14 DAY TRIAL // Reports coming from people with access to the iOS 5.1 test builds indicate there is still a lot of work to be done with the software as it fails address the widespread battery drainage problems.
Compiled by Cnet, the accounts in question reveal that Apple’s early iOS 5.1 beta does not exhibit any visible improvement on the power management front and, in fact, even made matters worse in some cases.
That’s not to say everyone is having the same experience. An admittedly small number of testers reported positive results after installing the beta. No specific device models are mentioned, though I assume everyone is testing the bits against iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S - the most affected devices of the lot.
Granted, Apple is only at the first beta of iOS 5.1. But the Batterygate fiasco is far from new.
The problem emerged with the original release of iOS 5 almost two full months ago, and if that doesn’t give Apple enough time to deploy a fix, I fear we’ll be stuck with short battery life for quite a while.
Besides battery life fixes, iOS 5.1 will deliver several other tweaks and enhancements. Few have been documented so far, but it has been confirmed that there is a new “geofencing” setting for the Reminders app that should help reduce battery drain.
Another potential tweak that might alleviate the woes is the new iTunes Match setting that lets you ‘Use Cellular Data’ to sync music.
Yet there seems to be little progress on the aspect that most customers are concerned about. It remains to be seen if Batterygate will haunt Apple like last year’s Antennagate fiasco.
Has anyone here installed iOS 5.1 beta on their device? How’s your experience been so far?