Expanded Mouse Cursor Support Coming to iPadOS 14 Alongside New Smart Keyboards With Trackpads

[rp2011]

It’s not a either or option. I love and use my iPad as my primary computer, but I have an iMac for when I really want to dig in and get some work done. And I even have an older PC that I use from time to time for certain things.
It’s all good. But the iPad is by far my favorite computer.

 

[Spock]

Yeah they’ve actually said they aren’t going to do this. No merging. Just adding capabilities

Yeah, and John Sculley said the Apple II was very important to Apple and then they killed it very shortly after that. When Steve announced the iMac G4 he declared the death of CRT and then released the eMac with a CRT very shortly after that. Apple doesn’t always tell the truth...

 

[rowspaxe]

Over the long haul, this might spell the end of the MacBook Air and other ultraportables. There are still some programs not supported by the iPad, but the gap is closing.

But, the gap is not closing. "Full featured Photoshop"? What a joke.

 

[MacBH928]

At this point why not just get a the regular thin macbook?

 

[rowspaxe]

APPLE WE ALREADY HAVE THIS FOR YEARS...its called MACBOOK...so Apple uses its money to make a clone of an macbook but with iOS ?? Instead of leting the ipad be just an brilliant media consumer device and place all this money in R&D for the mac they spending money to make just a mac with limited OS and touch

At this point why not just get a the regular thin macbook?

Its called a hybrid. Read the thread--people want it

 

[Mainsail]

But, the gap is not closing. "Full featured Photoshop"? What a joke.

Well, given that there was no Photoshop on iPad and there is now, the gap is closing. Maybe not as fast as we like. Maybe not as fully featured. All vectors have a magnitude and direction. We might not be happy about the magnitude, but it seems to be going in the right direction.

 

[arvinsim]

Might be time to get an Mx Anywhere to pair with my iPad

 

[rowspaxe]

Apps a the key. Mouse support will help make the iPad more Mac like; the apps need to become as full featured as on a Mac.

I don't think providing a hybrid experience implies full featured apps. Only time will tell
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Windows sucks.

I use windows every day. It's great. Icloud for windows works well now, so swapping files off and onto the
is super easy.
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Well, given that there was no Photoshop on iPad and there is now, the gap is closing.

A gimped version of Photoshop does not close the gap in any way. However, native ios apps are becoming more
more powerful and embracing keyboard shortcuts over goofy gestures. So there is progress

 

[badawat]

This news while great for many is troubling to others. Not everyone wants mouse support on an iPad. The main reason being that when mouse support it welcomed by Apple some developers will end up having apps that only function well when using a mouse. Thus encouraging users to have to use a mouse which is exactly the opposite of why many bought an iPad in the first place. This isn't blurring the lines between an iPad and an MacBook, this is bringing an iPad closer to becoming a MacBook and thus rending the iPad useless to people who don't want to have to carry around a mouse and keyboard.

I might be wrong but clicking and tapping are part of the OS are they not?

If I use my iPad2 (10 years old) as a second display, or even my phone via Duet Display, I can use MacOs via tapping on the screen and it acts the same as a mouse - in fact it's surprisingly responsive... I can only imagine with a proper OS built for iPad it will be 100x more responsive - I've not tried SideCar so I can't say how that works and if it allows for gesture input too... maybe you mean something different though?

 

[seadragon]

I laugh thinking of all the naysayers here saying a mouse would never work with a touch based OS before Apple made it happen.

 

[smulji]

I don't think providing a hybrid experience implies full featured apps. Only time will tell
[automerge]1583803733[/automerge]

I use windows every day. It's great. Icloud for windows works well now, so swapping files off and onto the
is super easy.
[automerge]1583804239[/automerge]

A gimped version of Photoshop does not close the gap in any way. However, native ios apps are becoming more
more powerful and embracing keyboard shortcuts over goofy gestures. So there is progress

It isn’t gimped. Adobe has gone on record saying it’s real Photoshop, just not full Photoshop. But the will be adding the features over time.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Why do you care? Do you use every single feature on an iPad? If not, are those features "stupid"? Your use does not match millions of other people and what they do (or wish they could do with the addition of a mouse) with their iPad.

No one is forcing you to use a mouse/trackpad.

I'm an iOS developer. The moment a mouse pointer becomes a first class feature on the iPad, App Store guidelines are going to be updated to tell developers to make their iPad apps mouse pointer friendly.

I'm literally going to be forced to use it to test my apps against or else my apps are going to be rejected. It's more bloated features us developers need to spend extra time on. You could not be more wrong.

 

[rowspaxe]

It isn’t gimped. Adobe has gone on record saying it’s real Photoshop, just not full Photoshop. But the will be adding the features over time.

Adobe was initially on record saying they were bringing full Photoshop. So credibility is zero. They are more interested in Fresco development. "It's real Photoshop, but not full Photoshop"? Its about 20% of Photoshop.

 

[farewelwilliams]

So? You can do all of that on a traditional laptop.

Draw on screen with an Apple Pencil? No.

 

[rowspaxe]

I'm an iOS developer. The moment a mouse pointer becomes a first class feature on the iPad, App Store guidelines are going to be updated to tell developers to make their iPad apps mouse pointer friendly.

Since it is only a pointer at this time, hard to imagine this will take a lot of dev time

 

[Mainsail]

I don't think providing a hybrid experience implies full featured apps. Only time will tell
[automerge]1583803733[/automerge]

I use windows every day. It's great. Icloud for windows works well now, so swapping files off and onto the
is super easy.
[automerge]1583804239[/automerge]

A gimped version of Photoshop does not close the gap in any way. However, native ios apps are becoming more
more powerful and embracing keyboard shortcuts over goofy gestures. So there is progress

Your being hyperbolic. Of course moving from nothing to something closes the gap. You might not like it, but there are others that find it useful. 4 of 5 stars rating on App Store.

 

[satchmo]

This is moving closer to a hybrid device, something Apple has been against. In which case, why not buy a Surface?

I wouldn’t buy a Surface, but you’re not wrong about Apple. Microsoft’s vision was right from the start.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Since it is only a pointer at this time, hard to imagine this will take a lot of dev time

You have obviously never read the App Store guidelines. There will be guidelines for handling right click, handling minimum button sizes/UI layout in general, handling what is the general behavior for double clicking (i know a friend that had their iPad app rejected because double tapping an object quickly with an apple pencil brought up a custom context menu which is a huge no-no), etc...

 

[cmaier]

I wouldn’t buy a Surface, but you’re not wrong about Apple. Microsoft’s vision was right from the start.

Then why are their sales so low?

 

[kamikazeeMC]

Every iPad has a touch screen, not every iPad will have a mouse/touchpad. Touch will have to be a primary input for that reason.

As mentioned if having a touchpad changes mouse support beyond an accessibility feature, developers will have to cater towards mouse mechanics, in turn taking away from touch.

People also saying they want it to be more MacOS like and having a mouse will open up more desktop class apps. They aren’t designed for touch. You don’t buy the Surface without the keyboard attachment, because it’s a terrible experience on touch alone.

Taking traditional based interaction with desktops and laptops and trying to apply it to a touch based device and OS when a laptop would be a better fit.

To the people that set this up on a table and use it like a desktop or laptop. If the Mac computer offered a touch screen that let you simply flick around to navigate, touch to make selections and use to Apple Pencil when you want to mark up or draw something, would that be a more appealing product?

 

[EugW]

Not sure why so many people are afraid of mice and trackpads. It's like they think that having support for that means touch is going to all go to crap immediately. Uh no.

 

[A MacBook lover]

I can say the exact same thing about a laptop never replacing the power of a desktop.

Desktop + iPad Pro costs around the same as a decent laptop, but it is far more powerful and mobile. My job gives me a laptop, I have no reason to have a personal laptop.

With the MacBook Pro 16, you have a powerful machine that can also game, and take it anywhere. Why be stuck in one place when you need power?

 

[kamikazeeMC]

It's like they think that having support for that means touch is going to all go to crap immediately. Uh no.

Just from the article talking about right clicking and two finger tapping on the touch side. On a computer trackpad you place a cursor with a pixel wide target zone where you want to hit, two figer tap no problem. What about on the iPad where you want to two finger tap text, text field or icon without hitting the area around it?

 

[rowspaxe]

You have obviously never read the App Store guidelines. There will be guidelines for handling right click, handling minimum button sizes/UI layout in general, handling what is the general behavior for double clicking (i know a friend that had their iPad app rejected because double tapping an object quickly with an apple pencil brought up a custom context menu which is a huge no-no), etc...

How much work did you do to implement the ios 13 mouse? None. That you are introducing double clicking in the context of pencil behavior shows it is not a mouse issue. Also, there is no need to change button sizes to accomodate mouse support. I have seen no rumors about right click behavior. If that happens you may have a point.
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Your being hyperbolic. Of course moving from nothing to something closes the gap. You might not like it, but there are others that find it useful. 4 of 5 stars rating on App Store.

Its garbage. Read informed threads

 

[Ghost31]

Yeah, and John Sculley said the Apple II was very important to Apple and then they killed it very shortly after that. When Steve announced the iMac G4 he declared the death of CRT and then released the eMac with a CRT very shortly after that. Apple doesn’t always tell the truth...

sure but also: that was a different era with entirely different leadership and apple was a completely different company....AND people like Craig Federigi made a point to be explicit and clear on this issue because they were sick of people like you speculating on this.

Why “merge” when they can just add capabilities to the point you won’t miss much on an ipad? It makes no sense. They also have a higher profit margin on Mac as well as Mac Pro software, so why abandon that?