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SamGabbay

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 15, 2011
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Serious question here, why do we need TextEdit in iOS 8 if we have Pages for free?
 
Serious question here, why do we need TextEdit in iOS 8 if we have Pages for free?

Well, Pages isn't free, only for new devices activated from around iOS 7's release, or something like that. So devices like the 4S and 5 don't have it for free. Secondly, aren't they two different things? On OS X, TextEdit files can be saved to iCloud, so it'd be nice to have an iOS app that can directly plug in to that iCloud storage. I don't have Pages so I don't know, but can you use it to edit these TextEdit files saved on OS X?
 
I think there does need to be some trimming of these kinds of applications, especially on OS X.

Right now, there are:

- Pages
- TextEdit
- Notes
- Stickies
- Stickies in Dashboard

Pages obviously is the best for document creation, but the other 3 all overlap is some or all areas. You could maybe make a case for TextEdit, as it edits all kinds of text documents that others don't open, but I can't see why maybe iCloud TextEdit documents couldn't appear/be merged with Notes?
 
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I agree with you. If iOS already has Notes and Pages, there is literally no need for TextEdit. I don't see it happening.
 
Do we even know that there is going to be TextEdit there?
 
I would like to see Notes and Text Edit merge. They are both so simple, and would fit nicely as one app. Basically just Text Edit with an overview pane.
 
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I'm referring to the leaked home screen. And its icon could look exactly like the one in Mac.

Ive, or anyone at Apple, would never use some old desktop icon for iOS7-8. It could be a placeholder though.
 
I don't think they will be real apps, more like... some background services or something like that. Remember those screenshots were from a very early build with even placeholder icons.

Now, they should kill the Contacts app (we have the phone app for that), Game Centre and merge the Compass app to Maps.
 
I don't think they will be real apps, more like... some background services or something like that. Remember those screenshots were from a very early build with even placeholder icons.

Now, they should kill the Contacts app (we have the phone app for that), Game Centre and merge the Compass app to Maps.

Apps are most successful when they're focused on doing one simple thing... going through submenus to get to different functions is time consuming.

Look at instagram vs facebook. With facebook, you have a lot of shiz going on in one app. With instagram, it's very focused. Take a photo, share a photo, see shared photos (and I guess now video, too). That's why the app got so insanely successful so quickly. You could still share photos on facebook, but as the exp is so fragmented, it's not as successful.

Same reason why foursquare is separating it's services into diff apps and getting a lot of praise for it.

While I agree with you that contacts app is a bit redundant (especially considering that it's built into spotlight too), compass in maps and combining other apps would make the user experience more frustrating for most users imo.
 
Because iCloud is designed to "silo" documents by grouping them based on what app created them.

So, based on that, how do I use my phone to read documents created by Text Edit on my Mac and saved on iCloud?

The answer is, I don't. Which is why they either need to make Text Edit for iOS or change how iCloud stores files. Guess which one is easier?
 
Text edit and preview are probably not going to be actual apps but more of a back end functionality that accesses these "hidden" apps. The same way the iPad technically has weather access for notification center and siri. Or how the phone.app ties in with the contacts.app.

Everyone should quit being so damn literal.
 
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