Three simple things that Apple needs to fix

I’ve been an Apple user ever since the Macintosh, and while I love the company, there are three simple things Apple needs to fix

Right through the Worldwide Developers Conference at Apple Park, there was a phrase we kept hearing over and over.

“This is one of the most requested features from our users.”

Apple is now a company on cruise control. The heavy lifting has been down. The marketing machine churns it out, and every update is about a 10% increase above the previous version of everything from software to hardware.

When you’re a trillion dollar company, I guess that’s how it has to be for Apple. But there’s always something to fix.

We used to complain that the yearly iPhone update was getting boring. But now we acknowledge that the iPhone is probably as good as it’ll ever be, until we can see Princess Leia appear as a hologram to ask us for help.

I’m an Apple user, and my main hour to hour experience is with the iPhone. So here are three things that I regularly hear people say that Apple needs to fix.

Personal hotspot

Apple markets itself as the company for the tech generation. And when the history books are written about this generation, it will be that we like to be on the move. Goodbye office cube, we work from cafes, from bed, from a car.

So often, that means connecting to a personal hotspot. The iPhone was remarkably late to the party in allowing users to use the phone as a hotspot, compared to its competition.

That was a long time ago, and still something that Apple needs to fix.

Here’s an example: You’re on location, and you get a call that you need to reply to an important email. You pull out the laptop, don’t see any free WIFI options, so you look for your hotspot. But it doesn’t appear in the WIFI drop down window.

So you go to your phone, all the settings are turned on. You turn them off, then back on. You turn your WIFI off and wait…. then back on. Still nothing.

So you turn your laptop WIFI off and on, and after a few seconds, it appears!

Apple, there has to be a fix!

IDEA – Allow your MacBook Air or iPad to auto-connect to your personal hotspot whenever you log on, if there are no WIFI options.

WIFI

WIFI is an Australian invention, but it’s got a long way to go. It’s still not reliable.

Our homes and offices are full of WIFI, sometimes extender routers depending on the size of the house or office. But the Apple WIFI settings rarely pick the best option for our location.

And how many times do you log on to your WIFI only to find your router is missing, for no reason?

Again, it’s one of those constant annoying features that you’d expect Apple to find a fix for.

IDEA – Why doesn’t Apple make use of AI and maps to locate where you are using the wifi from and remember it, so when you next log in, it purposefully selects the right WIFI, rather than just the last logged in.

3G-5G transition

You’re in a lift, it’s stopping every floor. The perfect time to whip out the phone and check emails, or social notifications. But the phone has switched to 3G. You persist, but no data is coming through, even though the phone is showing five bars.

You exit the lift, phone still in hand, but it just won’t go back to 5G. You turn off cellular, wait five seconds, turn it back on. Still 3G. You turn the phone off and on again, still 3G, and no data. One time it took 15 minutes to return to 5G and receiving data.

You’re in a tunnel, on the phone, the call drops out. You notice the cellular is now 3G. You get out of the tunnel, still 3G. Five minutes later, still 3G.

Again, something that Apple really needs to fix.

Every single day!

They are small issues compared to solving world hunger. But every year I watch the Apple presentations, of new exciting features, and I can’t help but ask – why don’t you fix the thing that bugs me every day?