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Very happy to hear this. iOS 11 is awesome on my iPad Pro so I look forward to another iPad centric release. I expect a big focus here over the the next 3 years as they position iOS as a potential replacement for macOS. I’m interested with what they’ll do with all that space when it comes to a home screen redesign.

Same here, this may finally be the trigger for me to replace one of our older MBPs with an iPad Pro (it's pretty close even now, a few more advancements on the iPad experience, I'm there).
 
My top picks for iOS improvements are
  1. Multi-User support (long overdue and would be seamless with Touch ID)
  2. Folders/finder upgrade, manage local files and access them from any app.
  3. Homescreen customisation, widgets or arranging icons.
  4. Notifications overhaul, android does it better, iOS is abysmal. (Grouping anyone)
  5. Dual apps, top and bottom on iPhone. (People use their phones like computers these days)
  6. Add ability to rearrange quick toggles directly (Going to settings to rearrange is just BAD)
 
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They are?

Yes, all the cash begins to smell after a while... especially after all the Exec daily swims in it. ;)
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Apple should stop allowing advertisements on devices. It is pathetic you get full screen advertisement on Casino games when you watch you tube or use other apps. Most of the apps are subscription, so to use it I have to register to 3d party. My opinion. iOS IS SUCKY.

Blame those developers for that. Apparently people who spends upwards of days, months or years coding apps wish to- are you sitting down?- get paid for their work. Fools. That's outrageous! Ripoff. Crooks. How dare people want to get paid for the work they do! They should do it voluntarily. Only Apple deserves money.

In case there is some confusion, ads allow apps to be purchased for as little as free... and the creator of the ad still gets paid. Instead of coming out of our pockets, the money comes from the advertiser- some strangers who pay your bill.

Kill the ads and the only way the developer gets paid is by the money coming out of consumer pockets. That won't be the $1 or $2 or so that we generally perceive to be the price of apps. Instead, that would probably flip the price of software apps back to historical norms. When ANY app maker other than Apple (who can do no wrong) tries to do that, we practically flip out with the "how dare theys?" if they price the app much above above $5 or $10.

Suggestion: lead by example. Go to work and tell your boss you don't want to be paid anymore. Do YOUR job for free. Because the end user of whatever you produce doesn't want to pay anything or more than a $1 or two for whatever you produce too. And they sure don't want your production to come with ads either. So do your work for free for them. Who needs money (besides Apple of course)?
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Very happy to hear this. iOS 11 is awesome on my iPad Pro so I look forward to another iPad centric release. I expect a big focus here over the the next 3 years as they position iOS as a potential replacement for macOS. I’m interested with what they’ll do with all that space when it comes to a home screen redesign.

While I'm 110% behind improving iOS with both missing features and bug fix focuses- even more so by giving some tangible focus to maxing out the unique benefits available on bigger (tablet) screens- that last bit of "potential replacement for macOS" is pretty much terrifying to me. If one has to "replace" the other, I'd rather it go the other way.

IMO: keep them separate and evolve them accordingly (not necessarily toward some future merger, but making the most of them as individual OSes so that iDevices can become all that they can become and Macs can become all that they can become). Unification where iOS basically becomes THE OS is- IMO- the day that Macs finally die... and the replacement that looks like new Macs is really just iPad++ with a keyboard.

I can look at Surface Pros and maybe see some kind of approximate analog but I doubt I would want an Apple version of that to be the ONLY classic computer-like device available to me. If Macs are "trucks," we still need trucks. Better trucks. Smarter trucks. Faster trucks. There's nothing wrong with having cars, trains, planes, cycles, buses, ships AND trucks in the world. So many options exist because each plays a unique role that "just works" for their users. You don't see those who lean on- say- mack trucks wanting to do away with them and try to do their shipping in thinner & lighter Miata's. In Apple's case, you don't see Apple trying to ship the next new <whatever> from China a few at a time in the thinner <car> because who needs trucks/planes/ships anymore?

Speaking of the analog, note that Surface has delivered some merged Windows platform that way for a few years now... but desktop and laptop "trucks" still sell very well. Apparently users can't all make Surface the one-and-only way to go for them. I don't suspect it would be any different with some kind of iOS Mac (Surface) device. Could some use and love such a product? Almost certainly. But all? I don't think so.
 
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Not iOS but MacOS should have been the one that the 1st generation iPad had installed. iPad should be a flatter laptop rather than a bigger iPhone.

Stop upgrading iOS for iPad. Start porting OSXI, and Magic Inputs to iPad.
 
Of course you should.



Ikr? Its mindblowing to me that we still cannot set it for specific days like mo-fr. i mean it works on the alarm already ...

—-

„Focus on bug fixes“ which i suppose will just introduce new bugs by fixing other bugs. Also if they know what bugs they got, why not fix them in x.1 x.2 x.3 or x.4 already?

Some bugs need internal redesigns. In other cases, it's a matter of priorities or there are workarounds that minimise the impact (e.g. part or all of an intended feature is turned off, so most people won't notice, or the bug affects performance or energy efficiency). If they do the job properly and don't introduce new features, the number and severity of the bugs will reduce.
 
I would love it if Apple returns to bug-fixes and performance improvements, instead of the bells-and-whistles approach they've taken the past 4-5 years. Grown men and women don't want a bunch of junk they won't use; they want a rock-solid operating system (on their computer & their phone) that allows them to do what they need to do. That's all.

Don't they? Why does Apple keep reporting record profits and record sales quarter-after-quarter if people are unhappy with their stuff?

I agree with you! But the rest of the world seems to want a billion emojis and kiddish features.
 
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Not iOS but MacOS should have been the one that the 1st generation iPad had installed. iPad should be a flatter laptop rather than a bigger iPhone.

Stop upgrading iOS for iPad. Start porting OSXI, and Magic Inputs to iPad.
As the story went, the idea for the iPad was born when Steve Jobs saw a Windows slate tablet demoed by a Microsoft executive at an event and was appalled by what he saw that he swore to make a better tablet and show them how it ought to be done.

In short, Microsoft did it first, it clearly sucked, and that's why Apple didn't go down that route. For which I will be eternally grateful.
 
Yes, all the cash begins to smell after a while... especially after all the Exec daily swims in it. ;)
[doublepost=1525523778][/doublepost]

Blame those developers for that. Apparently people who spends upwards of days, months or years coding apps wish to- are you sitting down?- get paid for their work. Fools. That's outrageous! Ripoff. Crooks. How dare people want to get paid for the work they do. They should do it voluntarily. Only Apple deserves money.

In case there is some confusion, ads allow apps to be purchased for as little as free... and the creator of the ad still gets paid. Instead of coming out of our pockets, the money comes from the advertiser... some strangers pay your bill.

Kill the ads and the only way the developer gets paid is by the money coming out of consumer pockets. That won't be the $1 or $2 or so that we generally perceive to be the price of apps. Instead, that would probably flip the price of software apps back to historical norms. When ANY app maker other than Apple (who can do no wrong) tries to do that, we practically flip out with the "how dare theys?" if they price the app much above above $5 or $10.

Suggestion: lead by example. Go to work and tell your boss you don't want to be paid anymore. Do YOUR job for free. Because the end user of whatever you produce doesn't want to pay anything or more than a $1 or two for whatever you produce too. And they sure don't want your production to come with ads either. So do your work for free for them. Who needs money (besides Apple of course)?
[doublepost=1525524559][/doublepost]

While I'm 110% behind improving iOS with both missing features and bug fix focuses- even more so by giving some tangible focus to maxing out the unique benefits available on bigger (tablet) screens- that last bit of "potential replacement for macOS" is pretty much terrifying to me. If one has to "replace" the other, I'd rather it go the other way.

IMO: keep them separate and evolve them accordingly (not necessarily toward some future merger, but making the most of them as individual OSes so that iDevices can become all that they can become and Macs can become all that they can become). Unification where iOS basically becomes THE OS is- IMO- the day that Macs finally die... and the replacement that looks like new Macs is really just iPad++ with a keyboard.

I can look at Surface Pros and maybe see some kind of approximate analog but I doubt I would want an Apple version of that to be the ONLY classic computer-like device available to me. If Macs are "trucks," we still need trucks. Better trucks. Smarter trucks. Faster trucks. There's nothing wrong with having cars, trains, planes, cycles, buses, ships AND trucks in the world. So many options exist because each plays a unique role that "just works" for their users. You don't see those who lean on- say- mack trucks wanting to do away with them and try to do their shipping in thinner & lighter Miata's. In Apple's case, you don't see Apple trying to ship the next new <whatever> from China a few at a time in the thinner <car> because who needs trucks/planes/ships anymore?

Speaking of the analog, note that Surface has delivered some merged Windows platform that way for a few years now... but desktop and laptop "trucks" still sell very well. Apparently users can't all make Surface the one-and-only way to go for them. I don't suspect it would be any different with some kind of iOS Mac (Surface) device. Could some use and love such a product? Almost certainly. But all? I don't think so.

That’s fair. I agree with you when it comes to where the platform should go, keep them separate. When I say replace, I mean more so as the centerpiece of their computing platform. The Mac will always be there as it has its place, but I think they will continue to evolve iOS on the iPad pretty rapidly to make it a very appealing choice for the majority of consumers. I remember when OS X was the focus of WWDC, I see iOS on the iPad taking that place. It should be an interesting next few years.
 
As the story went, the idea for the iPad was born when Steve Jobs saw a Windows slate tablet demoed by a Microsoft executive at an event and was appalled by what he saw that he swore to make a better tablet and show them how it ought to be done.

In short, Microsoft did it first, it clearly sucked, and that's why Apple didn't go down that route. For which I will be eternally grateful.

Apple did make a better tablet, but clearly they missed the mark of making it "how it ought to be" done. Despite "what's a computer" ads on TV, the iPad is generally an email/social/media device, not a work device.
 
Apple did make a better tablet, but clearly they missed the mark of making it "how it ought to be" done. Despite "what's a computer" ads on TV, the iPad is generally an email/social/media device, not a work device.
I think it ultimately depends on the individual's definition of work. To use an analogy, these are the people who were trying to drive in screws using a hammer because the screwdriver hadn't been invented yet.

I do use the iPad heavily in my work as a teacher, and I like that my tablet doesn't try too hard to emulate a traditional PC, because the PC absolutely sucked for the kind of work that I do on my tablet.
 
Not iOS but MacOS should have been the one that the 1st generation iPad had installed. iPad should be a flatter laptop rather than a bigger iPhone.

Stop upgrading iOS for iPad. Start porting OSXI, and Magic Inputs to iPad.

That would have been pretty terrible and much like the mistakes Microsoft made with their initial tablets. iOS is Apple’s main platform now and it will be improved upon rapidly, bringing more and more macOS-like features to the iPad. macOS will still have its place and maybe even another renaissance one day, but it will likely remain a steady platform mainly for developers and a small subset of power users.
 
Apple did make a better tablet, but clearly they missed the mark of making it "how it ought to be" done. Despite "what's a computer" ads on TV, the iPad is generally an email/social/media device, not a work device.

I’m not sure they missed the mark. They focused on doing what a tablet does best. It’s really the only successful tablet out there and will continue to be improved upon over the next few years. As always, it comes down to ones tasks, but I use an iPad exclusively for work and personal use. It’s the best computer I’ve ever owned and I am happy to move on from macOS. As of right now, this only works for a smaller group of people, but will likely become more of the norm in the near future. It’s only begun really.
 
That’s fair. I agree with you when it comes to where the platform should go, keep them separate. When I say replace, I mean more so as the centerpiece of their computing platform. The Mac will always be there as it has its place, but I think they will continue to evolve iOS on the iPad pretty rapidly to make it a very appealing choice for the majority of consumers. I remember when OS X was the focus of WWDC, I see iOS on the iPad taking that place. It should be an interesting next few years.

I could passionately argue for and against the centerpiece concept. I like the idea on one hand and don't on the other. But it's all personal perspective. For me, if I was some kind of Technological Thanos and wanted to kill "half the OSes", I'd definitely save macOS over iOS in spite of knowing how much more popular and profitable the latter is. For my own purposes, macOS is near essential while iOS is more toward optional, even perhaps still tagged with (relative) "toy" for me.

Of course, I know if someone else (even MOST Apple-minded someone else's) was Techno-Thanos, anything and everything else would be snapped away to preserve iPhones running iOS... perhaps even over the fundamentals that prop up life itself. ;)
 
I could passionately argue for and against the centerpiece concept. I like the idea on one hand and don't on the other. But it's all personal perspective. For me, if I was some kind of Technological Thanos and wanted to kill "half the OSes", I'd definitely save macOS over iOS in spite of knowing how much more popular and profitable the latter is. For my own purposes, macOS is near essential while iOS is more toward optional, even perhaps still tagged with (relative) "toy" for me.

Of course, I know if someone else was Techno-Thanos, anything and everything else would be snapped away to preserve iPhones running iOS... perhaps even over the fundamentals that prop up life itself. ;)

Yup, we can only speak from our own perspectives. I respect that. When the majority of Apples customers use iOS though, I think it only makes business sense that that is where they focus.
 
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I like that rationale for business sense, but still wish that the (relatively) fledgling Macs got just as much love & focus anyway.

And to extend that, I'll wish for the same relative love & focus for even the :apple:TV- (what I consider to be) a spectacular product itself... with plenty of room to improve & evolve to gain greater spectacular-ness.
 
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Advancing iOS functionality is a good thing. The glacial pace in which it is happening is not helpful to those of us who want to fully embrace the potential that the platform has.

I warned about prematurely rejoicing over the inclusion of Files.app in iOS 11... that due to the system limitations baked-in to iOS, it most likely would be nothing more than Documents by Readdle. That turned out to be pretty much spot on.

I mention this because the enhancements mentioned in this article require some fundamental changes to iOS that if they are to be implemented will have far reaching implications. By design, iOS relies on the apps to bear part of the burden of (what is traditionally) operating system functionality. Most iOS features now are not transparent to the app. Apps must be recompiled to support split-window multitasking. They'll need to be modified & recompiled to support multiple instances. One can make the case that this effort is trivial, but it doesn't refute the need for apps to be "aware" of this functionality.

While it is in vogue to criticize Android for fragmentation at the OS level, fragmentation at the app level is the little iOS secret that few people talk about. There is an inconsistency in how apps support things like split-window. One of the reasons why I went back to a 9.7 iPad after 2+ years of daily use with the 12.9 Pro had to do with the sporadic support for split-window. It was, and still is, hit or miss. It has improved since the feature was introduced but even now it is still an issue. This feature fragmentation will be aggravated by the new features mentioned in this article.

iOS was designed from the ground up for apps to only interact with their own files (aka sandboxing). That was a superb decision for an OS designed to be quick and nimble and safe. But that approach has its limits and really isn't beneficial for a general purpose OS that Apple has been slowly migrating iOS to.

Perhaps the two greatest impediments that prevent many from using iPads as general-purpose computing devices are, lack of support for mice/pointing devices, and a system-wide, universally accessible file system. One is dead easy to implement, the other is most likely a massive overhaul.
 
While it is in vogue to criticize Android for fragmentation at the OS level, fragmentation at the app level is the little iOS secret that few people talk about. There is an inconsistency in how apps support things like split-window. One of the reasons why I went back to a 9.7 iPad after 2+ years of daily use with the 12.9 Pro had to do with the sporadic support for split-window. It was, and still is, hit or miss. It has improved since the feature was introduced but even now it is still an issue. This feature fragmentation will be aggravated by the new features mentioned in this article.

Yep, there's almost zero benefit to a larger screen size in an iPad for functionality. Most apps do not take advantage of the additional space and split view is annoyingly inconsistent. There's not even any consistency in the way files are manipulated throughout the various apps that manage files. It's just an aggravating mess even for the simplest of tasks. If you want to rename something on a Mac you just press enter and start typing. If you want to rename something on an iPad you have to find out where it is first and then long press it and choose the correct option and then start typing. Sure, you can do a lot of things with the iPad, but everything exists in silos and is isolated from everything else.

iPads so far are unnecessary devices. They exist because they can but not because they're needed. If you can live solely with a tablet, you could live solely with a laptop. The reverse is not necessarily true. I have a 10.5 Pro, but I honestly have no idea why. I thought I would use it to read and draw mostly, but I haven't even done that. iOS 11 turned out to be one big lie in terms of making the iPad more useful as a productivity machine.

When a MacBook becomes as thin and light as an iPad + smart keyboard combo and has the same battery life, why would you choose an iPad over a MacBook? You probably wouldn't. What's the purpose in making iOS more like MacOS when MacOS already exists?
 
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@compete12 ... ah, the old YouTube app icon. Gotta love how they chose a 1950's television to represent streaming video.
Could that be because the service is called YouTube?

iOS 12 will probably be disappointing.
Should iOS 12 in fact fix all the problem iOS has accrued over the last years (as if…), it will be the best release in years.

iOS 12, coming this year, will offer fewer new features than Apple had originally planned, but Gurman believes Apple will introduce at least one major change that also affects macOS 10.14 - support for cross-platform apps. Apple is said to be working to implement features that would allow apps designed for the iPhone and the iPad to run on the Mac, but there has been some disagreement over when this feature will debut.
I still have yet to see a good answer for the in my opinion most important question: why?

Why is this something I from an end-user perspective should want? Why would I want to run single-purpose iOS apps with limited functionality on a Mac? Where's the advantage in that?
 
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After 11 years, even Apple is sick of living in the walled prison they created called iOS.
I think they're just moving the walls out a bit. Make no mistake, it's still massively locked down and that's just one of the reasons a Mac is necessary if you want to get any actual work done.
 
I guess my iPad mini 4 will be left behind and even if it did get iOS 13, it wouldn’t do well performance-wise. Wish Apple would release a new iPhone X-like iPad mini.

Given that iOS 11 still runs on iPad mini 2, I doubt they'll stop supporting the mini 4 any time soon.
 
I'm switching my whole family to Android phone and Windows PC this year. will not look back till the day the legendary intuitive and fun user interface comes back.
It’s not coming back, if you’re referring to the hot mess of hilariously inconsistent design that was iOS 6.
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I hope one day Apple gives people legitimate access to the entire drive. A true file manager like the Finder would really be a game changer. The iPad Pros are already starting to rival the power of ultra portable notebooks. Being able to have more control of one's files would really make them much more useful. The Files app and better dock were welcome improvements but these devices have so much untapped potential.
This is never going to happen, and if you’ve seen what iOS’s file structure actually looks like you’d know why.

It’s a mess that Apple would never expose to users. It’s why apps’ files are siloed into certain locations, and by no means is it easily navigable.
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Two things you can take to the bank:
It won't be called iOS13 because an international company like apple is not going to risk issues from the superstitions over "13".
If file management finally for iOS comes to the fore, It's the death knell for a a discrete OS for all us luddites that still actually use laptops or desktops for things like... actual REAL work.
That must be why they skipped macOS 10.13 last year, except also they didn’t. Apple’s not going to buy into superstitious nonsense.
 
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Sorry to differ. i can think of several technical reasons (as well as plenty of Apple's own monetizing issues).

Let me try in order of perceived decreasing importance:
  1. Speed in Pattern Recognition: FaceID is an always-on system requiring no prodding (unlike TouchID or passwords). It would have to cull against multiple ids on its image store (or its mathematical equivalent) without perceived latency by humans.
  2. Precision in Pattern Recognition (within time constraints): Given the recognition-time constraints, how many false positives (a failure), and how many false negatives (an irritant) are allowed in the pattern recognition?
  3. Size of Image Store in Pattern Recognition: How much "multi" is multi-user? Because size of images store affects speed, precision, and margin (TC's overarching interest).

You're just restating the same point thrice: it'll require more storage, and looking up from that storage will take longer.

But flash storage is also increasing in capacity and bandwidth over time, and will keep improving for quite a while. So your point are non-issues a few years down the road.

I will say it again:
FaceID on the iPad, when/if it appears, will be aligned closely with single-user iOS, where even "new iPad for School", remains unapologetically single-user.

iPads in schools aren't single-user.
 
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