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iPad This is the reason why iPad doesn't have split screen multitasking

I

ipadlvr

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2014
210
4
The reason is because the way it is now, in tablet, split screen sucks. You can't tell me this is good

ipad-multitask-concept.jpg


That just looks horrible. I can see half the content, the app is squished to the side and it looks like a real mess.

This wouldn't make me any more productive. Actually it would just get in the way and be annoying.

Apple can't ship and iPad to do that. It is terrible. When Apple figures out some really effective way to work with more than one thing on the screen at the same time then they will give that to you.

it is better than shipping that mess above.

As it stands, with 2GB of ram, think of it as having full screen apps on OSX and you're just swiping between them. And for now that's as good as it gets for a 10" tablet.
 
10". That's the key. In the context of tablets, it's at the larger end. In the context of laptops it's laughably small.

That said, the ability to have a window running a video at the bottom right, like in the YouTube app, while you do something else would be nice. I'd personally rarely use it though.
 
I tried it on a Surface Pro and personally I think it works very well. At least Microsoft's implementation. iOS needs splitscreen multitasking to bring it to 2012. It won't be appreciated until it actually happens, and when it does, as usual, it'll be the best innovation ever. :rolleyes:

iOS will have splitscreen multitasking for larger iPad models one day. That I can promise you. If it doesn't, Apple run the risk of being overshadowed by everyone else in the industry.
 
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But if they made it with resizable, floating windows it would be better. One instance I'm always needing to to see and access my ewallet alongside another window. It wouldn't nee to be full screen maybe 1/4-1/3 size. Or it could 'float on top of my other screen that is 3/4 size and I simple touch one to bring it into focus.

Same goes for tow instances of Safari where they are each 3/4 size but flora and I am able to read one, copy something, touch the other and paste something.

Many years ago I had one of the original HP 1000 and an HP 1100. Those were tablets that ran full-blown Windows XP (and I updated them to run Vista and eventually Win7). I found floating, resizable windows to be very useful and perfectly fine. This is a real world usage for more than 5 years.

So to be useful on a small tablet, the windows must be resizable. I don't know enough about iOS to know if the code allows resizing of an app on the fly.
 
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roadbloc said:
I tried it on a Surface Pro and personally I think it works very well. At least Microsoft's implementation. iOS needs splitscreen multitasking to bring it to 2012. It won't be appreciated until it actually happens, and when it does, as usual, it'll be the best innovation ever. :rolleyes:

iOS will have splitscreen multitasking for larger iPad models one day. That I can promise you. If it doesn't, Apple run the risk of being overshadowed by everyone else in the industry.
Click to expand...

Surface makes it work because of the aspect ratio.
 
Two apps updated for the iPhone 6 Plus would look and work quite nice side by side on a 9.7" display....

Worth a thought...
 
Apple would have to find something better than the way we see now in most android tablets. I think it's terrible.

I'm not comparing it to the Surface because that's basically a laptop running Windows.

They could do some sort of floating Window for some apps. I wouldn't mind chatting and watching a video at the same time. But this isn't easy to design. A way that really works well. I'd rather just have the way it is now than the way it is in a Galaxy Note.

I would rather they had Widgets for homescreens than split screen. Having an upcoming events widget or a calendar widget that I can make a homescreen a calendar for example instead of having to open apps all the time.

What if I want my homescreen to have some icons and half the screen to be an upcoming events widget for my calendar.

I would find that a much more useful way of utilizing the 10" screen
 
If the next Air will get a resolution bump it will make multitasking more useful. Windows will get small and we will need that extra sharpness.

9.7" is definitely not too small for multitasking so let's wait until Apple "invents" it.
 
WashupDawg said:
If the next Air will get a resolution bump it will make multitasking more useful. Windows will get small and we will need that extra sharpness.

9.7" is definitely not too small for multitasking so let's wait until Apple "invents" it.
Click to expand...
They will have to. I haven't seen anyone do it right on a tablet.

Surface again doesn't count. That's windows, and nobody wants a Surface, that's a fact. If that's what people wanted, a Laplet, they would be flocking to get the Surface, instead they're stacked all the way to the ceiling at a warehouse collecting dust.
 
I would imagine you could run two landscape apps, one above the other with the iPad in portrait orientation. That may make the most sense with the iPad's 4:3 ratio.
 
ipadlvr said:
The reason is because the way it is now, in tablet, split screen sucks. You can't tell me this is good.
Click to expand...

So rotate it to portrait; that's what I would do if I wanted to watch a video and browse. That way the apps would get the full width of the screen.

Your image is misleading. Why would Mail show the landscape view, when it is running in a narrower width? It would display the portrait version thus getting rid of that sidebar. I think if Apple went with the 1/3 - 2/3 screen split, the 1/3 apps would soapily the phone version while the 2/3 app displays the iPad version. Universal binaries would mean that you only download one app which chooses which layout to display based on what and how you are displaying.

As far as RAM, I had Quasar running on my jailbroken Mini 1 and it was fine.
 
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dannyyankou said:
People would never put 3 apps on their screen. Here's a better example.

Image
Click to expand...

For sure. I have no idea what the OP was posting there (the left tab wasn't even a full screenshot of Safari, part of it is cutoff on the left side.) Despite that, I thought it looked all right even still, the mail app wasn't that differently sized than the phone version, and all of it was still pretty useable.

The ideal split-screen would be two apps, simultaneously able to be used. I think it's bound to come sooner than later, but I really think it's a completely needed feature on an iPad these days and it's sorely missed when you realize how much people multitask.

It seems like the real way to multitask on iOS is to have an iPhone and iPad to be used at the same time, and that is pretty horrible. I know I've used both devices at the same time more than a few times.
 
Cool Pup said:
It seems like the real way to multitask on iOS is to have an iPhone and iPad to be used at the same time, and that is pretty horrible. I know I've used both devices at the same time more than a few times.
Click to expand...
10/10

Apple doesn't need to invent multitasking once again. Just buy two devices :/
 
This ridiculous image of three apps squeezed onto a tablet screen is supposed to shore up your argument? That is weak...and lazy.
 
Samsung has perfected multi window on their cell phones and tablets. The Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) and new have the best multi window dual screen. The Note 12.2 allows 4 apps simultaneously and it's perfect.
 
It doesn't look usable in your photo because that isn't how it would work. The left browser window would be just like looking at content on an iPhone - you could get it to look like that but it would require you to manually pinch to zoom.

The mail window would do likewise, that mail message would be scaled to fit.

The real problem is what to do with video players (they get super tiny) and what to do when the keyboard pops up (Apps not expecting the keyboard to take half the screen will be unusable while it is showing.)
 
dannyyankou said:
People would never put 3 apps on their screen. Here's a better example.

Image
Click to expand...

Oh come on now you are being thoughtful and reasonable.

You are kinda killing the "rabble rabble rabble" factor

----------
ipadlvr said:
The reason is because the way it is now, in tablet, split screen sucks. You can't tell me this is good

Image

That just looks horrible. I can see half the content, the app is squished to the side and it looks like a real mess.

This wouldn't make me any more productive. Actually it would just get in the way and be annoying.

Apple can't ship and iPad to do that. It is terrible. When Apple figures out some really effective way to work with more than one thing on the screen at the same time then they will give that to you.

it is better than shipping that mess above.

As it stands, with 2GB of ram, think of it as having full screen apps on OSX and you're just swiping between them. And for now that's as good as it gets for a 10" tablet.
Click to expand...

Apple has given developers the tools to set size classes to cover the many different ranges in sizes. The tools are in people's hands. I would bet money safari and Mail wouldn't look like that side by side. Safari I'd expect to do a fit to width of the content area with navigation adjusting to fit the screen. Mail id expect to be a message specific view with the option to pull in drop down sub views based on iPhone 6 style menus for seeing message lists.
 
I have the surface pro 3 (and before that the 12.2 inch note pro), and let me say from experience, the multiwindow experience is far from ideal. Apple will not be implementing this feature unless it actually makes sense. It has to be easy to use, more useful than one app at a time, and still have enough screen space to see important info at a glance (no scrolling around), not to mention apps would need to support it in some way by re-sizing to fit the new space. Once Apple has addressed these important issues they will implement the feature. I could see Apple doing things differently from the competition by having some kind of half way there approach.

TL|DR:
Multiwindow is not all that, Apple knows this.
 
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