Auxo Shows Off a Redesigned iOS App Switcher

King Shady said:

lol @ the idiots claiming Google doesn't innovate. I love Google and Apple, both produce their own innovations. Google is making mind-blowing technology (Project Glass) and Apple is making consumer electronics that are widespread and well-received (The Retina MacBook Pro is one of the greatest innovations in my opinion). To claim that Google doesn't innovate is absolutely disgusting and absurd. BTW Google Now is an extension of Google Search, not a clone of Siri like Samsung's ******** (and Google Now works **** well).

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Project Glass? That's just some obscure futuristic "vaporware", not an actual product. It's like the self-driving car Google's been playing around with.

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irDigital0l said:

Remember, this is an Apple site. We're not suppose to like Google and Android things.

People honestly need to see what Android 4.2 Jellybean is offering. Its quite amazing how far Google has pushed Android. Its defiantly a lot more than Apple has been pushing iOS. I think its safe to say that iOS 6 was not what people were looking for. They messed up big time with its most important feature (Maps) and the rest of the tiny, uninteresting features just couldn't make it up.

Forstall being fired was a good thing for Apple. I hope Apple takes iOS a little more seriously with iOS 7. Can't wait to see what WWDC 2013 will hold, but if Apple doesn't step up, there's plenty of alternative options now compared to 5 years ago.

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I won't doubt that Jellybean was a bigger jump than iOS 6 was (barely anything improved), but it's still junk. It's easier to leap ahead when you're so far behind. I didn't expect iOS 6 to be anything exciting, but it still disappointed me because I was hoping they WOULDN'T screw up Mail so that it plays the "swoosh" sound before the email is actually sent. It's clear trickery.

Morshu9001 said:

I won't doubt that Jellybean was a bigger jump than iOS 6 was (barely anything improved), but it's still junk. It's easier to leap ahead when you're so far behind. I didn't expect iOS 6 to be anything exciting, but it still disappointed me because I was hoping they WOULDN'T screw up Mail so that it plays the "swoosh" sound before the email is actually sent. It's clear trickery.

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Sure Android was crap until ICS came out where it was still crap because carriers controlled the updates. What I'm saying is that overall the years, Google seems to be improving more than Apple. Apple seems to have taken the "lets be careful" while Google is more like "go big or go home".

Its pretty sad how Apple considers Facebook integration as a huge feature. I mean they could have updated Notification Center like what Google did.

That's my point.

irDigital0l said:

Sure Android was crap until ICS came out where it was still crap because carriers controlled the updates. What I'm saying is that overall the years, Google seems to be improving more than Apple. Apple seems to have taken the "lets be careful" while Google is more like "go big or go home".

Its pretty sad how Apple considers Facebook integration as a huge feature. I mean they could have updated Notification Center like what Google did.

That's my point.

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Yes, you are right, but that's Apple's way to do things, and I like it.

Google is kind of company acting like :"why not?"
When Apple is acting like:"why?"
When it comes to adding new features, I like Apple's way better, I like simplicity over tweeking.
People are always complaining, but what is really missing on iOS right now?

Slayter said:

People are always complaining, but what is really missing on iOS right now?

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iOS could use some...

-More Siri features
-Better multitasking
-Better notification center
-Updated UI/Live icons/widgets/less skeuomorphism
-Group chat for FaceTime
-Timer mode for Camera
-Filters for Photos
-Folders, photos, attachments for Notes
-AirDrop
-Improved Maps
-API for Siri
-API for Notification Center
-Download and save files for Safari
-Larger folders

irDigital0l said:

iOS could use some...

-More Siri features
-Better multitasking
-Better notification center
-Updated UI/Live icons/widgets/less skeuomorphism
-Group chat for FaceTime
-Timer mode for Camera
-Filters for Photos
-Folders, photos, attachments for Notes
-AirDrop
-Improved Maps
-API for Siri
-API for Notification Center
-Download and save files for Safari
-Larger folders

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Ok, there is always room for improvements..
I agree with most things you listed above, but what you have all with the "live icons"? Icons are so tiny, that even if you will have live icons, there wont be enough room for any information, thus no improvement at all, they would have to rethink all UI from ground up.

Apple will definitely copy this feature and will implement it in iOS 7.

Slayter said:

People are always complaining, but what is really missing on iOS right now?

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Not much that is legitimate (Nintendo emulators won't fly), but I think this would be nice:

- A section in the App Store where restrictions are looser (not as loose as Android).
- The ability for all apps to integrate with Siri, giving her more commands.
- An option for the lockscreen to always show the Notification Center, somewhat like widgets but less junky.
- Why the heck can't you delete select messages on the iPad, but you can on other devices?
- Mouse support, most useful for iPads. This is the one Surface feature I like.
- Ethernet over Lightning so that your Mac or even other devices like cars and 4G hotspots can give your device connectivity when there is weak/nonexistent wifi in the area just to keep everything on it updated. I know it's rare, but I'm in this situation right now, and I've needed to use my wired ethernet connection on my iPod touch before.

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faizanshakyboy said:

Apple will definitely copy this feature and will implement it in iOS 7.

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It seems pretty useless to me except on the iPad. I think there's a fair chance it'll come to the iPad later.

Why do people think this is any better than the current one. It's still **** because you can only see 4 apps at a time before you have to scroll.

What apple should do is use the whole screen and slide the multitask bar all the way up. Have a 4x6 grid of icons instead of 1x4.

I don't know why everyone is so obsessed with the little popup at the bottom. I'd rather have something that shows all your running apps laid out across the screen after performing a gesture, sorta like expose.

Swipe 4 fingers down and there you go.

Renzatic said:

I don't know why everyone is so obsessed with the little popup at the bottom. I'd rather have something that shows all your running apps laid out across the screen after performing a gesture, sorta like expose.

Swipe 4 fingers down and there you go.

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Four fingers would be problematic given the width of the screen in portrait. Though if its a downward gesture starting from the top of the screen then even two or three fingers could work. A single finger would bring down the notification center. Alternatively they could merge the app switcher and notification center into a single screen, with the switcher being on the bottom as it is now and notifications above it.

iOS 6 has been pretty lame but this would be a welcome addition. Please just hire these guys.
Apple seems yo be out of ideas.
I will jb just to get this.

Renzatic said:

I don't know why everyone is so obsessed with the little popup at the bottom. I'd rather have something that shows all your running apps laid out across the screen after performing a gesture, sorta like expose.

Swipe 4 fingers down and there you go.

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There's always Multifl0w. But i personally think it's implemented like ****

APlotdevice said:

Four fingers would be problematic given the width of the screen in portrait. Though if its a downward gesture starting from the top of the screen then even two or three fingers could work. A single finger would bring down the notification center. Alternatively they could merge the app switcher and notification center into a single screen, with the switcher being on the bottom as it is now and notifications above it.

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4 fingers down wouldn't be that difficult to use. I use the current four fingers up in portrait to bring up the taskbar all the time. As long as it doesn't require a long drag, just a simple "click" swipe from near the center of the screen like I do now, it'll be easy to deal with.

...which, now that I've looked at it, four fingers up should stick to the default. I thought swiping down brought up Mission Control in OSX for some reason, and I'd want to keep them about the same across both OSes.

And the way it should look? About like Scapegoat's link above. I'd make it look a little nicer, probably tag the the brightness, volume, and music control panel in at the very bottom, but that's about how I'd like to implement it. Though I'd use gestures to close apps, rather than reorganize them on the screen.

Now live !!

Auxo for 5.1 is now live. Tried to upload a screen shot but Safari/ MacRumors sucks ass

Only reason that I can think of that Apple doesn't already have the app switcher to show more details or to use up all of the screen (like an Expose type of thing) is because they want to show us what the app is currently displaying before we switch. Why? I have no idea, it actually sounds stupid now that I type it out. Though I believe the reason must be something like this as I would think they would have changed the app switcher by now. That is one thing I would have thought Apple would have really put the Apple touch on and would have taken a lot from OS X. It just seems that their must be some reason (even though I at this time wouldn't call it valid unless they could convince me otherwise) that they have not redesigned the app switcher.

I don't believe the Software Designer(s) are that out of it that they don't know what we want or couldn't think of any other way. Something just tells me they must have some "reason" why the app switcher is the way it is on both the iPod Touch/iPhone and iPad.

Honestly most other features that are "missing" from iOS could easily be argued by their Software Designer(s) about why they think should not be there yet (until they found a better way) and I'd honestly agree with them.

Widgets? Eww! I've used most versions of Android and just like on the desktop, I absolutely hate widgets. Hasn't Apple almost always been against Widgets just sitting in random places too? Wasn't that the reason they did Dashboard? I don't see them breaking away from that. Though lately they have broken away from things they said they didn't like before.

Slayter said:

Ok, there is always room for improvements..
I agree with most things you listed above, but what you have all with the "live icons"? Icons are so tiny, that even if you will have live icons, there wont be enough room for any information, thus no improvement at all, they would have to rethink all UI from ground up.

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Well, the Calendar icon is a live icon, and I think it is pretty useful at a glance. At the very least the Weather icon could update with the present conditions and temperature.

irDigital0l said:

Only complaint is the double tap. My iPhone 4's button is basically 50% chance of usability now. Pressing the home button so many times a day for so many years eventually wears it out. .

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I had this problem with mine, as well. Found an easy fix for it.... well, two easy fixes. First, turn off your phone (off off... so that the button won't wake it up)... then take a couple drops of rubbing alcohol (although vodka works in a pinch) and put it on a QTip. Swab around the edge of the button so the alcohol gets in there, then press the button 20 or 30 times. Or 100 times if you are comfortable with your OCD. Leave your phone alone for awhile so the alcohol will evaporate/dry. Then turn your phone back on. Button fixed! That worked for me and my button was more like a 3% chance of working. It almost never worked before this. I had to do this twice (the second time with the vodka) to REALLY fix it, but it has been fine ever since. My son now has my old phone and it's still going strong for him.

The second easy fix: go get a new iPhone 5. Which is why my son has my old phone now. lol

Ok I have Auxo. Is it just me or is the icons in multi task mode glitchy as hell? When I double tap or swipe up(Zephyr) only a couple icons show, and when swiping left and right it's really glitchy.

I'm uninstalling. Switchy, Zephyr and Intelliscreenx is a lot better.

Xytal said:

My thoughts exactly.

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Mine too!

Slayter said:

Ok, there is always room for improvements..
I agree with most things you listed above, but what you have all with the "live icons"? Icons are so tiny, that even if you will have live icons, there wont be enough room for any information, thus no improvement at all, they would have to rethink all UI from ground up.

Click to expand...

.....

Roessnakhan said:

Well, the Calendar icon is a live icon, and I think it is pretty useful at a glance. At the very least the Weather icon could update with the present conditions and temperature.

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This.

I was jailbroken on my old iP4 and reluctantly gave it up to upgrade to the iP5. I wasn't heavily invested in the jailbreak thing, but I had a few minor tweaks and a couple of apps that are not available within the Apple ecosystem.
One of the things I miss most is having a live weather app icon, and I honestly do not understand why you would bother putting a fake temperature reading on it like Apple did. If you're going to have text like that then why not make it live??

Simple things like that make a big difference from an aesthetical standpoint. I don't think anyone here is asking for the iTunes app to have an embedded video player or for the mail app icon to scroll your most recent emails.

This alone made the jailbreak worth it.

Love it on the iPhone 5.

Just installed it on my newly JB'ed iPhone 5 and the app is buggy. It's consistent. When I double "Home," sometimes I get an empty slot and sometimes it doesn't have the last used app cached. Update prolly eminent.

n8236 said:

Just installed it on my newly JB'ed iPhone 5 and the app is buggy. It's consistent. When I double "Home," sometimes I get an empty slot and sometimes it doesn't have the last used app cached. Update prolly eminent.

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It just got updated today. The new update fixes the "blank" icons.

No iPad version...

nepalisherpa said:

It just got updated today. The new update fixes the "blank" icons.

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Just got the update this AM, but it's still doing it. Argh.