Oliver Haslam·

AirPlay 2, Messages On iCloud Features Didn’t Make The Cut In Final iOS 11.3 Release

Messages on iCloud looks destined to wait for another major iOS update before being released after Apple pulled it from the iOS 11.3 final version release we saw today.

After having been present in each and every beta release, the feature is not in the final shipping version that everyone can install on their iPhones and iPads today.

Originally announced all the way back at WWDC in June of last year, it was first assumed that Messages on iCloud would be part of iOS 11 last year until it again was pulled at the final hurdle, with iOS 11.3 then assumed to be the release that would bring the feature to devices around the globe.

The same goes for Apple’s AirPlay 2 feature which also found itself in and out of iOS 11.3 betas and, predictably, is not in the final release.

Messages on iCloud will, should it ever arrive (probably in iOS 11.4?), allow people to receive, read and send messages via iCloud and have those messages and read-state synchronized across all devices, including Macs. This is arguably something that should have been part of the featureset of iMessage for years now and is still unfathomably missing at this point.

While at least one Apple commentator, Rene Ritche of iMore, believes that both AirPlay 2 and Messages on iCloud were never intended to arrive in iOS 11.3, that should not take away from the fact that two features, promised a months and a year ago respectively, are still not ready for primetime.

With Apple constantly under increasing scrutiny as far as software quality is concerned, the delay in features going live should perhaps come as no surprise, but at which point should something be ready after months of false starts?

The fact AirPlay 2 didn’t meat the HomePod launch date is poor form. The fact it isn’t ready still is even worse. The fact we still do not have iMessage syncing messages between devices is criminal. There I said it.

You may also like to check out:

You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Web.