Apple changed how reading books works in iOS 16

Apple’s taken the joy out of its Books app with iOS 16.
The lovely page flip is gone.

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They’ve messed up Books on the iPad as well - by what looks like removing or crippling Pro Motion (120hz). Now, when scrolling, you get a noticeable ghosting effect on the text. It’s horrible. They also seemed to have changed the display driver/colour - it just seems a tiny bit greyer, and I hate how they’ve now removed the automatic highlighting when using a pencil :roll_eyes: You now have to highlight text > Click on Highlight > choose a colour!!! :icon_rolleyes: Previously you just needed to highlight text and it would highlight (and you could change colour afterwards). I loved the Books app (and my iPad) before this. I regret upgrading to iOS16 and use the iPad less because I hate the ghosting (present even in Safari).

This is one of the biggest things I hate about Apple - they purposely or complicity introduce obsolescence with each OS update. It’s the same on macOS and iOS. It’s hard to imagine this sort of thing happening if Steve Jobs was still around!

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Seems to be a similar trend on other OSes - they introduce changes for the sake of changes, breaking long time convention on the OS. An example is how Windows 11 changed the way right click used to work since XP days. Probably not a big deal for new users of the OS, but I hate it.

On latest macOS they somehow managed to break the way the system worked when something like a Raspberry Pi Pico is attached.

Lately it seems that most changes are bad changes in the OS interface, or I’m just getting old and grumpy :slight_smile:

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How have they changed it Paul?

Unfortunately macOS is becoming more and more like iOS every day, I hate most of the cloud integrations - you never really know what is/isn’t leaving your personal computer and being sent to their servers. By default now they want you to store your documents to the cloud!! :icon_eek:

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Makes me want to switch back to Linux…

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I keep toying with the idea, by day my suspicions grow that Macs are becoming more of a spying device.

What we really need is a home based cloud system - one where you buy a cloud server (ie a Mac or PC that acts like one) that is located at home and all your devices (and those of your family/household/or anyone who you want to act as the cloud server for) sync to it as if it were the cloud. So all the same functionality, but on your own devices, 100% of the time and 100% owned by you.

Is there anything in the Linux world that attempts to do this? If so they need to make a bigger deal of it!

The only issue I have with Linux really, is the only real mobile alternative is Android… and I trust Google even less than Apple :043:

There’s no hope really, is there :lol:

Well, using little snitch conviced me that Apple makes iSnoop devices.

Indeed, that’s what I’m doing. Buying and ripping medias, they are mine. Nobody can cut the wire and just ‘linus_to_nvidia.jpeg’ to me. I’m more and more doubtful of the greatness of this all cloud stuff.

Yep, and so do I. And deGoogle phones etc are not great. I appreciate the effort but it’s not good for tech enthusiast.

But seeing people consuming TikTok despite the horrible terms of usage… makes me wondering if they care really about privacy and data…

Sadly, other than getting a 3310 back… well we’re doomed lol.

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They took a part of the menu that was opening when you right click and created a new submenu, so now you need to click twice to do something that used to take one click.

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That’s why I switched from Mac to Linux over a year ago. No regrets whatsoever.

I even changed iPhone for Android… but switched back after a year. Did not like Android and had no real benefit from it. Connecting iPhone to Linux via a cable allows access to the device (files).

As for personal cloud - get a Synology and install Nextcloud. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, build your own server, isntall Unraid OS, and go wild with dockerized apps (including Nextcloud).

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If anyone is considering switching from Mac to Linux, I strongly suggest using the Gnome desktop environment, as it is very close to the Mac workflow.

Some distributions worth checking out are PopOS (Ubuntu based, stable) and Fedora (leading edge, but stable. does not include some 3rd party software due to licensing), or EndeavourOS (Arch based).

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That actually sounds quite appealing on some days. There’s a good quote about this:

“15 years ago, the internet was an escape from the real world. Now, the real world is an escape from the internet.”

How true!!

Sometimes I think some of these companies are intent on committing commercial suicide - they keep making decisions that annoy or disrespect their customers :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

You should blog about your experiences Reinis, I am sure a lot of people would find it interesting :smiley:

Blog about that as well! :lol:

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One thing I should add, given all the hate I am airing against Apple in this thread :lol: is that one thing that makes me like it again is actually… AppleTV! Pretty much everything I have watched on it has been 9 or 10/10! The only thing I couldn’t really get into was SEE, but there’s loads of stuff on there that I thought I might not like but ended up liking (like Ted Lasso, Loot, etc).

They are putting a lot of thought into every aspect - from the cinematography, production, sound, acting, storylines, etc. Now only if they put this much thought into the various Apple OSes!

The video quality is also the best I’ve seen, they are using insanely expensive cameras and it shows! If you’ve got a nice TV AppleTV is well worth checking out :023:

Maybe they will revert this on the next update?

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I agree with this statement 100%. Also, Apple has consistently broken features or functionality in current OSes that worked in previous OSes. For example,

  • Safari freezes or becomes unresponsive when scrolling some web pages on macOS

  • unable to easily delete a PDF/ePub on macOS by selecting the book and right-clicking

  • unable to sync individual voice memos or music tracks

  • iPhone sync settings don’t persist

  • no swipe to delete for Messages app

  • if one marks a Messages app message as junk, why is it being sent to Apple and the carrier? BTW, a message is considered junk if the sender isn’t in your address book (i.e. Contacts app).

  • one needs to enter a passcode when they have Face ID enabled. e,g. Reset Network Settings

  • by default Apple ID → iCloud Drive → Books → checked

  • by default Apple ID → Photos → checked

  • Settings → General → About → Name doesn’t persist when upgrading to a new OS

  • 3rd party menu items are not started in the background on boot of the macOS Monterey 12.6.2. This has been partially fixed on my Late 2013 Intel MacBook Pro with macOS 11.7.2 (Big Sur).

  • And so many more…

It’s as if they throw away their suite of tests right before starting the implementation of the same feature or functionality in the new OSes. Then they spend almost a year fixing all the things that they broke in the current OSes. That’s why I’m waiting until January to install macOS 13.x Ventura as Settings has taken a turn for the worst. However, most of the love for Apple is going to go to Ventura at this time.

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They also changed the look (and feel) of iBooks/Books on macOS somewhere around Sierra or Mojave.

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