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G4R2

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 29, 2006
547
4
Courtesy of John Gruber, here's an interesting piece on the possibility that widgets may appear on the iPad:

http://fury.com/2010/02/do-the-ipads-missing-apps-point-to-a-multitasking-dashboard/


This possibility has been the source of speculation by many readers and posters here and elsewhere, possibly motivated by the absence of the standard iPhone Stock and Weather widgets. It also may make some sense as an approach to multitasking.
 
While it is presumable that they could end up being widgets it is also possible that they have yet to be rewritten for the iPad. Stocks, even weather, and calculator complete with tape history could be much better on that screen real estate if rewritten well. Only time will tell.
 
I know my memory isn't what it used to be, but I definately recall when I bought the 1st gen iTouch it was missing some of the apps the iPhone had. I think it was stocks, maps and maybe maps. We got those after an OS upgrade later on.
 
I know my memory isn't what it used to be, but I definately recall when I bought the 1st gen iTouch it was missing some of the apps the iPhone had. I think it was stocks, maps and maybe maps. We got those after an OS upgrade later on.

Yes, there were like 5 apps for a paid upgrade.
 
There aren't going to be widgets in 3.2. It isn't in the API. Surely 4.0 will bring more interactive content to the lock screen and possibly the desktop. But we will not see that until at least this summer. And it will be for both the iPhone and the iPad.
 
I can't believe I didn't think of this before, or that I haven't seen this idea in the tech news media since this thing was unveiled.

It makes perfect sense if you consider what were the missing apps on the prototype iPad.
 
I've sent a suggestion after watching the keynote: what if you double clicked on the home button to have dashboard appear on the iPad?
I think that'd be excellent.
 
I've sent a suggestion after watching the keynote: what if you double clicked on the home button to have dashboard appear on the iPad?
I think that'd be excellent.

That would be so awesome... You could have a Dashboard where you can move widgets around and lock them into place, maybe add more from the App Store or even run regular 3.5" iPhone apps in this space to multitask, and summon it by double-clicking the home button... Or maybe some universal finger gesture such as swiping 3 fingers downward. I hope this is implemented with OS 4.0 in June/July! :D
 
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