Apple pauses iOS 18 development to focus on bug fixes

Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi has halted development of the new version, as well as internal testing, when there were too many bugs or errors in the early versions of the software that were not addressed, according to Neowin .

Specifically, all Apple developers working on software updates for next year will be tasked with fixing issues and improving performance rather than adding new features. The pause affects operating systems codenamed “Crystal” for iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, “Glow” for macOS 15, “Moonstone” for watchOS 11, and VisionOS for the Apple Vision Pro headset.

The pause in development is understandable given Apple's increased focus on software quality over the past few years. Under Federighi, the company has adopted new processes like 'feature flags' (which allow developers to change how an app works without having to change the code) to catch bugs earlier and ' The Pact' to eliminate bugs. But as software projects have become more complex and involve thousands of developers, some problems have emerged.

By pausing new feature development for a week, Apple aims to thoroughly fix software issues, ensuring a smoother experience for users.