alt Hacker NewsI just don’t really agree with the idea that Apple’s apps are crashing and memory leaking all over the place, and if they are, not more than the median application.
For one thing, the power user crowd tends to babysit their activity monitor and get massively upset when an electron app dares to consume memory.
In my mind, the only thing that matters for non-server apps is whether or not the user experience is good. Memory consumption is just a number. Apple doesn’t even advertise how much memory many of their products have on them. They expect that their users don’t have to think about that, and as long as that remains true, I really don’t mind if Apple Music is eating up 2GB of RAM behind the scenes.
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The problem as I see it is not crashes and leaks. It’s that basic features are barely functional and the UI is not very usable.
Stupid examples from recently:
- The iOS 27 Preview app’s search feature appears to be present while in markup mode but missing while not in markup mode (this is quite reproducible for me).
- Mobile Safari regularly gets into a state where the overlay showing the current website domain gets stuck obscuring an important part of the site.
- On MacOS if you accidentally switch desktops you cannot switch back until the animation from the first switch finishes.
- Spotlight is still hilariously bad.
- The MacOS Music app’s AirPlay controls are barely functional.
- If you have an excessive number of desktop apps open, finding the one you want is gratuitously difficult. Sure, the bottom dock widget is pretty, but that doesn’t make it efficient.
- While typing this message, multiple different glitchy UI elements have appeared and disappeared.
- On iOS, if the keyboard is showing and you don’t want it, tough luck.
imovie is one software that does not work for the common man. you need to be a pro to even make a basic video.
> "and if they are, not more than the median application."
Comparing against the median means you've already thoroughly missed the point.
> I just don’t really agree with the idea that Apple’s apps are crashing and memory leaking all over the place, and if they are, not more than the median application.
Apple has some amazing engineering in the basic OS layer and the UI kit, but everything on top of it is just bad. E.g. it now takes about 5 seconds to "Privacy & Security" in the system settings, and I can see a visible delay when switching between sections (e.g. to "Screen Time").
Network settings are just embarrassing at this point - you can't sort the WiFi networks by name when looking at the saved settings!
Time Machine has been a disaster zone for the last 20 years. The keyboard navigation experience in macOS is a disgrace, worse than Win3.11 The virtualization experience of macOS sucks, and there is no support for containers (even Windows has them!).
I can continue for a long time.
> and if they are, not more than the median application
What point is there in paying the premium Apple luxury tax if it's as crap as the median?
I don’t really think it’s something to agree or not agree on. This is the experience I’ve had as an Apple user. I use their products extensively and like them quite a bit. The issues I’ve seen I deem unacceptable for a company of this caliber. I’m not talking about .6 seconds of load time or absolute customization. I’m talking about FaceTime actually switching when I click the button. Apple Music not leaking memory. Basic usability not niche items.
Now unfortunately apples stuff is usually a cut above other software I’ve used but in my opinion is nowhere near as good as it should be.