iPhone Mythbusting! Let's separate the facts from the fiction.

[Skull One]

I would like to see Skull One do a myth busting post on iPhone batteries and magnets.

Once I have a spare iPhone 4 or newer to play with, I will take a shot at it. I could see this going very bad under certain conditions and I don't want to use something I can't afford to lose the use of.

My gut reaction is very mixed on this. Chemically the battery should be stable around a high powered magnet. But the actual electron flow should be affected by the magnetic field if it is strong enough. To what degree it affects the discharge cycle or the IC chips is a highly debated subject and depends on a lot of factors.

 

[Skull One]

*SNIP*

I have a myth I would love to have exploded..and that is the I-phone cost too much..and in that...that all of the worth while apps cost way more..and even the phones cost way more for what your getting.

*SNIP*

Thanks for your consideration

Mac

The root of your question is actually very old. It dates back to Egyptians and beyond.

What is the value of engineering?

When it comes to iOS and Android based devices, that question becomes very complex. You have three pieces of engineering involved. The physical device, the operating system and finally the applications. All three have varying levels of engineering involved. And all three have varying results that become compounded by the layer that supports it.

However the real issue, your original question, is something more subtle and has nothing to do with the actual engineering involved in either line of devices. It comes down to human perception. And that varies greatly from person to person. And it is impossible for me, or anyone else for that matter, to give you a factual answer to your question. Because the moment you interject an opinion into answering a question, you can never get the same answer twice. Which means you can't show anything as factual.

I know this doesn't give you the ammunition you wanted but I simply can't post a response here that isn't factual. It would defeat the purpose of the thread.

 

[mdmcatee]

My point being that...It is a myth that the Iphone "cost" more than a android phone..

Peoples perception of value withstanding.. perception does lead to opinions...opinions leads to myths when constantly spoken and retold as truth which is what I thought this thread was about ...?

The old adage true meaning ..."you get what you pay for " is lost in the rhetoric and endless chatter most forums propagate.

Some people only want the glitter..or jump to get in on the latest and greatest newest thing coming out...Many obsess over which is better than the other...endless comparisons..head to head shoot out..reviews slanted to ones favorite or the other...and the basic capabilities and functionality along with the resale value of the phone is often overlooked..which is always the basis of which phone is better than the other..Cost..can be measured in many ways..but is easily shown

End the end...we can only decide for ourselves if the electronics we buy meet our own requirements and work out of the box without having to resort to modifying them to do so..since each are different and provide different services..

Mac

 

[crowd pleaser]

I think there is alsi an rlement of backing tbe underdog, iPhones in all models has been superb against anything else.

Androids have improved with the Gal S3 really upping the anti, but are stuck with early views of being a cheap wanna be iPhone 'killers'.

I think also the poor upgrading which devalues the model bought is a major issue, we know Apple send updates for nearly all the models up to now, with support now being less for the iPad 1, and tbf that is pretty old but still very functional.

As pretty eye candy as the G3 is, for me the screen is simply to big, it might even be better technically, my concerns over the lpossible lack of updates is not even a factor with the iOS debices.

Im my case, uncertainty over AOS updates, instead of releasing yet another expensive 'Apple killing' model, just stops me dead in my tracks from even trying one.

I'd admit though the, the change of socket meaning i now need an adapter for my extensive collection of bits, has dented the gloss a bit, but then had i gone Android - i'd not even have an adapter option offered.

 

[Skull One]

mdmcatee and crowd pleaser I have been actively thinking about both of your posts for the last two weeks. And while I am not overly enthusiastic about the request of a doing a myth cost analysis, I am trying to figure out a way to do one that would be both factual and have the ability to stand up to discussion over time. The problem I have been rolling around in my head is the number of cellular phone manufactures that I would have to include and how many years of data I would have to compile.

Here is a rough outline if we use 2009 as the starting point for research.

Samsung - Not known for updating or barely updating their Android offerings. But introducing new phones at least every 6 months, sometimes every 3.
Motorola - Known for updating but was independent until bought by Google. So how does that "affect" them?
HTC - Fantastic phones with updates in the early days but not so hot now.
LG - Low end phones in the early days but now making high end phones. Low ends never get updates but high end might (not enough data to be sure).
Apple - 100% known for trying to update their devices every year both on the hardware and software side. Tries very hard to keep older device fresh with new software.

That covers the top 5 makers in my opinion. Then we have to look at cost over lifetime.

Samsung - Phones tend to work over 3 years if treated properly but you may only see one software update even though 4+ updates may have been released.
Motorola - Phones are hit and miss for how long they last (6 months to 3 years) but they tend to see at least 2 major updates in their lifetime.
HTC - Early phones are bullet proof (3 years no issues) and did get software refreshes. Newer phones are hit and miss like Motorola now.
LG - Second generation phones seem to be bullet proof on the low end but NO software refreshes unless no other choice. High end phones may not have enough data.
Apple - Hardware is 90%+ bullet proof and can last 4 years easily. Software refreshes are yearly for the last 4 generations (industry leader).


At present I am going off my memory for all those bullet points. And I could be way off once I start digging thru the actual news reports. It concerns me that the article will be a snap shot in time and not be able to hold up a year later. As well as some of the information that would be used is subjective. IE does a 3GS outrank an Samsung Galaxy S phone because the 3GS has had 3 full software refreshes versus only 2 for the Galaxy S. Technically the Galaxy S hardware is superior to the 3GS if you use standard benchmark metrics. But does the fact the the 3GS has been out one full year longer give it some kind of edge with those 3 software refreshes?

That is what makes this article, in my opinion, a very tough sell.

 

[nerak99]

I asked for some advice under uk law on this.ni have not seen this clause in O2 but it may well be there. Under the a advice I received, if you we're cut off, the supplier could get an admin fee from you but could not hold you to the rest of your contract. On the other hand, if the provider did kick people out on jb detection, and were only able to grab a fee, this would be a cheap way of getting out of a contract.
Shame hat no none is likely to be able to afford to test this in a real case.

 

[ardchoille]

I asked for some advice under uk law on this.ni have not seen this clause in O2 but it may well be there. Under the a advice I received, if you we're cut off, the supplier could get an admin fee from you but could not hold you to the rest of your contract. On the other hand, if the provider did kick people out on jb detection, and were only able to grab a fee, this would be a cheap way of getting out of a contract.
Shame hat no none is likely to be able to afford to test this in a real case.

If I were a carrier I wouldn't be kicking people out just for jailbreaking. Think about it, that carrier would be turning away a paying customer.. not to mention the possibility of losing potential customers due to bad publicity. Perhaps this is why carriers haven't been clamping down on jailbreaking?

 

[nerak99]

I was not advocating a particular course of action for service providers. I was merely commenting on a difference between UK law and the rules that people referred to earlier. Although I can see Apple's motivation in not liking jailbreaking, I can't really see a motivation for the service provider. The user is tied to a contract anyway, JB or not and (in the UK anyway) the firm have to provide a way of unlocking phones that are out of contract. (I think that ruling may have come from the EU.).

 

[crowd pleaser]

I was not advocating a particular course of action for service providers. I was merely commenting on a difference between UK law and the rules that people referred to earlier. Although I can see Apple's motivation in not liking jailbreaking, I can't really see a motivation for the service provider. The user is tied to a contract anyway, JB or not and (in the UK anyway) the firm have to provide a way of unlocking phones that are out of contract. (I think that ruling may have come from the EU.).

i think that should also encompass automatic free unlocking after the contract has finished, also advising the client they can now go for a SIM only contract.

as it stands at the end of your contract your monthly payments stay at the same level - unless you phone them, remember these terms were calculated to pay for thR expensive handset (subsidised is the oft used term) continue after the contract period. not illegal perhaps - but definitely immoral.

Then having served your 'sentence' your charged for unlocking - why if you then legally own the phone outright?

 

[crystalseo1]

This is really valuable post and the image is also really very nice. All the content is indeed useful for me. posting presentation really informative. Thanks sharing it.

 

[applebuzzer]

really nice

 

[Spooooky]

This next Myth is something very near and dear to my heart.

"Can you free memory by killing an app?"

Here are the tools used for the project.
My iPhone 4S running iOS 5.1.1.
System Status - By Techet
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 12 - By Electronic Arts

First lets start with the cliffnote's version of the answer. Drum roll please.

The answer is: Maybe!


Several factors come into play for this Myth.

1) Size of the App.
2) Amount of memory already in use.
3) The definition of "freeing memory".

Yes, you read that correctly. The definition of "freeing memory" is not very cut and dry. BTW, this is why there has been so much confusion over the years when people discuss this subject.

But first lets talk about how to kill an application on the iPhone.

Double click the home button.
Select the app and long press it.
Once it starts to wiggle release.
Now click Red and White symbol in the corner.
You just killed the app.


So lets start with a freshly hard booted* iPhone in airplane mode.

*See the myth "What survives a reboot" for the definition and procedure.

The image above is a lot to take in for the first time. It shows the five types of memory that iOS tracks. Lets break each one of them down.

1) Wired - This is the most important memory. Anything stored with this designator can not be touched by the operating system. This memory contains the mission critical programs and data needed for the OS to survive.

2) Active - This is the second most important memory. This is where programs and data are being actively run but can be released from memory if the OS determines it is needed to keep the OS running.

3) Inactive - This is memory that was either Wired or Active but no longer in use. This memory can be freed at will by the OS with no repercussions to performance. BUT if the user decides to load an Application and it is still loaded in the Inactive memory segment, it will move it back to active instead of reloading from the flash drive. This is done to conserve battery.

4) Other - This is purely program data that is non critical. The OS decides if Inactive memory or Other memory is freed first before loading more programs or data.

5) Free - This is memory that hasn't been allocated to anything. About the only time you will see this number this large is after a reboot

One last note about the image above. It was taken approximately two minutes after the phone was hard reset. So we will consider that our starting point.

So lets test what happens when Tiger 2012 is loaded into memory.

And presto! All the numbers have changed. Since I didn't write iOS or this App I will have to do some theorizing for part of my explanation.

Wired - Odds are that memory jump is part of the graphics library API loading up.

Active - This is where the core of the application is loaded.

Inactive - I launched the App and then went to the first hole. Odds are the original memory for the menu system is stored here before it loaded the first hole.

Other - This is the bulk of where the 3D data and textures (graphics) are stored.

Free - We used up 142.5 Megabytes of memory to load Tiger 2012. BTW, the disk size that is used by this Application is 402 MB. So as you can see only part of the application was loaded.

So what happens when we kill the application? Drum roll please...

There you go. Conclusive proof that when you kill an application it does free up memory. But notice something? We didn't get it all back. The reason for that is simple. iOS kept core parts of Tiger 2012 in memory just in case the user relaunches the application. Which, as I mentioned earlier, helps with battery life.


BTW that second to the last sentence is the KEY to showing why some people insist that killing an app "doesn't free memory". And remember, I stated at the very beginning that the answer is "Maybe". Now to explain that answer which will clear up this myth and turn it all into facts.


Every application is basically a different size. Lets take the System Status application, that we used for this test, as an example. It is only 1.6 MB in size. So when it loads into memory it takes up a very small foot print. And when we force kill it, there is nothing to free up. It simply moves from Active to Inactive memory. This is what happens with every small application of this nature. And considering that for the longest time most apps could fit in 50 MB of space or less, that is why people insist nothing happens when you kill an app. Their observations are 100% correct because "Free Memory" wasn't affected. It wasn't until very large apps with large amounts of data could show that killing an app actually can and does free up some memory.


Next time someone insists that killing an app doesn't do anything for iOS, you can now point them to this thread. Because we just proved it does do something but what it does all depends on the application and how big it is.

I have noticed that when I've downloaded an app and didn't like it, I killed it as per how you do it but it is still in your app store under "not on phone".

I used to be an android user and you could delete the app from the app store and freed up some space whereas you can't with Apple app store.

 

[Spooooky]

"Do I have to condition my iPhone's battery?"

Here are the tools used for the project.
Some basic research.

So do we? The short answer is a resounding no. But..... Yeah, there is always a but.

First and foremost you aren't doing it to help the battery. In fact this whole deep cycle discharge doesn't do a thing for the battery except use up one of its 400 full cycle charges.

But the reason it is helpful is so that iOS can get a reading of what fully charged is versus fully discharged. Once it "memorizes" those two conditions it then builds a profile of its discharge rate which in turn is used to predict its current percentage of remaining charge.

So why does iOS use a prediction profile instead of a direct read of the battery? Easy. To get a reading requires the battery to be put under "a load". That load cause the battery to discharge. Do it every few seconds and you will help drain the battery faster for absolutely no gain. So instead iOS does periodic readings, based on an algorithm, to confirm what the profile prediction is vs the actual charge. And this process is what helps keep the profile up to date over time.

Are you saying the battery only has 400 charges?

What would happen after you've used up those 400 charges then? Seeing as you can't buy a new battery like you do with android phones and you'd have to send your iPhone to Apple for them to put a new battery in? I'd be lost without my phone while it's sent off for new battery!

 

[scifan57]

I have noticed that when I've downloaded an app and didn't like it, I killed it as per how you do it but it is still in your app store under "not on phone". I used to be an android user and you could delete the app from the app store and freed up some space whereas you can't with Apple app store.

if you delete an app from your iPhone it still shows in your purchased list but it is not using up any storage room on your iPad. The purpose of the purchased list is so that you can re download previously purchased apps without paying more than once.

 

[scifan57]

Are you saying the battery only has 400 charges? What would happen after you've used up those 400 charges then? Seeing as you can't buy a new battery like you do with android phones and you'd have to send your iPhone to Apple for them to put a new battery in? I'd be lost without my phone while it's sent off for new battery!

the battery is rated to still have 80% of its original capacity after 400 charge cycles. https://www.apple.com/ca/batteries/