Why has Apple made iOS5 so difficult to grasp?

[steveOooo]

i accepted icloud, but didnt really understand exactly what was going on, just, everything is synced from my mac - iphone and new ipad 2 (temporary usage until xmas, then ill get a cheap 1st gen 64gb for cheap).

 

[mantan]

The most non-intuitive portion is how to integrate (or not integrate) multiple devices.

As someone said earlier, the use of the generic term Apple ID for iTunes, iMessage, FaceTime, iCloud doesn't make it clear to the average user that you can have separate ID's for each of these things.

(How many questions have been asked by people wanting to share iTunes ID for purchases, but not understanding other devices can have separate ID's for other functions.)

Likewise people have different needs/desires for how they sync devices within the family. Some are frustrated because they can't sync iMessages in iPad and iPhone. Others want t keep it separate.

No big surprise....as functionality gets more complex, the idea of 'simple and easy, it just works' is going to be harder and harder to pull off.

Apple made a few stumbles with iOS5.

 

[BLOND37]

Not all users have unlimited texts. I used to but I wanted to reduce the cost of my contract so now I have like 500 or something. Which still seems like a lot but can easily been eaten through over the course of the month. With iMessage I don't need to worry (as much). Also, I can chat to my friends outside of the UK (and create chaos with a MacRumours group chat 😀), without having to pay. That said, I do think that Apple saw the enormous success of the Blackberry Messenger service and felt like they needed to have a similar product.

WiFi syncing won't be a benefit for everyone. It will to me, because my MBP is in a different room to where I normally charge my phone. I very very rarely backed it up manually, now it will happen every day. It took me a little while to work out why they needed this with iCloud but now I realise they backup different things. I still would love if it was done over iCloud though.

lots of people including my so called friends got it set up after a bit of time.. but wont help. did you get a message needing to authoize this?

after that all --ALL - you need to do is plug in it to chage cord?

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this whole thing is making me ill

 

[Roller]

1) Possibly merge the iTunes store and the App Store. Or at least rename the iTunes store. Also rename the iTunes app. It's not just about "tunes" (aka music) anymore, and it hasn't been for a long, long time. It's a central store for purchasing all types of media and apps. I might recommend iStore or iMarket. I'm not exactly sure what I'd rename the iTunes desktop app.

2) Rename the Apple ID to iStore ID or iMarket ID. Make it clear that this is an ID, specific to store purchases, which can be shared among family members.

3) Make it clear that the iCloud ID is specific to *you*. Maybe even force users to create an @me.com ID, rather than letting them use whatever ID they want to. Make it clear that this ID is for a single person, but can be used across all of that person's multiple Apple devices (e.g., use the same iCloud ID for Sally's iPhone and iPad, but not for Jimmy's iPhone).

In addition to the confusing aspects which the above could solve, I've also run into some syncing issues with iTunes on my laptop, where it hangs on the last syncing step (I forget what it says). I can wait forever and it won't ever finish, so I end up yanking the cord.

I agree with pretty much all your points. iTunes was fine for managing music libraries when iPods were the only handheld devices to sync with, but the paradigm has steadily broken down over the years. At this point, it's unclear what gets backed up and what gets restored (OS? content), and iCloud only adds to the confusion. iTunes is also an impediment to acceptance of iOS devices in the corporate world.

 

[richard.torble]

The difference with what they backup.

In my iTunes I've selected sync over wifi and sync to iCloud.

Even I'm not 100% sure but how I see it is your contacts, calendars, mail and photo stream (not calendar roll or albums) back up via iCloud. iTunes WiFi sync backs up your settings, SMS messages, music and apps. You can change exactly what iCloud backs up using the iCloud settings on any of your devices

 

[BLOND37]

i cant even get my wifi sync to work

 

[richard.torble]

lots of people including my so called friends got it set up after a bit of time.. but wont help. did you get a message needing to authoize this?

after that all --ALL - you need to do is plug in it to chage cord?

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this whole thing is making me ill

Some people have spoken of an authorisation email but I have never received one so I'm not sure how important that email is. To enable WiFi sync you have to have your phone plugged into your computer. In iTunes, select your phones settings by clicking on it in the device pane and click the box that says Allow iTunes WiFi sync. Then unplug your phone but do not 'eject' it in the device pane. Now, assuming iTunes is open and you are logged into your computer, when you plug your phone into power it will sync.

 

[BLOND37]

Some people have spoken of an authorisation email but I have never received one so I'm not sure how important that email is. To enable WiFi sync you have to have your phone plugged into your computer. In iTunes, select your phones settings by clicking on it in the device pane and click the box that says Allow iTunes WiFi sync. Then unplug your phone but do not 'eject' it in the device pane. Now, assuming iTunes is open and you are logged into your computer, when you plug your phone into power it will sync.

someome told me you also need to click the box - if i can find - to open itunes when phone is connected (??) i never got any kind of email me either.
dumb question - how do you know its working lol