So you never got gatekept by Apple from accessing a feature unless you had a specific version of the OS? Heck, even macbooks get killed every year by not allowing them to build for newer iOS versions.

The whole point of Apple, one could say, IS to make sure to forcibly make you update to access a new feature. That way either you can update or you've got to buy a brand-new device.

I'm curious what you believe the alternative is - "new features magically appear in released versions of an operating system without the software being updated"?

Seems to work fine on Linux unless you stick to kernels that are multiple decades old.

Whether it's technical or social the situation on iOS is clearly inferior.

You're being disingenuous. There is more to an operating system than a kernel; new features in Linux software frequently require supporting software or libraries to be updated.

Even the user space updates (outside gnome which most people avoid) don't make breaking changes at nearly the rate you see in iOS.

The whole point of using an iPhone is that you don't have to update it?

No, the App Store allowing you to download an app with an extension target that doesn’t match the current system. At the very least there should be a warning or a button to update iOS if that’s possible on the current device.

Surely a packaging mistake.

Choice and platform fragmentation in one neat bundle. I am almost surprised that Apple doesn't just force updates on everyone when it is possible just to maintain that additional bit of uniformity and conformity for its "think different" crowd.

>The whole point of going iPhone is not to have to deal with these kinds of situations.

This is actually really funny because Android users have had the ability to use any browser they want for like a decade+, including browsers with adblock built in, and browsers with fully featured extension systems supporting all major desktop ad blockers, and it all just works. One click download, no setup, nothing.

This is one of those places where Apple has intentionally made a terrible UX for you to steer you into their walled garden / first party products. You have to use Safari, you have to dig around in settings, you have to make sure your versions all line up, it's pointless rigamarole that will mean the majority of users stick with stock Safari, just as intended.

In many ways, things "just work" on any platform Apple product managers aren't allowed to muck with...

Bad news: these kinds of situations are inevitable. You've abdicated control of your digital life for a comforting lie