To cut down on bugs, Apple is changing how it develops its software, Ars Technica

        

(The initial release windows of both iOS) and iOS 13 saw users complaining about a plethora of bugs both major and minor. Apple has plans to mitigate this problem when iOS 14 launches next year, according to sourceswho spoke with Bloomberg.

People familiar with the shift told the publication that a major factor contributing to iOS 13 ‘s rough launch window was the fact that many Apple developers were making daily or weekly commits of new features at varying levels of readiness and quality, and those features were enabled by default regardless of their readiness. This meant that test builds were often unusable for stretches of time due to one problematic feature or another, which limited the amount of time testers spent with the software.

Under the new methodology, new test builds of Apple’s future operating systems will turn certain features deemed to be buggy or to cause usability issues off by default. Testers will be able to opt-in on a feature-by-feature basis in many cases, reducing the likelihood that they will be working with “unlivable” builds.

Bloomberg’s sources provided some insight about how Apple assesses the reliability and state of its own software features, as well. From the report:

Apple measures and ranks the quality of its software using a scale of 1 to 100 that’s based on what’s known internally as a “white glove” test. Buggy releases might get a score in the low 60 s whereas more stable software would be above 80. iOS 13 scored lower on that scale than the more polished iOS 12 that preceded it. Apple teams also assign green, yellow and red color codes to features to indicate their quality during development. A priority scale of 0 through 5, with 0 being a critical issue and 5 being minor, is used to determine the gravity of individual bugs.

The change in approach was directed by Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering, and was announced during an internal meeting. And this would also apply to Apple’s other operating systems such as macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and iPadOS.

People familiar with Apple’s internal operations have said that Apple is also considering postponing some major features from iOS 14 to a later update, possibly iOS 15, in order to put the magnifying glass on performance and stability. However, iOS 14 would still likely have as many new features as iOS 13 shipped with.

As noted previously, the changes are being made in response to what is perceived both internally and externally as a very difficult launch window for iOS 13. As we’ve observed many times these past few weeks here at Ars, iOS 13 has seen afarfaster cadence of bug-fix updates since it went live than any other major iOS release in more than a decade.

The report describes the internal attitude about the iOS 13 .0 launch, which was seen as below the company’s standards before it was about to ship. But because the hardware launches of new iPhones could not be postponed for numerous logistic reasons, and because those new iPhones required iOS 13 out of the box, the company had to scramble to put fixes and delayed features intoiOS 1) and later updates very shortly after the initial iOS 13 release.

The report also says that Apple “privately considered” iOS 13. 1 to be “the actual public release “and that the company expected only die-hard fans would update to iOS 13 within the short week between its initial release and the iOS 13 .1 update . This is a surprising expectation, given that the company often publicly boasts of how quickly its users adopt new software updates compared to competing platforms.

Apple is currently working on iOS 13 .3, another major feature release. Bloomberg’s sources suggested that the company has been happier with the stability and quality of its software releases this cycle since iOS 13 .2, despite a background multitasking bug that needed to be fixedwith a minor updaterecently.