Next Year's iOS 13 Update to Feature iPad-Focused Upgrades Like Revamped Files App

[hagar]

An iOS release that is 1,5 years away, and still nothing big to look forward to. I fully realise how complex and slow software development is, but if Apple wants to stay relevant they have to step up. Apple is innovating its software side too slow. If they did it from a quality point of view, I would understand but that's not the case (anymore). They aim for a "good enough" status. And while they do have a lot of brilliant ideas, they fail to bring them to full potential and often other companies copy/paste and improve much faster (Google Photos and Alexa come to mind)

 

[partsofspeech]

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.

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.

I agree that Microsoft does not craft their tablets well. However, the casue of that is not that their intial vision is wrong. It’s just that Microsoft is lack of the capability of soft-hardware integration.

I believe iOS has been used in Job’s original plan as an incubator for iPad. When the first iPad was designed, Apple did not know how to integrate touch input with the other existing inputs. Why should that integration be difficult? Touch is just another input method. When a new input method was invented before, such as mouse, it was incoorporated into the old os.

Take ‘copy and paste of text’ as a study case. There would not be tough technical problems to stop Touch and mouse click from working interchangeably. So the separation between iPad and iMac does not come from Touch input. I think it came from the weak power of A-chips for the iOS devices.

In the near future when the A13 chip arrives, iMac will have it replacing Intel and become a huge iPad while iPad will be a thinner, lighter, and portable iMac.

 

[Janichsan]

It's one step forward, two steps back because iOS 10 was stable. iOS 11 was too bug filled to the point Apple is pushing all its plans back to iOS 13 and 2019.

iOS 10 was better, but it still wasn't good. There already were tons of bugs, which in part had been around since iOS 9.
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Take ‘copy and paste of text’ as a study case. There would not be tough technical problems to stop Touch and mouse click from working interchangeably. So the separation between iPad and iMac does not come from Touch input. I think it came from the weak power of A-chips for the iOS devices.

I seriously doubt that copying & pasting text is something that requires a particularly large amount of processing power, when even much less powerful 68k Macs and 386 MS-DOS PCs could do it…

 

[nexusrule]

I believe iOS has been used in Job’s original plan as an incubator for iPad. When the first iPad was designed, Apple did not know how to integrate touch input with the other existing inputs. Why should that integration be difficult? Touch is just another input method. When a new input method was invented before, such as mouse, it was incoorporated into the old os.

"Touch" and mouse are not comparable at all. A cursory study of input and interaction would teach you that. The mouse is an input device, "touch" as you call it is a user interface. In the second case the hand becomes the input device and it has totally different requirements in terms of size of the targets, level of responsivity needed in the interface, paradigm of use and so on. You can't have users use touch and mouse at the same time without having an inefficient and compromised interface. There is probably a reason why, despite all the praises by lover of hybrids, Surface devices keep not selling while the "unsuccessful" iPads sell a whole lot more and are even back to grow.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

Norton File Manager came out in 1986; 32 years ago. How are Apple touting a new Files app as something to look forward to next year?

 

[icymountain]

The good news is that they seem to understand that the software that they ship with their iPad line is not adequate.
The bad news is that they do not realise how overdue a steep improvement really is. A 1.5 year wait is ludicrous, especially as we have no idea what is really going to come out.

I was relieved to see the Files App come, but it is so limited, that I almost never use it. Just one example: I accessed a .pdf file from Files and opened it with Acrobat Reader; I thought that it was now at least copied into the Acrobat Reader's space; two days later, I go back to Acrobat, and it told me that the file is not available as I am offline. FAIL. App sandboxing still makes many basic tasks a pain.

Now, here is how I feel about the iPad line: as a consumption device, a mini would be enough in size; the iPad pro has wonderful hardware, and I can do a bit of drawing and typing, which is good, but the software support is lacking and makes it impossible for me to rely on instead of a laptop. If at least Apple would update the mini, I would happily settle for that. If Apple improved drastically iOS (real file management, app collaboration, etc), the iPad would, in some occasions take the place of a laptop. In the current state it does neither, and I am less and less happy with it.

 

[Tech198]

Trying to become more like Dropbox iOS are they.

 

[Abazigal]

I agree that Microsoft does not craft their tablets well. However, the casue of that is not that their intial vision is wrong. It’s just that Microsoft is lack of the capability of soft-hardware integration.

I think it's more because a desktop OS just sucked to use on a touchscreen device. No amount of integration would have gotten around that problem.

I believe iOS has been used in Job’s original plan as an incubator for iPad. When the first iPad was designed, Apple did not know how to integrate touch input with the other existing inputs. Why should that integration be difficult? Touch is just another input method. When a new input method was invented before, such as mouse, it was incoorporated into the old os.

My take is that Apple had a very specific manner in which they envisioned the ipad being used. For example, if I am using the iPad while lounging on the sofa, or when I am walking around a room, I am not in a position to use a mouse, and so mouse support is superfluous.

Not to mention you expressly want developers to optimise their apps for touch and direct input. In this context, not allowing mouse support sends a very strong message to app developers - don't bother trying to design your app layout around pointers, because it's never going to be a thing.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Your user interface is either optimised for touch, or keyboard and mouse, and you have to draw your line in the sand from day one. Apple chose the former, and I think they made the right call.

My concern around allowing mouse input is that this might open a Pandora's box, where developers start designing their apps around the expectation that users start navigating their iPads with a mouse, which in turn disadvantages those who would control their iPads using the touchscreen.

At the end of the day, I am not convinced the iPad should have mouse support.

Take ‘copy and paste of text’ as a study case. There would not be tough technical problems to stop Touch and mouse click from working interchangeably. So the separation between iPad and iMac does not come from Touch input. I think it came from the weak power of A-chips for the iOS devices.

I think it's more that mouse support simply didn't make sense on a device designed to be navigated using your fingers, and which was by its very design intended to be used away from a desk.

In the near future when the A13 chip arrives, iMac will have it replacing Intel and become a huge iPad while iPad will be a thinner, lighter, and portable iMac.

Good lord, no.

 

[gnasher729]

iPads are not meant to be shared, this is not a wePad. The solution is simple, you just buy more iPads. Why, because apple loves money.

Just because Apple doesn't want them to be shared, doesn't mean I don't want them to be shared. And people would buy iPads with more memory if they are shared.
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MORE Animoji? I think they are cute. But how many does Apple think we need? Are they really that popular?

I suppose there is one guy in a tiny little office who designs animojis, plus all the new emojis that the Unicode standard demands. Has nothing to do with the rest of the company.

 

[chucker23n1]

Norton File Manager came out in 1986; 32 years ago. How are Apple touting a new Files app as something to look forward to next year?

Apple isn't touting anything; it's a rumor. And a split-view command-line interface file manager is hardly relevant to a tablet.

 

[gnasher729]

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?

My wife likes Candy Crush. It's a single purpose iOS with limited functionality. She'd love to run it on a Mac.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

Apple isn't touting anything; it's a rumor. And a split-view command-line interface file manager is hardly relevant to a tablet.

My point is people, not just Apple, have been working on the "users files" issue for over a third of a century, and by and large solved it; yet people believe Apple will knock it out of the park next year?

 

[Janichsan]

I was relieved to see the Files App come, but it is so limited, that I almost never use it. Just one example: I accessed a .pdf file from Files and opened it with Acrobat Reader; I thought that it was now at least copied into the Acrobat Reader's space; two days later, I go back to Acrobat, and it told me that the file is not available as I am offline. FAIL. App sandboxing still makes many basic tasks a pain.

As much as I agree with you that Files for iOS is extremely lackluster, I'm surprised that you blame the app for this. If your file is stored on a cloud drive, and you are not connected to said cloud drive, you cannot access the file. It's the very same when you use macOS' Finder, Windows' Explorer, or any other file manager. This has nothing to do with sandboxing or anything.

Not to mention you expressly want developers to optimise their apps for touch and direct input. In this context, not allowing mouse support sends a very strong message to app developers - don't bother trying to design your app layout around pointers, because it's never going to be a thing.

Android has mouse support, and yet I haven't seen a single Android app which is not optimised for touch input. So I would say developers are smart enough to discern what input method is the preferable one without removing all the other options.

 

[Abazigal]

Android has mouse support, and yet I haven't seen a single Android app which is not optimised for touch input. So I would say developers are smart enough to discern what input method is the preferable one without removing all the other options.

Yeah, because most apps are smartphone apps and the tablet app market is a barren wasteland.

Perhaps my concerns are overblown though. That said, I was thinking about what I wrote and now that Apple has the smart keyboard, it's clear their idea of productivity entails you seated at a desk typing away, so yeah, I suppose a mouse (or at least a trackpad) might not be that much of a stretch.

 

[brinary001]

Can we please get multiple profile support? I shouldn’t have to buy an iPad for every person in my family.

That would make sense and is long overdue, but this is Apple you’re talking about. Of course they want you to spend as much money as possible..

 

[CrazyForCashews]

An iOS release that is 1,5 years away, and still nothing big to look forward too. I fully realise how complex and slow software development is, but if Apple wants to stay relevant they have to step up. Apple is innovating its software side too slow. If they did it from a quality point of view, I would understand but that's not the case (anymore). They aim for a "good enough" status. And while they do have a lot of brilliant ideas, they fail to bring them to full potential and often other companies copy/paste and improve much faster (Google Photos and Alexa come to mind)

Completely agree.

Apple seems to be forgetting that software is more important than hardware.

Software is what makes or breaks your product.

 

[DNichter]

Completely agree.

Apple seems to be forgetting that software is more important than hardware.

Software is what makes or breaks your product.

What’s the rush? Who’s the competition? I agree that the software needs to be right and I want fast development as well, but I don’t think they aren’t moving fast enough. Every other year being iPad focused makes sense to me. I’d rather them take their time and get it right.

 

[icymountain]

As much as I agree with you that Files for iOS is extremely lackluster, I'm surprised that you blame the app for this. If your file is stored on a cloud drive, and you are not connected to said cloud drive, you cannot access the file. It's the very same when you use macOS' Finder, Windows' Explorer, or any other file manager. This has nothing to do with sandboxing or anything.

My blame is not directed only at the File App, but that the whole system that surrounds it.

Which does not make it simple at all to be sure what is on the tablet and accessible from it and what is not. A File System (not just File Manager) should make this dead simple. As said above this kind of problem has been solved for a very long time now, and, ten years after its initial release, the iPad is at least 1.5 year away from the point where it *may* grow to benefit from early 80s state of the art.

 

[mlody]

Our family of 4 had 4 iPads about 4 years ago. We currently only have one. In two years, I highly doubt we even have any iPads anymore.

 

[cmaier]

My point is people, not just Apple, have been working on the "users files" issue for over a third of a century, and by and large solved it; yet people believe Apple will knock it out of the park next year?

If you think it’s been solved you obviously haven’t done a study on what average users do with the file system. Which is mostly dump everything on the desktop or into one folder because they can’t get the hang of hierarchy and organization or search. Not to mention what happens when you introduce the concept of multiple cloud file systems.

 

[Janichsan]

My blame is not directed only at the File App, but that the whole system that surrounds it.

Which does not make it simple at all to be sure what is on the tablet and accessible from it and what is not. A File System (not just File Manager) should make this dead simple.

But Files does that: you can clearly see whether a document is stored in your iCloud drive (or any other cloud drive) or locally in the app's sidebar.

 

[truthertech]

You know I could gain back some respect for Cook if he would get up on stage and simply say, "This years software will have better quality and that is our focus. Sure there are few new features, but most important is reliability and quality. So I'll turn it over to ?????? to show you the list of 12000 bug fixes we are releasing." Then leaves the stage.

But what I fear from Cook is more of the "Its incredible!", which in reality to normal people not trying to BS the market place is it's really not all that incredible, just a little different.

As a developer, I really want non-BS. So it would also not hurt my feelings if Cook skipped this years WWDC. That would be a big improvement.

You seem to behind the news curve quite a bit. If we are to believe the reported internal statements from Craig Federighi that have been consistently reported over the past five months, what you are pining for is exactly Apple's plan for this year's release.

Also, a developer, you should be bowing to Tim Cook and Apple. Since they started the App store they are closing in on having put a $100 BILLION dollars in developer's pockets.

 

[DNichter]

Norton File Manager came out in 1986; 32 years ago. How are Apple touting a new Files app as something to look forward to next year?

So just leave all software as is if it isn’t perfect from the start? Improve upon things, pretty simple.
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My blame is not directed only at the File App, but that the whole system that surrounds it.

Which does not make it simple at all to be sure what is on the tablet and accessible from it and what is not. A File System (not just File Manager) should make this dead simple. As said above this kind of problem has been solved for a very long time now, and, ten years after its initial release, the iPad is at least 1.5 year away from the point where it *may* grow to benefit from early 80s state of the art.

It might just be me, but this is pretty easy to see in the files app. It has an iCloud Drive section and an On My iPad section on the left side. I guess maybe I’m not exactly sure what you or many others are looking for. Plenty of file managers out there also, Documents works great.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

If you think it’s been solved you obviously haven’t done a study on what average users do with the file system. Which is mostly dump everything on the desktop or into one folder because they can’t get the hang of hierarchy and organization or search. Not to mention what happens when you introduce the concept of multiple cloud file systems.

Here's the thing, if people want to "dump everything on the desktop or into one folder" than that's what people want to do. It's not through lack of understanding they want to do that. You can watch said users and scream "you don't understand you're doing it wrong!" but if that's what they want and every other file system allows them to do that then the job of a file system is done. Unless of course you believe people are wrong and the file system is yet to be solved (coming next year youall).

 

[cmaier]

Here's the thing, if people want to "dump everything on the desktop or into one folder" than that's what people want to do. It's not through lack of understanding they want to do that. You can watch said users and scream "you don't understand you're doing it wrong!" but if that's want they want and every other file system allows them to do that then the job of a file system is done. Unless of course you believe people are wrong and the file system is yet to be solved (coming next year youall).

Or you can invent a new way of doing things where the user doesn’t need to know where things are and doesn’t have to decide where to put them, but only has to know WHAT they want to open. This is part of the reason iOS is engineered largely so that apps keep track of their own files. You can hide the physical file system from the user and do things a different way. That’s what Apple has been working on all along in iOS.