, but the speed almost feels like the device is lagging–which it isn’t.
• More iCloud Storage. Apple is gracious enough to give you 5GB of cloud storage for your documents and backups when you buy one of their devices. How much more do you get when you buy another device? Zero! They want you to backup your devices to their service, but they never give you more. What they need to do is give you 5GB per mobile device that you attach to your iCloud account. This issue prevents people from reliably backing up to iCloud.

All of this is not to bash Apple. I just think that these are a few things that need to be addressed. There is always room to improve. I think that most of the platforms could improve in these areas. Apple is a leader, and they need to lead in these areas.

What is on your wish list of improvements from Apple this year?