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Apple Criticized for 'Fundamentally Misguided' Approach to Stage Manager in iPadOS 16
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And that’s one of the reasons iPads will never become decent productive devices, nor a Laptop replacement, it’s mainly a device to doodle around, watch movies and play shabby games.
While on a Surface Tablet i can “also” fire up ClipStudioPaint, run 3D Software like Solidworks, Maya, 3DSmax, Blender, ZBrush, UnrealEngine, Unity3D or Coding IDEs like VisualStudio, AndroidStudio, Jetbrains stuff.
I can fire up a decent Terminal and manage uncountable of Servers, VMs, Docker Containers, or simply crawl and analyze large log files, or plug multiple displays and open up a large Excel file, or simply play AAA games.
Plugin external Devices like CADMouse or external NVIDIA GPU to have even more power and Real-time Raytracing.
A good Windows tablet is far superior, iPad is a bit more comfy due to its castrated UX.
The ultimative Apple Tablet would be one that has different UX on demand.
Plug to a dock -> BAMM! -> macOS with decent cursor and Window Management
Remove from the dock -> BAMM! -> iPadOS with castrated UX
Terminal command or Settings Knob -> BAMM! -> Enable macOS for the geeks without Dock
And everybody is happy!
But this will probably never happen, because Apple is too greedy and too stubborn to listen to its users.
Instead of building the perfect Tablet they keep trying to reinvent the wheel and build UX that doesn’t work without crutches.
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They claimed to care about user experience as an excuse not to bring the feature to pre M1 devices when the feature itself does not offer a good user experience.
Apple could put MacOS on the iPad when connected to a mouse, keyboard, and display and people would complain about being tethered to a desk defeats the purpose of it being a mobile device.
Then Apple could remove the 'connected to a display' requirement and people would complain that MacOS is poorly optimized for 11" screens.
There is literally nothing Apple can do that wont have some people complaining.
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Its almost like betas of the very first implementation aren't super-polished.
It took years for split-screen to have a good user experience; for example, it wasn't until iPadOS15 that Apple fixed the big annoyance of adding apps to split screen which weren't already in the dock.
And lets remember that SplitScreen was only supported on the fastest iPad at the time due to Apple wanting a good experience.
Microsoft has an excuse since their range of "mobile" software is dwarfed by both iOS and Android, so the only way they can get any leverage on mobile is if it can run standard Windows desktop/laptop software.
It's less clear why Apple wants to turn their already successful & widely supported handheld mobile devices into knobbled laptops, and their already successful & widely supported laptop devices into over-sized tablets.
There was a very good reason for having one OS & ecosystem optimised for handheld, touch-centric devices and a separate OS & ecosystem optimised for laptop/desktop keyboard & pointer-centric: the design affordances for applications are significantly different.
If Apple want the M1 iPad Pro to be more like a Mac, put MacOS on it (which can run iPadOS apps anyway).
Anytime I say Stage Manager sucks, people criticize me and say poor Apple is doing the best they can. Quit defending Apple. It’s a public corporation selling iPads for up to $2k that could easily run the same apps as a MacBook Pro 13” or Air 13” M1.
I call it baffling that Apple has come up with nothing really even decent. This whole time they keep trying to create new ways to use it rather than sticking with what works. When Apple likes MacOS features they take them to iPadOS. And when Apple likes iPadOS features they take them to MacOS. There’s no reason Apple cannot do it now. Just allow the same type of multitasking as MacOS.
Don’t defend Apple or say MacOS isn’t touch enabled. That’s just an excuse. We bought these things and should be able to install whatever we want on it also. Apple’s monopolistic behavior is soon coming to an end. The greed over the App Store 30% alone has made Apple lose sight of the big picture and regulators will stop them sooner not later.
I call it baffling that Apple has come up with nothing really even decent. This whole time they keep trying to create new ways to use it rather than sticking with what works. When Apple likes MacOS features they take them to iPadOS. And when Apple likes iPadOS features they take them to MacOS. There’s no reason Apple cannot do it now. Just allow the same type of multitasking as MacOS.
Don’t defend Apple or say MacOS isn’t touch enabled. That’s just an excuse. We bought these things and should be able to install whatever we want on it also. Apple’s monopolistic behavior is soon coming to an end. The greed over the App Store 30% alone has made Apple lose sight of the big picture and regulators will stop them sooner not later.
I think this is what Samsung is trying to achieve with DeX. That would be my dream- Apple take that concept so that your iPhone or iPad become your MacOS desktop when docked.
So you're saying that turning the mobile iPad into a desktop computer is a good strategy?
I am sorry but is this a joke?
Apple updates have become almost absolutely zero. I've had iOS16 beta on my 12.9" iPad. Stage Manager was a disaster. The whole concept is flawed and senseless without a file system anyway.
Besides Stage Manager there is NOTHING else new. Nothing. Tiny tiny things that used to be in a dot update, sure. Look we got the weather app upscaled from iPhone to iPad size after more than a decade.
The release is delayed by months, and some of the iOS "new features" (hello custom lock screen!) won't even make it to iPad at all.
This is a HUGE company having worked on this for 12 months.
You want them to go even slower? How?
People would whine they can't use MacOS without a monitor. Then their is the issue of how do you actualy use it? Add a keyboard and mouse? Turn the iPad into a very expensive virtual keypad and touch pad? It would be one messy kludge.
Pricing becomes an issue as well. Want a 16GB Ram iPad with less than 1TB? That'll be $300 for the upgrade; or "Sorry, that's only available with 1 TB."
Exactly. MacOS on an iPad would be a nightmare. Make iPadOS more robust, continue to integrate MacOS/iPadOS in terms of connectivity, file sharing; but keep both focused on the type of platform and UI they are.
Anecdotally, all the Surface users I know use it as a small portable laptop, not as a tablet, complete with keyboard and mouse. However, the build quality sucks - after a short while they look like someone put them through a wringer. MS' approach to a mobile OS has been Windows on a small screen. Windows CE was a prime example when they tried and failed to make a handheld. Desktops OS's don't translate well to handhelds or tablets; at best you have a small portable screen with a keyboard/mouse or trackpad that is just a very portable PC.
Will that change and the tablet form factor take over from the laptop? Maybe, but that will mean rethinking the UI and how we interact with the device.
The problem is always that whenever you create something you are always fighting against the established norm. That established norm actually doesn't have to be the best way to do something, it just has to be the convention.
Its why some windows people hate Mac OS and vice-versa. They just cant get their heads around something new if a convention has already been established in their heads.
It also makes a mockery of the idea of something being "intuitive". Something is only intuitive because you've learnt the previous conventions it builds on. Thats also why kids can pick up new things better than adults as they don't have a series of conventions built into their brain that they are fighting when they are learning new things.
A lot of Apple products defy previous conventions (iPhone, iPod etc..) and I think thats why I like the company. It doesnt always work, but I like that they try. If you dont break the rules you cant really invent new things.
Some people seem to like stage manager ( I haven't used it yet). So maybe their is hope and most people are just fighting muscle memory here.
Whilst where here: Windows as a concept have inherent flaws. You can't see everything on your desktop in one go if its layered. So its just like a messy desk really. Also, no one can genuinely consume more than a few windows at a time, so the rest is technically wasted resource. What you want is to be able to quickly switch attention to a window, but if you have so many, layered on top of each other, are you really being productive? Windows that cant be seen but are doing something visual are a waste of computer resource as well.
So windows in general are not always better productivity wise, especially when you have a small 10 -14 inch monitor. Sometimes split screen makes more sense. So its always baffled me that people feel Mac OS is the be all and end all of productivity when there are still many inherent flaws with using re-sizeable, layered windows in OS's.
Its why some windows people hate Mac OS and vice-versa. They just cant get their heads around something new if a convention has already been established in their heads.
It also makes a mockery of the idea of something being "intuitive". Something is only intuitive because you've learnt the previous conventions it builds on. Thats also why kids can pick up new things better than adults as they don't have a series of conventions built into their brain that they are fighting when they are learning new things.
A lot of Apple products defy previous conventions (iPhone, iPod etc..) and I think thats why I like the company. It doesnt always work, but I like that they try. If you dont break the rules you cant really invent new things.
Some people seem to like stage manager ( I haven't used it yet). So maybe their is hope and most people are just fighting muscle memory here.
Whilst where here: Windows as a concept have inherent flaws. You can't see everything on your desktop in one go if its layered. So its just like a messy desk really. Also, no one can genuinely consume more than a few windows at a time, so the rest is technically wasted resource. What you want is to be able to quickly switch attention to a window, but if you have so many, layered on top of each other, are you really being productive? Windows that cant be seen but are doing something visual are a waste of computer resource as well.
So windows in general are not always better productivity wise, especially when you have a small 10 -14 inch monitor. Sometimes split screen makes more sense. So its always baffled me that people feel Mac OS is the be all and end all of productivity when there are still many inherent flaws with using re-sizeable, layered windows in OS's.
Delayed by months? There is nothing delayed at the moment.
I just wanted my 2020 iPad Pro to gain some decent external display support so I could run some stuff full screen on an external monitor without mirroring, or plug it into my TV for a bit of gaming in the living room with an XBox controller without stupid black bars up the sides.
Looks like anyone with A12Z or earlier gets next to nothing and it's gonna continue to be a massively over-specced iPod Touch with the benefit of a pencil. At least being so pointlessly powerful for what I use it for means it'll still be able to do this same basic media consumption stuff for many years to come - cuz I'm definitely not buying a new iPad for about 10 years after I found how limited this thing is compared to a Mac. I'll at least be buying a low-spec one with minimal storage, rather than the Pro with 1TB (of largely empty space one I realised I can't get any decent apps for what I originally hoped I'd use it for).
The only thing I'm actually excited about this year is Metal 3, where hopefully we can get a load more performance out the graphics chips with upscaling, etc, but that's by far mostly on the Mac where closer feature parity with DX12 etc might give us a load more game ports.
Looks like anyone with A12Z or earlier gets next to nothing and it's gonna continue to be a massively over-specced iPod Touch with the benefit of a pencil. At least being so pointlessly powerful for what I use it for means it'll still be able to do this same basic media consumption stuff for many years to come - cuz I'm definitely not buying a new iPad for about 10 years after I found how limited this thing is compared to a Mac. I'll at least be buying a low-spec one with minimal storage, rather than the Pro with 1TB (of largely empty space one I realised I can't get any decent apps for what I originally hoped I'd use it for).
The only thing I'm actually excited about this year is Metal 3, where hopefully we can get a load more performance out the graphics chips with upscaling, etc, but that's by far mostly on the Mac where closer feature parity with DX12 etc might give us a load more game ports.
I think Apple have seen DeX and are trying to figure out how to gradually sneak-in a similar user-experience without getting their asses sued.
Of course it is. Do you think I pulled that statement out of my behind?
Look on this very website you're on:
Apple to Delay iPadOS 16 Launch Until October
Apple is planning to delay the launch of iPadOS 16 until October, which means the iPad software will not launch alongside iOS 16 in September as it...
www.macrumors.com
It is said the only intuitive interface is the nipple. Otherwise, as you correctly point out, intuative is a conditioned response to what we have learned.
Conventions are what enable us to not have to relearn how things work every time we use something new. We can apply what we have learned to different devices and situations. Without them, every time you get into a car you'd have to learn what controls speed, brakes, gears, etc. You'd have to remember does red mean stop or go? Is I or O power on on a switch?
When you defy convention people get confused. I have setup my Mac to scroll down when I move my finger up the trackpad, just as if I was pushing a piece of paper on a desk. Drives other users crazy because it is backward from what you expect.
Consider a door handle - unless it has a latch, grasping a handle intuitively means to pull the door toward you, placing your palm on a flat surface to push the door. Some stores where I live have a handle on both sides, resulting in people pulling the door towards them rather than pushing it. It's funny to watch them.
Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things" is the definitive book on this topic, IMHO.
People will whine no matter what, it is unavoidable and happening now. My thought is you use it with a keyboard and mouse, you can already do this, use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse so there is nothing new there. I agree using the iPad as the keyboard and trackpad itself would not be a good system. I would say when you start wanting the higher specs that is when you get a proper powerful laptop. I envision the iPad with a full MacOS when plugged into an external being a great option for business use with business apps like Microsoft Office, Apples variation, Outlook, etc. Microsoft did this some years ago when they had their own phone and I think it was a great idea really ahead of its time. You had your phone with Windows OS (horrible system). When you plugged your phone into an external screen you had Windows 10 (might have been 7, can't remember). You used your bluetooth mouse and keyboard, ran Microsoft Office, Outlook and all the light software for business without issue and without lugging around a laptop. All done working you simply disconnect and slide it in your pocket and away you go. This would destroy Apples low end laptop market, more then a few people use Apple laptops for simple web browsing and email, an iPad that could operate this way would kill that off completely.
The glitches are maybe because it’s a BETA. The concept is great, execution will be polished for next couple of years, I don’t expect such a new big feature to be perfect from day one. What’s the most important using it is OPTIONAL.
Highly doubt they will every go this route. That doesn't seem to be the direction in the highly competitive consumer electronics market.
How is the concept great? Honestly now.
It is taking full screen apps and constrains them to about 3/4 screen size, which honestly really only works on 12.9" iPads or external monitors. On the 11" there is just not enough pixels to properly display most apps.
So then it runs them in parallel but you can't do much. No drag and drop, there's no shared file system. It's just you can see a few apps overlapping on a small screen. You can't pick a proper size or place for them. It's all within limits.
You basically have two "docks" now. One at the left and on the bottom, doing similar but different things. It's really a (bad) hack.