Some people want it, some people don't. It's a bit like the side button on the early iPads that was (if I'm remembering all this correctly, it was a while ago) originally an orientation lock, got changed to mute in some iOS update, caused a big division in opinion with some liking the change and some hating it, and eventually in another iOS update (I forget which one) a new setting was introduced so that users could choose which behaviour they wanted.
Admittedly the iPad side button issue is mute now (excuse the pun!) since Apple have orientation lock in software but that past controversy and this current division of opinion raises a more general point for me. Is Apple too slow and reluctant to add extra options to Settings since that would seem to be the obvious solution here? I know that Apple tries to stay as true as it can to the "take it out of the box and it just works" philosophy and loads of settings potentially goes against that philosophy but few iPhone users won't have a PC or laptop somewhere in their life which, regardless of whether it is Windows or Mac, has loads of settings and options. This is one that I really think should be an option.
Maybe one possibility to try and keep it simple for "regular" users (for want of a better word) is to create a new category in settings called "Advanced" and put new options in there on a sort of probationary period. Non-technical users could never go in there, there could even be an option in the main section to hide the Advanced section unless enabled. The Advanced section could have a warning that options there might go away in the future and the Apple process for adding a new option that it is unsure about would be, instead of creating a year of frustration for people who want a different behaviour to the default, add an option in the Advanced section, monitor the stats of how many people set it each way (for those who have opted in to anonymous stats collection) and if after a year or so it is pretty evenly split then move it out of Advanced and into the appropriate bit or the main Settings area (i.e. that option is something that the entire Apple audience is genuinely divided on so it is needed to enhance user experience across the whole user base) probably at the next major iOS release rather than a dot release. If the option is predominantly set one way by most people then, depending on how predominantly, either leave it in Advanced or if 95% of users are going one way then perhaps remove it altogether, or at least put it first in the firing line if at some later time Apple feels that the Advanced section is getting too crowded and some options need to be removed.
