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    Apple Daily Tech Support Thread [June 06]

    June 07, 2018

    Apple Daily Tech Support Thread [June 06]

    Daily Tech Support Thread [June 06]

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:13 AM PDT

    Welcome to the daily Tech Support thread for /r/Apple.

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    Here is an archive of all previous "Tech Support" threads. This is best viewed on a browser. If on mobile, type on the searchbar [title:"Daily Tech Support Thread" author:"AutoModerator"] (without the brackets, and including the quotation marks around the title and author.)

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
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    WWDC Insight: How dropped frames are finally being fixed in iOS 12

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:44 PM PDT

    While for many of us WWDC may feel like it's over, the keynote is only the simplified consumer focused overview of the new software. The actual meat and potatoes comes from the many dozens of dev sessions (like mini keynotes) where Apple developers and engineers will dive deep into the specific low level changes that make the new software tick.

    I wanted to focus on one that took place yesterday titled "Session 202: What's New in Cocoa Touch". Cocoa Touch is the low level framework that controls all touch events and their subsequent UI response/animation throughout iOS. Most notably: scrolling. After reading that iOS 12 was supposed to feature "smoother animation and scrolling" on the info page from Apple's website, I was interested to hear what the actual engineers had to say about this. In this session, Josh Shaffer confirmed that Apple has gone through a full audit of all native Apple apps within iOS and used those as a testing ground to profile for any areas the core animation frameworks are experiencing bugs and bottlenecks.

    I'm pleased to report that this session directly targeted three major reasons that we've had persistent frame drops throughout iOS despite the exponentially more powerful hardware we get year over year. This has been going on for many years and described in all kinds of ways from countless users on this sub: "hitching", "jank", "stutter", "judder", etc. Regardless of verbiage, iOS has been failing to maintain 60FPS consistently during scrolling since ~iOS 7, and it sounds like iOS 12 is finally finally addressing this. These improvements will not only benefit the native apps, but should also extend to improving the scrolling/animation performance of third party apps as well without any extra work on the developer's part. Should make a lot of users here (especially Chris Pirillo!) quite happy.

    I'm going to do my best to summarize the three major fixes below, but the video linked above is definitely the best way to get a full understanding of what's changing if you're interested. I've grabbed the slides from the presentation and placed them throughout the explanations where appropriate to help visualize what's being discussed. (the little comments in white are my own) Without further ado:

    1. An oversight within the Cell Pre-fetch API causing dropped frames has been fixed. This was an API introduced in iOS 10 intended to help solve frame drops, particularly those that were the result of loading heavy data within an upcoming cell during a scroll. The idea was that you could pre-load the data (say, a large image coming up before it's made it to the screen upon scroll) in the background so by the time the cell is on screen, the data is already loaded and the CPU performance of the active scrolling thread remains unaffected. While this works much of the time and did in fact reduce dropped frames, Apple has identified a bug in the implementation. Instead of starting the pre-fetch before the cell is visible on screen, the pre-fetch would incorrectly start at the same time as the cell that was already loading in on screen! This meant that the CPU was handling not only the scroll, but also the pre-fetch for data that was already in the process of loading in. It completely negated the idea of a pre-fetch, it was far too late to pre-load the data and instead would just double load it, often causing frames to drop due to the spike in CPU usage. In iOS 12, they have adjusted the pre-fetch API so it now loads more intelligently, vastly reducing the chance that it will try to fetch data too late to prevent a slam to the CPU.

    2. Apple has identified and corrected an issue in the CPU performance controller causing dropped frames even when there was very little background load. This one is an even bigger win for performance in iOS 12. Previously, when an app would alert the system that there was a big load coming up during a scroll and it needed more CPU performance, the CPU was quite slow to respond and increase its clock speed. In fact, by the time the CPU was at a higher speed state, it was often too late and the frame was already dropped. This has been fixed, and is actually what Craig was referring to at the main keynote. Essentially, when an app needs more CPU performance to prevent a frame drop, the CPU will now respond instantly and rocket right up to its high clock speeds, and more quickly drop back down to idle. (all mobile CPUs idle as often as possible to maintain battery life, only going to max speed when required)

    3. The auto-layout framework has been heavily optimized to substantially increase performance. Auto-layout is what allowed Apple to begin targeting different screen sizes and shapes in iOS. It controls how most UI elements, text, and content are laid out on the display by automatically controlling spacing for the many different iDevice screen sizes, without requiring the developer to completely redesign an app to support a new screen size. It has been in active use since iOS 8 when the iPhones went big. As it turns out, Apple discovered that the performance impact of the Auto-layout framework was actually scaling at an exponential rate with iOS 11 (and quite likely, iOS 8/9/10) so the performance penalty for using it in more complex ways was quite severe. In iOS 12, they have gone through and heavily optimized the auto-layout framework so the performance impact of it is far more linear, which should free up the CPU and GPU substantially when rendering apps.

    These are the three primary improvements and fixes for avoiding dropped frames introduced in iOS 12. Josh mentions that there are even more than this, but these are the three that have brought the largest increase in scrolling performance and have dramatically reduced frame drops on old and new devices alike. Chances are the work described above is still on-going so the beta builds of iOS 12 may not reflect the full improvement we can expect, but hopefully when we're installing the final build of iOS 12 this September we can finally see a return to the locked 60FPS experience (and now 120FPS on iPad Pros) we once had in the early days of iOS.

    EDIT: I feel inclined to tack on a disclaimer. I'm writing this to inform the wider community that Apple is detailing their efforts to smooth out animation in iOS 12, but I don't work for Apple and I don't make any guarantee that the frame drops WILL be fixed. I'm just acting as a messenger here.

    These are improvements that are in active development for iOS 12, and they are making the promise that it will help massively reduce frame drops in both first party and third party apps. As the only iOS 12 we have access to today is very early beta software, we cannot expect the current version to have these improvements fully implemented. We must reserve judgement on whether these endeavors were successful in solving the problem, or not, only when we have our hands on the final version of iOS 12.

    They've spent a year focusing a majority of engineering on optimizing low level frameworks to fix this and many other issues (I can do another write-up if anyone is interested, the new session videos dropped tonight). Quite frankly, if iOS 12 ships and the issue isn't solved/massively reduced on modern hardware (A9 and forward)... I think we can safely abandon all hope that it ever will be.

    submitted by /u/rundiablo
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    A new era of Apple

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 10:34 AM PDT

    I really feel like with this past WWDC Apple really turned a corner in getting back to what made them great to begin with. Listening to the professionals but making the experience for everyone which Tim even said himself.

    It speaks volumes that iOS 12 Beta 1 feels better and more reliable than the last version of 11.4.

    I'm really looking forward to the next lot of hardware revisions. I think they will prove this return to form with new MacBook Pro's and the new Mac Pro. The iMac Pro has already been a hint at their intent.

    I've gone from nearly looking outside the Apple Ecosystem to doubling down on them for the future.

    Nice work Tim.

    submitted by /u/joshtlawrence
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    At WWDC18, Apple gave early morning runners free Beats powerbeats3 & Nike Run Club shared the love of running

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 03:34 PM PDT

    Trials for Paid Apps Come to App Store

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 03:48 AM PDT

    iOS 12 definitely speeds up your iPhone

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 05:34 PM PDT

    In iOS 12, you can use AirPods as hearing aids.

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:11 AM PDT

    In the control center settings, add "hearing" to "include".

    submitted by /u/jcommisso
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    Apple has built a damn strong phone

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 06:19 PM PDT

    I have an Iphone 6, I got a brand new one a few month ago because of the battery debacle. I was riding my motorcycle on the highway today and at about 80 mph my phone flew out of my pocket and onto the highway. I decided to turn around and make a few passes to see if I can find it and I ended up retrieving it as it landed in the emergency lane, fully expecting to prep a funeral for the corpse that is my phone.

    I am stunned, this phone hit the ground at 80mph, and very possibly got run over, and it works just fine.

    The screen is cracked all to hell, but thats it. The back of the phone has mere surface scratches, the camera still works, the fingerprint reader works, the silence works. Everything, works.

    Genuinely stunned, props to you Apple, this phone still has a few years of life left.

    submitted by /u/yesletsgo
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    Apple’s new ResearchKit API monitors Parkinson’s disease symptoms on Apple Watch

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 11:13 AM PDT

    The new pride watchface is not available in Russia

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:04 AM PDT

    Seems like it is a deliberate cautious decision by Apple, considering recent Russian anti-gay legislature. I hope Apple won't just quietly comply with these barbaric laws and take a stand.

    submitted by /u/takingvioletpills
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    The $17,000 Apple Watch is already obsolete

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:09 AM PDT

    Introduction to Siri Shortcuts

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 04:16 AM PDT

    iOS 12 to include custom HTML video player support in Safari

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 03:03 PM PDT

    HTML video players, providing custom subtitles and controls, can now be fullscreened in Safari as of iOS 12 beta 1. This works just like on desktop.

    This includes the mobile version of Youtube.com, as well as more complex video players such as Animelon.com.

    In previous versions, these sites either fullscreen to the default iOS video player, or else cannot be fullscreened at all.

    submitted by /u/SalvagedTechnic
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    "back to my mac" has been removed in Mojave. RIP.

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 07:40 AM PDT

    FaceID in iOS 12 is so much better

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 05:24 AM PDT

    Recognises me when I'm brushing my teeth now! And when I wake up in the morning! How's it working for everyone else?

    submitted by /u/Chestnutdelish
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    This third-year WWDC scholarship winner built an ML model to recognize beer yesterday. He's 21.

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 06:26 PM PDT

    Introducing Dark Mode

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:38 AM PDT

    I keep seeing people say things like "Now that WWDC is over..." ... but it's definitely not over. It's only Wed. 36 different Session videos have already been posted with many more to come still.

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 05:45 AM PDT

    Security advice: If your data is sensitive, don't back it up to iCloud

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 08:25 AM PDT

    We have a victim already. Paul Manafort. President Trump's former campaign manager.

    Apple has already handed over decrypted iCloud data to the FBI.

    As it turns out, Manafort was backing up information from his WhatsApp to to Apple's iCloud, where data is not encrypted and is thus available to police armed with a valid search warrant.

    Read the entire article here: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zm8q43/paul-manafort-icloud-whatsapp-bad-opsec-witness-tampering

    Needless to say, if you're handling sensitive data or want complete privacy, stay away from iCloud backups.

    submitted by /u/EastContact
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    iOS 12 Photo Import Drastically Improved!

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 10:56 AM PDT

    The photo import window within the Photos app has been dramatically overhauled in iOS 12.

    Many professional photographer like myself have been crying out for this.

    RAW Previews load really quickly, it splits files into different days and actually even imports quicker and select where to import them too. But what is best improved for me is adding the 'already imported' sectioned as I often keep files as back up on SD card and used to be such a pain to wait for those previews to load to select the images after.

    Amazing work Apple!

    submitted by /u/joshtlawrence
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    MacBook 2017 12"...seriously impressed...

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 12:20 PM PDT

    I have been travelling for the past 4 years with a late 2013 15" MacBook Pro up and down to London every week and whilst it has been fine and I was convinced I needed the screen real estate and power it afforded, the fact is that I do less coding and more document writing than I used to and the move to the cloud for a lot of stuff requires less local processing power overall. So given the on-going issues with MacBooks Pro and no updates announced at WWDC this year I decided to put myself in a holding pattern with a 2017 12" MacBook that I grabbed brand new and sealed from ebay at a great price until the next MBPs arrive at which point I'll sell and probably not lose that much.

    …and I have to say I am really quite impressed! This thing doesn't skip a beat. It is sooo small and light it is delight. The battery lasts ages, I honestly can't see all that much difference in day to day use even though I know objectively the processor is less powerful. The disk speed is approximately the same, I went from 1TB to 256GB and 16GB to 8GB of RAM but honestly it is fine.

    I've been doing node development with VS Code just fine, if I need to jump into a more powerful VM then I simply VPN up to home and spin one up on my server.

    Being fanless is awesome too, you will always get some badly coded JavaScript or some godawful Java applet thingy required for corporate environments which would cause the fans to spin up like a jet engine on the MBP. No on the MacBook, absolutely silent….

    I even had some nostalgic gaming playing Warcraft 3! :) (I believe StarCraft 2 will also play very well but requires a lot more drive space)

    Anyway, thoroughly impressed. 512GB storage would be better but it is rare to find those models cheaply. I have a more powerful desktop at home I can use for heavy lifting. iCloud desktop sync and DropBox making transition smooth.

    Loving it so far. It would be nice if I could find a USB-C/USB-A combined charger though as charging my iPhone 7 plus through a dongle is sloooow…

    submitted by /u/badsimian
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    The end of OpenGL support, other updates Apple didn’t share at the keynote

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 07:44 AM PDT

    Apple Trade-in partner, Brightstar, took my working Apple Watch and claims it won’t power on. 27 days later, I still don’t have my watch!

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 10:44 PM PDT

    I found another two posts searching here with a similar situation, so I hope we can discuss here whether bright star is scamming us or not.

    Got my S0 evaluated for $50, box came fast, sent it in. They email me on May 10 saying it won't power on. I email requesting them to try again because I KNOW it works. They didn't respond so I called. They are like "we do this all day, our techs know how to test" okay.. so I request cancellation. The website tells me the status is rejected and will be returned. No sign of it for days, so I email again. They are like "We apologize for the delay. Our warehouse is experiencing backlogs and are shipping all devices back this week. Please allow 6-8 business days to receive your device." 15 days after that email, still no device and no update.

    Let's hear some experiences?

    submitted by /u/kirbyCUBE
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    All 16 full resolution macOS Mojave dynamic wallpapers

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 01:50 AM PDT

    Here's an album on Imgur (if you just want to browse through them):

    https://imgur.com/a/8XI6jy0/layout/grid

    Imgur recompresses uploaded images though, so I prepared a zip file with higher quality versions: https://files.rb.gd/mojave_dynamic.zip (40mb)

    These images are extracted from the already compressed HEIC image container format, so they're smaller in file size relative to the other JPG wallpapers included in macOS.

    submitted by /u/randybruder
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    The effect of Apple naming a major OS release on Google searches.

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 06:24 AM PDT

    https://imgur.com/a/cF8WWAb

    You can see the moment at which they announced the name.

    submitted by /u/Amhran_na_bhFiann
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    Apple COULD have a great hardware lineup coming out this fall(ish)

    Posted: 06 Jun 2018 05:14 PM PDT

    It seems that between what Apple has said, what has been leaked, and what is rumored, there is a solid lineup coming in the second half of 2018.

    Below, in no particular order, and the things that come to mind that fall into one of those categories (Apple said was coming, what has been leaked, and what is rumored.)

    • X-style iPhones. Looks like three sizes, plus a possible SE2.
    • iPad Pros, probably with no Home button.
    • New AirPods?
    • PowerMat?
    • Mac mini
    • Updated MacBook/Pros. The trademark for the updated keys that deal with the crumb issue looks promising.
    • Updated iMacs?
    • Lower priced HomePod?

    What else am I forgetting/missing? And I'm certain not everyone will agree that all those belong on the list, and that is ok.

    As a guy that appreciates Apple products and the innovation or refinement they bring, it should be a fun second half to 2018.

    submitted by /u/JEJ514
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