I hate the soft lock switch less than I thought I would.

[anjinha]

What we could use most is a "Push Notification" Switch. A way to quickly turn off all push notifications and popups.
This is necessary when showing a presentation, watching a movie or giving a lecture, etc.

That's what the mute switch does.

 

[Crosbie]

That's what the mute switch does.

Okay then; why's it not called a 'notifications' switch? Why is the symbol which is presented when you toggle it on iPad the same as the volume symbol, when it doesn't actually mute the volume?

That also puts paid to the 'consistency' argument. It's not consistent (in its present state).

I see that turning off notifications is A Good Thing and Useful. But does it really trump the usefulness of rotation lock? Does it really warrant a dedicated hardware switch on the iPad?

This is why I think it's a kludge until the switch disappears in future versions of the pad.

Whilst I'm here, completely off topic: Apple need to get their autocorrect to recognise when an n is between two words and autocorrect this to a space, at least in the most common words; and for the love of all that is decent and holy, stop autocorrecting its to it's every time. Even Google is suggesting this correction now. Please. Listen to me. The word 'its' exists. With no apostrophe. It's a pronoun, like his or her. These two major companies are going to introduce an inconsistency into the language forever. (You wouldn't dream of saying hi's car or her's arm!)

Sorry. As you were.

 

[anjinha]

Okay then; why's it not called a 'notifications' switch? Why is the symbol which is presented when you toggle it on iPad the same as the volume symbol, when it doesn't actually mute the volume?

It doesn't just mute notifications: it basically mutes everything except music and video. It's very useful if you want to watch a video (using AirPlay particularly) but don't want notifications playing over it or if you're playing a game in bed but don't want to wake up your other half.

 

[Crosbie]

Because it doesn't just mute notifications: it basically mutes everything except music and video. It's very useful if you want to watch a video (using AirPlay particularly) but don't want notifications playing over it or if you're playing a game in bed but don't want to wake up your other half.

What else is there to mute? And if it doesn't mute the main audio (I'm assuming game sounds won't be muted either) why call it 'mute' and use the universal symbol for 'mute'?

I don't deny the usefulness of the function, I'm just saying it's inconsistently named and labelled and doesn't really need to be on a hardware switch any more than rotation lock does.

 

[anjinha]

What else is there to mute? And if it doesn't mute the main audio (I'm assuming game sounds won't be muted either) why call it 'mute' and use the universal symbol for 'mute'?

I don't deny the usefulness of the function, I'm just saying it's inconsistently named and labelled and doesn't really need to be on a hardware switch any more than rotation lock does.

It does mute game sounds.

Here's the thing: if you're going into a meeting or something where you can't have sounds playing from your iPad muting it from the switch is much quicker. But you might need the sound for playing a video as demonstration for example.

As inconvenient as it might be to use the software orientation lock it's not something that is as needed in the sense that the mute switch is.

Basically the mute switch mutes all the sound you don't specifically want playing. Music and video don't make sense with no sound, games do. In the case of the iPhone alarms still play with the mute switch on.

 

[Crosbie]

It does mute game sounds.

Here's the thing: if you're going into a meeting or something where you can't have sounds playing from your iPad muting it from the switch is much quicker. But you might need the sound for playing a video as demonstration for example.

As inconvenient as it might be to use the software orientation lock it's not something that is as needed in the sense that the mute switch is.

Basically the mute switch mutes all the sound you don't specifically want playing. Music and video don't make sense with no sound, games do. In the case of the iPhone alarms still play with the mute switch on.

I see that it does mute game sounds. But WTF? In fact, it also mutes video sounds when you're using CineX Player instead of the Video app. And it doesn't mute YouTube App videos, even when embedded in Safari. It's inconsistent.

I understand your use case in a meeting. But there's no need for an easily accessible and instant switch in this case. In fact, a software screen would be much better, where you could actually select which sounds you want and which ones you don't. What if you wanted to demo a game or other app with audio, but didn't want email notifications, for example?

 

[anjinha]

I see that it does mute game sounds. But WTF? In fact, it also mutes video sounds when you're using CineX Player instead of the Video app. And it doesn't mute YouTube App videos, even when embedded in Safari. It's inconsistent.

I understand your use case in a meeting. But there's no need for an easily accessible and instant switch in this case. In fact, a software screen would be much better, where you could actually select which sounds you want and which ones you don't. What if you wanted to demo a game or other app with audio, but didn't want email notifications, for example?

The CineX player thing might be because the developers coded it wrong, I don't know how that works exactly.

If you're going to a meeting or classes and already late it's much easier to just flip a switch then possibly taking the iPad out of a backpack, taking up the iPad, double pressing home button, etc. The rotation lock, while annoying, doesn't NEED to be done quickly.

You can probably find all sorts of cases for things the iPad don't work the way you'd want it to but that's the same with all kinds of products. My point was just that if you think about it the mute switch makes sense and I at least am happy that it's there. For the most common scenarios the mute switch works. If you are in a situation where where you need some sounds to play and other not to play you have settings for that.

 

[Crosbie]

The CineX player thing might be because the developers coded it wrong, I don't know how that works exactly.

If you're going to a meeting or classes and already late it's much easier to just flip a switch then possibly taking the iPad out of a backpack, taking up the iPad, double pressing home button, etc. The rotation lock, while annoying, doesn't NEED to be done quickly.

You can probably find all sorts of cases for things the iPad don't work the way you'd want it to but that's the same with all kinds of products. My point was just that if you think about it the mute switch makes sense and I at least am happy that it's there. For the most common scenarios the mute switch works. If you are in a situation where where you need some sounds to play and other not to play you have settings for that.

Yeah, we can argue about our preferences and use cases where one thing is more convenient than the other, and we disagree about what's a more needful function to have easily accessible. Neither is obviously more necessary.

My main points are these:

1. The mute switch at present is inconsistent and confusing on iPad. As a rotation lock switch, it had the benefit of being very clear and unambiguous in what it does, every time.

2. The software rotation lock isn't so difficult to use after all. (Quite why we should need to be performing several clicks and swipes instead of one switch isn't so clear - consistency hasn't really been achieved and there's no clear, trumping need for it to be a mute switch.)

3. This change of function must surely signal that the switch will not be present in future hardware.

 

[Piggie]

Reading the postings on this page, I'm now totally confused.

I stupidly thought the mute switch (not that I've ever used or needed anything like this since buying my iPad on launch day) muted all sounds.

But apparently it does not.

So can someone please 100% clear up this confusion (as boy does there seem a lot of confusion here) as to what the mute switch does.

Off the top of my head, I can think of sounds as.

Video sounds from youtube or some movie playing software.

Game sounds from a game like Angry Birds.

Alert sounds such as emails (messages on a 3G iPad?)

Notification sounds such as calendar reminders.

Small effect sounds such as the clicks on the keyboard.

In my mind anything called mute, shut off the speaker and that's that. Otherwise it's not a mute switch.

If we can't even understand fully on these forums exactly what this apparently mislabeled switch is going to do, how the hell are your average people in the street going to all know exactly what it's for and what it does.

At least we all understand exactly what an origination lock does.

Can anyone who really knows please clear this up for us all?

Thanks.

 

[Night Spring]

Can anyone who really knows please clear this up for us all?

Well, I don't really know, and I can't clear this up. I can, however, add to the confusion by pointing out that some game sounds will mute while others won't. There are two types of game sounds - some make your iPod music fade away, others allow your music to keep playing and you hear the game sound effects overlapping the music. The ones that overlap your music will be muted by the 4.2 "mute" switch, while the kind that overrides your music will act like sounds from music or video and won't be muted. Hope I have sufficiently contributed to the confusion. 🙄

Oh, and regarding OP's suggestion that the hardware switch will be gone in next gen iPads, I rather think it's the other way around. Why bother changing it to a mute switch if you are going to remove it in the next gen? To me, it seems more likely that the change to mute switch is in preparation for FaceTime coming to the next iPad, in which case having a physical mute switch might become more useful than in the current generation, where quite a few of us are finding the mute switch useless, because we never get any notifications on our iPads.

By the way, I handed an iPad with 4.2 GM to my unsupecting partner, who doesn't keep up with the fine nittyy gritties of Apple-related rumors, and sure enough, he complained that the lock switch "doesn't work." I told him it's now a mute switch, he flicked it while playing a video and said, "it doesn't work." I tried explaining that it only muted system sounds, but he didn't let me finish, just said, "Are they going to fix it?" I said just wait until the jailbreak comes out, he nodded and went back to watching his video. 🙄

 

[anjinha]

Yeah, we can argue about our preferences and use cases where one thing is more convenient than the other, and we disagree about what's a more needful function to have easily accessible. Neither is obviously more necessary.

My main points are these:

1. The mute switch at present is inconsistent and confusing on iPad. As a rotation lock switch, it had the benefit of being very clear and unambiguous in what it does, every time.

2. The software rotation lock isn't so difficult to use after all. (Quite why we should need to be performing several clicks and swipes instead of one switch isn't so clear - consistency hasn't really been achieved and there's no clear, trumping need for it to be a mute switch.)

3. This change of function must surely signal that the switch will not be present in future hardware.

1. It's consistent with the iPhone.

2. It's not about being difficult to use, it's about being quicker. If my iPhone starts beeping while I'm in class I can mute the notification sounds without even taking it out of my purse with the mute switch.

3. No it doesn't. When the iPad came out there was no other way to do the rotation lock because multitasking wasnt available so they had to use the switch. But I'm thinking they always planned it to be the mute switch and that's why they changed it. The mute switch is still very needed if you're watching a video or listening to music and don't want notification sounds playing over it, particularly with AirPlay.

Reading the postings on this page, I'm now totally confused.

I stupidly thought the mute switch (not that I've ever used or needed anything like this since buying my iPad on launch day) muted all sounds.

But apparently it does not.

So can someone please 100% clear up this confusion (as boy does there seem a lot of confusion here) as to what the mute switch does.

There are things that if you are using you always want there to be sound: music, videos, alarms (in the iPhone). Those things will still play sound with the switch on. Everything else (push notifications, email sounds, keyboard clicks) will be muted.

Now the reason why some games and video players still play sounds while others don't depend on how the developers coded them. If you want to be sure all sounds are muted you can just use the volume controls.

The main thing that makes the mute switch really needed (in my opinion) is for when you're watching a video or listening to music and don't want notification sounds playing over it. Particularly with AirPlay, where you might be playing something loud on a big sound system, the mute switch is really useful.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

This is soooo useless to me in the way i use the rotation switch now.

I've been paying attention to my use the last few days, and only ONCE would it have be practical for me to have used the new way.

Oh well, it will be awhile before i upgrade.....

 

[Crosbie]

Piggie: Yes, it is confusing. there is no clear and simple answer to what it does. Which is why, whilst software rotation lock is okay, it's still a baffling choice to change the switch function.

Night Spring: Can you give an example? Have you tested this with 4.2 GM?

 

[Night Spring]

1. It's consistent with the iPhone.

That's meaningless to anyone who doesn't have an iPhone. Not everyone has both iPhone and iPad.

2. It's not about being difficult to use, it's about being quicker. If my iPhone starts beeping while I'm in class I can mute the notification sounds without even taking it out of my purse with the mute switch.

I totally get that. But by the same token, for those of us who don't need a mute switch on our iPads, it's so much quicker to flip a switch to lock lotation rather than doing it through software. Many people who use iPads don't carry it outside the home. I personally always turn the volume completely down when I take my iPad on the go, and only listen to it with headphones when I'm in a public space. I really feel this should be a user configurable option, because whether one needs a mute switch or not is completely dependent on how one uses the iPad.

The main thing that makes the mute switch really needed (in my opinion) is for when you're watching a video or listening to music and don't want notification sounds playing over it. Particularly with AirPlay, where you might be playing something loud on a big sound system, the mute switch is really useful.

But in that case, presumably you don't need to turn off system sounds in a hurry. Turning it off through software, where the lock orientation button could be the "mute system sound" button, would be pretty doable wouldn't it? So again, I think this should be user configurable -- hard lock switch+soft mute button, or soft lock button+hard mute switch.

 

[anjinha]

Piggie: Yes, it is confusing. there is no clear and simple answer to what it does. Which is why, whilst software rotation lock is okay, it's still a baffling choice to change the switch function.

I gave you a clear answer of what it does, you just choose to ignore it. Movies, music, alarms (on the iPhone) still play sound, everything else doesn't.

The only confusing part is that some games/movie players work differently but that depends on how the developers coded it, nothing to do with Apple.

But in that case, presumably you don't need to turn off system sounds in a hurry. Turning it off through software, where the lock orientation button could be the "mute system sound" button, would be pretty doable wouldn't it? So again, I think this should be user configurable -- hard lock switch+soft mute button, or soft lock button+hard mute switch.

But in other situations you do need to turn off sounds in a hurry. And it doesn't matter how inconvenient the software orientation lock might be, you never NEED to use it quickly; but sometimes you might need to turn off sound quickly.

Apple doesn't believe in having configurable hardware buttons. Their opinion is that you shouldn't have to wonder what each button does when using someone else's device. If you don't agree you can use the feedback on Apple's website. Arguing with me won't change anything. I gave you the reasons why this works the way it does, if you don't like it take it with Apple.

 

[Piggie]

1. It's consistent with the iPhone.

2. It's not about being difficult to use, it's about being quicker. If my iPhone starts beeping while I'm in class I can mute the notification sounds without even taking it out of my purse with the mute switch.

3. No it doesn't. When the iPad came out there was no other way to do the rotation lock because multitasking wasnt available so they had to use the switch. But I'm thinking they always planned it to be the mute switch and that's why they changed it. The mute switch is still very needed if you're watching a video or listening to music and don't want notification sounds playing over it, particularly with AirPlay.



There are things that if you are using you always want there to be sound: music, videos, alarms (in the iPhone). Those things will still play sound with the switch on. Everything else (push notifications, email sounds, keyboard clicks) will be muted.

Now the reason why some games and video players still play sounds while others don't depend on how the developers coded them. If you want to be sure all sounds are muted you can just use the volume controls.

The main thing that makes the mute switch really needed (in my opinion) is for when you're watching a video or listening to music and don't want notification sounds playing over it. Particularly with AirPlay, where you might be playing something loud on a big sound system, the mute switch is really useful.

Does it stop a notification popup window from opening up on screen as well as the sound?

I notice when I'm playing video that the 20% power warning popup window and sound pops up over the top of the video and pauses it.

 

[Night Spring]

Night Spring: Can you give an example? Have you tested this with 4.2 GM?

The iPad I have on 4.2GM doesn't have any games on it, so I haven't tested this directly, but I know that's how it will work. Some games code their sound to be "system sounds," and others code them to be regular audio. System sounds will get muted, regular audio won't. I'll go check out some of my games and get back to you once I find some good examples.

EDIT: Ok, Angry Birds, the sounds overlap iPod music, so that should mute with the mute switch. However, I have a game called Sparkles, which fades out the music when I start it. That one presumably wouldn't mute with the mute switch. There's a lite version if you want to test this.

 

[Night Spring]

But in other situations you do need to turn off sounds in a hurry. And it doesn't matter how inconvenient the software orientation lock might be, you never NEED to use it quickly; but sometimes you might need to turn off sound quickly.

The other day, I was trying to show a document on my iPad to a senior partner at the law firm I work for, and the screen started spinning like a wheel as I was trying to hand off the iPad to him. Sure felt like I needed to lock the screen in a hurry! 😀

But if Apple must make the switch into a mute switch, they really should make it clearer to understand, as it is on the iPhone. As someone posted, on the iPhone flicking the mute switch displays a different symbol from the "volume off" symbol, and when you press the voluume up and down button, there's a little notation like "ringer" or "volume" to indicate whether you are just turning up and down the system sounds, or all volume including music and videos.

 

[Crosbie]

anjinha: I'm not ignoring your posts or points; I did miss your last one when replying to Piggie, so sorry for seeming to.

It's not fair of you to claim that it's entirely consistent; as Night Spring points out, and as you acknowledge re other movie players, users will find that some sounds are muted and some not depending on how the apps are coded. And how is a user supposed to predict that? I'm just saying that, when it was a rotation lock, it had a clear and predictable function, every time. Am I wrong?

You didn't really need to argue against my point 2. It's the point in my title, which is that soft rotation lock isn't so annoying after all. But the way you did argue it, you talked about an iPhone! This is an iPad discussion.

Finally, it's not in fact like Apple dogmatically refuse to ever have configurable button behaviours. We've been able to choose what double- or triple-clicking the Home button does for ages.

You forget that I'm not here to be a complainer, though I will argue against unconvicing claims that this new behaviour is self-consistently a good idea. I'm rather baffled by the change. My main speculation is that there's some motive that's not being shared with us yet.

 

[anjinha]

Does it stop a notification popup window from opening up on screen as well as the sound?

I notice when I'm playing video that the 20% power warning popup window and sound pops up over the top of the video and pauses it.

I think it's just the sound. But presumably the notification window won't appear if you're using AirPlay.

The other day, I was trying to show a document on my iPad to a senior partner at the law firm I work for, and the screen started spinning like a wheel as I was trying to hand off the iPad to him. Sure felt like I needed to lock the screen in a hurry! 😀

But if Apple must make the switch into a mute switch, they really should make it clearer to understand, as it is on the iPhone. As someone posted, on the iPhone flicking the mute switch displays a different symbol from the "volume off" symbol, and when you press the voluume up and down button, there's a little notation like "ringer" or "volume" to indicate whether you are just turning up and down the system sounds, or all volume including music and videos.

They're different on the iPad.

This is when you use the volume buttons:

And this is when you use the mute switch:

anjinha: I'm not ignoring your posts or points; I did miss your last one when replying to Piggie, so sorry for seeming to.

It's not fair of you to claim that it's entirely consistent; as Night Spring points out, and as you acknowledge re other movie players, users will find that some sounds are muted and some not depending on how the apps are coded. And how is a user supposed to predict that? I'm just saying that, when it was a rotation lock, it had a clear and predictable function, every time. Am I wrong?

Again, that's not Apple's fault. It's the apps developer's fault. Apple has everything in place, and probably guidelines too, for how this is supposed to work. If developers do it wrong it's not Apple's fault. And at least concerning the iPad the mute switch is new with 4.2, which isn't even officially out yet.

You didn't really need to argue against my point 2. It's the point in my title, which is that soft rotation lock isn't so annoying after all. But the way you did argue it, you talked about an iPhone! This is an iPad discussion.

I didn't argue about the iPhone, I gave some iPhone examples. After all this isn't just an iPad argument, it's an iOS argument.

Finally, it's not in fact like Apple dogmatically refuse to ever have configurable button behaviours. We've been able to choose what double- or triple-clicking the Home button does for ages.

Not anymore.

You forget that I'm not here to be a complainer, though I will argue against unconvicing claims that this new behaviour is self-consistently a good idea. I'm rather baffled by the change. My main speculation is that there's some motive that's not being shared with us yet.

I don't agree. I think AirPlay alone is enough reason for the mute switch, along with being able to quickly disable notification sounds when I get into class.

 

[Piggie]

Perhaps they will name it as a "Mute some things" switch 😉

 

[Night Spring]

And this is when you use the mute switch:

Do you have an iPhone? Can you check to see if that's the same icon that shows up when you flick the mute switch on the iPhone?

BTW, googling "iphone mute" turned up many people expressing surprise that the "mute" switch didn't turn off ALL sounds. So I guess iPad users aren't the only ones who find Apple's implementation of "mute" confusing! 😀

 

[anjinha]

Do you have an iPhone? Can you check to see if that's the same icon that shows up when you flick the mute switch on the iPhone?

BTW, googling "iphone mute" turned up many people expressing surprise that the "mute" switch didn't turn off ALL sounds. So I guess iPad users aren't the only ones who find Apple's implementation of "mute" confusing! 😀

On the iPhone it's this icon:

Maybe they should change the name to something other than mute on the iPad. on the iPhone the official name is actually Ringer/silent switch.

 

[Night Spring]

Maybe they should change the name to something other than mute on the iPad. on the iPhone the official name is actually Ringer/silent switch.

Well, to be fair to Apple, I don't think they've officially called it anything yet, have they? It's just that we've been calling it the mute switch based on hearing reports from people who loaded the 4.2 betas about the change in switch functionality.

But I do think to be consistent, they should use the same icon as in the iPhone!

 

[Piggie]

As Apple vet every application before it's allowed on the store, it would be easy for them to reject an app due to incorrect sound usage so the developer has to make sure the sound functions correctly.

As Apple are, by their own choice, policing the App Store it is there fault for letting Apps that don't work correctly into the store.