The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10 • Hacker News Board

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#211

Post by wlesieutre » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:05 PM UTC

> Oh, and apps that aren’t in the Dock can’t become the second app in split screen mode. What sense does that limitation make?

I've heard people say this before, as if there's no way to use anything but your permanent dock apps in split screen. But if it's not in the Dock, you launch it, and now it's in the dock. That's why the recent items section on the right side exists.

My personal gripe with iOS multitasking is that it's easy to make a second instance of an app by dragging and dropping (such as Safari tabs to split screen), but then it's not as easy to close the second copy when you're done with it. When split screen was a special implementation within Safari, dragging the last tab from one side to the other would automatically collapse that side and bring the remaining one back to full screen. Now it leaves an empty Safari window hanging around.

If you want to close that, you have to make one side or the other full screen, open the app switcher, and swipe the empty one up off the top.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#212

Post by gnicholas » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:06 PM UTC

CiaranMcNulty wrote: post #88

gnicholas wrote: post #21

> The iPads Pro outperform MacBooks computationally. Off-topic, but it's an interesting choice to pluralize "iPads Pro", especially in a sentence where it could easily be singular ("The iPad Pro outperforms MacBooks computationally"). After all, there aren't different tech specs on the different iPads Pro (of the same generation). They just differ in screen size, IIRC.

Wouldn't it be strange to compare 'iPad' to 'MacBooks'?

That’s not what I suggested. There is one processor and RAM setup across all (current model) iPads Pro. There are multiple processors and RAM configurations on the various MacBooks Pro (ugh, that sounds terrible to me — I much prefer MacBook Pros). So if the iPad Pro processor (or whatever metric he was referring to) is faster than all the MacBook Pro processors, then it would be perfectly normal to say the one singular is faster than the other plural.

It would be like saying the iPhone 11 Pro has a better camera than all the iMacs (which vary by model, but none are as good as the iPhone).

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#213

Post by samatman » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:06 PM UTC

cactus2093 wrote: post #126

Good points in the article. I also find the model names weirdly confusing, how did the iPad become the smaller, less powerful variant when the Air still exists? They did this with MacBooks too, though I think the tiny one may be discontinued now. And why is the iPad peripheral system such a mess? The released the pencil 2 which is a significant usability improvement and had every indication of replacing the pencil 1,…

Another head-scratcher with the Pencil 2 is that Apple doesn't sell a first-party case with a retaining flap for it.

The magnets are strong enough to keep it in place during normal use, but there's no way to put it in a bag and retrieve it without the Pencil flying off.

I eventually got a third-party case that does the right thing, it's just a strange oversight.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#214

Post by gherkinnn » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:07 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #108

gherkinnn wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d argue that the iPad is an excellent chance to downgrade to a less capable phone. Get an iPhone ~8 — no need for an 11 in combination with an iPad.

Mostly disagree. The camera progression on newer iPhones is a big differentiator [for many]. Also I don’t more or less always have an iPad in a pocket like I do a phone.

Camera is true. Speaking for myself, I’m a hopeless photographer and the iPhone X’ camera won’t save me.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#215

Post by monocularvision » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:07 PM UTC

johnwalkr wrote: post #175

TrickyRick wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Force touching on the keyboard gives your finger control over the cursor more like a touch pad on a computer. It works really well on the iPhone, not sure if it's available on iPad. But yet again, one of those feature you just have to know about to use.

It was never available on iPad, and is no longer on newer iPhones. It's replaced by a long touch, but this cursor control function has disappeared.

Long touch the space bar in the keyboard to get the trackpad-like functionality back.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#216

Post by readhn » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:08 PM UTC

Awkwardly turns 10? Poor title choice!

Every household in USA has one ipad or wants to have one. (360million total sold in usa - so 1.1 ipad per person).

360,000,000 ipads x $400 (example average price) = $144B in sales !!!

There is nothing Awkward about that. They crushed it!

ongrats to Apple for making a great product for media consumers!

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#217

Post by Someone » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:08 PM UTC

Shivetya wrote: post #127

bronco21016 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all of them disappeared into thin air one night then nearly the entire global aviation system would come to a screeching halt. It’s the device of choice among air carriers for navigation charts. Paper backup isn’t even carried anymore. We just carry extra iPads and batteries. I’m not sure any of the charting apps used by air carriers are even available on another OS at this point. I’ve never been aware of JeppFD P…

not just pilots, I see them in use by nearly every service person who comes to the house and even at work. they are just the right size for easy reading, the lack of keyboard removes a major breaking point if not cleanliness issues. throw in they just give a modern and sleek vibe to any organization employing them versus pen and paper. plus they make it easy for customers to sign for services which in turn makes it e…

”throw in they just give a modern and sleek vibe to any organization employing them versus pen and paper”

There likely is a good cost saving there, removing the need to transcribe handwritten forms and archive them in cases where the customers signed them.

It also easily gives you some tracking info, even if you only let it send location info when the service person uses it. That can give you the data to inform other customers on that service person’s route about arrival times.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#218

Post by bradleyankrom » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:08 PM UTC

wlesieutre wrote: post #211

> Oh, and apps that aren’t in the Dock can’t become the second app in split screen mode. What sense does that limitation make? I've heard people say this before, as if there's no way to use anything but your permanent dock apps in split screen. But if it's not in the Dock, you launch it, and now it's in the dock. That's why the recent items section on the right side exists. My personal gripe with iOS multitasking is…

I’ve had an iPad for over a month now and still can’t figure out how to close the second app when I am in split screen.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#219

Post by cma » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:09 PM UTC

johnwalkr wrote: post #175

TrickyRick wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Force touching on the keyboard gives your finger control over the cursor more like a touch pad on a computer. It works really well on the iPhone, not sure if it's available on iPad. But yet again, one of those feature you just have to know about to use.

It was never available on iPad, and is no longer on newer iPhones. It's replaced by a long touch, but this cursor control function has disappeared.

It is on iPad, two-finger touch the scroll bar and it does it.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#220

Post by leadingthenet » Tue, Jan 28, 2020, 2:10 PM UTC

w-m wrote: post #27

> The iPad has been a spectacular success, and to tens of millions it is a beloved part of their daily lives, but it has, to date, fallen short of revolutionary. Why does everything have to be revolutionary? Pretty much everybody I know who has an iPad love using their device. It's a wonderful tool for media and web consumption, it just works for that use case very, very well. It can be used effortlessly, for multipl…

> Does it really have to do more?

It should do more to justify the price tag of the Pro model.

It should also do more simply because Apple's advertising for the product attempts very hard to push it into a productivity device angle, not a consumption one. Hence the "what is a computer?" debacle.