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Gruber: No 'Widget Mode' for Minor Applications on iPad

jakebot said:
I think the iPad has a ton of potential, but is it just me when it feels like it's a bit weird to release something so new without it being finished? It's not like they HAD to announce it now. Thankfully software can fix this, but it doesnt seem like apple to take so much time to develop this and then just release it without a few key apps.
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Yeah, it IS just you. How do you know they didn't HAVE to announce it when they did?

But it's also analogous to moving into a new house which may not be totally finished. It all depends upon just what isn't finished. If you've sold the house you're in, you may arbitrarily have to move out for the new owners to move in and have no other place to go except your unfinished house. No biggie if it's just some painting, or siding, or finishing the pool.

Apple will fix what may be unfinished or missing. The new house will still be great to live in.
 
DanielSw said:
But it's also analogous to moving into a new house which may not be totally finished. It all depends upon just what isn't finished. If you've sold the house you're in, you may arbitrarily have to move out for the new owners to move in and have no other place to go except your unfinished house. No biggie if it's just some painting, or siding, or finishing the pool.

Apple will fix what may be unfinished or missing. The new house will still be great to live in.
Click to expand...

And here I thought car analogies were usually a bit far-fetched... ;)
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
Another beta product making its way out of Apple just like the first two generations of iPhone that were missing cut-and-paste. I love how Apple can actually sell a beta product on the open market and not get flack for it. I can't believe they would ship something like this without basic calculator functionality. Again, a very simple and basic function is missing.

Assuming a calculator is added at some point... what if I'm looking at a web site and want to calculate a few numbers on the page that I'm looking at. With the iPad and iPhone I would have to exit the web browser to launch the calculator, but then the numbers I'm trying to add have disappeared. A dashboard-style implementation of calculator and other necessities would be much better since it overlays what's on the screen instead of replacing it.

Also, I doubt we will ever see a calculator or weather app that properly utilizes the full screen of the iPad - it's just not necessary. Why on earth would you even want to design a calculator that uses the full iPad screen? Widgets would be a much better way.
Click to expand...

While it's possible that the iPad may have beta issues, it seems silly to call this a beta just because it doesn't have a calculator or whatever widget one might want. I used the 1st gen iPhone from inception and got along fine with all the as-advertised features and never felt like I got a beta just because it lacked cut/paste. Same for all of the OS X versions since .2. Do I like the new features in Snow Leopard? Sure, but that's the nature of technology. You ship, improve, and ship again. Rushing added features out the door might indeed, lead to shipping a beta.

I guess my point is that I'd rather have the iPad as designed now, then to wait a year for what will be an OS upgrade to get a calculator or widgets.
 
sbrhwkp3 said:
Oh how terrible... you mean we're going to get freshly designed apps that will be fit specifically for iPad??? :rolleyes:
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Exactly. I can wait or see what 3rd parties come up with. And if they DO come out with some of these (or other) apps in the next OS revision it'll be something new. I can enjoy the newness of the iPad as is for a while....always fun to get updates etc.
 
coleridge78 said:
While the Dashboard on OSX is fun and made for a great launch demo, it gets *very* little use by most people except for checking the weather--precisely because bringing up these weird little things in their own little ghetto is a jarring and unnatural experience.
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Really? I use the weather, the stickies, iTunes control, calculator, and the dictionary widget regularly.
 
More iFail. Maybe with multitasking it wouldn't be too bad, but I don't want to quit what I'm doing to check the weather or do a quick calculation.
 
They gave up because they couldn't get it to look nice? If that's not the ultimate in form-over-function...

My cell phone, even my portable GPS have built-in calculators. Every PDA I've ever owned had one, right down to the two-line Sharp memo pad.

Too much space to fill? Just take a photo-realistic image of a calculator sitting on a wooden desk or something. That'll kill some of the space. Or make it an adding machine with a virtual tape. Or a TI-85 mockup with a huge screen. C'mon, they could have had a field day with this. How about a nice big scientific calculator? How about TWO calculators at once? ;)

Weather? How can there be too much screen real estate for a weather app? Look at what the TV stations do, this could have been a huge opportunity for great looking graphics, mapping, trends, statistics...

Well, here's hoping the third party apps can fill in the gaps!
 
notjustjay said:
They gave up because they couldn't get it to look nice?

My cell phone, even my portable GPS have built-in calculators. Every PDA I've ever owned had one, right down to the two-line Sharp memo pad.

Too much space to fill? Just take a photo-realistic image of a calculator sitting on a wooden desk or something. That'll kill some of the space. Or make it an adding machine with a virtual tape. Or a TI-85 mockup with a huge screen. C'mon, they could have had a field day with this.

Weather? How can there be too much screen real estate for a weather app? Look at what the TV stations do, this could have been a huge opportunity for great looking graphics, mapping, trends, statistics...

Well, here's hoping the third party apps can fill in the gaps!
Click to expand...

I thought the weather one was odd as well. You can never have too much space for weather info. That said, I use weatherunderground which has a very nice full screen view. I'll continue to use it on the iPad as well. Maybe we could consider this an opportunity and whip up a cool calculator for the iPad by 4/3? Maybe some quick bucks for an enterprising developer. :cool:
 
eastcoastsurfer said:
Really? I use the weather, the stickies, iTunes control, calculator, and the dictionary widget regularly.
Click to expand...

Yeah, some people do for sure. Isn't an absolute, but a large percentage. Most folks use a browser for the informational stuff. Notice how you don't really hear much from Apple about Dashboard anymore? Google's "smart" responses to searches are "good enough" for most people apparently.
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
Another beta product making its way out of Apple just like the first two generations of iPhone that were missing cut-and-paste. I love how Apple can actually sell a beta product on the open market and not get flack for it. I can't believe they would ship something like this without basic calculator functionality. Again, a very simple and basic function is missing.

Assuming a calculator is added at some point... what if I'm looking at a web site and want to calculate a few numbers on the page that I'm looking at. With the iPad and iPhone I would have to exit the web browser to launch the calculator, but then the numbers I'm trying to add have disappeared. A dashboard-style implementation of calculator and other necessities would be much better since it overlays what's on the screen instead of replacing it.

Also, I doubt we will ever see a calculator or weather app that properly utilizes the full screen of the iPad - it's just not necessary. Why on earth would you even want to design a calculator that uses the full iPad screen? Widgets would be a much better way.
Click to expand...

Calculator: Multi line equations.

Weather: Radar, satellite, maps, More space for NOAA warnings....
 
yg17 said:
More iFail. Maybe with multitasking it wouldn't be too bad, but I don't want to quit what I'm doing to check the weather or do a quick calculation.
Click to expand...

And he appears again. Hey, if you're going to switch to a calculator app and then switch back, explain to me exactly how it matters whether or not you can still see your [iWork or whatever else] window sitting there in the background waiting for you?

I'll be waiting...
 
The title of this rumor is a bit misleading, imo. He says there's no "secret widget mode in 3.2", meaning that the iPad doesn't have a Dashboard right now (which is no surprise), not that it's not something in the cards.

I think the lack of these apps lends some credibility to the idea that Apple is planning on adding one soon, say in a June OS4.0 release. Not saying that this means they WILL but rather than they are at least working on it and if it doesn't work we'll probably see the return of some version of the standalone apps.
 
kirky29 said:
No Calculator... Or Weather App... Weird!
But I can understand that they would look a bit odd blown up to that size.

Still, I think I'm going to get one!
Click to expand...

Actually, no calculator is a problem. It needs a calculator.

A widget mode would be nice, this is where the lack of multitasking/multi apps is going to really show up as an issue.
 
crazedbytheheat said:
Maybe we could consider this an opportunity and whip up a cool calculator for the iPad by 4/3? Maybe some quick bucks for an enterprising developer. :cool:
Click to expand...
I actually think this is the plan. By NOT including simple free calculator, weather, stock, ect apps Apple leaves the space open for developers to fill in. There is an App Store full of these apps already, now those developers have an ever greater incentive to get them reved for the iPad. Everybody wins.
 
It's been said a few times already in this thread, since the screen is so large there isn't much use for a lot of apps. If you want to check facebook or twitter just go to the site
 
No clock AND no multitasking

I use the clock all the time. And there is no replacement in the Apps Store!
Why.... No multitasking. So you can't set a timer or alarm and then move on to another task or sleep it.

I think Jobs should consider this before just scrapping it for 'Looks'.
You won't even be able to set an alarm clock.

At the least they need SDK function to activate a task at a specific time and date!:mad:
 
coleridge78 said:
And he appears again. Hey, if you're going to switch to a calculator app and then switch back, explain to me exactly how it matters whether or not you can still see your [iWork or whatever else] window sitting there in the background waiting for you?

I'll be waiting...
Click to expand...

Because then you have to open iWork or whatever else back up, wait for it to load, and then get back to where you were in the app. It is a complete waste of time.
 
sbrhwkp3 said:
Oh how terrible... you mean we're going to get freshly designed apps that will be fit specifically for iPad??? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I see it being like Rosetta, it will help users and developers transition from iPhone to branching off to make an iPad version.

It's only UI changes that need to be made. The rest of the code can stay the same.
 
chadua said:
I use the calculator on my computer and my ipod and my phone all the time. I'm not buying an iPad, but it seems silly to just leave it off because it doesn't blow up well.
Click to expand...

I'd take the current apps over nothing. Taking away useful, and for me, commonly used apps, just doesn't sit well when there's no good replacement. I'm certainly not going to go to some webapp to do a few calculator operations.

eastcoastsurfer said:
Really? I use the weather, the stickies, iTunes control, calculator, and the dictionary widget regularly.
Click to expand...

They're useful, though I think it can be disruptive to go to the "visor". For what it's worth, there is a way to get the widgets on the desktop.

RalfTheDog said:
Calculator: Multi line equations.
Click to expand...

Nice idea! The reason why I keep my old TI graphing calculator is not necessarily for graphing, or multiple lines, but so I can see the last several entries. I like also re-reading what I entered to check for typos.

Weather: Radar, satellite, maps, More space for NOAA warnings....
Click to expand...

Slick. But still, it seems like they could display four cities at a time for now (2 rows x 2 columns), and upgrade the display options later? That should be a good, simple stand-in.
 
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