Marco Arment drew ire – and admiration – for his blog post arguing that Apple software had lost “the functional high ground.”

Arment isn’t a typical user – as a developer his view is somewhat more like a mechanic with a car up on a lift – not the person who drives it every day. His view may not be that of a typical user. In addition, he wrote later that he “looked back at what I wrote with regret, guilt, and embarrassment.” But further statements suggest he stands by his central idea that Apple software has not just some rough spots but some strikingly prominent bugs.

My experience with third-party iOS8 keyboards has convinced me he has a point. I’ve encountered bugs in keyboard implementation in much the same way as Johnny Rico encountered bugs in “Starship Troopers”. A conversation with a friend who has also had the same problems has convinced me I’m not an outlier.

Among the problems:

• The keyboard switches back to the iOS default keyboard at random.
• Occasionally no keyboard shows up at all. The only fix is to completely quit the app by swiping up in the application manager.
• Occasionally the keyboard appears turned 90 degrees clockwise and distorted in the top one-half of the app window.
• It’s easier to install Node.js using the OS X command line than to install an alternate keyboard in iOS 8. It also takes fewer steps.

Clearly Apple needs to hire Michael Ironside as senior vice president of growling “the only good bug is a dead bug.”