Xcode 9 is Unacceptable

I have to stand up for Apple engineers here. The problem is not that Apple's engineers don't know how to fix these problems or that they don't know about these problems. You have to assume that Apple engineers use Xcode for everything, so they know well the problems. I'll bet, without knowing, that internally it is forbidden for sofware developers to complain about Xcode problems.

That makes the problem management. They set the priorities and allocate resources. At it seems that management does NOT see any problems. Management only see's release dates and expects them to be achieved. Period. They don't use the tools, Apple users don't use the dev tools, so no problem.

If my bonus depended only on hitting release dates, I would do exactly as the Apple enginners are apparently doing. Just release the crap and move on to the next assignement from management.

Apple management won't see a problem until people get very vocal in other venues and media outlets.

I'm pretty much finding the latest Xcode to be useless for coding Python. Random inserts of parentheses and brackets, a question mark that prevents dragging selected text, etc. Stupid misfeatures that ruined the application.

Totally agree (still) with the original post although it's already one year old. Thank you for taking time to write my frustration! One new problem I came across is that it takes ages to drag an image in the image.xcassets. When an image is dropped it is busy for ages to process. Don't understand what can make it so difficult. Just dropping png32 files. Looks like the level of complexity is growing above Apple's head, they can't keep up the lowest quality standards anymore.

Totally agree. 😠

I feel like I need to add my vote to this discussion as well. I have experienced many of the issues listed above and more that are not listed.

Please Apple, do not add any new features to XCode until you have produced a stable version with all current outstanding issues resolved. It is time for a "no new features" WWDC across the board IMO. You must concentrate on making all past features reliable before giving us any new features.

Also, I think a lot of the frustration can be resolved by fixing the black hole that is your bug reporting system. It is incredibly frustrating to not know if your bug report is being taken seriously, prioritized, or even resolved. Simply marking it as duplicate gives us NO indication of WHEN or even IF you intend to fix it. And it is always frustrating to read the release notes for each version of XCode (as I do) and never see YOUR issue listed as acknowledged!

Xcode 9 is a mess? Which version of Xcode wasn't?!

I use Xcode only because JetBrain's AppCode does not have Storyboard support.

Never thought I would need to add a reply to a thread like this as my experience with Xcode 9 had been fine after the last few updates, but since this past Sunday, I have been experiencing the same issues Xcode 9 had at launch where Interface Builder is using 98% and aquarter of my memory of my CPU. I thought this had been taken care of. It's looking like I'll have to upgrade my iMac at this point because I cant work like this.

@neil456; i utterly disagree. It is an employee’s responsibility (just as it is mngt) to do what is right. But an employee with no heart or care for her customer ships whatever it takes to get that bonus. It seems Apple is full of engineers who dont give a rats *** anymore. Can you imagine you had some responsibility over xcode and you would slide one crap thing after another? Even with pressing deadlines you’d slip in improvements! You would build an argument with your manager for bigger fixes requiring more time, you’d ask you colleagues to help. If all that fails....you walk. No?

Apple seem to have many (internal) problems that manifest themselves in the lack of quality or vision for their products. But i have to say the most painful one is xcode. I for one loath to see the WWDC coming on with all those narsistic personalities but no real care for the ‘D’ in WWDC.

Hi Neil

I cannot belive that Apple's own engineers are using the same version of Xcode that we all have to put up with because they wouldn't get much done.

An IDE that entertains you with a colourful rainbow wheel every few keystrokes or tries to flatten my MBP battery by exercising the fans at full speed every now and again grinds my productivity to a standstill. I really need to be able to use my time writing code rather than having to wrestle with Xcode, it is simply not good enough.

Bob Avery wrote:

I cannot belive that Apple's own engineers are using the same version of Xcode

Who ever said they did? Apple writes comparitively more low-level C code, and more server-side Linux/Java/etc. code than any app developers. Apple is much less impacted by Xcode problems.

...in that case then maybe they should try it out from time to time and see what they are trying to dump on the rest of us. If Apple care about their reputation AT ALL (and maybe take a peek in these forums and look at the App Store reviews for Xcode - whch are pretty dismal) then its about time that they started to take quality control seriously. You make it sound like Apple write software - release it - write software - release it ...without trying it out? Really? Either way, its still not good enough, is it?

>sound like Apple write software - release it - write software - release it

It's been some time since Xcode began resembling a 'permanent beta', an otherwise common tactic in the industry these days.

At one point last year, we saw nearly 10 versions of Xcode inside 10 weeks.

Point is, any hope that the tools would level off and resemble anything near release quality has left the station some time back. Best keep any expectations on what that means in check - devs are just fodder for the app store, after all 😉

Bob Avery wrote:

maybe they should try it out from time to time and see what they are trying to dump on the rest of us. If Apple care about their reputation AT ALL (and maybe take a peek in these forums and look at the App Store reviews for Xcode - whch are pretty dismal) then its about time that they started to take quality control seriously

The app market is huge with great potential for profits. Are you going to abandon that because you don't like the tools? If you can find a Windows job or a web development job where you don't have to use Xcode and that pays the same or more, then go for it. You won't hurt anyone's feelings inside Apple or out.

As for Apple's reputation, I'm pretty sure that Apple, like most savvy companies, assigns more relative value to dollars of profit than stars on a review.

I just wish, like others on this thread, that Xcode would actually work as advertised instead of needing such a lot of manual effort from users to keep it going well enough so we can just concentrate on coding.

As for getting a Windows job, Apple is beginning to FEEL like we are back in the old Windows days, something I thought I had escaped from many moons ago. Sorry John, but if Apple put profits above reputation and quality then at some point in the future the profits will start to tail off as the products inevitably decline.

Apple should have enough cash to fund a first class software quality control & review system but this just seems to be so lacking these days.

You _can_ edit your storyboards in XML; right-click your storyboard select open as/source code. I'd not recommend it but you can.