Originally Posted by
Pinned
Are any other 6 Plus users surprised at how half baked the phone feels? The construction of the device itself is great - but the software is lacking.
I can't say I've gotten this impression overall, although I do agree with a few of your individual points. That said, I do see room for improvement, but given Apple's history, I'm not optimistic that any major changes to the UI will be released between now and whenever iOS 9 comes out (probably next year), after which, of course, they will be hailed as huge, innovative new features rather than stuff that should have been done right at first.
Originally Posted by
Pinned
There is no real one handed mode (it's pretty much impossible to type with one hand), common sense would seem that instead of reachability bringing the screen down it would pull everything towards one corner and essentially make the phone usable the way the iPhone 5/5S were.
Can't disagree here. I don't bother with Reachability, because I don't find that it makes a huge improvement in the one-handed usability of the phone. When I do use the phone one-handed, I've become much more familiar with the knack (and less afraid) of balancing the phone on my fingertips while reaching up and over with my thumb, but it's still a mildly awkward position. That said, I bought my 6 Plus knowing full well that it would be a two-handed phone, so I can't say I'm too disappointed with it.
Originally Posted by
Pinned
Typing in landscape mode is tough too because the keyboard is centered with a bunch of cluttered buttons around it. The buttons are sort of helpful, but I'm surprised that the split keyboard mode from the iPad isn't available.
Also, few if any non-Apple apps work in landscape mode. That's pretty disappointing, I would've thought that Apple would provide some sort of support to update apps to take advantage of this.
I really don't bother with landscape mode and never have on any of my previous iPhones. I never found it easy to type in landscape mode even on the smaller iPhones--the keys were just too far apart to move my fingers and tap efficiently. I've been able to hit and maintain speeds of ~110wpm with ~95% accuracy (though once I really tested myself and hit like 138wpm with 98% accuracy) typing in portrait mode, and that's most comfortable to me. (Although I will say that I absolutely LOVE using Swiftkey and, while I haven't done any specific testing, I think I'm even faster and more accurate with it than I ever was with the native keyboard.)
As for app support of landscape mode, I think that's really just incumbent on the app developers. I'd expect more and more developers to take advantage of landscape mode as they have the time (and funds) to put the code into their apps to do so. I can't speak to whether Apple has added anything to make it easier for developers to take advantage of landscape mode and whether they even could do anything to that end, although I do have a friend who does iOS app development that I could ask.
Originally Posted by
Pinned
Aside from all of that I've never had as many iMessage issues as I've had on the 6 Plus. That and other assorted issues have caused me to restart the phone more times in the last two weeks than I would with my iPhone 5 in any given 6 month span.
Can't say I've had any iMessage issues. I have had some more random Springboard crashes (what some online call a "fast reboot") than I did on my iPhone 5, but I'd attribute that more to iOS 8 than the new hardware and would expect that to be fixed in an upcoming release of the iOS software.
Originally Posted by
Pinned
Oh, and the earpiece is really quiet - anyone else notice that?
Are you sure you took the plastic off of the front?
Seriously, I've been victim to this, and so have family members and lots of people I've seen post online. The piece of plastic that covers the front, including the earpiece, is really not obvious and is easy to miss.
I can't say I've noticed it being any quieter than any previous iPhone. If it really is, perhaps you should take it in for service.
Originally Posted by
Pinned
Battery life is incredible, screen is great, bluetooth pairs much more quickly - but otherwise this is just a bigger, buggier version of my iPhone 5. Hoping much of this is fixed in software.
Agree with the first two, haven't noticed much difference with the third, and can't say I agree (other than the occasional Springboard crashes) with the assessment that it's any buggier than any of my previous iPhones. I rate it as one of the best purchases I've ever made--probably a close second to te first iPhone 3G I bought.