> the only people who seem to think that operating systems should have "personality" are techies

I am not so sure. It might even be the opposite. Techies and designers gave us the flat UI aesthetic, Material UI, Windows Metro design, etc. Techies also nitpick design and aesthetics far more than average folks do. Techies and designers derided Windows XP, but most average users thought it was "cute" and "fun" compared to the "boring" previous design. It is definitely the most memorable release in the past 30 years as far as UI goes. This iOS version could wind up being similar after so many years of the flat UI.

The bugs/kinks are a good point though, and I have noticed some UX changes too that I am unsure about. This is the first complete UI redo in long time for iOS, so I am sure they will get these things worked out over time.