Terrible idea... Keep it a lock switch.. Who needs mute, just hold down the volume. I want to keep my lock switch that i use all the time
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iPad's Orientation Lock Switch Becomes Mute Switch With iOS 4.2
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I may need to mute my iPad once or twice a month. I used the lock switch several times a week. I don't think this will be very useful.
Why? Please read the many comments above that give details about this.
I have already described how and why it benefits me, as a photographer, to have a physical button to lock the screen orientation -- so don't want to repeat it right now. Over at AppleInsider there are others who also are unhappy about this anticipated change. One of the posters there wrote a long message about having successfully taught elderly people to use the iPad, and commented specifically that the physical screen-orientation lock made it much easier for them to enjoy the 'Pad -- because that little button is right there underneath their fingertips; they can feel it, and get to it instantly, without having to remember how to invoke a software icon. There is indeed a difference in ease of use between having a physical and a virtual button to "push;" the poster also stated that he felt some despair that he would now have to RE-TEACH these elder folks what to do, when they already know how to do it using the hardware they currently have.
I might add the iPad has great appeal to older people precisely because of this. I myself received an e-mail yesterday from an 87-year -old family friend who is quite keen to get herself an iPad -- and I know that ease of use is the main reason for her interest, because she has been using my old lampshade iMac G4 for the last 4 years, and now is asking when I will bring my iPad over to her house.
Many of the medical people I have been recently working with, using my iPad, have great appreciation for the ability to lock the screen orientation with the simple flick of a finger. My orthopedic surgeon in particular is always surprised by the auto-rotation of the screen -- and this is a man with exquisite control of his hands.
This is NOT to say that my elderly friend (in particular) will not want the iPad anymore, if this button is changed. I am just pointing out that this is a great example of the old saying: "IF IT AINT BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!"
Thanks, Apple -!
from
Minnie Mouse
Ah, thanks for clearing THAT up, Night Spring! Chalks up one more reasonable reason to keep the hardware orientation lock
Minnie
And the new on-screen orientation control takes too much time?
Both are common functions, but I for one use Mute more, and I suspect Im not alone since its an ages-old expected function, while orientation is something new. Mute is something you need to trigger more rapidly, too, if you realize your alerts are disturbing other people (meeting, library, movie, whatever), which can happen even when your iPad is not actually in use.
...
You can mute the sound by holding down-volume already for like two seconds. Modifying the screen-lock rotation is completely redundant with that function.
Maybe I'm just weird, but I lock the screen many more times per day (reading on my side or on my back, say) than I mute/unmute. If you get a lot of email, you have to mute at night lest your spousal half grow weary of your tech fetish.
Ah, thanks for clearing THAT up, Night Spring! Chalks up one more reasonable reason to keep the hardware orientation lock
Minnie
But you don't see that it's muted. It's not a big deal and I can see why people prefer the orientation-lock but if you ever used an iphone/ipad in a lecture you see why it can be handy to be 100% sure it won't play any sounds.
Am I the only one who doesn't get what the problem is?
It will take ~0.5s longer to lock the screen rotation than it currently does, and it unifies the behaviour from iPad to iPhone.
It's one small change guys, why the 10-page forum thread?
Right. Instead we should celebrate the new brightness controls!
Am I the only one who doesn't get what the problem is?
It will take ~0.5s longer to lock the screen rotation than it currently does, and it unifies the behaviour from iPad to iPhone.
It's one small change guys, why the 10-page forum thread?
If you take the time to read even ONE page from this 10-page long thread, you will have the answer to your question.
And if you don't want to read the entire page, I would refer you to my post above, on the page you are now on -- which gives at least 3 reasons that I know of, beyond many others mentioned by other posters in this thread.
Mickey
only beta 1
Apple has clearly not known what to do with this switch since the early beginning. First it was for mute, then orientation, and now they want it to move back to mute.
However, if you feel strongly that either it should stay as an orientation lock, or that there should be a preference, then tell them about it. You can submit ideas to apple.com
Better yet, tell Steve, sjobs@apple.com
This is Beta 1. Lots of things are going to change between now and November, there will be move betas. Obviously, this feature was not included in beta 1 unless they wanted feedback on it.
I will say though, there is a push to unify all iOS devices. There WILL be a software orientation lock like in 4.0/4.1 on iPad 4.2. Your best chance is to tell apple you want the option to assign the mute switch.
For the record, this is one iPad owner who couldn't care less what that switch does. Actually, I would prefer it not be there at all. If you want mute, hold the volume button down, if u want rotation off, just do it like in 4.x. Seems simple enough to me.
Apple has clearly not known what to do with this switch since the early beginning. First it was for mute, then orientation, and now they want it to move back to mute.
However, if you feel strongly that either it should stay as an orientation lock, or that there should be a preference, then tell them about it. You can submit ideas to apple.com
Better yet, tell Steve, sjobs@apple.com
This is Beta 1. Lots of things are going to change between now and November, there will be move betas. Obviously, this feature was not included in beta 1 unless they wanted feedback on it.
I will say though, there is a push to unify all iOS devices. There WILL be a software orientation lock like in 4.0/4.1 on iPad 4.2. Your best chance is to tell apple you want the option to assign the mute switch.
For the record, this is one iPad owner who couldn't care less what that switch does. Actually, I would prefer it not be there at all. If you want mute, hold the volume button down, if u want rotation off, just do it like in 4.x. Seems simple enough to me.
If Apple Does This I Will Not Upgrade To 4.2
Thanks. Done.Agreed, TripHop - disturbing is a good description...
Here's something you can do to feel a little better --
use this link from apple.com to send them feedback on this issue & express your unhappiness:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html
Thanks -
Macwheels
Yes this change would be a deal breaker for me to upgrade to 4.2 in November until Apple relents and puts the aspect hardware switch back the way it is now.
I dont think it matters that much? It takes <3 seconds to navigate to and press the lock orientation button. Is that extra second (or maybe two!) really that important to people?
Options would be nice though.
I doubt apple would force lock to portrait only on the iPad in the final version.. To people who say they share stuff with people so lock the orientation.. Why are the people you're showing spinning the device around? If you hand someone a device one way up aren't they going to hold it that way? Are you frizbeeing it to each other?
Options would be nice though.
I doubt apple would force lock to portrait only on the iPad in the final version.. To people who say they share stuff with people so lock the orientation.. Why are the people you're showing spinning the device around? If you hand someone a device one way up aren't they going to hold it that way? Are you frizbeeing it to each other?
So Apple are turning the switch into a mute/unmute function versus the original orientation lock. Ya know, Apple said no to Camera+ because of it using the volume buttons for a different purpose and said it would lead to user confusion despite the fact that it didn't come this way out of the box. Instead you had to have knowledge of what you were doing, go through certain steps, and enable it that way. Now Apple will be changing the function of a switch that most people will not agree with and are not accustomed to through an iOS update. I guess when you run *****, you can do whatever you want. I would hope that they, at the very least, provide an option as to how you would like the switch to operate.
...Options would be nice though.
I doubt apple would force lock to portrait only on the iPad in the final version.. To people who say they share stuff with people so lock the orientation.. Why are the people you're showing spinning the device around? If you hand someone a device one way up aren't they going to hold it that way? Are you frizbeeing it to each other?
mixel, I often see the screen auto-rotating simply by virtue of being gently handed over to someone else -- I'm surprised you haven't noticed the accelerometer is easily triggered by smaller movements than this, even.
Killyp said:
mixel - your question was answered just a few posts above here -- please look.
And thanks for acknowledging -- options ARE nice
Maxim Gorky
Ever hear of jailbreaking?
Ever hear of AppleCare?
The money that has already been spent to purchase AppleCare would be lost -- not to mention the value of the AppleCare coverage -- by jailbreaking an iPad, just to regain something we were already given.
Maxine Gorky
I hate this idea too, and so I emailed Apple
I hate this idea too so much. Here is the email I sent to Apple about it:
Hello! I have sent you guys feedback before on your products. I've been a long time Mac user (since the Apple LC II, my families first personal computer!). Anyway, it has come to my attention that with iOS 4.2 for iPad that the screen orientation lock switch has been converted to a mute switch. I understand that with iOS 4 for the iPhone you can lock the screen orientation in portrait (I have an iPhone 4), but please, PLEASE make this an option to change in software to be one or the other. My roommate and i both have iPads, and we were talking about this today and how we use the switch all the time. It would be such a pain in the ass to have to select the orientation lock via the software way as it is now with the iPhone, etc. Vs simply hitting the switch. I am sure that I am not the only person who feels this way, please consider putting it as an option to make it either a mute switch or orientation lock in the settings menu. Thanks so much and keep up the excellent work!
Very Respectfully,
Nikolai
Here's hoping it actually makes a difference!
I hate this idea too so much. Here is the email I sent to Apple about it:
Hello! I have sent you guys feedback before on your products. I've been a long time Mac user (since the Apple LC II, my families first personal computer!). Anyway, it has come to my attention that with iOS 4.2 for iPad that the screen orientation lock switch has been converted to a mute switch. I understand that with iOS 4 for the iPhone you can lock the screen orientation in portrait (I have an iPhone 4), but please, PLEASE make this an option to change in software to be one or the other. My roommate and i both have iPads, and we were talking about this today and how we use the switch all the time. It would be such a pain in the ass to have to select the orientation lock via the software way as it is now with the iPhone, etc. Vs simply hitting the switch. I am sure that I am not the only person who feels this way, please consider putting it as an option to make it either a mute switch or orientation lock in the settings menu. Thanks so much and keep up the excellent work!
Very Respectfully,
Nikolai
Here's hoping it actually makes a difference!
Welcome Nikolai -- I see you're a MacRumors newbie, so I wanted to say thanks for telling us about your taking action on this. It seems there are a lot of people who have strong feelings about it, both pro & con; so my feeling is that the more people express themselves directly to Apple, the more likely it is that the issue will be noticed and re-evaluated by those in charge of the upcoming iOS update, which will not be released to us, the public, until November. I'm glad that a lot of people have already commented about the screen-orientation lock today, which I think is the first day that we have had any info about iOS 4.2. Thanks again for contributing!
The Third Mouseketeer
I need to lock the orientation on my iPad about 200 times (literally) more often than I need to mute it. I thought the "instant mute" afforded by holding down the volume switch for half a second was a genius workaround. I'd rather have seen that come to my iPhone rather than the other way around.
Ever hear of AppleCare?
The money that has already been spent to purchase AppleCare would be lost -- not to mention the value of the AppleCare coverage -- by jailbreaking an iPad, just to regain something we were already given.
Maxine Gorky
Ever hear of a restore. You act like you lose AppleCare if you jailbreak. Also you didnt lose any features you originally had, in fact you gained 2 (brightness controls and a mute switch) your precious little orientation lock has just been moved from a hardware to a software switch. Get over it you didn't lose anything and if you think you did you obviously can't handle the very simple operation of an iPad anyways!
Yeah, makes more sense to me, too -- to make iPhone more like iPad...with respect to this, at least.
Want to tell this to Apple directly? Here's how -- use the following link.... that was originally posted by MacRumors forum member darkpaw -- an iPhone software developer -- on page 1 of this thread:
"Please, everyone, post feedback requesting that the switch be made into an option in the settings. You can do so here:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html
Apparently you are too angry to read the comments of others who have already explained why they prefer a hardware switch to a software switch, so I will not spend additional time on it for you.
I have read you and everyone else saying apple took this from us. They didn't take anything they just moved it around. Sometimes change has to happen get over it. And ur only arguments for keeping the switch are old people who already learned how to use it god forbid something changes and the people who find it more convenient which it really isn't. If it would have originally been a mute switch as planned with a lock orientation like the iPhone would you be complaining? No. And you know what else. It makes more sense for apple to make everything as much the same across each platform as possible so that all of those old people will know how to use the ios product regardless of which one it is. I bet you've spent more time complaining in this thread than all the time you'll lose with the new orientation lock method!