Updated August 31st: Updated to iOS 5 Beta 7 on my iPad 2. Bugs list on the way
I installed iOS 5 Beta on to my iPad 2 GSM, to test application compatibility that we are rolling out by the developers at my work place. While testing out the application compatibility, I found iOS 5 to have an improved os by far. Not just here and there, but to the point where I thought it was easy for me to just discard the use of my PC or Mac. This post is more towards bugs that I found.
Updated August 31st: iOS 5 Beta 7 updated via OTA on the iPad 2 without the need to update via iTunes.
Updated August 24th: When a screen shot is taken and then going to Camera Roll to either Copy or do Email Photo, it would open up in Email but the image will not show up. Copying the image in Camera Roll also produce blank email when pasting the photo when composing an email. Other photo taken with the iPad’s Camera or imported via iTunes would email properly.
Updated August 21st, 2011: Photo Album creation on iOS 5 has been around since Beta 1 for the iPad. You can create an Album, or move Photos to an Album you just created or to an existing Album. I have noticed that before, but since this iPad was for testing purposes, I didn’t have much pictures that I care about that I would move them to an album organizing them.
Having this feature is useful, and Apple finally did it right with the Photos section of iOS. It is now organizable, and you can even Stream them to the Cloud with Photo Stream so you can share your Photo Stream to Apple TV as well as your other Apple Devices ranging from iPhone, iPod Touch, and your other iPads if you have any. So it’s a seamless sharing of your photos anywhere. However, you can’t select what to stream, so if you do a screen shot of a website, or something you don’t want to share, oh well, you can’t pick and choose. Maybe in the final version Photo Stream can be organized as well, because I would hate showing my screen saver on my Apple TV and it’s something I took a screen shot of something useless to share.
Updated August 20th, 2011: Beta 6 was upgraded OTA, and it seems it’s more stable. We’ll see if the memory problem is still a bug.
Updated August 10th, 2011: There is no OTA update for this version, not like Beta 3 where you can upgrade from Beta 3 to Beta 4 Off The Air (OTA).
Updated August 6th, 2011: Apple just released Beta 5 and is currently downloading it, as well as downloading iTunes 10.5 Beta 5, just to make sure there is no bug in between. I’m also wondering if Beta 5 will work with Apple TV iOS 5 Beta 4 through AirPlay.
The bug for the touch screen has been fixed on this Beta 5 version. I can now actually press a link directly on to it rather than on Beta 4, I had to press below the link.
Updated August 4th, 2011: After taking pictures or videos with the iPad 2, then going to the Camera Roll by clicking on the bottom left, where there’s a little thumbnail. Then try playing any video from there and push the volume up button during video play. Instead of the volume going up, it instead take pictures.
Updated July 25th, 2011: Previously on Beta 3, if I was purchasing a universal app on my iPad such as GoodReader, it would download to my iPhone 4, iPod Touch, my other iPad 2 and so on automatically. Since the recent release of Beta 4, things changed, in terms of, you need to put your iTunes account password in each devices before it downloads the app. So it no longer downloads them automatically, I mean it still does, but only after you enter in your iTunes password. I like how all of my iDevices requires less attention before Beta 4 and when I pick up my iDevice, it would find all of my new app across my iDevice without doing anything. Now I have to go back to the devices and enter in my password, which feels like a pre iOS 4.
Updated July 23rd, 2011: With the latest Beta 4, iCloud now has the ability to sync Documents and Data, which wasn’t there on the previous Beta versions.
Updated July 22nd, 2011: Updated my iPad 2 3G to iOS 5 Beta 4 over the air, still reviewing the bugs.
Updated July 14th, 2011: With iTunes 5 Beta 3, it is now possible to restore from a new PC or Mac. If for some reason your old computer dies on you and all you have is your backup to your iPad 2 on a flash drive, you can restore from that after you Transfer your Purchases to your new computer. After you transfer your Purchases, you right click on your iPad and click on restore and select from which backup file to restore from.
Updated July 13th, 2011: Bug Fix for Apple Tv Mirrored from iPad 2. The bug was during the time of mirroring and I click on Menu Button on the Apple Tv Remote, the iPad 2 can’t go back and re-instate mirroring to Apple TV. The iPad had to be restart in order for the iPad to recognize that mirroring was disconnected. That bug is now fixed.
Updated July 12th, 2011: There are some annoying bugs that I found very hard to get used to, especially on iOS 5 Beta 2, but now they fixed it on iOS 5 Beta 3.
Fixed: Shortcut under keyboard. When I added shortcut keys such as “ur” for “your” and when I type “sour” it would come out as “soyour”. That is now fixed in Beta 3.
Milestone: The new Beta 3 added an Assistive Touch to the Accessibility Settings Menu. Mainly for people having difficulties with multi-touch gestures. I tried it to see how it works, you can add your own gestures, and you can pull up the gesture menu anywhere with a white big dot hovering around where ever you go. This would replace your hardware buttons. It’s a nice feature to try.
Mirroring is also capable now with FaceTime via AirPlay. But your Apple TV 2nd gen has to be on iOS 5 Beta 3 as well. I tested on my Apple TV and it’s scary looking at someone else face on my 63Inch TV.
Still Broken: Bluetooth Headphones will not produce sound, not matter if it’s on the Video App, 3rd Party App or Music. It connects fine. Tested on Motorola S9
Update July 11th, 2011: Currently Installing iTunes 5.0 Beta 3 for my iMac as well as downloading for the Apple TV 2 and iPad 2 3G. Stay tune for a personal review.
Update July 4th, 2011: As I discovered and play more with iOS 5 Beta 2, I found an improvement over the iOS 4.3.3. The Photo Album imports Photos at least 2x as fast. I insert the SD Card to the Camera Kit and compared it to my other iPad 2, one with iOS 5 Beta, the other with iOS 4.3.3, and both importing 50 pictures of 10 Megapixel photos were able to do it twice as fast on the iOS 5 Beta 2.
Bugs: When the Apple TV is used for Mirroring, it would display the Home Screen or any app mirrored to it just fine, until the Smart Cover Lid closes the iPad, the Apple TV would show up blank screen. Even when I play a video from Videos app. This does not happen with 4.3.3 when playing a video to the Apple TV.
Bugs: When importing photos in the Photo Album, the pictures selection shows blank, leaving you pondering why the SD Card is empty. It would appear if you click on the Select All button and the ghost photos from your SD Card would magically appear, how it should be.
Improvements: After initial install of iOS 5 Beta 2, it crashed only once since. So far it’s stable.
Improvements: After you take a picture, you can Tweet the photo instantly, however, it’s only one at a time.
Improvements: You can select more than one picture to email without the hassle of copy the image one by one.
I was able to Skype with my friend through the Big Screen TV and my family could see my friend on the big screen TV. No need to gather around the iPad 2 when doing Video Conferencing. Facetime works well too.
It is now fun to use the iPad 2 with Photo Booth. You can view the photo on the Big Screen TV, sharing how silly you or your friend look instantly.
Update June 29th, 2011: Added iOS 5 Beta 2 to Apple TV:
I took the plunge and installed iOS 5 Beta 2 on my Apple TV 2nd Generation in parallel to my iPad 2 with iOS 5 Beta 2.
Bugs: Mirroring is lagging, not instant.
Bugs: Played any games on to the Screen via Mirroring works, but lags a lot. Almost unplayable if you are playing a racing game or first person shooter game. Fine with Angry Birds Rio or non Action Pack Game.
Bugs: Music Videos and Movie Videos will not play through Apple TV 2 with iOS 5 Beta 2 through iPad 2 with iOS 5 Beta 2. Hopefully they will fix this bug in the next version of Beta 2. However, I can still play Music Videos or Movies Videos through Mirror mode and in full screen.
Bugs? The mirroring is not full screen for most application, most likely the application isn’t supporting the full screen yet for mirroring.
Advantage: I played Real Racing 2 HD and the Apple TV displayed my cockpit view on to my TV Screen while the iPad screen displayed my HUD (Speed, Race Track and my Location during the race, Lap Times, and Number of Laps) and all in Full Screen.
Another advantage was when I play SlingPlayer to my Screen, it would display in Full Screen, while the iPad would only show the remote control to change channel and volume. This pretty much could give you an advantage if you have just one Cable Box and you would like to stream TV to your TV that don’t have a Cable Box.
Tested with 4.3.3 iPad 2 on the Apple TV with iOS 5 Beta 2 and results below:
Mirroring does not work, since it’s stated in Apple Developer Site about the incompatibility between iOS version, however sound will still pass through the wireless to the Apple TV.
Photo Mirroring works to the Apple TV.
Music Videos and Movie Videos works through AirPlay to Apple TV.
So far, Apple pretty much worked more on the Mirroring part, it just seems solid, except the lag part. I’m going to see if going Wired instead of Wireless Network Connection be better.
That’s all for this update for now.
Update June 25, 2011: Added iOS 5 Beta 2 Review
iOS 5 Beta 2 Review:
Other than what is already mentioned below, here I will just update on what is fixed.
Fixed: iTunes Wireless Sync, the button is no longer grayed out, it actually works if you are in the same network. (Requires iTunes 5 Beta 2 and Mac OSX 10.6.8 or Mac OSX Lion Beta)
Fixed: Photo inside your Camera Roll can now be deleted. Previously, it would come back after deletion.
Fixed: Background Photo can now be change from the General Settings rather than through the Photo Album.
While Syncing wirelessly, you can play with your iPad 2 without the word Syncing in Progress and you will be locked out. On iOS 5 Beta 1, you can already do background syncing, however, you have to connect the cable to sync. Now it’s all done via wireless. (Requires iTunes 5 Beta 2 and Mac OSX 10.6.8 or Mac OSX Lion Beta)
That’s for now, I will update more as I found bugs here. If I have the time, I’ll update my iPad 2 WiFi, iPod Touch 4, and iPhone 4 GSM and report back the bugs discovered.
iOS 5 Beta 1 Review Below:
What are these improved apps that got my attention? Well, we all know the Notification was a huge update, and it reminds me notifications from Android, and even back to Windows Mobile when it was Pocket PC or PPC. So the GUI was not new to me, but it was a lot better than before. Whenever I get an email, it would pop up above the application I’m running and the application keeps on going. Such as movies, it would not stop and pause when I get a message. When I was playing and a message would pop up on top of the game application, I can still continue. It distract you a little bit because you have to look up. Before the updates, it would pop up intrusively, pausing the movie or game I was playing. Who knows, maybe it’s better for some of you to have the movie or game pause and click on the message to see what the message is. While with this new update, it would summarize the message for you.
The other part is the Updates section in App Store. It would display all of my previously downloaded app whether it be on my other iPad or my iPhone. So I can download iPhone apps to my iPad, just incase you need that iPhone made specific app such as Latitude app or Talkatone app on your iPad. This feature is also in the iTunes App in your iPad. The updates icon is a new icon and you can download your previously downloaded music and music videos. But not your previously purchased Movies or TV Shows. Bummer on that part, but it makes sense since they hog the most bandwidth and iCloud storage, Apple wouldn’t give you the opportunity for Movies or TV Shows.
The other thing that got my attention was that whenever my son download an app for his iPad, and he’s a download junkie, it would download on my iPad too. I didn’t even know until I look at one of my screen I would have an app that I have no idea about. This might be a good thing or not, depends on how you look at it. For me, it’s a good thing, since I have multiple iPads and iPhone and iPod Touch, I didn’t have to re-download on my other iDevices. So it’s like an automatic sync. The bad thing about it is, you might not want a certain ipad to have it download all new ones. However, I can’t confirm to you that any download would sync across your account. For instant, it might not download to your iPhone if you download an app specifically made for your iPad or vice versa. But it might automatically sync download from your iPad to your iPhone or iPod Touch if the app is universal.
Another feature I like about iOS 5 is the iMessage. Reminds me of BlackBerry Messenger. However, you can’t do groups, I hope it’s just temporary. I can send photos, and videos, but just not groups yet. The response on the iMessage is pretty fast for Beta. I was able to chat with my colleague instantly and I didn’t have to log in, log out or worry about a disconnection. It would always be on. iMessage will find your registered email you use on iMessage. If your friends don’t know your email address, well, then you should share that in order for iMessage to work.
Shortcut keys is another new feature. If you have BlackBerry, you are familiar with auto text. However, this feature on the iOS 5 Beta needs bug fixing. The bug is that if you have a short cut key for “and” as “n”, and when you type in, “This Is Fun”, the result would be “This is Fuand”. Fun ends up Fuand because it thinks I’m trying to type And so it replaced N with And and thus Fun becomes FUAND. Even if I turn off auto correction or spelling off, it would still appear. In order for this nuasance to disappear is to disable entirely the shortcut keys function. This bug isn’t just for a one letter, the bug is for two or three letter. For instance. If I add OME for One for Me, and I type COME, it would end up to be Cone for Me. Oh well.
Volume keys is now also a ringer volume control. This might not be so annoying if you don’t listen to music often on your iPad or watch a movie. But sometimes, I don’t remember if I had the iPad on full volume or not before hand. So while the movie loads, I liked to turn down the volume as much as I can, but instead of the volume turning down before the movie starts, it would instead turn down the ringer instead of the volume until the movie load it’s intro. In order for you to ignore the ringer volume, there is a way to change that in the Settings > General > Sounds and under Ringer and Alerts, slide the button to Off on “Change with Buttons”.
Automatic Backup to iCloud. This function only works if you are one on Wifi, two is Plugged in to Power Outlet, and three, the iPad is locked, like it’s off in Sleep Mode. Basically, it will do it’s thing for you when all three are set, which I find to be automatic because whenever I check the iCloud settings under Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup, I would loose more and more megabytes by the day since everyday I download an app, add notes and contacts and so on. But out of the 64Gb that I used on my iPad 2 3G, I used up 300mb on iCloud. That’s not much, an makes me think if it backs up my applications and my movies since they take the most space.
There’s also an option to Backup to iTunes, and for this to work, you have to connect to your PC or Mac at least once and then the button will be active if your PC or Mac is on. You can then click on the sync to iTunes button and do wireless syncing. But the downside of it all is, it won’t sync to iTunes 10.3.1, you would have to download 10.5 Beta, and you can download it through Apple Developer Site.
The split keyboard is a nice feature. This would make your typing easier with your thumb on each side of the screen. Split from ASDF and JKL; in either rotation, landscape or portrait. You can have the option to just undock the whole keyboard as well.
The Safari browser can stream Music and Movies, a plus for some of us who likes to stream media files like myself.
Those are the ones worth mentioning for iOS 5 Beta. For now, I’ll update this post as I play with it some more.
Update:
Bugs List for those who start from new iPad rather than from a restore:
Some Apps will not show video output to either with VGA Adapter, Component Video Cable or HDMI Cable.
Bugs with 3G Connection, some drops even though my other iPad 2 had some bars.
VPN Connection drops, or may take awhile to connect.
WiFi Connections would take some time to reconnect to previous AP after sleep.
Background Photo can’t change via the settings.
Syncing to iTunes wirelessly still has bugs, eve though my iMac is on, it still would not detect it within the network.
AirPlay will not work to my AppleTV if the Apple TV still on iOS 4.x instead of iOS 5 Beta. Music will still play.
Bugs list if you do a restore:
Photos can’t be deleted from the iPad.
Apps that was restored takes three tries or more before opening.
Some apps including mail would crash when importing photos as an attachment.
That’s all for now, I will post more bugs if I find them.
Have you noticed that the touch precision accuracy is different in beta 4? Mine just sucks… it’s now horrible!
I noticed that too, mine is a little bit off, things that needs to be clicked has to be just a tad lower than the usual dead on. I didn’t think of it much, now that you mention it. It is a little imprecise, but maybe yours is more than mine. Hmmm….
What’s even more sucky is that there is no Beta 4 for Apple TV, so I can’t connect to my Apple TV since Beta 3 and Beta 4 don’t talk to each other. I can’t play my Real Racing HD game on my TV now. Just gonna have to fiddle my thumbs till then and wait.
Try to click on the black top bar to scroll to the top of a page in the browser… it’s a pain! It never happened before!
It’s a hit or miss for me, but mostly miss. Time for an update soon. Come on Apple.