Has iOS 8 broken Metafilter commenting? September 30, 2014 5:45 PM Subscribe
Ever since I updated my iPad2 to iOS 8, commenting on Metafilter has been a royal pain. If I try to cut and paste part of someone's comment the page will often start to go into a screwy scrolling dance up and/or down and then crash. If I click out of the comment box for any reason it's impossible to resume writing in it (i.e., tapping in the comment box doesn't bring up keypad). Is anyone else having these problems?
I've been having the same issue since updating to iOS 8 on my iPad Air.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 8:02 PM on September 30, 2014
posted by strangely stunted trees at 8:02 PM on September 30, 2014
If I click out of the comment box for any reason it's impossible to resume writing in it (i.e., tapping in the comment box doesn't bring up keypad).
I'm having this issue on my ipod touch, and it's logging me out of Metafilter every time I put it to sleep.
But don't even think about going back to iOS7:
I'm having this issue on my ipod touch, and it's logging me out of Metafilter every time I put it to sleep.
But don't even think about going back to iOS7:
UPDATE, 29th September: Apple has now stopped 'signing' or authorising iOS 7. This means the method of downgrading from iOS 8 back to iOS 7 listed below no longer works. We will update this article if we discover a new method that will let you reinstall iOS 7, but in the mean time the safest bet is to assume that updating your iPhone or iPad to iOS 8 is an irreversible process. Make sure you are absolutely certain you want to upgrade to iOS 8 before doing so.posted by jamjam at 8:38 PM on September 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
I've experienced problems with Metafilter since moving to iOS 8 on my iPad mini (original from about this time 2 years ago with same horsepower as the iPad 2). And just moments ago I was responded to this post on my iPhone 6 and went to delete a word when it froze up the keyboard and didn't allow me to do anything. The only think I could do was force quit Safari. I'm writing this on my Mac.
I first noticed it after putting iOS 8 GM on my iPhone 5 and iPad mini when it came out a few weeks ago.
I haven't seen this behavior in comment boxes on other sites.
posted by birdherder at 8:48 PM on September 30, 2014
I first noticed it after putting iOS 8 GM on my iPhone 5 and iPad mini when it came out a few weeks ago.
I haven't seen this behavior in comment boxes on other sites.
posted by birdherder at 8:48 PM on September 30, 2014
I've been having similar issues. Finding it very difficult to navigate within the comment box --- makes it almost impossible to go back and correct a typo. Sometimes if I zoom in and out it seems to reset it, but often if I scroll within the comment box i get this error where the cursor appears to hover outside of the box, down where the end of the text would be if the comment box were bigger.
posted by Diablevert at 8:54 PM on September 30, 2014
posted by Diablevert at 8:54 PM on September 30, 2014
I was having the problem with tapping in the comment box not working well on my iPad even before upgrading to iOS 8. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Often I need to tap three or four times before it works. I think maybe the interface is just slow?
posted by lollusc at 8:57 PM on September 30, 2014
posted by lollusc at 8:57 PM on September 30, 2014
I definitely think iOS 8 is to blame for most of this. I am completely up to date with the latest OS patches and still have the issues of not being able to re-enter the comment box, Safari freezing, lagging (sometimes helps to clear your History on that one), and links not opening.
I do find the lagging and freezing issues to be worse with the new Modern theme than the Classic, FWIW.
posted by misha at 9:10 PM on September 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
I do find the lagging and freezing issues to be worse with the new Modern theme than the Classic, FWIW.
posted by misha at 9:10 PM on September 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh, I just remembered that I never use Safari, so in my case it's been on Chrome on iPad. That said, the tapping issue is kind of on-again-off-again, and I'm not having any of the other problems you guys say you've had. And I'm on iOS 8.02 now too. So you might want to think about trying Chrome as an interim solution.
posted by lollusc at 9:46 PM on September 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by lollusc at 9:46 PM on September 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
I happened to get my iPad Air the day OS 8 was released, so this is all I've known of the iPad experience. I use Chrome and consider commenting with the ipad to be unsuable. I am not having the same problems on my phone, though.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:20 PM on September 30, 2014
posted by Room 641-A at 11:20 PM on September 30, 2014
I have a feeling that the commenting problems have something to do with live preview - if you click 'Preview' and continue editing, all the lagginess and clicking difficulties disappear.
Spookiness - the problem just happened! I couldn't type/select in the comment box after writing the above, but I'm happily typing this sentence on the 'post_comment_preview.mefi' version of the thread, with no lag and no problems entering/editing text.
However, since updating to iOS 8 I've had lots of problems with apps crashing, very slow loading times for everything from webpages to apps to even the icons for apps, and a weird thing where when I close a tab the tab remaining open reloads to the page that I just closed.
That sounds more like a dodgy upgrade than general iOS 8 bugginess - I've fixed similar problems on a friend's 4S and a couple of older iPads by doing a clean install.
posted by jack_mo at 1:09 AM on October 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Spookiness - the problem just happened! I couldn't type/select in the comment box after writing the above, but I'm happily typing this sentence on the 'post_comment_preview.mefi' version of the thread, with no lag and no problems entering/editing text.
However, since updating to iOS 8 I've had lots of problems with apps crashing, very slow loading times for everything from webpages to apps to even the icons for apps, and a weird thing where when I close a tab the tab remaining open reloads to the page that I just closed.
That sounds more like a dodgy upgrade than general iOS 8 bugginess - I've fixed similar problems on a friend's 4S and a couple of older iPads by doing a clean install.
posted by jack_mo at 1:09 AM on October 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah I turned off live preview and it fixed a lagginess problem I was having, but the tapping issue is still there, and in fact just happened now in this comment.
posted by lollusc at 2:56 AM on October 1, 2014
posted by lollusc at 2:56 AM on October 1, 2014
Yeah, I've had the iPad screwy scrolling dance happen in various programs since the iOS 8 update. It seems to be a problem with iOS 8 rather than MetaFilter. However, one thing I've only come across on MetaFilter is that while it's possible to select individual words in paragraphs that are five lines long or more, if I try to select a word in a paragraph that has four lines or fewer, then I can only select the whole comment. Even if the comment is multiple paragraphs, this applies.
posted by Kattullus at 3:40 AM on October 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 3:40 AM on October 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
Oh, yay, I don't have to keep trying to figure out how to clear enough space to update to ios8 on my iPad! Sounds like it sucks.
So then does anyone know how to turn off the "hey you have an update" alert on the icon now?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:36 AM on October 1, 2014
So then does anyone know how to turn off the "hey you have an update" alert on the icon now?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:36 AM on October 1, 2014
Yep, same experience here. I thought it was the Swype keyboard but nope. Huge pain in the ass. Every goddamn time I update iOS this happens and yet I haven't learned my lesson.
posted by griphus at 6:29 AM on October 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 6:29 AM on October 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Glad to know it's not just my iPad going crazy. The weird thing is that the iOS 8 update has actually fixed some commenting-in-textbox problems I was having on a non-Metafilter site. Like Katullus, I'v had that problem of only being able to select the entire comment when I try to copy part of a shorter paragraph. Using "Preview" as a way to back into the comment box is a nice tip, though. Thanks.
In all fairness, I should say there are some nice features in the new update (like the auto-shrink of the tabs and URL bar as you scroll down the page), but this bug is pretty frustrating. I wonder if similar things are happening on other text-box input interfaces or if it's just something about the Metafilter site?
posted by yoink at 7:27 AM on October 1, 2014
In all fairness, I should say there are some nice features in the new update (like the auto-shrink of the tabs and URL bar as you scroll down the page), but this bug is pretty frustrating. I wonder if similar things are happening on other text-box input interfaces or if it's just something about the Metafilter site?
posted by yoink at 7:27 AM on October 1, 2014
Same issues here. Chrome on iPhone 5s and iPad Mini.
posted by brundlefly at 1:28 PM on October 1, 2014
posted by brundlefly at 1:28 PM on October 1, 2014
I'm not quite sure what you are expecting Mefi to do about this.
posted by marienbad at 4:17 PM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by marienbad at 4:17 PM on October 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm not quite sure what you are expecting Mefi to do about this.
It's a bug report. When one encounters a problem, and one is uncertain if other people are experiencing the same problem or to the same extent, one reports it, without necessarily expecting action until it is verified to be a problem with the site. Clearly other people are having the same problem, and it has become evident that at least part of the problem comes from changes to the browser in iOS (which, if i remember correctly, all web browsers on iOS are required to use to render HTML). It is possible that changes to MF styling/layout/scripting may ameliorate the problem, but that remains to be seen.
The system is working as it should.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:23 PM on October 1, 2014 [7 favorites]
It's a bug report. When one encounters a problem, and one is uncertain if other people are experiencing the same problem or to the same extent, one reports it, without necessarily expecting action until it is verified to be a problem with the site. Clearly other people are having the same problem, and it has become evident that at least part of the problem comes from changes to the browser in iOS (which, if i remember correctly, all web browsers on iOS are required to use to render HTML). It is possible that changes to MF styling/layout/scripting may ameliorate the problem, but that remains to be seen.
The system is working as it should.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:23 PM on October 1, 2014 [7 favorites]
I'll check later, since I switch back and forth rather freely, but I think I've had some similar weirdness in the IE 11 modern browser as well. I'm wondering if it could be due to changes supporting the new MF theme.
posted by wotsac at 5:13 AM on October 2, 2014
posted by wotsac at 5:13 AM on October 2, 2014
I accidentally got around this problem a couple nights ago (iPad Air, Chrome) by clicking the "Preview" button, which refreshed the box and I was able to finish and post.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:36 AM on October 2, 2014
posted by Lyn Never at 8:36 AM on October 2, 2014
Oh, and I'm using the old standard theme on the iPad.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:36 AM on October 2, 2014
posted by Lyn Never at 8:36 AM on October 2, 2014
I'm not quite sure what you are expecting Mefi to do about this.
You mean Apple isn't a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metafilter? I've been misinformed!
Actually, I mostly wanted to know if this was just my iPad screwing up randomly, some behind-the-scenes change in Metafilter's mobile site design (which would affect mobile users who had *not* updated to iOS8), or a result of the iOS8 update. It seems pretty clear that it's a result of the iOS8 update, but that in itself doesn't necessarily mean that there's nothing Metafilter can or should do about it. For all I know, iOS8 is following some new standard with which Metafilter is noncompliant (I think it's unlikely, but it's a possibility). No one can fix the problem until they know A) that a problem is occurring and B) what the nature of the problem is, however. If it's Apple's screw-up, it's obviously out of Metafilter's hands, but I assume that they (and the other users on the site) prefer to know about problems people are having with the site even if they're out of their control.
posted by yoink at 12:10 PM on October 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
You mean Apple isn't a wholly-owned subsidiary of Metafilter? I've been misinformed!
Actually, I mostly wanted to know if this was just my iPad screwing up randomly, some behind-the-scenes change in Metafilter's mobile site design (which would affect mobile users who had *not* updated to iOS8), or a result of the iOS8 update. It seems pretty clear that it's a result of the iOS8 update, but that in itself doesn't necessarily mean that there's nothing Metafilter can or should do about it. For all I know, iOS8 is following some new standard with which Metafilter is noncompliant (I think it's unlikely, but it's a possibility). No one can fix the problem until they know A) that a problem is occurring and B) what the nature of the problem is, however. If it's Apple's screw-up, it's obviously out of Metafilter's hands, but I assume that they (and the other users on the site) prefer to know about problems people are having with the site even if they're out of their control.
posted by yoink at 12:10 PM on October 2, 2014 [2 favorites]
"UPDATE, 29th September: Apple has now stopped 'signing' or authorising iOS 7. This means the method of downgrading from iOS 8 back to iOS 7 listed below no longer works. We will update this article if we discover a new method that will let you reinstall iOS 7..."
It will never work. It will always be impossible. I think some people will read this thread and think, oh, yeah, you can just google it and there'll be some technical way to get around this because, hey, it must be possible to downgrade to an older version of your OS, right? Nope.
When this happened with my iPod Touch, which after an upgrade ran very slowly and so I decided to go back and discovered that it wasn't possible, and why, I was really pissed off.
Frankly, I'm very surprised that Apple stopped signing iOS 7 so soon.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:29 PM on October 2, 2014
It will never work. It will always be impossible. I think some people will read this thread and think, oh, yeah, you can just google it and there'll be some technical way to get around this because, hey, it must be possible to downgrade to an older version of your OS, right? Nope.
When this happened with my iPod Touch, which after an upgrade ran very slowly and so I decided to go back and discovered that it wasn't possible, and why, I was really pissed off.
Frankly, I'm very surprised that Apple stopped signing iOS 7 so soon.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:29 PM on October 2, 2014
the window for downgrades they left open this time is actually longer than they've left open since like... they started seriously making it hard to downgrade at all. It was unprecedented, for sure.
holy crap am i happy that i didn't update my phone though. i think i probably browse the site on my phone more than anything else.
It really sucks ass too if you updated and only realized in retrospect it screwed this site and a lot of other things up, because ios 8 seems to be a huge glitchy bugfest. Whether you have the new latest-greatest phone, or an older device, it's just busted to shit. My mom stopped by a couple days ago and showed me a hilariously huge pile of bugs that have been pissing her off, and continues to text me about more as if i can do something about it. Even some of the biggest apple masturbators are whining about it. It's all stuff like that too, like accidentally tapping the camera shortcut on the lock screen and the screen shutting off and the phone freezing for 20 seconds.
I really don't remember running in to this many bugs in an ios big-number release since 7. 2-6 were mostly solid, with only really point releases being buggy. I remember my only real complaint about 6 being "damnit, i wanna jailbreak this shit, why is it taking so long". It's like damn guys, what happened in there. Is everybody ok? Is there a gas leak or something?
posted by emptythought at 4:05 AM on October 3, 2014
holy crap am i happy that i didn't update my phone though. i think i probably browse the site on my phone more than anything else.
It really sucks ass too if you updated and only realized in retrospect it screwed this site and a lot of other things up, because ios 8 seems to be a huge glitchy bugfest. Whether you have the new latest-greatest phone, or an older device, it's just busted to shit. My mom stopped by a couple days ago and showed me a hilariously huge pile of bugs that have been pissing her off, and continues to text me about more as if i can do something about it. Even some of the biggest apple masturbators are whining about it. It's all stuff like that too, like accidentally tapping the camera shortcut on the lock screen and the screen shutting off and the phone freezing for 20 seconds.
I really don't remember running in to this many bugs in an ios big-number release since 7. 2-6 were mostly solid, with only really point releases being buggy. I remember my only real complaint about 6 being "damnit, i wanna jailbreak this shit, why is it taking so long". It's like damn guys, what happened in there. Is everybody ok? Is there a gas leak or something?
posted by emptythought at 4:05 AM on October 3, 2014
I'm not quite sure what you are expecting Mefi to do about this.
It's totally not fair, but if your website doesn't work properly in one of the most popular web browsers it's up to you to fix it. Safari is basically the new IE 6.
Yeah I turned off live preview and it fixed a lagginess problem I was having, but the tapping issue is still
I can't find the setting to do that anywhere on my Preferences page - am I being dim (probably!) or is it hidden away somewhere?
posted by jack_mo at 5:41 AM on October 3, 2014
It's totally not fair, but if your website doesn't work properly in one of the most popular web browsers it's up to you to fix it. Safari is basically the new IE 6.
Yeah I turned off live preview and it fixed a lagginess problem I was having, but the tapping issue is still
I can't find the setting to do that anywhere on my Preferences page - am I being dim (probably!) or is it hidden away somewhere?
posted by jack_mo at 5:41 AM on October 3, 2014
There's a little option that says: "Hide" right under where it says: "Live Preview" to the left of the actual Live Preview box. Disabling carries over across the site.
posted by Kattullus at 6:29 AM on October 3, 2014
posted by Kattullus at 6:29 AM on October 3, 2014
My own move when I can't get back into my comment and can't get the keyboard to come up is to hit the I or B -- that lets me back in to the comment box.
posted by vitabellosi at 7:58 PM on October 4, 2014
posted by vitabellosi at 7:58 PM on October 4, 2014
Applying today's iOS 8.1 software update seems to fix a number of problems with Safari copy/paste issues (including on Metafilter).
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:59 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by a lungful of dragon at 1:59 PM on October 20, 2014
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posted by Cuke at 6:50 PM on September 30, 2014 [2 favorites]