iPads are wonderful tools (we have three - iPad Pro and iPad minis) and I love them, but they have a problem that transcends the limited access to the file system. Way back when I started using Apple products, I had a Macintosh Plus. At that time software developers were spitting mad because Apple and Macintosh users would not purchase software that didn’t obey particular design structures. Specifically, core menu structures were identical the result of which was that users could turn to muscle memory to speed certain processes regardless the software. Menus and menu items and shortcut keys were pretty much identical across all software and users and Apple made it sacrosanct.
iPadOS is very much different. While some apps seem to have some commonality in Menu structures, in general the interfaces are often very much different. Even options in menus such as <share> can be very different and one is never sure what options will be there and what will not. Often I can find no discernible reason why an option is displayed in one app and not another and more often than not there is no way to add an option when editing a Menu. These inconsistencies mean that software is much, much more difficult to learn and to my mind is a significant impediment. I do believe this is a grave error that could lead to major problems down the road.
The remaining problems that face the iPad are oft discussed. The first is the File system. While it is much improved, it still has strange issues and is annoying. Finally, there is printing. If this truly is to be a serious professional machine, it needs decent print drivers. It is okay for producing rough proofs but real feature rich print drivers simply are not there. Very annoying.
iPadOS is very much different. While some apps seem to have some commonality in Menu structures, in general the interfaces are often very much different. Even options in menus such as <share> can be very different and one is never sure what options will be there and what will not. Often I can find no discernible reason why an option is displayed in one app and not another and more often than not there is no way to add an option when editing a Menu. These inconsistencies mean that software is much, much more difficult to learn and to my mind is a significant impediment. I do believe this is a grave error that could lead to major problems down the road.
The remaining problems that face the iPad are oft discussed. The first is the File system. While it is much improved, it still has strange issues and is annoying. Finally, there is printing. If this truly is to be a serious professional machine, it needs decent print drivers. It is okay for producing rough proofs but real feature rich print drivers simply are not there. Very annoying.
