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

[anjinha]

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.

It's impossible for Apple to test every single thing, there are many things that they miss. We can complain that they're not being strict enough but then apps would also take a lot longer to be approved.

And at least as far as the iPad goes the switch is still a rotation lock since 4.2 is not officially out yet. Developers might still update their apps with the correct behavior.

 

[Crosbie]

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.

This is what I'm talking about when I say it's inconsistent on iPad. It's not even the same behaviour as the iPhone's.

There's accessibility options to change the behaviour of triple-clicking still.

You have a point about AirPlay - but I'm going to be using AirPlay a fraction of the time, if at all, and many people will never use it. Many people will never take it to meetings. Everybody will be holding it, picking it up, laying it flat, etc.

 

[Night Spring]

You have a point about AirPlay - but I'm going to be using AirPlay a fraction of the time, if at all, and many people will never use it. Many people will never take it to meetings. Everybody will be holding it, picking it up, laying it flat, etc.

Exactly. I don't expect to use AirPlay at all, as I don't plan to get an Apple TV.

 

[anjinha]

This is what I'm talking about when I say it's inconsistent on iPad. It's not even the same behaviour as the iPhone's.

There's accessibility options to change the behaviour of triple-clicking still.

You have a point about AirPlay - but I'm going to be using AirPlay a fraction of the time, if at all, and many people will never use it. Many people will never take it to meetings. Everybody will be holding it, picking it up, laying it flat, etc.

The iPhone has a bell icon that you would normally associate with the phone ringing. The iPad doesn't ring, hence a different icon. And do you seriously think it's confusing? Most people don't even notice it's a different icon. I hadn't noticed until I checked. It would be more confusing for the switch to have different behaviours on the devices.

The accessibility options are something completely different. A lot of options there are completely different. They're not the normal behavior.

And it's not just Airplay. If you're playing videos or music without airplay it's still useful to be able to silence notifications but not all sound. So you need that option. And if for any other reason you need to silence the iPad quickly a physical switch is necessary.

 

[Crosbie]

on the iphone the official name is actually Ringer/silent switch.

The iPad doesn't ring

QFT. So why does it need the same switch?

And it's not just Airplay. If you're playing videos or music without airplay it's still useful to be able to silence notifications but not all sound. So you need that option. And if for any other reason you need to silence the iPad quickly a physical switch is necessary.

But the physical switch doesn't silence the iPad! It only silences some content in some apps.

Night Spring has said several sensible things:

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.

And pretty compellingly, this:

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.

I'm not looking forward to explaining to my mother what the function of this button is now.

The point of my OP: I thought I couldn't live without that poxy button functioning as the rotation lock. I find that I can, after all.

Now I wonder why I have a button there at all, because I certainly don't need its current behaviour, and its current behaviour doesn't really need to be on a physical button.

 

[anjinha]

QFT. So why does it need the same switch?

Do you even read the thread? To mute notifications when you're watching a movie for example.

But the physical switch doesn't silence the iPad! It only silences some content in some apps.

The only things the switch doesn't silence (music, videos or the random game that has been coded wrong) don't just start playing like that, you have to actively start playing them. All the rest (push notifications, mail notifications, etc.) all can beep when you don't expect them to so a quick way to silence them is needed.

 

[Crosbie]

Sigh. Why would it have to be so quick?

I'm not saying that the features you describe do not have a use. I am saying that a) they really don't need a dedicated hardware button on the iPad, especially since the rotation lock is, after, manageable without one, and that b) the features aren't in fact terribly well implemented on that button as it stands. Why not put them in software where you could be more explicit about what's muted and what's not?

Ipad's not a phone, doesn't make a loud ring and doesn't live in a pocket, so it doesn't really need this button. You clearly have a use for it with its new function, I don't.

But the argument about consistency is pretty bogus: whilst they share software, they are different hardware with different functions and use cases; and in any case, the button does not in fact behave consistently at present.

I've conceded points to you and been civil in this discussion but we're going round in circles now, and if you're asking me rhetorically whether I'm reading my own thread, I guess we're done with discussion here.

 

[saberahul]

I like the new system. In a meeting I can quickly flip the switch without having to unlock my iPad as I had to before to lower the volume. Of course I will not be playing a video while in a meeting so I flip the switch and put it back in my bag, if I take it out at all.

 

[kfresh]

I really think that this revamped switch is an answer to multitasking. Now you will be able to listen to music while doing other things. There needed to be a way to do this effectively. This switch will now allow that. I'm sure most apps. will update to use this feature correctly.

 

[Night Spring]

I really think that this revamped switch is an answer to multitasking. Now you will be able to listen to music while doing other things. There needed to be a way to do this effectively. This switch will now allow that. I'm sure most apps. will update to use this feature correctly.

But you could ALWAYS listen to music while doing other things, and I, for one, got along fine without having a physical mute switch. The iPod touch still doesn't have a physical mute switch. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't think there is a way to mute notification sounds on the touch, even though it gets the same types of push notifications as the iPad. Well, so much for consistency across all iOS devices.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

But you could ALWAYS listen to music while doing other things, and I, for one, got along fine without having a physical mute switch. The iPod touch still doesn't have a physical mute switch. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't think there is a way to mute notification sounds on the touch, even though it gets the same types of push notifications as the iPad. Well, so much for consistency across all iOS devices.

This.

And everyone has left feedback at apple.com/feedback right???

Maybe with enough of it, and the phone calls they will get we we can get an option at some point....

 

[Night Spring]

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.

UPDATE: After a few days without the rotation lock switch, my partner has now asked me to roll back his iPad to 3.2.x. He never did figure out the software lock button, nor was he interested in learning to use it. Oh, well.

Looking forward to the general public's reactions when 4.2 is officially released!

 

[Crosbie]

UPDATE: After a few days without the rotation lock switch, my partner has now asked me to roll back his iPad to 3.2.x. He never did figure out the software lock button, nor was he interested in learning to use it. Oh, well.

Looking forward to the general public's reactions when 4.2 is officially released!

It really is a baffling change, regardless of the merits or demerits of the functions themselves. The fact that it was a mute switch in early publicity, then a rotation lock, and now back again, but only partially consistent with iPhone... weird.

TraceyS: yep, emailed Apple a while ago about this.

It's not going to cause me to roll back from 4.2; I can use the soft lock well enough. I doubt I will ever use that switch again though.

 

[kepner]

I doubt I will ever use that switch again though.

I'm actually going to start using it.

 

[newdeal]

...

This will be solved with a jailbreak hack iam sure...now that we have a soft orientation lock the switch can be assigned to something far cooler like to bring up and close sbssettings or something

 

[mosx]

Hopefully this is solved by jailbreakers.

Changing it to a mute switch is one of the stupidest ideas ever. I've lost count of how many times I've used the switch to lock the orientation over the last couple of days before trying out the 4.2 GM.

 

[touchmonkey]

No excuse for Apple not giving users an option (or several) of how it operates.

 

[Crosbie]

When I've needed rotation lock, it hasn't taken me more than a moment to remember where it is and fix the location. No more than the pause whilst you figure out how your pad's oriented so where the hardware switch must be.

I really like having a brightness slider on that same screen.

 

[papa8706]

I think that it is a reasonable change for apple to make. It makes the iPad more consistent with the iPhone. Obviously I would choose to mute my iPhone more often since it receives calls and such but IMO I found myself accidentally muting the iPad pretty often when I was just trying to turn the volume down a few notches.

 

[Mapmonkey]

It really is a baffling change, regardless of the merits or demerits of the functions themselves. The fact that it was a mute switch in early publicity, then a rotation lock, and now back again, but only partially consistent with iPhone... weird.

TraceyS: yep, emailed Apple a while ago about this.

It's not going to cause me to roll back from 4.2; I can use the soft lock well enough. I doubt I will ever use that switch again though.

Don't give up! I'm with you on this. The 4.2 changes don't make much sense and people really need to consider the two devices separately. It nice to have consistency in an os but the devices are different beasts. On my iPad the screen lock with the button made sense and I used it all the time, I just did not like to see the screen flipping all the time whenever I sneezed or passed the thing around. It seems odd that the mute switch as it is now just mutes system sounds in case they spoil your movie. Why couldn't this have been software controlled in the same way your music is muted when you get an incoming call on your iPhone? Just in reverse.
Still I bought different case now and with 4.2 I just leave it locked in landscape. Maybe that's why there such a debate about this, it depends on your case type maybe....

I certainly never felt so anal about it not to upgrade to 4.2, just didn't feel it was an Apple kinda of user experience, this "it's a mute but not for everything button" seems weird.

Anyway, Crosbie hope all is well in blighty, I'm missing fish and chips.

 

[shyam09]

wiat so how do we do the screen lock?

i haven't read the thread all the way through, but a question came up...
i know apple intends to change the screen lock key function to the mute function in iOS 4
but what will we do now, if we want to screen lock?(im not sure that it is that important) but suppose we want to screen lock it, what would we do instead?
im guessing some third party app?

also im going to be purchasing my iPad in a couple of days (but most likely after the launch of iOS 4.
is there any way to jailbreak it before letting it update?

 

[Night Spring]

i haven't read the thread all the way through, but a question came up...
i know apple intends to change the screen lock key function to the mute function in iOS 4
but what will we do now, if we want to screen lock?(im not sure that it is that important) but suppose we want to screen lock it, what would we do instead?

You double-click the home button, which will bring up the multi-tasking tray. You then swipe the tray to the right, which will bring up some system control buttons and switches, and one of them is a lock orientation switch.

also im going to be purchasing my iPad in a couple of days (but most likely after the launch of iOS 4.
is there any way to jailbreak it before letting it update?

No. You have to rejailbreak after each update.

 

[shyam09]

You double-click the home button, which will bring up the multi-tasking tray. You then swipe the tray to the right, which will bring up some system control buttons and switches, and one of them is a lock orientation switch.

isnt that a lot of work though? smart apple decides that is the best way to go about doing screen locks lol! thanks

 

[TraceyS/FL]

You know what ticks me off the most in the cohesive iOS crap thinking?

I type a P on my touch every time i'm trying to delete.

Every. Single. Time.

So much for a uniform interface......

 

[Night Spring]

You know what ticks me off the most in the cohesive iOS crap thinking?

I type a P on my touch every time i'm trying to delete.

Every. Single. Time.

So much for a uniform interface......

LOL. I don't often use Safari on my touch, but every time I do, I keep looking at the top for the back button and bookmarks, then remember they are at the bottom.