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Future of Dashboard

S

Speedyparker87

Cancelled
Original poster
Apr 4, 2010
80
0
Chicago
What's going on with Dashboard? Ever since Apple gave it its own space, it's been such a waste of space--especially on a 27" screen. I'd like to see Apple either

a) get rid of it -- don't think many people would miss it, or

b) add a section to the MAS where people could sell widgets (maybe developers would actually create something useful/decent looking

Another thing that would be cool (but I can't see happening) is running purchased iOS apps in the dashboard.

Anybody else with thoughts on the future of Dashboard, how you think Apple views it and what we might expect of it in Mountain Lion?
 
Speedyparker87 said:
What's going on with Dashboard? Ever since Apple gave it its own space, it's been such a waste of space--especially on a 27" screen. I'd like to see Apple either
Click to expand...

If you uncheck "Show Dashboard as a space" under your Mission Control settings, doesn't it act the same as Snow Leopard?
 
Jagardn said:
If you uncheck "Show Dashboard as a space" under your Mission Control settings, doesn't it act the same as Snow Leopard?
Click to expand...

Sort of, but the F key activation is all screwed up, you have to hold the fn key to activate it on F4. Wasting the F4 key on launchpad seems useless to me, since a four finger 'pinch-in' does the same trick on a trackpad, and well... launchpad is useless.

After becoming so frustrated about the useless-ness of having the dashboard on it's own space, (I mean isn't the point of a lot of widgets, so you can refer back to what's on the screen?!) I was driven enough to figure it out.

Anyway ... simple fix:

disable dashboard as a 'space' , install Functionflip and flip the F4 key.

ta da, expose like back in SL.

You know, all these little work arounds, hidden (or just unpublicised) options and features, I think Apple know people will find a way to customise their OSX experience to their liking, but the thing is, you have to have at least a semblance of an idea about how your computer works to do it.

It's like a reward for being so pedantic.
 
iZac said:
Sort of, but the F key activation is all screwed up, you have to hold the fn key to activate it on F4. Wasting the F4 key on launchpad seems useless to me, since a four finger 'pinch-in' does the same trick on a trackpad, and well... launchpad is useless.
Click to expand...

My F4 activates Dashboard in Lion, not Launchpad? :confused:
 
Richdmoore said:
It depends on the keyboard model. If your f4 apple wireless keyboard has the boxes (newest) it will start the launch pad. If you have an older one with the "steam gauge" icon, it will start the dashboard.
Click to expand...

How odd, I'm sure my old 1,1 Mac Pro with its Gen 1 alu bluetooth keyboard converted the F4 key to launchpad upon installing Lion.

Oh well, sorry if I'm giving anyone mis-information!

Incidentally, as SpeedyParker says, many of Lions gesture features and full screen etc is wasted on a magic mouse and 27" monitor. Much better integration on notebooks though.
 
i hate it but i liked the old version where it would come over your screen
because with the terminal comnd your able to drag things like calculators on to the desktop for quick uses
 
I like the dashboard. It gives quick access to information. For example, on my Mac I can check in the dashboard the weather, package delivery status, printer ink status, etc.

Thus, I would support the "add a section to the MAS where people could sell widgets (maybe developers would actually create something useful/decent looking" option.
 
iZac said:
How odd, I'm sure my old 1,1 Mac Pro with its Gen 1 alu bluetooth keyboard converted the F4 key to launchpad upon installing Lion.

Oh well, sorry if I'm giving anyone mis-information!

Incidentally, as SpeedyParker says, many of Lions gesture features and full screen etc is wasted on a magic mouse and 27" monitor. Much better integration on notebooks though.
Click to expand...

F3 key changes, but the F4 function will not change. I am using an older 3 battery apple wireless keyboard, I get the dashboard and not launchpad.

Here is an article that explains how to remap the keys (F5 & F6 are blank as well.)

http://m.tuaw.com/2011/07/22/make-your-pre-lion-keyboard-work-with-launchpad/
 
Speedyparker87 said:
Another thing that would be cool (but I can't see happening) is running purchased iOS apps in the dashboard.
Click to expand...

Technically, that would be easy - the iOS Simulator exists. But using a touch interface with a mouse is frustrating.

If Apple integrated a Widgets section into the MAS, classy developers could simply port their apps using Chameleon, for example: http://chameleonproject.org/
 
I use it a lot. The translation widget is handy for the occasional time you forget a word when IM-ing through your non native language. Also, the clock can display the time zone from that region so you don't annoy them at an obnoxious hour of the morning.

Currency/unit converter, notepad, weather,calculator and safari web clips of some websites are other things I use every day.

Of course, what's good for some people is useless for others. A good operating system will cater for all kinds. I don't think there is anything for Apple to gain from removing it. It has barely changed since Tiger which is a sign of how well they implemented initially it in my opinion.
 
It doesn't look like any new widgets have been added to Apple's list in over a year. Many of the widgets also have an outdated look too. After additional thought, I'm pretty sure Apple will remove dashboard in the release after Mountain Lion if not sooner.

Step 1 was the Mac App Store. The MAS already has a number of lightweight apps that mimic the functionality of what we currently call widgets. Step 2 was giving Dashboard widgets their own space by default. Just place the lightweight apps in their own space and you have essentially what dashboard provides. I think Apple makes the argument that having a separate widgets section/store is redundant, bad for developers and confusing for users They'll kill widgets as we know them and point you to apps.
 
If they had wanted to remove Dashboard, they wouldn't have changed the interface for adding widgets in 10.8 in the first place. There is completely no point in removing Dashboard and I do think, that they will extend it a bit in the future (and even add widgets functionality to iOS, but that's a different story).

Dashboard is widely used among all mac users I know and it would be very unconvenient for me if they removed it.

By the way, I prefer Dashboard as overlay to desktop. Don't like it as a space.
 
getting rid of dashboard is a stupid idea. what do you use if you want to calculate something in five seconds? even post-its are much faster; true, they're not as "smart" as reminders but sometimes you don't actually need a reminder - e.g. "i have to download this" or "this is that guy's email, but i don't want to pollute my contacts". it's just a bit sad that nobody makes widgets anymore.
 
I like Dashboard as a feature (widgets really can be handy), but my main problem with the feature isn't anything Apple's done… it's with 3rd-party developers. For whatever reason, most Dashboard widgets have zero polish and are a bloody mess aesthetically - it's like all the worst web designers felt compelled to publish a widget.

What I'd really like to see happen is for Apple to make a big push to reinvigorate Dashboard with a crop of new, really beautiful system-standard widgets and a vastly improved widget gallery. A spot on the app store would work beautifully.
 
Dashboard is a waste of space, oh yes. I thought about this just a few hours ago. And the lego style background in lion is awful, sure it's changeable but I don't mind doing it since I'm never using it anyway.

Dashboard need to be removed or get a real update.
 
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