Apple iPhone iOS 9 bugs, discrepancies and desired features

Note: I have updated this post for the last time. I am currently using iOS 10.3.3 and will not update this any more with iOS 11. I'm surprised and disappointed that many of these problems have persisted since iOS 5. Nobody seems to care about my "desired features."

I switched to an Apple iPhone when the 4S was the first iPhone available from Verizon Wireless. I have now replaced the iPhone 4S with an iPhone 6. I have noted some bugs in the phone, some discrepancies in the user interface and I have some desired features.

The iPhone 4S came with iOS 5. My current iPhone 6 is running iOS 9.3.5. After I publish this post, I will upgrade to iOS 10 and retest all the bugs and discrepancies and look for the desired features and update this post if there are changes. Some of these may be fixed already as some of them are hard to test with iOS 9. Update: I have now installed iOS 10.3.3 and will be checking each bug, discrepancy and desired features for improvements.

Many of these bugs and discrepancies go back to iOS 5. I don't understand why they don't get fixed. I can't be the only one out of millions of users who has noticed these problems.

I'm only discussing applications and the keyboard provided by Apple as part of iOS.

Phone and Contacts (including Voice Mail)
When a contact is marked as "Blocked" and you add a phone number to that contact, the added phone number will not be blocked. You must unblock and block the contact again to begin blocking the added phone number. iOS 10.3.3: Still a bug.

The "1" digit on the phone keypad is tricky. I've had cases where I needed to dial the "1" but was unable to do so. Many times, the screen just flashes. When I have a conference call and the authorization code includes a "1", I set it up in Contacts so I can dial the number from Contacts and avoid having to try to dial the "1". This seems to have improved and it may be finally fixed. October 10: I just received a call supposedly from Google and needed to press "1" to confirm my listing. However, the phone would not let me press "1" until after the caller hung up. Each time I pressed the "1" key, the phone flashed a black screen for a second, implying that pressing the "1" key was not permitted. It's just the "1" key I have problems with; all the other keys work fine. The other day, I needed to key in an account number with a "1" in it; I could not get the "1" to work.

Update: The other day, I was unable to answer a call because the phone wouldn't allow me to swipe to answer. As there is no other means to answer a call, I had to let it go into voicemail.

If a call comes in as "No Caller ID" or "Unknown Caller" you can't set up a contact for it and mark it as blocked. Your phone will ring every time (unless you have turned the ringer off for all calls).

iOS 10 has added two bugs: When blocking or unblocking a contact, the Contacts app will either lock up or sometimes respond slowly (10 to 15 seconds). Since I have crash reporting turned on, I expect Apple will fix this with the next release. iOS 10.3.3: I believe this has been fixed.

The second bug: On the notification screen, it will show you missed calls. Then it will say, "Swipe for more information." Swiping does not give you more information, it calls the person back. That's not what I want to do.

If your voice mail is 100% full, the app won't show you this until you go into voice mail.

When playing a voice mail message, the pause does not work. The screen flashes black and the message continues playing. iOS 10.1.1: Fixed.

Desired feature: When a call comes in and on the list of recent calls, the name and type of call shows up. I would rather have the name and company name show up. Sometimes, I don't remember what company a person is associated with. iOS 10.3.3: No change.

Desired feature: If I'm in an app when the phone rings, I can accept or decline the call. I want to be able to do this when I'm on the home screen. I can mute the ringer, but I can't decline the call. If I put my phone back in my pants pocket, I run the risk of accidentally answering the call. iOS 10.3.3: No change.

Weather

The Weather app is atrocious and I'm surprised that The Weather Channel allows its logo to be included. It's especially interesting to watch the app update the forecast to the actual as you go through the day. For example, at 10 a.m., it might say the temperature is 60º at 10 a.m. but that it will be 75º at 11 a.m. No it won't. 

Most days, the high temperature for the day is higher than the highest hourly temperature. See picture to right; the high for the day is 88 degrees but that high is never reached during the day. You may argue that the high is still accurate, but just not at the top of the hour. I still consider it a bug. iOS 10.3.3: Not fixed.

The Weather app requires that you turn on location tracking even when the app isn't being used. Why are you spying on me and using up my battery?

Desired feature: Include the humidity with the temperature. Especially in the summer in Ohio, the humidity can have a major influence on the perceived temperature.

Keyboard

The prediction capability of the keyboard is helpful yet infuriating. I don't like it when it takes perfectly valid words and changes them into invalid words. I thought it learned my vocabulary but I seem to be mistaken as I have to correct it over and over again for some words, especially slang.

When I type "a.m." or "U.S.", the keyboard turns capitalization on after the period even though I the next letter is not capitalized 90% of the time.  Example: "I will leave at 4:45 p.m. and head home." The "a" on "and" should not be capitalized but it will try to capitalize it. It should monitor my typing and turn the capitalization on only when I'm at the end of a sentence. 10.3.3: I have turned capitalization assistance off. It was just wrong too many times.

Desired feature: If I type a number, then a space, the keyboard returns to showing letters instead of numbers. I want it to stay with numbers.

Messages

When I see a full message through the Notification Center or just from the list of messages, the unread message indicator is not cleared. I have to go into the actual message to clear the indicator even though I have already read it. This is especially annoying when the message is "K". iOS 10.3.3: Not fixed but worse now because I often am able to read the full message before I unlock the phone.

Sending a message with a picture is weird. If I click on the camera icon first, I can now add a message to the picture (this was added at some point in iOS 9). If I enter the message before clicking on the camera icon, the message will not be sent with the picture.

General User Interface

The icon used to add an item to a list of items is not consistent. The Stocks, Contacts, World Clock and Calendar apps uses a + sign, which is what I would expect. However, Notes and Messages use a box with a pencil instead. The Weather app uses a + in a circle to add a location.

Notes

The search box is normally shown on apps that have a search capability, such as Safari. However, Notes hides the search box until you scroll. It doesn't take up much space, so it should always appear. iOS 10: It's still a bit hidden but easy to find. I consider this fixed.

Stocks

I was watching Apple stock one day when the price changed dramatically. I noticed that the dividend yield was not recalculated as the price changed. iOS 10.3.3: Not fixed.

App Store
Recently, when I went into my Facebook review to update it, the review was completely gone. I will go through and back up my reviews after this. iOS 10.3.3

On September 12, 2017, the update history in the App Store was wiped out. It's going to be a moot point soon as the history only retains the last update. But still, I'm surprised that that happened. iOS 10.3.3

Desired feature: There needs to be an API that an app can use to determine if I've written a review for the app. Some apps ask me to write a review when I have already done so. I find this annoying. iOS 10.3.3: No change.

Desired feature: When I look at purchased apps, they seem to be listed by the most recently installed to the earliest installed. I would also like a list in alphabetic order so that I can find a desired app quicker. iOS 10.3.3: No change.

Desired feature: When I open the App Store, it always opens to the Featured screen. I would prefer that it open to the last screen that I was on (almost always the Updates screen) or allow me to choose which screen it should open to. The Featured screen has heavy graphics and typically takes a bit to display. iOS 10.3.3: No change.

Safari

Desired feature: Unlike the Chrome browser for the iPhone, you can't search on a page for a word or phrase. iOS 10.3.3: Not fixed.

That sums it up. Feel free to use the comments for corrections or additions.

Updated October 3: Added screen shot of Weather app and iOS 10 comments.

Updated October 5: Added problems with Contacts and Voice Mail. Added a desired feature to the App Store about the screen the app opens to.

Updated October 10: Added to discussion about pressing "1".

Updated October 20: Added a second new bug to the Phone and Contacts (including Voice Mail) section for iOS 10.

Updated November 4: The voice mail pause has been fixed.

Updated December 6: Added note that I was not able to answer a call.

Final update September 26, 2017 before iOS 11.