iPad Air just got old, SplitView only available on the iPad Air 2

[Will22]

I never read that particular review, but it mirrors my sentiment from having the Air 2 these past months. The only thing that iOS 8 took advantage of it was mainly things like no refreshing Safari tabs. It just felt like something had to be coming at WWDC to take advantage of its potential.

As far as those talking about wanting true multitasking on iPhone, I just don't see it as a practical thing with its (correct me if I get this wrong) 16:9 screen ratio. The iPad's 4:3 ratio, along with now sporting a tri-core cpu and 2gb ram, was just perfect for this feature to come. Meanwhile, the iPhone 6 (and 6+) sports a 16:9 screen, dual-core cpu and 1gb ram. Apple is free to prove me wrong about iPhone multitasking, but until then I'm content with using 1 active app at a time on my iPhone 6. Maybe with the right implementation, I could see it happening. (*continues to facepalm at Air 2's vertical multitasking implementation on iOS 9*)

Have you used the split screen on android? Especial on the Note 4 even without using the S-Pen. The reason I ask is because I think it is one of those things that you don't know how useful it is until you have been using it for a while.

What do you mean about the Air 2 vertical multitasking implementation?

 

[Badrottie]

I really like Splitview feature so I have to sell my Air 1 this Fall when Air 3 is ready to come out.

 

[Ferc Kast]

Have you used the split screen on android? Especial on the Note 4 even without using the S-Pen. The reason I ask is because I think it is one of those things that you don't know how useful it is until you have been using it for a while.

What do you mean about the Air 2 vertical multitasking implementation?

I've avoided Android like the plague for multiple reasons. But, I've seen ads for Samsung phones before, so I have a general idea of them. I still am not sold on the idea of phones doing split screen.

As for the vertical implementation, a picture is worth a thousand words:

I just think it could have been done better than this for portrait orientation, though this was probably easier for Apple to code. That's the only thing I don't fully like about the SplitView.

 

[sanke1]

I will give my air to my wife and get the air3 or whatever they call it

Yes, your wife needs your air.

In seriousness, I am glad I sold my Air 1 and got Air 2 for almost the same price. I knew this would happen as soon as I saw 2 GB RAM.

Where are those Knights who defended 1 GB RAM with all their might?

 

[Will22]

I've avoided Android like the plague for multiple reasons. But, I've seen ads for Samsung phones before, so I have a general idea of them. I still am not sold on the idea of phones doing split screen.

As for the vertical implementation, a picture is worth a thousand words:View attachment 560445 I just think it could have been done better than this for portrait orientation, though this was probably easier for Apple to code. That's the only thing I don't fully like about the SplitView.

Right, I didn't know that they were doing it side by side in portrait, why not do it the obvious way?

I think the split view on a phone can work great depending on what you use the phone for.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Yes, your wife needs your air.

In seriousness, I am glad I sold my Air 1 and got Air 2 for almost the same price. I knew this would happen as soon as I saw 2 GB RAM.

Where are those Knights who defended 1 GB RAM with all their might?

I also sold my air 1 and bought and Air 2. However 1GB of Ram is ok for me but I'm glad I have the air 2 though

 

[Will22]

I sold my Air 2 tonight because I have my Surface 3 now and Galaxy Tab S for doing everything my Air 2 could do and much more. I got my Air 2 because I bought an iPhone 6 and thought that it would be good to have both but I find the iPad to be too limited in what it can do.

 

[Wando64]

Yes, your wife needs your air.

In seriousness, I am glad I sold my Air 1 and got Air 2 for almost the same price. I knew this would happen as soon as I saw 2 GB RAM.

Where are those Knights who defended 1 GB RAM with all their might?

Are you all for real or do you only come out on funny days?
I have 16GB RAM on my Mini. (EDIT: Mac Mini)
Is it enough? Hell yes.
Will it be enough forever? Of course not.
Please give me a break.

 

[sracer]

Are you all for real or do you only come out on funny days?
I have 16GB RAM on my Mini.
Is it enough? Hell yes.
Will it be enough forever? Of course not.
Please give me a break.

No, you don't have 16GB of RAM on your mini. You might have 16GB of storage, but not RAM.

 

[Wando64]

No, you don't have 16GB of RAM on your mini. You might have 16GB of storage, but not RAM.

LOL, I do mate, I do.
I have 1TB storage and 16GB RAM
You know RAM, Random Access Memory? Google it and come back later.

It is a Mac Mini by the way. My IPad is an Air, LOL I can see the misunderstanding now.
Sorry.

 

[malih]

LOL, I do mate, I do.
I have 1TB storage and 16GB RAM
You know RAM, Random Access Memory? Google it and come back later.

It is a Mac Mini by the way.

we're talking about iPad you dummy, of course people will assume you said iPad mini

 

[Wando64]

The point I was making is that regardless of how much RAM you have on your device, (be it a Mac or an IPad) Apple could make it obsolete with a software update any day of the week. And they eventually will. That doesn't mean that there was anything wrong with it to start with.

 

[Wando64]

we're talking about iPad you dummy, of course people will assume you said iPad mini

Yep, I apologised, didn't I?

 

[malih]

Yep, I apologised, didn't I?

Yes you did, well, after you edited it, but yes you did, apologies if I may have somehow offended you.
---

In any case I can't wait to enjoy the public beta on iPad Air 1, I imagine that'll be the slightly more stable and safer version of iOS 9 Beta.

 

[bniu]

l

Understandably it is normal to be upset when your current hardware gets outtdated (the way I will feel about my iPhone 6 in a few months when the 6S comes out), but surely you must admit the Air 1 got outtdated a little too quickly? Generally a year old iOS device can run all the new features when a new iOS is released a year later. For example, iPhone 5 released with iOS 6 but fully ran iOS 7 a year later.

This might be the first time in iOS history where all the features of iOS won't run on a one year old device. I'm counting on this to happen with my iPhone 6 later this year because it too has only 1GB RAM.

iPad Air 1 is now two years old...

 

[tdale]

I am probably an OF but I'm not convinced that the split-screen features are all that useful on a screen as small as the full-size iPad, and would be useless to me on the Mini. To me, it seems like a feature that will really come into its own on the iPad Pro (assuming Apple actually releases that one...). I recognize that other people are going to feel differently...I wonder what the actual market demand is? Apple probably has done customer surveys, but I'm sure that the results are private. Guesses from my MR colleagues?

I tend to agree. Using two apps mean each is squished or small. I prefer a full screen view. Slide over might be quite handy for switching apps, without the need to multi task them. iPad already has super slide over, using gestures and 4 finger swipe. Slide Over is a nice alternative option, and will reduce home button use

 

[philosopherdog]

If you're only listening to youtube, you can already do that while web surfing or whatever else ( on my ipad air '1' and no doubt on an ipad mini also) - at least on the Tubex youtube app, can't speak for the offical youtube app as i don't use it.

Go to settings in Tubex and enable background video.

Or just use Safari which will play background YouTube, oh and you can opt for the desktop experience and control playback speed!

 

[s2mikey]

Yes, your wife needs your air.

In seriousness, I am glad I sold my Air 1 and got Air 2 for almost the same price. I knew this would happen as soon as I saw 2 GB RAM.

Where are those Knights who defended 1 GB RAM with all their might?

I'm right here. Sorry to be the bubble birster but my Air runs perfectly with a anything I throw at it and always has. No, I don't use 12 tabs at a time when surfing. But, every game, every app, and every task I've ever done worked great and did its thing. Games run fast and smooth. That's all I can say. Sorry it doesn't jive with the RAM-gangs findings.

Oh yeah, bettre yet is that I do not have to put up with the incessant screen and chassi vibrations that the Air 2 suffers from. Hehehehehehe

 

[MatthewUT44]

I just sold my mini 2 on Amazon so I could get the iPad Air 1st generation thought it would be an upgrade

 

[toke lahti]

iPad Air 1 is now two years old...

And apple is still selling it in its own store.
Just like they are selling 4 years old display and 3 years old atv or airportExpress...

I'm just waiting for someone to make instructions on how to enable splitView with my air1 after iOS9 installation...

 

[newellj]

And apple is still selling it in its own store.
Just like they are selling 4 years old display and 3 years old atv or airportExpress...

I'm just waiting for someone to make instructions on how to enable splitView with my air1 after iOS9 installation...

You are likely to have a long wait for those instructions...

 

[SquireSCA]

Have you used the split screen on android? Especial on the Note 4 even without using the S-Pen. The reason I ask is because I think it is one of those things that you don't know how useful it is until you have been using it for a while.

What do you mean about the Air 2 vertical multitasking implementation?

Absolutely. I am not here to bash Apple, I am actually generally pleased with my iPad Air 2, despite it's shortcomings.

The gripe I have with Apple though, is that because they are so far behind the technology curve, their users often don't see the benefit of things, because they haven't been allowed to use them... For those of us that also have Android devices, we do see the benefit because we have used split screen for a year now. There are lots of things that Apple plans to release, that have been standard features on Android for 1-2 years now... They are just playing catch up.

The real issue though, is that Apple always does these updates in such a way that they force you to upgrade.

Think about it... Android has 81% of the global OS marketshare. Android is not only dominant in the mobile world, it is the most installed OS of *ALL* platforms, which includes PC's, servers, embedded devices, etc...

So how does Apple remain so profitable when the competition pretty much owns the market?

1) By charging premium prices
2) By supporting a model that forces(or strongly encourages) their smaller customer base to upgrade more often

1GB of RAM costs Apple less than $1. Literally. There is no reason why they can't toss an extra dollar's worth of RAM into a $300-$500 tablet. None.

Unless they choose to, so that when the "new" OS comes out, it forces you to want to upgrade to get the features that their competitor had 2 years ago...

Apple makes a great product. But they intentionally cripple it so that their loyal customers will camp out for a week in the snow to get the new device for a premium price.

In a lot of ways, Apple fans don't know what they don't know, to your point of not knowing how useful something is...

On my Note 4, I was able to open an excel spreadsheet and have an email to my boss open at the same time on the screen, so I could read the data and type it into the email without having to keep switching back and forth between apps.

Just like you would on a PC. Would anyone here like it if their Macbook could only display one thing at a time? Hell no. So why settle for that on a tablet, which is just a compact PC?

 

[malih]

Absolutely. I am not here to bash Apple, I am actually generally pleased with my iPad Air 2, despite it's shortcomings.

The gripe I have with Apple though, is that because they are so far behind the technology curve, their users often don't see the benefit of things, because they haven't been allowed to use them... For those of us that also have Android devices, we do see the benefit because we have used split screen for a year now. There are lots of things that Apple plans to release, that have been standard features on Android for 1-2 years now... They are just playing catch up.

The real issue though, is that Apple always does these updates in such a way that they force you to upgrade.

Think about it... Android has 81% of the global OS marketshare. Android is not only dominant in the mobile world, it is the most installed OS of *ALL* platforms, which includes PC's, servers, embedded devices, etc...

So how does Apple remain so profitable when the competition pretty much owns the market?

1) By charging premium prices
2) By supporting a model that forces(or strongly encourages) their smaller customer base to upgrade more often

1GB of RAM costs Apple less than $1. Literally. There is no reason why they can't toss an extra dollar's worth of RAM into a $300-$500 tablet. None.

Unless they choose to, so that when the "new" OS comes out, it forces you to want to upgrade to get the features that their competitor had 2 years ago...

Apple makes a great product. But they intentionally cripple it so that their loyal customers will camp out for a week in the snow to get the new device for a premium price.

In a lot of ways, Apple fans don't know what they don't know, to your point of not knowing how useful something is...

On my Note 4, I was able to open an excel spreadsheet and have an email to my boss open at the same time on the screen, so I could read the data and type it into the email without having to keep switching back and forth between apps.

Just like you would on a PC. Would anyone here like it if their Macbook could only display one thing at a time? Hell no. So why settle for that on a tablet, which is just a compact PC?

I suppose you're not a very tech aware user when it comes to Apple or have not matured enough as tech user.
I agree on your conclusion on the Pros of Android, but there's also a lot of Pros of iOS/iPad that you're missing.

I am still using an Android phone since last year (want bigger screen but don't particularly like design of iPhone 6, rather save money for 6S or maybe 7) but I ditched Android Tablet for iPad Air for a lot of reasons, two of them being software update and tablet apps quality.

On your argument about Mac, I like the way Gruber put it:
"The central conceit of the iPad is that it’s a portable computer that does less — and because it does less, what it does do, it does better, more simply, and more elegantly." (Compared to a Mac or PC in General).

 

[SquireSCA]

I suppose you're not a very tech aware user when it comes to Apple or have not matured enough as tech user.
I agree on your conclusion on the Pros of Android, but there's also a lot of Pros of iOS/iPad that you're missing.

I am still using an Android phone since last year (want bigger screen but don't particularly like design of iPhone 6, rather save money for 6S or maybe 7) but I ditched Android Tablet for iPad Air for a lot of reasons, two of them being software update and tablet apps quality.

On your argument about Mac, I like the way Gruber put it:
"The central conceit of the iPad is that it’s a portable computer that does less — and because it does less, what it does do, it does better, more simply, and more elegantly." (Compared to a Mac or PC in General).

Well, been using and building PC's since the mid 80's... Back in the days of you having to set up a motherboard with jumpers and dip switches, and overclocking required voltage mods and jumping pins on the CPU, etc... Was an iPhone user for years, but got tired of dropped calls and limitations so switched to Android. Been rooting, using ROMs and all sorts of fun stuff for years, so I would notsay that I am not tech savvy. I have probably forgotten more about building and modding PC's than the average person today ever learns.

That aside, I did notice that as far ahead as Android is with phones, their tablets are not as mature. Which is why I just dropped $1100 on a pair of iPad Air 2's for my fiance and I, instead of going Android. I do have a Windows tab as well though.

As I sit here in my office in front of a high end gaming PC, a Windows laptop, two Linux laptops, a Nexus 6 and the iPad Air 2, I think I have a fairly good sampling of the different platforms available today, and have had ample chance to compare and contrast them.

The problem with your quote about the elegance of a simple unit, I don't 100% agree with that. It's not about it being better. It's about Apple wanting to sell you multiple devices. They don't want you to have one device that does it all, when they can instead segment their products and have you purchase all 3... They want you to have an iPhone, an iPad and the Macbook... If the iPad did everything that the Macbook did, at half the price, there would be no reason to buy a Macbook.

So I see that quote as maybe true in some areas, but mostly it is spin...

It's why they only put minimal amounts of RAM in their devices, so that they can more easily sunset that device and force you to upgrade to get a new feature that your current device should be perfectly able to handle.

You telling me that the iPad Air, that was touted last year as being so powerful and fast... Can't manage to handle running email and a spreadsheet at the same time? Really?

So what are the real pros of iOS? That you can't set a default app yourself? That if you click a link it HAS to open in Safari, and so if you want to open it in Chrome you have to copy and paste between apps? Same for Apple Maps versus Google Maps?

That's a pro? In their quest to make iOS idiot proof and geared towards people like my mom, they actually hurt ease of use...

I see plenty of threads about bugs and releases that don't work that well and break things or hurt performance. Is that a pro?

What is a pro is the quality of the hardware, despite the intentional limitations... What is great is the customer service, and some other things.

I obviously see pros, by virtue of me spending money on these products... But the point I was making was in response to a good point someone made, that it often seems like Apple fans don't understand the benefits of things, and the truth is that they don't...

I mean, remember the early iPhone where you couldn't copy and paste between apps? Could not attach a pic to a text? Simple basic stuff that everyone else got, but Apple fans at the time were like, "Why would you want or need to do that?"...

Then a year later Apple puts those functions into a new version, and those same Apple fans were like, "Check out all this cool new stuff!" while people on other platforms that got that stuff 2 years prior just chuckled...

 

[sracer]

I mean, remember the early iPhone where you couldn't copy and paste between apps? Could not attach a pic to a text? Simple basic stuff that everyone else got, but Apple fans at the time were like, "Why would you want or need to do that?"...

Then a year later Apple puts those functions into a new version, and those same Apple fans were like, "Check out all this cool new stuff!" while people on other platforms that got that stuff 2 years prior just chuckled...

That is similar to the far flung islands in the South Pacific during WWII that encountered modern technology for the first time. So in much the same way as those "cargo cults" revered and worshiped pilots as gods, so too Apple fans see things like "cut n paste" as "magic".

I used to be frustrated by many Apple fans having a lack of appreciation of the value in anything that WASN'T done by Apple (cut-n-paste, 7" tablets, phablets, widgets, or now multiwindow and active styli). But I've realized that they need their hands held and shown the way. That's where Apple comes in.