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The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

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Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#291

Post by pier25 »

caconym_ wrote: post #270

For me the biggest gap between the iPad and a general purpose computer is the lack of a sensible, simple filesystem abstraction, and the pile of janky and inconsistent UI bullshit they apparently think can replace it. My iPad Pro is great for drawing and writing and browsing the web and watching video content, which are the things I bought it for, but when I use it I don't feel in control of my data. It's really sad,…

I also own a Pro and it's a fantastic device dragged down by the OS. Apple should have made iPadOS from day one instead of forcing an oversized phone OS into a bigger form factor. We'll see how that turns out in a couple of years.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#292

Post by freehunter »

thejohnconway wrote: post #260
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.

Doesn’t work on an iPad, which is where I want the feature the most. Also, force touch is no fine in newer model phones (because they screwed up the implementation in my opinion).

The same thing works on an iPad or phones without Force Touch, you just need to start the gesture from the space bar. Long-press the space bar and now you can move the cursor anywhere by dragging.

Yes, hidden and undiscoverable gestures are a problem.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#293

Post by mumblemumble »

Fiahil wrote: post #269

I completely agree with this article. The iPad hardware is absolutely wonderful, it's light, gorgeous and powerful. I got the latest iPad pro to watch Netflix in bed and it fills that purpose completely. However, the OS running on the machine is bad. Very bad. The multitasking is horrifying. The Files app is unusable (especially if you want to access your files from an FTP server). You have to use your finger to sele…

The one that's been driving me up the wall lately is that I can't use screen sharing unless the iPad and the Mac are on the same Apple ID.

It really kills the value of that feature in a setting where multiple people who each own their own set of devices want to be able to work together more easily. Like, say, homes, offices and schools.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#294

Post by _red »

slantyyz wrote: post #285
ryandrake wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "Address Book" vs. "Contacts" one is a good example. The one that hits some of the non-techies I know is "Drive". More than a handful of people I know still confuse it with Maps. They are going to drive to the next town over, and want directions, so obviously they look for Google Drive . I'd guess 99% of the population associates the word "Drive" with cars and driving, and 1% associates it with "internal storage"…

While I get that designers hate skeuomorphism, I tend to think there are still significant benefits to it with seniors. With my dad in particular, if the icons were literally photos (as opposed to "graphically designed" icons) of real world objects he was familiar with, I think it would help... a little. He doesn't seem to process abstractions very well. For example, a shadowed head in a contacts icon has absolutely…

For the life of me, I can't understand how neither IOS nor Android offers some type of "Simple UI" setting.

It should only consist of 4 Icons: Call, Email, Text, Web

It is a crazily under-served market.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#295

Post by pcurve »

part of the problem is, apple is refusing to make the basic window bar control needed to facilitate multi-tasking and exposing its funcionality, because that would create interface clutter and reduce perceived simplicity of the UI.

Instead they're inventing all sorts of hidden gesture based workarounds.

They're no longer targeting ipad for new users.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#296

Post by streb-lo »

ngcc_hk wrote: post #277
Fiahil wrote: post #269

I completely agree with this article. The iPad hardware is absolutely wonderful, it's light, gorgeous and powerful. I got the latest iPad pro to watch Netflix in bed and it fills that purpose completely. However, the OS running on the machine is bad. Very bad. The multitasking is horrifying. The Files app is unusable (especially if you want to access your files from an FTP server). You have to use your finger to sele…

The file system if you use it is a god sent. You can share files, organised files ... not as good as lap top one but it is good enough especially if you have an macbook to arrange and tag files.

Why on earth should I need a separate device to organize the files on my device?

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#297

Post by brandonhorst »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #128
Jemm wrote: post #123

My main gripe is that Apple chose to very aggressively kill or sleep apps running in the background. I can understand this from a battery perspective but why not give us an option to let certain apps run in the background, especially when the iPad is plugged in to power. As an example, if I start a download in Safari, I can’t use a different app until Safari finishes the download. I could use split-screen but who wan…

>if I start a download in Safari, I can’t use a different app until Safari finishes the download. If true, that's surprising. I thought Safari initiates a background download.

It's no longer true since iOS 13. Safari has a full-featured download manager now.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#298

Post by pier25 »

readhn wrote: post #229
tomgp wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For illustration the iPad pro is my go-to production device.

agreed. graphic design - perfect niche for ipads.

Illustration is not graphic design though.

For graphic design (typography work, layout, UI, etc) mouse and keyboard are still the best input devices. Much faster and precise than tapping on a touch screen or using an Apple Pencil.

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#299

Post by AlanYx »

catalogia wrote: post #50
thomasfl wrote: post #35

The iPad has slowly revolutionized personal computing. After the music production apps became available, including Apples own Garageband, the iPad has become a very common sketching tool for musicians. When the Apple pen and the Procreate became available, the iPad pro also became one of the most used tools for painting and sketching. An iPad pro with Apples keyboard, is more useable for most common day users than mo…

> An iPad pro with Apples keyboard, is more useable for most common day users than most windows based laptops. Do you think a young novice user with such an iPad, rather than a windows or mac laptop, would be as likely to develop a more advanced computer skillset? iOS seems easier for common users because it's more regimented, but I wonder if that same trait might leave less room for creative exploration of the machi…

I think that's the biggest lost opportunity of the iPad. I read through Alan Kay's Early History of Smalltalk [1] essay recently, and the level of applications young teenagers were developing with the rudimentary hardware is truly astonishing. The iPad is not facilitating that type of thing for the most part, but it also arguably goes in the opposite direction, encouraging a highly siloed, app-centric view of computing where users have even less direct agency over data.

[1]: http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/

Re: The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10

#300

Post by TrickyRick »

monocularvision wrote: post #215
johnwalkr wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Thank goodness it's still around! Yet once again, no way of knowing that feature is there without being told.
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