Is Apple reading reports in the new Feedback Assistant?

After posting this, I found another developer with the same issue: https://forums.developer.apple.com/message/398429

Martijn:

Keeping in mind the entire process is a black box, 'many years' ago there were (a) far fewer devs and (b) the tools weren't as chatty, meaning the process now is tilted towards what I see as a significant uptick in automated reporting to the backend. Devs don't have to take time out to report bugs to be part of the bug tracking process...not new, but as I said, more now than before. Much more, I believe.

And while the numbers of devs have increased dramatically, I doubt the number of human engineers slaving over raw reports has kept pace, most likely supported by an increase AI. What the public doesn't know about the AI inside Apple would fill more than one book...

I'd expect such a scenario to result in an parallel uptick in companion tools that turn the info gathered into reports...more AI. Dev anonymity rules, and the expectation for dialog in the process, which was never promised before, goes down, because AI.

As for the title question, I'd guess the robots 'read' them, and the engineers read their output/reports, so yes, some one or some thing inside Apple is in one way or another reading everything that the mothership harvests.

You're still helping to shape the tools/OSs, but now, where your feedback may have been relatively unique in years gone by, it could be more common, and in many cases simply redundant, which has value in the aggregate, of course, so we shouldn't feel like were not having any effect regardless if we just go about our work or actively ping the FA.

Dialog can be part of the process here in devForums, on occasion(engrs. are here on their own time, BTW), and in cases where the dev can supply a project demo'ing a code-level issue, via DTS in the Member Center.

Thanks for your work helping test over the years. May you enjoy many more, and Happy Holidays to you/yours.

Ken

Well I've got an answer since september 😕

As I detailed in the thread you mention, I got 2 feedbacks out of 6 since sept.

Not very conclusive, asking for more information (despite I had provided full code for reproducing error).

AI still lags behind humans… 😉

@KMT: Do you see the day when all developers are just AI, developing apps to be used only by AI, sending FA reports to be read by AI…

Brave our new World…

I’m not in a position to discuss Apple’s internal processes, so I can’t answer your specific questions, but I do have one important tip to pass along: When filing developer-oriented bugs, be careful about the component you choose.

For example, imagine you’re writing a calendar app for the Mac and have a problem with the EventKit framework. On opening a macOS bug, you’ll see a Please select the problem area popup with a long list of components. The first half of that list is a set of user-facing components, and the second half is is a set of developer-oriented components. Make sure you choose the right one:

• Choose the Calendar component for bugs against the Calendar app and related user-facing infrastructure.

• If you have an API bug, choose the EventKit component.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!”
Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware

let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@apple.com"

Stuck since June with 3 serious issues on iOS 14, not present in iOS 13. If iOS 14 will be released as it is, we’ll have to retire the app from the store due to compatibility issues, and our help desk will be flooded by messages of angry users. 
At every beta we update the feedbacks with the usual, and I suspect useless, “Still present in beta x”.

If they only allowed to share feedbacks, it would be easier to group identical issues and lighten their work.

Ken is right on “And while the numbers of devs have increased dramatically, I doubt the number of human engineers slaving over raw reports has kept pace, most likely supported by an increase AI”, but frankly and egoistically I’d say “Who cares how you do it? Where’s the support I deserve as a developer on your platform?”

Welcome to the App Store (I’m publishing on it since 2009 and the problems are the same, just take it or leave it).

I reported about one issue almost one year ago and no response till now. Time by time I'm updating the ticked with new screenshots about the same bug, but no answer...

Just being honest: I'm pretty much entirely convinced that absolutely nobody within any engineering ranks at Apple is actually engaging with any bug / feedback submissions from the feedback app.

I find myself feverishly documenting major bugs found in beta and development iOS builds, thinking I'm doing the greater iOS community some good, but in reality, I look back at reports I've submitted YEARS ago and they're all still OPEN (besides the ones I myself have closed on their behalf). It makes you wonder if Apple is getting the best of us and how appreciative they really are with my valuable time. I'm basically QA'ing their work for free.