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Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

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121–130 of 137 posts

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#121
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but you lock it once and you're all set. When the OP said frequently I envisioned him locking/unlocking more often than that. The thing is screen orientation only matters if the display is on. If the display is on the task switcher lock control is accessible. There would basically never be any use for the lock button when the display was off. Contrast that with audio playback where the display may be off and the…

"All set"? Hardly. You lock it once, but then you fidget and roll over. Oop, need to unlock. So now you have to double-press and try and work the task bar upside down to unlock, then chase the lock button round as the screen rotates to lock it again. Move again? Same daft dance. Compare to now, where you can unlock and relock the device while you roll, without looking at the screen.

I don’t have an iPad so perhaps I’m missing something, but couldn’t you just rotate the device and leave the lock as is?

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#122
post #92
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why the free Find feature is only for the newest devices? Most of the time Apple is pretty good about only locking devices out if their hardware can't handle it. The 3GS should be able to handle it, right?

The 3G never got the percentage battery meter or iOS 4 folders. There may be times when it's a hardware limitation, but it often feels like an attempt to nudge you toward an upgrade.

If you jailbreak, the percentage batter meter is just a switch away with the free SBSettings app. If you're not interested in doing that, I believe it's just a simple .plist change and reboot (or respring). However, you can also enable multitasking/wallpaper if you jailbreak.

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#123
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very rarely use it. The iPad is pretty good about detecting the proper orientation. What types of things require you to lock it often?

Imagine laying in the bed on your side and trying to read a book.

I upgraded my iPhone 4 from 4.1 to 4.2 to see if they made any changes to orientation control on it. No dice. It still lets you lock it into Portrait orientation, or, leave it unlocked. No option to lock it into Landscape mode. Very annoying. Some websites and apps just work better in Landscape mode. Don't understand why it's so hard for them to allow that. Why only Portrait and not Landscape?

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine laying in the bed on your side and trying to read a book.

I upgraded my iPhone 4 from 4.1 to 4.2 to see if they made any changes to orientation control on it. No dice. It still lets you lock it into Portrait orientation, or, leave it unlocked. No option to lock it into Landscape mode. Very annoying. Some websites and apps just work better in Landscape mode. Don't understand why it's so hard for them to allow that. Why only Portrait and not Landscape?

No option to lock it into Landscape mode

Holy crap. Doesn't Apple drug-test their employees?

Decisions like this make me think they don't use their own products, which I know very well isn't true. Just plain weird.

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#125
post #47

I can't be the only one who uses the iPad's orientation lock button frequently... The very impractical decision to transform it to a mute button is enough of a frustration that it will be a good while before I can convince myself to upgrade to an otherwise compelling release.

Is it just me or does the mute switch not actually function?

I'm running pandora and I flipped the "mute" switch and it did nothing. I then switched to a video podcast and the same issue occurs, flipping the switch does NOT mute. The volume rocker worked normally... holding it down actually muted the device.

I've been aware of this change since beta, but what's the point? Especially if it doesn't function as expected. The iPad doesn't have a ringer or a vibrator (lol, for lack of a better word). I find this confusing! Which mute mutes‽

I preferred it as an orientation lock anyway... Maybe this should be configurable?

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using this beta since the first iteration, and I still cannot stand the step backwards in usability from changing out the function of this switch. People use their iPhones to listen to things, but use iPads for the screen. On a device you listen to and that RINGS, making this a mute switch makes sense. On a device you use for the screen, you're often twisting and turning views between portrait and landscape…

Push notifications and email alerts make lots of noise when the product is not in use, unlike MacBooks. It's pretty convenient to have the option to silence them with the flip of a switch without having to turn on the iPad.

But.. the point of the iPad is to be instant-on.. Is it really that much trouble?

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#127
post #47

I can't be the only one who uses the iPad's orientation lock button frequently... The very impractical decision to transform it to a mute button is enough of a frustration that it will be a good while before I can convince myself to upgrade to an otherwise compelling release.

I've been using this beta since the first iteration, and I still cannot stand the step backwards in usability from changing out the function of this switch. People use their iPhones to listen to things, but use iPads for the screen. On a device you listen to and that RINGS, making this a mute switch makes sense. On a device you use for the screen, you're often twisting and turning views between portrait and landscape…

I hated it with the first beta too, but having used the betas this long, I am totally used to using the software orientation lock instead of the switch. I don't even try to use it anymore. Just give it some time :)

An unrelated but interesting tip I stumbled on: on the lock screen, you can double click the home button to bring up the audio controls (without unlocking the device). Using those controls you can skip unlimited Pandora songs without getting the 'our license doesn't let you skip...' warning.

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#129
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me the biggy has been lack of multitasking. It's so annoying to open a link in a new tab, only to come back and have safari reload the entire page I was just on. It's like the iPad's browser has Alzheimer's.

I wouldn't get too excited. With only 256MB of RAM, it's still going to happen on the iPad :/

Apps in the background may have their resources reclaimed, or be shut down, if foreground apps need the RAM.

Also consider that many apps are using the same (system) libraries, which are only loaded once.

Re: Apple’s iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a list of Safari's iOS 4.2 features?

Not sure if I'm looking at the right direction but the Safari Reference Library is not showing any updates: http://developer.apple.com/library/safari/navigation/index.h...

See this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1932107
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