All iPads Apple (and we) need to stop

[whiteonline]

Stepping onto the soap box....

Regarding iPadOS
I think the external storage support was the primary need for the iPad. However, we (users) should look at everything else differently. I don't think mouse support is necessary - if you need a mouse, you need another platform. Obviously I'm not the first to say that. Devices that are really, really good at one thing provide a much better experience than a generic tool that requires compromise to complete many things.

IMO, the demands should go towards program and app developers to design and build for the iPad instead of asking Apple to compromise experience.

Stepping down...

 

[The Man]

Mouse support is not intended for normal users, but for people with certain disabilities, hence it is enabled in "Accessibility>AssistiveTouch". I'm glad Apple is thinking about those people.

What I find more worrying is the added complexity of all the new multitasking stuff. iPadOS needs a simple mode. My mother of 74 already has a hard time understanding the iPad (iOS 12), especially multitasking, multi window (browser, and she doesn't understand how to close one, even after explaining the concept is foreign to her), and she can't see buttons clearly because of the flat design. She had an iPad since iPad 1! And always refers to that one as the one that was so simple to use. She understood the GUI back then. iOS 13 makes everything even more complex. Good for me who wants to use multi window, but many people get confused by all those functions.

 

[danmart]

You can turn multi-tasking off it that would help your mother

 

[The Man]

No you can't. And you can't turn off multi window in Safari. If you accidentally open a second window, you have to deal with it. Very difficult for some people, especially elderly.

 

[sracer]

Stepping onto the soap box....

Regarding iPadOS
I think the external storage support was the primary need for the iPad. However, we (users) should look at everything else differently. I don't think mouse support is necessary - if you need a mouse, you need another platform. Obviously I'm not the first to say that. Devices that are really, really good at one thing provide a much better experience than a generic tool that requires compromise to complete many things.

IMO, the demands should go towards program and app developers to design and build for the iPad instead of asking Apple to compromise experience.

Stepping down...

I don't think that external storage support is necessary - if you need external storage support, you need another platform. Obviously I'm not the first to say that. Devices that are really, really good at one thing provide a much better experience than a generic tool that requires compromise to complete many things.

 

[The Man]

Elderly people have the tendency to panic when something unexpected happens. So a simple mode on iPad would be very welcome. You can turn off multiple apps in iOS 12, but Safari can still split screen. And buttons should be more visible, even more than you can alter in accessibility. Elderly people don't always see well. The first iOS versions had an GUI made for those people. I like the new GUI, but I know my mother has difficulty seeing and tapping the targets.

 

[danmart]

No you can't.

 

[kazmac]

View attachment 863569

Thank you very much. My elderly mom has issues with the 6th gen iPad and she still goes backing her dying iPad 2 due to the complexity of iOS 12.

I hope this will help ease her confusion & frustration.

 

[whiteonline]

Mouse support is not intended for normal users, but for people with certain disabilities, hence it is enabled in "Accessibility>AssistiveTouch". I'm glad Apple is thinking about those people.

What I find more worrying is the added complexity of all the new multitasking stuff. iPadOS needs a simple mode. My mother of 74 already has a hard time understanding the iPad (iOS 12), especially multitasking, multi window (browser, and she doesn't understand how to close one, even after explaining the concept is foreign to her), and she can't see buttons clearly because of the flat design. She had an iPad since iPad 1! And always refers to that one as the one that was so simple to use. She understood the GUI back then. iOS 13 makes everything even more complex. Good for me who wants to use multi window, but many people get confused by all those functions.

Of course accessibility considerations for those with disabilities is welcome. My point was to the perceived lack of conventional mouse functionalities as voiced in other threads (I'm sure you knew that anyway).

I empathize with the challenges your mother experiences. Apple would be better to revisit their "It Just Works" mantra. It's becoming more of "doing because we can (kinda)".

 

[The Man]

My elderly mom has issues with the 6th gen iPad and she still goes backing her dying iPad 2 due to the complexity of iOS 12.

I hope this will help ease her confusion & frustration.

My elderly mom has the same problem. But her dying iPad 2 was already on iOS 9, and that GUI was already difficult for her. With each release from iOS 7 on, things constantly changed, and elderly people simply can't cope with change, I've learned. They learn something, or expect something, and now it's suddenly different (even if it's just surface level, it is very difficult for them). She always refers to the old iPad (1) as the one that did things better. iOS 4 to iOS 6 was her OS (buttons and things were more "3D"). iBooks app with the wooden shelves was very easy for her to understand and she could flick between categories by flicking between shelves. The current iBooks app is very complex if you want to switch categories. There is a higher level of thinking involved that some elderly people can't do if they never in their life dealt with computers. The current music app has very small targets for play and pause. She can't see them well enough. And there are many more difficulties.

Yes, you can turn off multiple apps, but you can't turn off multi windows in Safari. You can't turn off multitasking gestures like moving from the bottom of screen and up. But she just has to deal with all those things. She's frustrated a lot. So a device that could help her read a little, and do stuff independently becomes a source of frustration and she constantly needs help.

 

[Johnny365]

That's what you're there for. Free support. Deal.

 

[dojoman]

No you can't. And you can't turn off multi window in Safari. If you accidentally open a second window, you have to deal with it. Very difficult for some people, especially elderly.

I can open another Safari tab and it stays in the same not sure what's the confusion.

 

[secretk]

Thank you very much. My elderly mom has issues with the 6th gen iPad and she still goes backing her dying iPad 2 due to the complexity of iOS 12.

I hope this will help ease her confusion & frustration.

Honestly I am not elderly. I am 33 and I find iOS 12 gestures complicated. I honestly don't use most of them and rarely use multitasking because I find it too complicated to remember it. I don't see the guidance or the needed feedback for me to use the system with those features. I know that there is assisted touch and all that but the additional controls cause clutter on my screen.

I feel the same way about the new iOS gestures about copy/paste. I honestly would not even bother to remember that. Or to have multiple apps in slide overview. No thank you. I don't want to have to read 20 pages manual on the new gestures.

 

[The Man]

I empathize with the challenges your mother experiences. Apple would be better to revisit their "It Just Works" mantra. It's becoming more of "doing because we can (kinda)".

Look, iPadOS is probably the OS that I have always wanted, but I also understand that it is not for everybody. And if the iPad also wants to be a tool to "liberate" the elderly, and give them an electronic way to read books, listen to music, watch TV, then it needs to also be something that is in line with their way of thinking (high level conceptual thinking isn't it). The first iOS versions was great because it didn't need much high level conceptual thinking. My mom could use that iPad without any help. But things started to change from iOS 7 on. A little more care from Apple towards elderly people is required.

But I have already hijacked this thread too long.

 

[Smici]

Honestly I am not elderly. I am 33 and I find iOS 12 gestures complicated. I honestly don't use most of them and rarely use multitasking because I find it too complicated to remember it. I don't see the guidance or the needed feedback for me to use the system with those features. I know that there is assisted touch and all that but the additional controls cause clutter on my screen.

I feel the same way about the new iOS gestures about copy/paste. I honestly would not even bother to remember that. Or to have multiple apps in slide overview. No thank you. I don't want to have to read 20 pages manual on the new gestures.

You don’t need to use those new gesture, so what is the problem?
And of course nobody forces you to use a mouse.

 

[secretk]

You don’t need to use those new gesture, so what is the problem?
And of course nobody forces you to use a mouse.

Sorry I was not clear enough. I am not talking about turning on Assisted touch for the mouse support. That is not a problem for me. I want a mouse. I have issues with iOS gestures and I was explaining why I do not want to use the assisted touch for that. For me it is more simple to use mouse than to remember gestures. Especially if they involve 2 or 3 fingers.

 

[Smici]

Sorry I was not clear enough. I am not talking about turning on Assisted touch for the mouse support. That is not a problem for me. I want a mouse. I have issues with iOS gestures and I was explaining why I do not want to use the assisted touch for that. For me it is more simple to use mouse than to remember gestures. Especially if they involve 2 or 3 fingers.

Oh, ok, honestly, I have so many issues with this three finger text Edit gestures, so now I hate those, and I think I never forgive and start to use them.
I can’t play a song on a piano in GarageBand because I get always an undo or a redo..

 

[The Man]

I can open another Safari tab and it stays in the same not sure what's the confusion.

Not new tabs, multiple windows (two windows side by side). Difficult concept for some people (and yes tabs is also a difficult concept for her). Sometimes my mother opens a second window by mistake. She doesn't understand what just happened, and how to return to the previous state, even after repeated explaining. It's still difficult for her to understand (higher conceptual thinking involved). Also she can't read text that well. She uses Safari to read the web, but needs to enlarge everything. The GUI and the targets still stay small, though, and is heavily depended on reading buttons labels and menus. GUI can be made somewhat larger, but is still difficult to read or targets are difficult to identify because buttons are flat in design.

 

[secretk]

Oh, ok, honestly, I have so many issues with this three finger text Edit gestures, so now I hate those, and I think I never forgive and start to use them.
I can’t play a song on a piano in GarageBand because I get always an undo or a redo..

Uh oh that sucks. I did not think about that. I was like I would use keyboard shortcuts to copy/paste. I did not think that I might accidentally trigger copy/paste.

 

[Smici]

Uh oh that sucks. I did not think about that. I was like I would use keyboard shortcuts to copy/paste. I did not think that I might accidentally trigger copy/paste.

They need to update the program I think, Procreate just got an update what fixen the three finger tap redo.

 

[secretk]

They need to update the program I think, Procreate just got an update what fixen the three finger tap redo.

Makes sense but Garageband is Apple program . They should have fixed that earlier than say Procreate. At least there is a fix. It could have been worse. No fix at all and we will have to accept that will accidentally trigger this.

 

[The Man]

You don’t need to use those new gesture, so what is the problem?

Some gestures cannot be turned off, like the gesture from the bottom up to show the Dock or if done quickly go to Home screen. That gesture cannot be turned off, I believe. It interferes with normal interface usage. Sometimes my mother scrolls a webpages, and suddenly she's out of Safari on onto the Home screen. She was just scrolling but the OS thinks she did a flicking up gesture.

 

[secretk]

Some gestures cannot be turned off, like the gesture from the bottom up to show the Dock or if done quickly go to Home screen. That gesture cannot be turned off, I believe. It interferes with normal interface usage. Sometimes my mother scrolls a webpages, and suddenly she's out of Safari on onto the Home screen. She was just scrolling but the OS thinks she did a flicking up gesture.

I have those issues too in iOS 12. I either trigger stuff that I do not want to trigger or it takes me time to trigger the correct one - for example seeing the list of all open apps versus activating dock when I am in an app. I make this mistake quite often.

 

[The Man]

I have those issues too in iOS 12. I either trigger stuff that I do not want to trigger or it takes me time to trigger the correct one - for example seeing the list of all open apps versus activating dock when I am in an app. I make this mistake quite often.

Too many functions in that one gesture (the speed is the variable, and that's a difficult concept, and also makes it difficult to do). I don't know how it could be done differently, but this is an example of what makes the iPad very complex for some (or maybe many) people.

 

[Aydy]

I don't think that external storage support is necessary - if you need external storage support, you need another platform. Obviously I'm not the first to say that. Devices that are really, really good at one thing provide a much better experience than a generic tool that requires compromise to complete many things.

16, 32 & 64GB users would naturally disagree here.