iOS 11 Wishlist: Features MacRumors Readers Are Hoping to See in the Next Version of iOS

[Purple Pear]

[doublepost=1495804870][/doublepost]The ability to charge an iPhone without the phone turning on. Something that any Android can do, and something that should have been added long ago.

Is this meant to be sarcasm? If this was not possible then how would anybody charge an iPhone that had run out of battery?

Something I have had to do on several occasions (although far less since moving to a plus sized phone). So I have no idea what you are talking about

 

[C DM]

Support for dual SIM would be god send

That doesn't really seem like something that could be accomplished just on an OS level.

 

[brian3uk]

Nothing in the article about the Music app? That thing is a nightmare and needs another complete overhaul. PLEASE!

 

[c0ppo]

Why not? You do what you need to do, tap on call/dial and iOS will ask you if you want to call that number.

Even without that, simply go to the contacts screen in the Phone app and do a quick search there and easily place a call.

Using third party apps = no recent calls, no call lists, etc.
And scrolling or searching on iOS default phone app is too slow and cumbersome compared to smart dial.

There is no way around it. Not having smart dial is a joke. At least to me

 

[C DM]

Using third party apps = no recent calls, no call lists, etc.
And scrolling or searching on iOS default phone app is too slow and cumbersome compared to smart dial.

There is no way around it. Not having smart dial is a joke. At least to me

Not sure why doing a quick search right from the Phone app is too cumbersome...it's basically the same thing that is done with smart dialing, with the difference of having a full keyboard available rather than trying to spell out something using a keypad (which can actually be seen somewhat cumbersome in comparison). Sounds like it's more of a matter of what someone might be used to than anything else.

 

[KALLT]

- So you go to Language & Setting -> iPhone Language and set it to English (the way I prefer to run whatever OS I am using; many multilingual users I know have exactly the same preference).
- Below you have "Preferred Language Order" list, with the following description: "Apps and websites will use the first language in this list that they support". Clear and precise description. And thats exactly the behaviour I want: to have the phone language in English, but to have all the apps that support the local language of the country I visit to be in that language.

Right now - if I move Russian or German to the top of the list and press done there is a message "Russian/German will be used as the iPhone language". It does not say that "from now on, apps and websites that support Russian/German will use this language"... Not at all.

I have not seen a Russian or German app that would not support English. That means - all of them default to English or you need to change iPhone/iPad language. Thats it. The feature is fundamentally broken and I do not see how it is not.

I can see where your confusion comes from, the interface is indeed not very clear. It suggests that there is something like a ‘device language’ that can be different from the ‘app language’. However, there is no such distinction under the bonnet.

Language support on iOS works like this. Every app has a number of folders for language-specific assets, named after a language code. For instance, an app can have a folder called en.lproj/ as well as de.lproj/ and ru.lproj/ and so forth. When the app is loaded, it will load the assets from one of these folders, based on your preference. This is what determines the presented language of the app. This mechanism isn’t just used for apps, but for system components too, such as the lock and home screen. It is also used by preinstalled applications, such as Settings. The underlying functionality is the same. There is no such thing as a ‘device language’ in this technical sense, there is only this list of languages that iOS uses to determine which language assets to look for.

The ‘device language’ is however a set of languages that Apple themselves provides complete translations for, including for system applications and the lock/home screen. As long as you have any one of these languages on your list, system apps and lock/home screen will be properly translated. There are many more languages available that Apple doesn’t provide translations for, but which third-party developers can support. This is where Apple distinguishes between a primary ‘device language’ and a secondary ‘app language’.

For instance, Apple does not support Irish Gaelic as a primary language (or ‘device language’), but it does provide limited support for it, notably for dates. You can move Irish Gaelic to the top of the list and it will supersede English in some cases, but for the most part, because the translation is not complete, you will only see English, because that is still the device language. In your case, because English, German and Russian are all languages that Apple provides complete translations for, they will compete to be the ‘device language’. Whichever one is nearest to the top of the list will be used for system apps and lock/home screen.

Moreover, I believe iOS already has proper multilingual support (let me know what would you like to see added to the list):

1) you can choose interface language to pretty much whatever one you want
2) you can type in whatever language you want (which can be different of course from the interface language selected)
3) (bingo) you can even have one interface language set, but an app be fully in other language. This however is only true if app developers add an option in app setting that allow the user to select the language the app is using. Most apps however don't have such setting.

iOS has decent localisation support and Apple does ship a fair number of translations. However, this isn’t what I understand as multilingual support, i.e., supporting multiple languages at the same time.

I speak 5 languages, most of them on a near-daily basis. I would love to be able to speak to Siri in any language I want without having to change my settings, type in any language in any app and still get suggestions without having to switch manually. I want iOS to be more context-/language-aware and adapt to whomever I am talking in iMessage, the language I am reading on a website, the place names I am receiving directions for in Maps. iOS is still principally based on one language at a time, it just is a tiny bit smarter now and recognises certain languages when I am typing them.

 

[emulajavi]

I want iMessages to be unbundled from the iCloud "backup" section and be allowed to sync separately. This way, when purchasing a new product or restoring a device and setting it up as new, you don't have to lose your iMessages. Along with this, adding an iMessage app to iCloud.com makes sense as well.

This would be great! It's the only drawback of setting a device as new.

 

[richman555]

I have been waiting for years for Apple's weather app to show the current weather right on the face of its icon.

If the Clock icon shows the current time, even with moving seconds hand, I am sure these things can be done.

 

[c0ppo]

Not sure why doing a quick search right from the Phone app is too cumbersome...it's basically the same thing that is done with smart dialing, with the difference of having a full keyboard available rather than trying to spell out something using a keypad (which can actually be seen somewhat cumbersome in comparison). Sounds like it's more of a matter of what someone might be used to than anything else.

Once again - nope.
I'm using iPhone since 3GS, so it's not a matter of 'used to'.

By the time you bring search up (either by phone app or spotlight), I'm already calling my contact.
And no, full keyboard is not better in this regard at all. Lets say I have 10 John names in my contacts. All have surnames of course.

By just typing 3 letters I can find all of them. Using just one hand. Doing same with search on iOS is not possible. And searching on iOS remembers your search, so unless you force close app or delete search, next time you open phone app that same search will be there.

I feel like you didn't use any android phone for at least a week or so? Try it out, just the smart dial. And then do the comparison. But of course, if someone has just a few phone calls a day, with a small number of people, they won't mind not having smart dial.

 

[SoN1NjA]

With the easiest method, the easiest method you've ever seen, it will be tremendously great your head will spin, believe me.

Alright Trump well unless you can give me a real answer, my opinion will stay

 

[DNichter]

When you have a platform like iOS that is very app-centric, a Home screen UI with rows and rows of apps makes zero sense. It's too ugly and confusing and more important, it's boring. That's why Windows is superior with their live tiles. When you have a company like Microsoft that makes a rich and diverse set of first-party apps from word processing to music editing to film editing apps as well as having a very robust third-party developer community, a hub system of tiles makes a lot more sense than rows and rows of app icons.

Widget support is paramount. Giant clock and weather widget on the Home screen. Also, LIVE WALLPAPER. Something very cool and animated. Anything to make iOS less boring. I think it'd be very fun if icons were floating on the Home screen as if floating on water and the user has to hunt and peck the icons. Now THAT'S fun.

Apple also needs to provide a REAL file system. Too many users are frustrated that they can't access a file system on their phones. Last night my grandmother was using her iPad and said: "Where's the damn Finder?" And I said: "Grandma, iOS doesn't have a Finder, you know that." Frustrating.

I would love to see more productivity-focused features from Apple, especially in the form of first-party apps. Go to the App Store and look at Apple's portfolio. Literally nothing. Useless apps no one wants or needs. Health? Really, Apple? Who the hell needs Health? We need real apps and real features for real people to get real work done.

Oh, and themes! Frankly, Apple should forfeit UI over to the users. That's one reason why MySpace was so hugely popular—users could decorate their own profiles! San Francisco font is ugly and not very fun. And the icons are very ugly.

I hope you are being sarcastic as all of your points here make no sense. I also can tell you get off on posting things like this so I'll entertain it. iOS is app centric, correct, so it makes sense to have quick access to your apps right away. Different android "launchers" are just not necessary. You want access to your apps, they are right there, simple. Widget support, we have that currently in a non obtrusive way. I don't need 3 different places to tell me the weather or time. Apple has a good file system called iCloud drive and you can access it on any Apple device, very useful. There are some limitations here, but there are many choices for a more advanced file system. Documents 6 is one of them. Lastly, themes. Some light customization would be welcome, maybe a dark theme, but we certainly don't need a bevy of childish themes to slow down and screw up our phones. From everything you described, it seems like Android is the perfect platform for you. Enjoy your tinkering.

 

[chucker23n1]

Once again - nope.
I'm using iPhone since 3GS, so it's not a matter of 'used to'.

By the time you bring search up (either by phone app or spotlight), I'm already calling my contact.
And no, full keyboard is not better in this regard at all. Lets say I have 10 John names in my contacts. All have surnames of course.

By just typing 3 letters I can find all of them. Using just one hand. Doing same with search on iOS is not possible. And searching on iOS remembers your search, so unless you force close app or delete search, next time you open phone app that same search will be there.

I feel like you didn't use any android phone for at least a week or so? Try it out, just the smart dial. And then do the comparison. But of course, if someone has just a few phone calls a day, with a small number of people, they won't mind not having smart dial.

You haven't shown how:

1. go to home screen
2. tap phone button
3. choose third-party dialer
4. tap on numbers but don't actually want numbers because this is apparently the 1980s
5. tap another phone button

is faster than:

1. go to home screen
2. swipe down
3. type on an actual keyboard
4. tap phone button next to person you were looking for

And that's without any third-party apps.

 

[aloshka]

Add suppprt for mail properly detecting mail messages and not include "original quotes" as part of a message.

It seems like removing quoted messages or the entire thread on every message works well with iCloud and *sometimes other mail providers and mostly never with office365...

 

[C DM]

Once again - nope.
I'm using iPhone since 3GS, so it's not a matter of 'used to'.

By the time you bring search up (either by phone app or spotlight), I'm already calling my contact.
And no, full keyboard is not better in this regard at all. Lets say I have 10 John names in my contacts. All have surnames of course.

By just typing 3 letters I can find all of them. Using just one hand. Doing same with search on iOS is not possible. And searching on iOS remembers your search, so unless you force close app or delete search, next time you open phone app that same search will be there.

I feel like you didn't use any android phone for at least a week or so? Try it out, just the smart dial. And then do the comparison. But of course, if someone has just a few phone calls a day, with a small number of people, they won't mind not having smart dial.

Seems like you are over complicating something that is fairly simple and quick. You can find the same John's with the same 3 letters if that's what you want. I've used smart dialing even back on feature phones, and then have been using what iOS offers for some time now.

Again, it's more down to what one is used to than anything else. It's not to say that smart dialing isn't useful or anything like that, just that while iOS does it differently it doesn't really make one that much more better or worse than the other, beyond mostly just what someone is used to essentially.

 

[aloshka]

Seems like you are over complicating something that is fairly simple and quick. You can find the same John's with the same 3 letters if that's what you want. I've used smart dialing even back on feature phones, and then have been using what iOS offers for some time now. Again, it's more down to what one is used to than anything else.

I'm going to have to agree with the poster though. It's not that difficult to just be able to search contacts while dialing. Any reason I have to tap phone, tap contacts, tap search field, enter a few letters, tap the contact, tap the phone I want to dial as opposed to: tap phone, enter letters, tap number to dial (assuming the design is like androids and it expands all the numbers for a contact).

Lots of things in Apple are complicated and require WAAAY more taps than needed. I don't really dial much, so this isn't as big of a deal, but it is annoying when I do.

Another example: In mail, if you want to create a contact from a recipient or sender, you can click their name and you are given two choices. Create new contact or add to existing. Some of us have more than 5 contacts so I don't remember all of them. So I click add to existing. I scroll through all my contacts (note the search isn't pre-populated of the name of the person nor does it even bother to search if the number was added under a diff contact). If I can't find my contact, I have to tap back, tap the name again, but this time tap create new contact and fill out all the details manually, most likely causing a duplicate of the number or email if I already had that email under a different contact name. Would it be that much harder to just click add, top of the screen says create new, and bottom has a list of possible matches by name, email, or phone number? Can't defend them on this.

 

[mib1800]

You haven't shown how:

1. go to home screen
2. tap phone button
3. choose third-party dialer
4. tap on numbers but don't actually want numbers because this is apparently the 1980s
5. tap another phone button

is faster than:

1. go to home screen
2. swipe down
3. type on an actual keyboard
4. tap phone button next to person you were looking for

And that's without any third-party apps.

Not need for all this meh. IOS just need to support shortcuts like Android will do.
Create one tap direct dial shortcut picture icon to a contact phone. Put those icons on the home screen/folders. Just unlock then tap to call.

 

[44267547]

[doublepost=1495804870][/doublepost]The ability to charge an iPhone without the phone turning on. Something that any Android can do, and something that should have been added long ago.

I understand what you're saying. Technically you can charge with it off. You have to connect the the charger first and then you can power the iPhone down. This operates the same for the iPad as well.

 

[C DM]

I'm going to have to agree with the poster though. It's not that difficult to just be able to search contacts while dialing. Any reason I have to tap phone, tap contacts, tap search field, enter a few letters, tap the contact, tap the phone I want to dial as opposed to: tap phone, enter letters, tap number to dial (assuming the design is like androids and it expands all the numbers for a contact).

Lots of things in Apple are complicated and require WAAAY more taps than needed. I don't really dial much, so this isn't as big of a deal, but it is annoying when I do.

Another example: In mail, if you want to create a contact from a recipient or sender, you can click their name and you are given two choices. Create new contact or add to existing. Some of us have more than 5 contacts so I don't remember all of them. So I click add to existing. I scroll through all my contacts (note the search isn't pre-populated of the name of the person nor does it even bother to search if the number was added under a diff contact). If I can't find my contact, I have to tap back, tap the name again, but this time tap create new contact and fill out all the details manually, most likely causing a duplicate of the number or email if I already had that email under a different contact name. Would it be that much harder to just click add, top of the screen says create new, and bottom has a list of possible matches by name, email, or phone number? Can't defend them on this.

As I mentioned, smart dialing can be useful (and there are certainly improvements that can be made when it coles to contacts and other areas, just like with any OS really) but it's not really all that harder or more inconvenient to do it the way it's in iOS. For some/many of those who are used to smart dialing it can come off as somewhat more inconvenient to just use what's in iOS, while for many who are used to using iOS using smart dialing would similarly be inconvenient and not something they would likely use.
[doublepost=1495818189][/doublepost]

Not need for all this meh. IOS just need to support shortcuts like Android will do.
Create one tap direct dial shortcut picture icon to a contact phone. Put those icons on the home screen/folders. Just unlock then tap to call.

You can do that with widgets fairly easily. 3D Touch also offers essentially similar type of functionality.

 

[AaronTheYoung]

I'd love Bluetooth mouse support like I've had for years now on my jailbroken devices.

You know it. Can't imagine why Apple doesn't do this. We can have a keyboard, but we can't have a mouse. Kinda silly.

 

[inkswamp]

The phone interface needs a massive overhaul. It's very awkward to use if you're using it for anything beyond a regular phone call. If you're joining a conference call, for example, where you have to enter a code and then want to mute your mic and put it on speaker, there's so much juggling back and forth to get to the buttons you need that it's ridiculous. Put the keypad in the upper half, all the necessary buttons below it. Done. No more flipping back and forth between different interfaces. That might have been necessary when the screens were much smaller, but not anymore.

 

[AaronTheYoung]

I would love ALL iPhones to have a LANDSCAPE and portrait desktop. NOT just the plus. There are many times when I am hiking or climbing that I'd love to had wrist access to my iPhone in the landscape mode. My iPhone Se is perfect for it size wise, but I don't have landscape access. Irritating.

Please Apple?

 

[Sabon]

1) Contacts - I would like to be able to create groups in Contacts on my iPad Pro. I'm often away from home and I don't want or need a full laptop which is heavier than an iPad. What I would like is to see Mr. Cook or Ive use absolutely nothing but an iPad for a full month starting from scratch with no names/phone numbers/addresses/etc in contacts and have to set up their contacts including addresses into an iPhone or iPad so they can see how bad this app really is.

Why can't you copy a full address and paste it as one piece into the address portion of Contacts and have it not understand how to split up the address into the separate fields? WHY?!?!?!?

And what about groups in Contacts? Why can't we create a group and add people to it so that we can later go back and pick that group for the TO:/CC/BCC field to send emails to the small social club you are in or for whatever not ass**** reason you have for creating groups.

2) Email: - If someone is spamming you there should be a button to pick called, "SPAM". And if multiple people choose SPAM then it should ban all emails from that person coming to your email account and alert Apple that someone is spamming people and the account should be at least temporarily shutdown.

3) Apple Music: This should be split in two. One for what they are doing now and one for just my music that I own. That way I could delete the icon for their new music service and just have an icon for playing my own music.

4) Numbers: I understand where they are coming from with Numbers but there MUST be a better way to manage different "sheets" (I can't remember what they are called in Numbers). It is a pain in the a** to create a new sheet/table/whatever which I want inside the same file as the current one.

I also want an easier to way get between the different sheets like they have inside the desktop version. It could be an option along the top. You tab on it and it gives you a vertical list of the sheets that you have in that file (which is different than the list of files) so that you can move around in that file and get to everything you are working on.

5) SIRI - I hold down the home button and tell Siri to find something. It then wants very badly to disappear after a few seconds even though I am actively scrolling in the results and trying to find something. LEAVE THE SIRI SCREEN UP UNTIL I TELL IT TO GO AWAY!!!

Also - I would say that Siri is successful about 20% of the time finding what I'm asking for. Note that I'm American in American in Washington state where people from around the country tell us we don't have any kind of accent. If Siri can't understand us, how can it understand anyone?

6) Photos - I'm hoping that face recognition will get 1000 times better than it is now. It was really good on the desktop version of whatever came before Photos or is the desktop version of photos which could recognize lots of people and automatically assign them to the person they are. But the iOS (I have an iPad Pro 12.9") version is not good at all.

Also - I would like a way to group my pictures the way I want to. For instance. I would like to be able to have groups of pictures for family members vs groups for trips (which would have sub groups for each place I have traveled and the same for family members, cats, etc).

7) iMessage - I absolutely want security in iMessages. Not that I really need it but just because I want to know that if I want/need to send a non-illegal message to my wife or friend or ... that I can do so). For instance, if I want my sister-in-law's help in picking out a new present for my wife. I don't want my wife to be able to open to my iPhone/iPad/iMac and see any message that I want to be private. And I don't just want it greyed out but totally hidden so she can't tell I sent any message at all. But I put in a special password or use my thum and they appear.

Groups in iMesssage. I want an easier way to tell iMessages that I want to send a text to multiple people. Right now it is a pain in the ass if it doesn't understand your voice command.

Groups which can have both Apple iMessage accounts for friends/etc., AND people that have Android phones, etc. The messages of course will not be secure but I don't always need all of my messages to be secure. It can pop up and tell me that and I can click on "Send anyway" and it would send. Why is that so hard to do or why are they not willing to do this?

There are more but this is what comes off the top of my head.

 

[Applestock]

Please double iCloud storage to 10GB. Thank you.

That's not even a software feature. Hard to disagree with, though. How about free 50GB while we're at it?
[doublepost=1495826224][/doublepost]

I would love ALL iPhones to have a LANDSCAPE and portrait desktop. NOT just the plus. There are many times when I am hiking or climbing that I'd love to had wrist access to my iPhone in the landscape mode. My iPhone Se is perfect for it size wise, but I don't have landscape access. Irritating.

Please Apple?

No
[doublepost=1495826512][/doublepost]

Add suppprt for mail properly detecting mail messages and not include "original quotes" as part of a message.

It seems like removing quoted messages or the entire thread on every message works well with iCloud and *sometimes other mail providers and mostly never with office365...

I think Apple shouldn't put much more focus on mail. 3rd party apps are already great; all they need to do is create a category in the app store that is promoted so users can choose the best fit. Apple should instead be focusing on opening up APIs, improving the SDKs, Swift, notifications, control center, spring board...
[doublepost=1495827111][/doublepost]

1) Contacts - I would like to be able to create groups in Contacts on my iPad Pro. I'm often away from home and I don't want or need a full laptop which is heavier than an iPad. What I would like is to see Mr. Cook or Ive use absolutely nothing but an iPad for a full month starting from scratch with no names/phone numbers/addresses/etc in contacts and have to set up their contacts including addresses into an iPhone or iPad so they can see how bad this app really is.

YES!

Why can't you copy a full address and paste it as one piece into the address portion of Contacts and have it not understand how to split up the address into the separate fields? WHY?!?!?!?

Absolutely!

And what about groups in Contacts? Why can't we create a group and add people to it so that we can later go back and pick that group for the TO:/CC/BCC field to send emails to the small social club you are in or for whatever not ass**** reason you have for creating groups.

Go work for Apple

2) Email: - If someone is spamming you there should be a button to pick called, "SPAM". And if multiple people choose SPAM then it should ban all emails from that person coming to your email account and alert Apple that someone is spamming people and the account should be at least temporarily shutdown.

This could be problematic

3) Apple Music: This should be split in two. One for what they are doing now and one for just my music that I own. That way I could delete the icon for their new music service and just have an icon for playing my own music.

Or the Music app could be dynamic. If you don't subscribe, it works/looks different to focus on your library. If you do subscribe, there's no point in having both (you should subscribe).

4) Numbers: I understand where they are coming from with Numbers but there MUST be a better way to manage different "sheets" (I can't remember what they are called in Numbers). It is a pain in the a** to create a new sheet/table/whatever which I want inside the same file as the current one.

Maybe you're too used to the MS way, but it could always be made better

I also want an easier to way get between the different sheets like they have inside the desktop version. It could be an option along the top. You tab on it and it gives you a vertical list of the sheets that you have in that file (which is different than the list of files) so that you can move around in that file and get to everything you are working on.

5) SIRI - I hold down the home button and tell Siri to find something. It then wants very badly to disappear after a few seconds even though I am actively scrolling in the results and trying to find something. LEAVE THE SIRI SCREEN UP UNTIL I TELL IT TO GO AWAY!!!

Yea Siri could use a ground up rework.

Also - I would say that Siri is successful about 20% of the time finding what I'm asking for. Note that I'm American in American in Washington state where people from around the country tell us we don't have any kind of accent. If Siri can't understand us, how can it understand anyone?

Siri understands my words 99% of the time. Understanding their meaning and returning useful results requires knowing Siri's limitations.

6) Photos - I'm hoping that face recognition will get 1000 times better than it is now. It was really good on the desktop version of whatever came before Photos or is the desktop version of photos which could recognize lots of people and automatically assign them to the person they are. But the iOS (I have an iPad Pro 12.9") version is not good at all.

Haven't even noticed face recognition. Seems like a buried feature they're embarrased about

Also - I would like a way to group my pictures the way I want to. For instance. I would like to be able to have groups of pictures for family members vs groups for trips (which would have sub groups for each place I have traveled and the same for family members, cats, etc).

7) iMessage - I absolutely want security in iMessages. Not that I really need it but just because I want to know that if I want/need to send a non-illegal message to my wife or friend or ... that I can do so). For instance, if I want my sister-in-law's help in picking out a new present for my wife. I don't want my wife to be able to open to my iPhone/iPad/iMac and see any message that I want to be private. And I don't just want it greyed out but totally hidden so she can't tell I sent any message at all. But I put in a special password or use my thum and they appear.

Sounds like a cheater

Groups in iMesssage. I want an easier way to tell iMessages that I want to send a text to multiple people. Right now it is a pain in the ass if it doesn't understand your voice command.

Groups which can have both Apple iMessage accounts for friends/etc., AND people that have Android phones, etc. The messages of course will not be secure but I don't always need all of my messages to be secure. It can pop up and tell me that and I can click on "Send anyway" and it would send. Why is that so hard to do or why are they not willing to do this?

What you're really asking for is iMessage for Android. Good luck with that.
There are more but this is what comes off the top of my head.

[doublepost=1495827303][/doublepost]

Not need for all this meh. IOS just need to support shortcuts like Android will do.
Create one tap direct dial shortcut picture icon to a contact phone. Put those icons on the home screen/folders. Just unlock then tap to call.

There is a 3rd party app that provides this functionality. Forgot what it's called

 

[AaronTheYoung]

Landscape on all phone is a perfectly reasonable thing to ask for and I bet Apple could enable it in two seconds. The code is right there for iPhone Plus already. So it's basically already done.

They just need to do it.

 

[orev]

I just want them to fix the volume HUD. Covers up far too much of the screen, especially when a video is playing. Move it out of the way or at least let me tap on it to make it go away now.