The first week following the release of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus was a hellacious one for Apple. After early reviews reported nothing but sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows for the tech juggernaut’s newest smartphones, the tide quickly turned and Apple was faced with a tsunami of negative publicity.

First there was Apple’s recall of the first iOS 8 update, leaving new devices “crippled,” unable to access cellular networks with unresponsive Touch IDs. Then there were the reports of the new devices actually bending in the pockets of owners. Both of these issues should have been bad enough individually to permanently besmirch the iPhone legacy. Fortunately for Apple, many consumers have been forgiving, as they consider bugs in iOS 8.0.1 and the negative effects of skinny jeans on the iPhone 6 Plus to have been “unforeseeable” blunders. But these public relations nightmares may have actually helped Apple by overshadowing the release of two smartphones that have left many consumers wanting more.

One More Thing…

Mat Honan’s review of the iPhone 6 Plus on WIRED included the following statement: “It’s a great sign for Apple that it doesn’t revere Steve Jobs’ public statements as immutable truths anymore.”

Yeah, not so fast. If the new iPhone reveals any part of Apple’s post-Jobs philosophy, it’s that they still apply his slogans to their production initiatives. “One More Thing,” the phrase that helped make Steve Jobs’ presentations iconic, has now become symbolic of Apple’s slow adoption of new features… one at a time. Apple iPhones might now be best identified by their all-too-slow release of singular features: FaceTime (iPhone 4), Siri (iPhone 4s), a bigger screen (iPhone 5), TouchID (iPhone 5s), and now once again…a bigger screen.

Sure, there have been some improvements made to a few of the other features. But even features that have been incrementally improved are still way behind competitors’ devices ( i.e. iPhone’s 8MP camera, limited NFC capabilities, limited battery life, etc.). While critics seem unanimously in agreement that Apple devices still boast a superior app ecosystem, Matt Sutherland, the founder of HQ, a Utah-based UX design firm, says Apple still stands to learn a thing or two from rivals.

“There are a number of features I would love to see in the iPhone, especially an easier way for users to simply ‘go back.’ The ‘back button’ is one of my favorite features on Android and could very easily be integrated into the home button. Another solution would be to mandate a ‘swipe right’ feature for all iOS apps. It would be a simple — but profound — improvement to the user experience,” Sutherland said.

Please Try Again in a Little While

Apple’s personal assistant, Siri, has been the source of hilarious gaffes over the years. She has also proved — and continues to prove — a source of frustration for millions of Apple users. As Google Now and Cortana continue to make waves with neural network algorithms that serve to beef up their voice recognition capabilities, Apple is only now beginning to seriously invest in major improvements to Siri.

Surprisingly, Siri continues to lack the ability to execute basic iPhone tasks, like “call Dave on speaker,” or “close all of my apps.” Even simple improvements, like integrating the ability to search or play within approved apps would make user experience on iPhone seem like Fantasia. Imagine being able to tell Siri to, “Open ‘Netflix’ and play Skyfall.” Or, “Open Spotify and search for Space Oddity.” Instead, users are all too often greeted with the response, “I’m sorry, I can’t do that right now.” Despite being first to the table with an integrated AI assistant, Apple has allowed Siri to fall way behind the pack.

Give the People What They Want

While the release of iPhone 6 and iOS 8 brought the ability to integrate with custom keyboards, more savvy users are still craving deeper customization with even more third-party integration. Apple should consider loosening their reins and allowing users a chance to choose which customizations optimize their user experience.

An easy place to begin would be allowing for some customization of the “Control Center” (accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.) Not everyone prefers a calculator or timer as one of their default toggles. An iPhone user on a backpacking trip through Yosemite National Park — a favorite of Apple — may prefer to have the compass app readily accessible. Still other third party apps, like Android’s “Future Text,” for example, which allows users to schedule texts for a future date or time, could bring increased functionality to text messaging with the iPhone.

And what about the ability to set your own default programs for navigation, like Google Maps or Waze? Or perhaps a default app for music, like Spotify, or Rdio? Simple additions to third party app integration would go a long way to bring the iPhone up to speed against its competitors.

While many users are praising the iPhone 6 for a few minor improvements to the hardware and its nostalgic return to curvilinear design, there are still some who remain nostalgic for a first generation iPhone feature Apple seems to have forgotten about: actual innovation.

Tayven James is a husband, father, and tech fan who loves to discover and opine about what’s new in the world.