Upset iPhone users go after Apple in hilarious Instagram protest: “Dear Apple” iOS 18 edition

“Dear Apple, I don't need a new phone. PLEASE DON'T MAKE MY PHONE SLOWER WHEN YOU LAUNCH A NEW ONE.” (9K likes)

Ooops! Big controversy surrounds this comment, and I’d lie if I told you I also haven’t noticed my iPhone getting a bit more sluggish when a new one comes out. Of course, the launch of a new iPhone coincides with the release of a new iOS version, which can also slow down your old iPhone, but ideally none of this would be happening (unless your iPhone is really old).

Whether Apple intentionally slows down old iPhones to make new ones seem faster and sell better is a whole different question, which I simply don’t have the answer to.

Then again, let’s not forget that Apple admitted to slowing down older iPhone models to help them get longer battery life. So, it’s not like Apple’s never slowed down iPhones behind our backs before.

“Dear Apple, when I buy a $1,300 phone, I expect to see headphones and a charger. I’m tired of yall.” (23K likes)

Can’t argue with that one - especially when it has 23K likes. Or can I?

While getting all the necessary accessories in the box with your iPhone/Android phone is ideal, it’s also true that not everyone needs another charger/pair of wired headphones. Especially in 2024, when the vast majority of people already have a pair of wireless earbuds and (usually) multiple chargers.

Of course, this isn’t true for everyone, and even if you have a charger/headphones, it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t benefit from another pair. For example, I have multiple chargers spread all over the apartment, but it always seems like I could do with an extra one.

The ideal solution here might be what Xiaomi used to do, which was to let the customer decide if they need a charger with their new phone or not, and if they want one, they’d get it at no extra cost.

Is this solution realistic for… Apple? No! Not at all. Apple isn’t about choice… What is this - a charity?!

Well, that is unless Cupertino is forced to put the charger back in the box by the EU.

“Dear apple, let me type “omw” in peace.” (11K likes)

This one’s actually hilarious but very telling about the fact that smartphones can sometimes be “too smart”.

While switching the “omw” abbreviation for the full “on my way” might be obvious, and helpful according to the algorithm, the truth is that, in 2024, people actually don’t mind shorter words, because of our increasingly shortening attention spans.

In fact, I’d argue typing “omw” seems more natural in a chat. It’s like typing “OMG”.

“Dear Apple, Please do something for the calculator app. I want my calculation history.” (16K likes)

That’s another very practical request about a real iPhone problem that I relate to personally.

In fact, I was adding up calories for a cheesecake recipe last night (don’t judge!), and I had to screenshot the calories for one ingredient; type the result into the calculator; delete it; work out the calories for the next ingredient, add it all up, and keep going…

If the iPhone’s calculator had memory, I’d simply be able to see the value I had deleted, and add it up as I go.

The lack of calculator memory is something Apple can fix with a snap of a finger (and without any AI), so I sincerely hope this simple but important update is coming to iOS 18.

“Dear Apple, please fire your autocorrect team; I actually mean to type the profanity.” (11K likes)

Funny enough, I actually find the iPhone’s autocorrect to be more reliable than the one on my Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra. That being said, the iPhone’s autocorrect is far, far from perfect.

In fact, I recently started to notice that the iPhone’s autocorrect stops working altogether for some reason (which seems like a bug). Either way, the iPhone’s autocorrect can certainly benefit from a sprinkle of AI.

To get more specific, several comments with thousands of likes mention the fact that people want to actually use the “bad” word they meant to type out. While Apple recently got rid of the “ducking”, there’s a long way to go.

Unfortunately, my boss won’t allow me to list all the words I’d want to type on iPhone without being auto-corrected, which is ducking annoying.

“Dear Apple, I don’t need headphone notifications. I know it’s loud, that’s how I like it.” (3K likes)

Actually, I’d have to disagree with this one.

In case you didn’t know, the iPhone will notify you when your headphones volume is too high so you won't damage your hearing. If you’ve never gotten this notification, your volume must be in check.

However, some people truly aren’t aware of how loudly they listen to music on earbuds/headphones, and this can actually damage their hearing in the long term. That’s why I think the automatic volume warning is a good thing.

But hey… being able to turn it off sounds like the perfect solution.

“Dear Apple, I expect Low power mode to actually save my battery life.” (6K likes)

That’s a fair request!

On Android phones, the Low power battery mode tends to cut off more features/functions compared to iPhone, and thus it might save more battery life - which is the whole point of turning it on.

Moreover, many Android phones come with an additional Extra/ultra low power mode, which turns your smartphone into a dumbphone (with basic functionality) so you can use it for hours on 5% battery before getting home/to a charger.

I guess the solution here would be a new, more aggressive Low power mode on iOS 18, so you can shoes between two of them.

“Dear Apple, please keep your strong ass passwords to yourself.” (2K likes)

Yes, please! I’m sure everyone’s gotten this one when trying to sign up on a new app/website on your iPhone.

While having a strong, unique password that the iPhone makes up on the spot sounds incredibly secure, it can also be very impractical in case you want to log into the app/website from a different device that isn’t made by Apple (and isn’t linked to iCloud).

Hence, the password suggestion feature on iPhone is more annoying than useful. Frankly, I’d be surprised to find out that anybody uses it.

Dear Apple, I know iOS 18 will go all-in on AI but you should focus on making the iPhone less annoying to use

Finally, in the spirit of the “average user” request under an Instagram post, I’ll go ahead and list a few of the obvious updates I’d love to see in iOS 18.

• Dear Apple, don’t automatically turn on my WiFi when I’m outside
• Dear Apple, I actually want AI on my iPhone; yes, all of the AI; so you better bring it at WWDC 24!
• Dear Apple, let me AirDrop my personal music directly onto the Music app instead of having to listen to it from the Files app - it’s not the late 20th century
• Dear Apple, make it so that my iPhone connects to my WiFi network quickly and automatically after it was briefly disconnected (without me having to go into settings and select it)