Thoughs on iOS 8.3 breaking iFunbox, iExploler, etc

You're not the only one considering a switch to Android. From the emulators to various tweaks & game streaming etc. but I here there is a work around in progress right now regarding ifunbox

 

There is? Good to know and keep us posted.

 

For a variety of reasons I switched from Android tablets to an iPad almost 2 years ago. In general I think Apple does a better tablet but the lack of access to files is frustrating.

Save data on Android is actually easier to access and extra storage is an SD card away. It would be next to nothing for Apple to expose access to files or to put in a micro-SD card reader but they are just set on being a closed system.

Which would be fine if there was an easy way to back-up your game or app data. Why isn't there an easy way to do it? Backing up to the iCloud means a full restore if I want something back. So far I have not tried to re-install an app from a computer back-up to do it.

These 3rd party apps like iFunBox are only necessary because of needless obfuscation on the part of Apple.

 

Workarounds like this wouldn't be necessary if developers coded their games correctly. iTunes document access, iCloud data syncing, Game Center profile management - Apple provides easy ways for developers to enable these features.

I don't blame Apple for patching file system access - it always seemed a little strange that these apps could do this stuff in the first place. I blame game developers for making us jump through these hoops to back up our saves.

One thing I do think Apple should provide: a way to manually force an app to sync its Documents folder to iCloud. It isn't particularly Apple-like, so I don't see it coming any time soon, but it would be nice to have.

 

There is, but it sucks.

1) Backup your device
2) Use something to extract game data from the backup

Optional:
3) Change files and put them back in the backup
4) Restore backup to device

Or you can wait for the app to get updated with the documents flag.

I'm too heavily invested in iOS to jump ship - but this may cause me to jailbreak. (Previously I've jailbroken exactly one device - an iPhone 3GS so I could unlock it for overseas usage.)

iTunes document access sucks terribly if you need to work with folders. I've got music apps where I manage patches/samples/projects and they're not just single files sitting in the documents folder.

iCloud has proven to be unreliable for me.

Best a developer can do IMHO is provide dropbox functionality. I have many music (and several non-music) apps that do this, and it's fantastic.

Saving individual app data has been a problem since day one. Apple has not provided a decent solution to it. Delete an app? Oops - there went all your data. Unless you've saved it yourself somehow, or can extract it from a backup. There needs to be a decent way to do this - and document folder access is not it. There needs to be an easy "Apple Way" to save ONE app's data somehow. I'm sure they could do it if they cared to. iCloud/GameCenter covers this a bit, but creates problems across multiple devices, and I've run into iCloud sync problems causing loss of data.

 

Totally agree with kmacleod, Developers should implement every feature given to them. iCloud uploading of savegame data, MFi support & Game Center integration being the top 3!

 

Did Apple removed the data sharing tab (or however it is/was called) from iTunes, too?

 

Easier said than done.

Only iOS devices are so backwards that they don't have a native interface for copying files. Every other OS does this. Windows, Android, any flavor of Unix, and OSX.

Every feature you mention costs $$$ to implement in terms of developer effort, testing, release management, etc. Combine that with the fact that your iOS audience wants all games to NOT be F2P, but only cost 99 cents, and be upgraded for perpetuity and I can understand developers not jumping on every feature available.

If iOS were just a tad more open it wouldn't be a problem. I'm not saying various developers don't sometimes take stupid shortcuts or skimp on things they really should have implemented. What I am saying is don't blame developers for the fact that iOS has a needlessly obtuse memory management scheme that is also needlessly inaccessible to the standard user without some other tool or software to access it.

 

Sorry but why oh why instantly update to ios 8.3 ? There's no stunning feature in ios 8.3. If you're worried about security and that's why people upgraded then don't go android !

When ios 8.4 comes out or 9.0 just wait a few days or a week to see what people say about it. Everytime a new system comes out it often breaks certain games. Don't mean to sound like 'told ya so' at all but why the huge rush to upgrade !?!?

 

Beats me. I'm running 8.1 and no problems at all. The last two updates have introduced problems I am in no rush to adopt.

 

You just answered it right there.

It's my phone and security fixes trump my ability to do other things on the device.

 

I'd say the ability to not enter a password for downloading free apps is a major plus in my book. It sucks having to do that every single time I want to check something out.

 

It was great when you no longer had to type in your password to download updates!

 

Good.. Way to many cheaters hacking game saves.. this wont stop the jaiklbreak cheaters but at least its a step in the right direction

and developers should ALL USE Game Center for saves

 

If this forces developers to stop being lazy and add game center support its for the better

and emulators can be played on your pc/mac, why even bother with these awful emulators that gets released on ios every now and then when there are far superior emulators that runs on even the most basic pc