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What do you think of windowed apps for iPad?

KittyKatta

KittyKatta

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 24, 2011
1,058
1,212
SoCal
I'm curious if anyone ever runs into situations where they want multiple apps on screen at once. I know iPad purists will say that full screen single tasking is what makes the iPad experience. But for me I would like to be reading a site, Instapaper or email while at the same time watching Netflix, MLB GameDay YouTube like I do on the computer. So a windowed app would be a nice option because then I can watch Hulu and then check my mail without interrupting the video stream. I know that Expose is rumored to be coming along and I love the idea of it, but it's not the same as actually using two apps at once.

So am I alone in this feeling that a 10" screen can benefit from more than one App at a time?

(BTW. I actually went out and bought a cheap iPod Touch for this very reason. Now I can really multitask, but I wouldn't mind being able to do it all on one machine)
 
It's inevitable. I just realized this as soon as I started streaming cable vision and realized that's all I could do. Even two apps one below the other in potrait mode would be enough for me. For now.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't mind having windowed apps. Apple could probably find a way to do it and preserve the user experience, like using multitouch gestures to control it. Maybe if you had one app open and you double clicked the home button to bring up the running apps, you could drag one of them onto the bottom of the screen and have it split half and half.
 
I think it sounds great. It sounds great because it's easy to imagine it working at its best and not having to think about the problems in implementing and using such an interface.

Of course, some people will come along and say 'it would work like this, easy' but you never know what will cause problems when it's time to roll up sleeves and actually get it done. That's why they're called 'problems'. Best of luck to those Taposé guys.
 
Carouser said:
I think it sounds great. It sounds great because it's easy to imagine it working at its best and not having to think about the problems in implementing and using such an interface.

Of course, some people will come along and say 'it would work like this, easy' but you never know what will cause problems when it's time to roll up sleeves and actually get it done. That's why they're called 'problems'. Best of luck to those Taposé guys.
Click to expand...

I'm in for 10 bucks to get a copy of it , if it works... If not refund!
 
Tablets are still a new niche, I mainly use mine for casual use. Therefore it's not important to me at this time. I'd still rather use my MBP or Mac Pro for real work. That said, I can see where some users might desire it though.
 
ipxmbx said:
Tablets are still a new niche, I mainly use mine for casual use. Therefore it's not important to me at this time. I'd still rather use my MBP or Mac Pro for real work. That said, I can see where some users might desire it though.
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I use my computer for real work too, but I think the "floating apps" would actually be more beneficial for when doing casual stuff like reading sites and pinching/flicking apps like facetime or twitter around the screen.
 
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i think i just threw up in my mouth a little after i read this... just kidding... but no I definitely do not want that.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

I thunk something like tapose is inevitable. iOS was initially conceived as a phone, which has limited screen real estate. A tablet should be able to deliver much more functionality just by virtue of its bigger screen. I don't know that we'll see two simultaneously running apps for a while, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of split screen or expose/launchpad functionality soon.
 
It has to happen eventually I think, but not for a long while. There are serious productivity advantages to having two windows open beside each other.

One thought I had (like a step 1) was to have two or more iPhone apps open on the same screen, that would be pretty cool.
 
thelookingglass said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

I thunk something like tapose is inevitable. iOS was initially conceived as a phone, which has limited screen real estate. A tablet should be able to deliver much more functionality just by virtue of its bigger screen. I don't know that we'll see two simultaneously running apps for a while, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of split screen or expose/launchpad functionality soon.
Click to expand...

Actually, it was revealed by Apple that iOS started as a tablet then got turned into a phone (which just hit the market before the tablet it was originally made for).
 
thelookingglass said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

I thunk something like tapose is inevitable. iOS was initially conceived as a phone, which has limited screen real estate. A tablet should be able to deliver much more functionality just by virtue of its bigger screen. I don't know that we'll see two simultaneously running apps for a while, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of split screen or expose/launchpad functionality soon.
Click to expand...

Anyone whose opinion that starts with "I thunk..." has already discredited their own argument no matter what the content :rolleyes:

I have no desire to see windowed apps on my iPad. If you must have more than one program open at once then the iPad probably isn't the device for you. Fiddly little windows on an iPad would detract from the average users experience. The iPad has not sold in it's millions because it does everything a technically inclined person demands, it has sold because it does things in a manner that is simple and easy for anyone to use.
 
Gregintosh said:
Actually, it was revealed by Apple that iOS started as a tablet then got turned into a phone (which just hit the market before the tablet it was originally made for).
Click to expand...

All Jobs said was that it was a touch tablet demo (no doubt running on OSX) that made him want to build an all touch phone.

We know the demo couldn't have been using iOS, since that wasn't even started until 2006, shortly after the secret Purple 2 (iPhone) project began in earnest around Thanksgiving 2005.

Years later, the new phone OS was adapted back to tablets.
 
LiloThePleo said:
Anyone whose opinion that starts with "I thunk..." has already discredited their own argument no matter what the content :rolleyes:

I have no desire to see windowed apps on my iPad. If you must have more than one program open at once then the iPad probably isn't the device for you. Fiddly little windows on an iPad would detract from the average users experience. The iPad has not sold in it's millions because it does everything a technically inclined person demands, it has sold because it does things in a manner that is simple and easy for anyone to use.
Click to expand...

Wow, that was lame. You apparently have never made a typo on your iPhone. Good for you. I'd give you a pat on the back if I could.

And the lameness is accompanied by a stunning lack of imagination on what tablets could be as technology continues to progress. Simplicity does not necessarily equate to reduced functionality. We are talking about windowed apps and I could see a multi-pane user interface being both simple to use and extremely functional. The current multitasking bar in Honeycomb is a decent example.

kdarling said:
All Jobs said was that it was a touch tablet demo (no doubt running on OSX) that made him want to build an all touch phone.

We know the demo couldn't have been using iOS, since that wasn't even started until 2006, shortly after the secret Purple 2 (iPhone) project began in earnest around Thanksgiving 2005.

Years later, the new phone OS was adapted back to tablets.
Click to expand...

Yep, exactly. Jobs said his first inspiration was to do a tablet. He asked his UI guys to develop a large multi-touch display, which they did. They also added inertial scrolling and that's when Jobs realized that those features would work very well on a phone. He then said doing a phone was more important at the time (perhaps because it would be easier for Apple to reach a much broader market with a phone) so they began developing iOS as a phone-centric OS.

So the point remains. iOS in its first complete iteration was primarily designed for a phone. We are now just begin to explore the possibilities when iOS is unleashed on a bigger form factor.
 
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i hope apple will eventually add a widget system to the spotlight space. i never use spotlight and it's just so lonely sitting there in the most important springboard area.
 
fizzwinkus said:
i hope apple will eventually add a widget system to the spotlight space. i never use spotlight and it's just so lonely sitting there in the most important springboard area.
Click to expand...

I hope so too.

It's funny, when the iPhone first came out, everyone was convinced that it would support live widgets.

That same June at WWDC, Jobs raved about all the widgets available for Dashboard, saying that he used them constantly. (see pic)

Too bad he doesn't allow them on iOS.
 

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