I love apt, but the release policy isn't at all suitable for desktop use. You get stuck with the same bugs for at least 6 months, even if the developer has released a fix.
that's not a flaw of apt, it's just a policy of the distros that use apt. Even on ubuntu, some apt packages (notably chrome and firefox) release major updates independent of the distro's release cycle.
apt packages are so stable because it takes so much effort and time to make them. For example, a new apt package may be pending just because enough time has not passed since it was created.