Apple needs to do a LOT to fix the problems it has with every public bugs.
Apple is definitely in a period of transition both from a stock price perspective and from a leadership perspective. They also seem to be wobbling a bit when it comes to strategic direction for its mobile OS. When you move from a high quality to rapid release methodology and then do an about face, you can count on a number of different problems cropping up. Apple definitely has its work cut out for itself as it tries to refocus its release philosophy back towards the, “it just works” point of view.
With the exit of Scott Forstall, Apple is moving away from what appears to be the industry popular rapid release oriented Agile/Scrum development methodology that focuses more on the introduction of features and functionality rather than quality of code and delivery. With Leopard, Apple had 11 point releases. With Snow Leopard, Apple delivered 8 updates. With Lion, there were 5 releases. It’s clear. Apple is ratcheting down the number of releases and is focusing more on quality rather than quantity.
Given its direction with its desktop OS, I have to wonder what the heck is going on with its mobile OS. Things don’t seem to be righting themselves there. There have been six (6), seven counting the iPhone 4S only 6.1.1 release, releases of iOS 6 since its release in mid-September of 2012. That’s an average of just over 1 release per month.
If you ask me, that’s excessive; and it CLEARLY indicates that Apple’s methodology changes haven’t trickled down to the mobile OS team yet. Development methodologies like Agile/Scrum concentrate more on the release of new features rather than quality of delivery. When problems are encountered or identified, you release a new version and roll the code base forward. There’s little to no time to do any regression testing (testing to insure previously squashed bugs stay squashed). This is the major reason why the lock screen bug that was “resolved” in iOS 6.1.3 reappeared. It’s also the major reason why it was recently discovered that 6.1.3 didn’t completely resolve the issue.
According to Apple Insider additional methods of bypassing the iOS lock screen have been discovered in iOS 6.1.3, even though this release was designed and engineered to specifically lock the lock screen down.
The lock screen bugs, both this new one and the previous one are not easy to reproduce. You really have to be one demented and dedicated tester, and understand the device, its OS and applet behavior in order to successfully reproduce the exploits. However, it speaks to a much larger problem – one of development methodology.
This isn’t so much a coding issue as it is a leadership issue. Apple coders and testers must be allowed to spend the time necessary to come up with these kinds of use cases and scenarios so that proper test requirements can be documented and then tests created and executed. The key word there is “time.” Unfortunately, it’s the one thing that Apple doesn’t have an abundance of.
Apple needs to squash bugs, and squash them quickly. Most importantly, it needs to make sure that the bugs they say they’ve squashed, stay squashed. Finding a way around the released fix one day after its release doesn’t lend confidence that Apple is doing the due diligence to resolve and robustly test the code they’re releasing. It’s even worse when it seems as though everybody else but “you” knows what to do to get around your code. Apple needs to change how it develops, tests and more importantly, plans its releases. If I were Apple’s QA director, I’d be worried for my job at this point. I’d also march myself into Eddie Cue’s office by the end of the week with a solid plan on how testing is going to insure buggy software doesn’t get released. This is getting ridiculous, and isn’t going to help Apple’s stock (AAPL) price, either. It’s down 35.5% since its 52 week high six months ago.
