The reason why iOS wont change too much in the future

[Sensamic]

Hey everyone.

After the disappointing iOS 6 I was thinking what iOS 7 could bring that would make iOS great again. Then I realized one thing: iOS is aiming for a certain population, the general crowd thats not tech savvy.

Under Scotts supervision iOS has not change too much over the years. The refinement of iOS has been primary targeted to this general public, who dont need file explorer, bluetooth or wifi file transfers, real multitasking, etc.

Thats why we keep seeing new features like iMessage, VIP emails, Passbook, facetime over 3G, facebook and twitter integration, reject calls with SMS, etc.

This kind of features are awesome for the general consumers. Thats what they use most. But what about people like us that are more tech savvy and want more power? I really miss having a file explorer, for example, to manage my files, folders, copy and move files, etc. Or an easy way to transfer files between iOS devices, like from an iPhone to an iPad. The basic way for photos is email, which clearly shows my point: the general consumer wont use BT for file transfer, they will use email.

So all of this makes me think we will never see features for the hardcore users included in iOS. They wont add real multitasking because of battery life and such.

What do you guys think? I understand Apples point of view. Most of their income comes from the general consumers.

I guess Android is the way to go for those who are more "geeks".

Opinions?

 

[zbarvian]

Jailbreak or go Android if you want to be a hardcore smartphone user. I don't think Apple is catering to you, but I could be wrong.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Jailbreak or go Android if you want to be a hardcore smartphone user. I don't think Apple is catering to you, but I could be wrong.

Too bad a lot of functionality readily available under Android (as was under Windows Mobile and Symbian, the two other quite open operating systems) still can't be implemented on JB'n iDevices. An example: call recording directly, w/o using intermediate (and, currently, US-only) call proxies.

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What do you guys think? I understand Apples point of view. Most of their income comes from the general consumers.

Their entire lineup reflects this. While they do have a lot of loyal hardcore geeks, Apple have just decided their paying not that much money. Just some examples:

- 17" MPB's - a lot of high-end users have always preferred these models (think of it, a 17" MBP with a 4K screen!) They've dropped it - not even offering a non-Retina 2012 model.

- Mac Pro, FCPX - known examples

(- not offering a Retina MBP with two drive bays for people that do want to use a secondary hard disk because of the low capacity / outrageous price of high(er)-capacity SSD's.)

It seems we still need to switch to another platform if Apple goes on catering only for the non-tech savvy. Fortunately, there are, hardware-wise, pretty comparable devices out there now (Nexus 10, for example).

 

[r2shyyou]

Hey everyone.

After the disappointing iOS 6 I was thinking what iOS 7 could bring that would make iOS great again. Then I realized one thing: iOS is aiming for a certain population, the general crowd thats not tech savvy.

Under Scotts supervision iOS has not change too much over the years. The refinement of iOS has been primary targeted to this general public, who dont need file explorer, bluetooth or wifi file transfers, real multitasking, etc.

Thats why we keep seeing new features like iMessage, VIP emails, Passbook, facetime over 3G, facebook and twitter integration, reject calls with SMS, etc.

This kind of features are awesome for the general consumers. Thats what they use most. But what about people like us that are more tech savvy and want more power? I really miss having a file explorer, for example, to manage my files, folders, copy and move files, etc. Or an easy way to transfer files between iOS devices, like from an iPhone to an iPad. The basic way for photos is email, which clearly shows my point: the general consumer wont use BT for file transfer, they will use email.

So all of this makes me think we will never see features for the hardcore users included in iOS. They wont add real multitasking because of battery life and such.

What do you guys think? I understand Apples point of view. Most of their income comes from the general consumers.

I guess Android is the way to go for those who are more "geeks".

Opinions?

My opinion is that this talk of "geeks" and "hardcore users" is lacking explanation. What is it that you want to do that you can't already do relatively easily?

A file system? There's Dropbox or Google Drive (or probably numerous others). What exactly do you want this for? I'm curious to hear more.

An easyier way to transfer files between iOS devices? I'd wager that's coming within the next year or so. But for photos, in what way does Photo Stream (or Shared Photo Stream) not work for you?

And what is it that you consider "real" multitasking, compared to today's version? I'd just like to know what you want to see.

In terms of recent features that you claim are targeted to the "general public":

iMessage = awesome feature & more powerful (hardcore?) than traditional text messaging
VIP Inbox = I don't care for this at all, personally
Passbook = really handy, from my experience
FaceTime over 3G = better than Wi-Fi only
Facebook & Twitter integration = makes 100% sense to me in today's world
Reject calls with SMS = that's not a power feature? "Now you can do more than you could before!"

I'm genuinely interested to hear what exactly you're looking for and, in general, for you to elaborate on the current shortcomings of iOS 6. After all, since you're curious as to how iOS 7 could make iOS great "again," you clearly feel that it once was but no longer is.

 

[zbarvian]

Too bad a lot of functionality readily available under Android (as was under Windows Mobile and Symbian, the two other quite open operating systems) still can't be implemented on JB'n iDevices. An example: call recording directly, w/o using intermediate (and, currently, US-only) call proxies.

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Their entire lineup reflects this. While they do have a lot of loyal hardcore geeks, Apple have just decided their paying not that much money. Just some examples:

- 17" MPB's - a lot of high-end users have always preferred these models (think of it, a 17" MBP with a 4K screen!) They've dropped it - not even offering a non-Retina 2012 model.

- Mac Pro, FCPX - known examples

(- not offering a Retina MBP with two drive bays for people that do want to use a secondary hard disk because of the low capacity / outrageous price of high(er)-capacity SSD's.)

It seems we still need to switch to another platform if Apple goes on catering only for the non-tech savvy. Fortunately, there are, hardware-wise, pretty comparable devices out there now (Nexus 10, for example).

Dude, if you require every thinkable feature, then go Android. MacBooks are for professional designers, video editors, photographers, musicians, etc. The "hardcore" group is comprised of people who want an inordinate amount of control over their device, not to be confused with the "pro" group.

 

[Menneisyys2]

MacBooks are for professional designers, video editors, photographers, musicians, etc.

Exactly the same people that do ask (check out the Mac Pro / 17" threads!) for Mac Pros and high-end, expandable, high-res MBP's (which used to be the 17" models). These forums are full of such video / programming pros all asking for these now-abandoned or at least very rarely updated models.

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And what is it that you consider "real" multitasking, compared to today's version? I'd just like to know what you want to see.

For example, multiple windows like Quasar or at least some way of making an app work in the background?

Some examples currently NOT available and forcing me to use Qasar:


- waiting for people to join a game or make a move (can take minutes and doesn't run in the background)

- waiting for a page to load over a slow connection (GPRS / EDGE)

- waiting for article synching to finish in a news reader

- watching a video and, at the same time, doing something else (e.g., writing a transcript of the video or anything)

- running messenger apps, IRC etc. at the same time you browse the web etc.

 

[Sensamic]

I'm genuinely interested to hear what exactly you're looking for and, in general, for you to elaborate on the current shortcomings of iOS 6. After all, since you're curious as to how iOS 7 could make iOS great "again," you clearly feel that it once was but no longer is.

Basic examples of stuff I can do on Android and not on iOS:

- Have something downloading from the web in the background while I do something else. Also I can download torrents with an app. Apple doesnt allow torrent apps.

- Share pictures, videos, files, music and more with NFC Android Beam. Apple needs to implement Airdrop or something like that. I just want to share a picture, not create a Photo Stream with comments and all.

- Download any file from the web, like a .RAR, unzip it and them upload it to my NAS with its app. On iOS my NAS apps, called DS File, only allows for uploads of pictures and videos. What if I want to upload a PDF, .docx or .rar? I can't, because there is no file browser.

- What if you want to share a picture with someone who doesnt have an iPhone or iPad? In this case BT comes handy. Most people wont share their personal email just for you to send them a picture.

- Widgets for quick info without needing to open an app, like calendar appointments.

- Dropbox on iOS only can upload pictures and videos. This basically renders the app 90% useless. There are far far more stuff to use Dropbox with, not just pictures and videos. And if you upload something big you need to wait for it to complete. You cannot let it upload on the background as far as I know.

I know Android has all this, but I also wished iOS had at least some of this stuff. Most importantly: a file explorer. Seriously, what kind of OS (be it mobile or desktop) doesnt have a file explorer in 2012?

 

[Jumpie]

While I love Apple products, most responses are just plain and simple fanboy (one of who I am). But, there is much more customization that can be done like: allow integration with Google, Google+. Allow the end user a more customizable feature set. The whole "go to Android" response gets old.

 

[Leet Apple]

iOS is simple thats what i liked about it in the past, but as time passes i agree i haven't seen any change its always remained for the "general consumer" i'm just waiting on the next big thing.

I believe Android isn't the solution thought, there would be no android if there was not an Apple iPhone

 

[teknikal90]

The apple brand is turning into a bang olufsen.. A harman kardon...
Great quality, great design, premium product....but theyre consumer products, the pros wouldn't use them

The pros still use Mac pros today, but they're slowly but surely switching to pcs....
I'm from Vancouver and I know of at least 1 visual effects studio that switching to a pc based main render machine.

 

[Ericcc]

... iOS is aiming for a certain population, the general crowd thats not tech savvy.

[...] This kind of features are awesome for the general consumers. Thats what they use most. But what about people like us that are more tech savvy and want more power?

Maybe they can have their cake and you can eat it too: advanced mode for iOS.

The general populace who are happy with their iOS and don't care for the other side of the fence can just keep on using their interface. For those who want more control and functionality, they can toggle it in settings.

 

[zriffle]

Maybe they can have their cake and you can eat it too: advanced mode for iOS.

The general populace who are happy with their iOS and don't care for the other side of the fence can just keep on using their interface. For those who want more control and functionality, they can toggle it in settings.

That would be AMAZING. I'm relatively new to iOS, coming from android. But I already miss having things function in the background, and a file manager.

I can't believe I haven't seen this suggested before, it's one of those ideas that seems so obvious, yet you never saw that it was right there in front of your face the whole time lol.

 

[Ericcc]

That would be AMAZING. I'm relatively new to iOS, coming from android. But I already miss having things function in the background, and a file manager.

I can't believe I haven't seen this suggested before, it's one of those ideas that seems so obvious, yet you never saw that it was right there in front of your face the whole time lol.

Thanks! Can't take credit though. That goes to the folks at Cyanogen with some of their settings.

 

[Sensamic]

The biggest problem is: what will happen next?

I've lost a little bit of faith that iOS will bring some advanced features in iOS 7 and beyond. I just see Apple introducing more features like iMessage and Reminders. I don't see them introducing a file explorer or airdrop.

Maybe the new iOS boss will change some stuff. Just remember that devastating quote about an anonymous Apple inside after Scott was fired. He said that the iOS team wasn't pushing it hard enough because they didn't have enough time to make perfect new complicated features, like Siri or Maps. That's why the last iOS 6 was full of little features instead of big ones.

This news appeared on the front page of macrumors when Scott was fired. It just shows what I mean.