--- description: Are software updates too buggy? title: Tumblr Co-Founder: Apple Software Quality Has Taken 'Nosedive' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04c4b17233737f54/6987787de20a870c22a845c3/apple-software-bugs.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Has Apple Software Quality Has Taken a 'Nosedive'? by [Fortune / Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/fortune/) ## Fortune / Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2015 3:35 PM CUT  An Apple Inc. logo is displayed on the company's iPhone 6 Plus inside SoftBank Corp.'s Omotesando store during the sales launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2014. An Apple Inc. logo is displayed on the company's iPhone 6 Plus inside SoftBank Corp.'s Omotesando store during the sales launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Tokyo on Sept. 19, 2014.Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Fortune / Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/fortune/) ## Fortune / Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2015 3:35 PM CUT Marco Arment is the closest thing in Apple’s 300,000-strong developer community to a superstar. He co-founded [Tumblr](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumblr "undefined"). He created [Instapaper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instapaper "undefined") and [Overcast](https://overcast.fm/ "undefined"). He’s co-host of [Accidental Tech Podcast](http://atp.fm/ "undefined") — a weekly gabfest with a big Apple following and a catchy [theme song](http://youtu.be/iCXItGrjqrw "undefined"). Arment has been complaining for some time about a problem I’d felt but hadn’t figured out how to put into words. ### PHOTOS: The Rise of Mobile Phones from 1916 to Today  1916 A German field telephone station in the Aisne department of northern France during World War I. Paul Thompson—FPG/Getty Images  1970 French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday in a scene from the film 'Point de Chute' (aka 'Falling Point'). Keystone/Holton/Getty Images  1980 An early mobile phone during the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in South Kensington, London. Kypros/Getty Images  1983 Bob Maxwell, general manager of Englewood-based Mobile Telephone of Colorado, places a call on an FCC-approved radio frequency while driving to work. Lyn Alweis—Denver Post/Getty Images  1986 THE A-TEAM "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" Episode 5\. (l-r) Eddie Velez as Frankie Santana, Robert Vaughn as General Hunt Stockwell, George Peppard as John 'Hannibal' Smith. Bill Dow—NBC/Getty Images  1992 Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton talks on a cell phone while meeting with Boston Mayor Ray Flynn in a New York hotel on Sept. 25. Mark Lennihan—AP  1993 Whoopi Goldberg during ShoWest in Las Vegas. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  1997 A farmer with his family sitting on a Bullock Cart and talking on a mobile Phone, in Delhi. India Today Group/Getty Images  2001 A woman watches smoke pour out of the World Trade Center Towers in New York on September 11. Nicholas Goldberg—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images  2011 A rebel militiaman speaks on his mobile phone after capturing territory from government troops on March 25 in Ben Jawat, Libya. John Moore—Getty Images  2011 A youth films the aftermath of tear gas police fired at protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23 in Cairo. Peter Macdiarmid—Getty Images  2012 Audience members take pictures of President Barack Obama at Florida Atlantic University on April 10 in Boca Raton, Florida. Marc Serota—Getty Images  2014 A teenager takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a walk around St. Georges Market in Belfast. The Queen has apparently voiced her dismay that when she carries out engagements she is greeted by a sea of mobile phones. Peter Macdiarmid—PA Wire/Press Association Images/AP On Sunday, he did it, more harshly than I might have, on [marco.org](http://www.marco.org/2015/01/04/apple-lost-functional-high-ground "undefined"). --- > “” --- [_Read more at Fortune.com._](http://fortune.com/2015/01/05/how-bad-are-the-bugs-in-apples-software-updates/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3657460/apple-software-bugs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3657460/apple-software-bugs/"},"headline":"Has Apple Software Quality Has Taken a 'Nosedive'?","datePublished":"2015-01-07T15:35:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:22.874Z","description":"Are software updates too buggy?","url":"https://time.com/3657460/apple-software-bugs/","keywords":["Tech","Apple","Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04c4b17233737f54/6987787de20a870c22a845c3/apple-software-bugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Fortune / Philip Elmer-DeWitt"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04c4b17233737f54/6987787de20a870c22a845c3/apple-software-bugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apple Software Bugs","caption":"Apple Software Bugs","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3657460/apple-software-bugs/","name":"Has Apple Software Quality Has Taken a 'Nosedive'?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone","description":"You can't take any more photos. You can't install the latest version of iOS. You can't download the TV show you want to watch.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wYESmlUL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-08T19:28:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wYESmlUL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3657460/apple-software-bugs/","duration":"PT2M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3657460/apple-software-bugs/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```