All iPads John Gruber’s iPad rant

[thadoggfather]

I dont like Gruber, and I actually dont hate iPadOS either, but I do agree the new multi column multitasking is incredibly unintuitive

I appreciate him ripping on Catalina too, sometimes he does come across as fair for being like an unofficial Apple PR guy

I also appreciate him saying though Intel is slow to update thier CPU’s, the buck stops with Apple, and its not Professional that the iMac Pro hasn’t been updated since its been out.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

iPad Power Users dont exist

They exist. They’re the ones who flip and flop Icons, drag and drop without even really thinking about it. Imagine an excel Power User and their command of keyboard shortcuts. Like that.

I take issue though when people complain about discoverability and then stick actions inside of long press.

I agree. Folks want a replacement for “right click” not because it’s the best solution, but because they’re most familiar with that way of working.

EDIT: is Gruber just more recently becoming a jerk or has he always been this way.

I think he’s always been this way but the Mac was the primary platform then. However now, as the world trends more and more to the iPad, I predict he’s gonna get worse. There will always be people that will want to, say, draw using a mouse on the iPad. I wouldn’t say it makes them wrong, but I’d say their wish is not likely to come to fruition.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

its not Professional that the iMac Pro hasn’t been updated since its been out.

It WAS Apple’s decision to use that processor and I’m sure like, with the mobile situation, Intel promised timely updates then missed those. So, I’d give Apple a pass on this as Intel’s failures affect more than just Apple.

Plus, I can even understand why the iMac Pro hasn’t been updated. With zero changes, it’s STILL the most powerful iMac you can buy. So, if you need the form factor, and need it to be more powerful (which are a tiny tiny sliver of people) this is still the right choice.

 

[canesalato]

There are only three things I do on the iPad that are better than either the laptop or the phone:

1) Watching videos
2) Handwriting -- taking notes and marking up PDFs for copyedits and such
3) Instant-on LTE connectivity for when I want to answer an email or browse the web when I'm traveling.

These are enough to justify owning an iPad for me, but I agree that it is falling far short of the potential the hardware offers.

Why is watching videos better on an iPad? Its 4/3 ratio, while convenient for other uses, makes it one of the worst devices to watch videos (at the same screen size), in my opinion.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Why is watching videos better on an iPad?

Because it’s the biggest lightweight screen you can have with you when you want to watch videos. Bigger than iOS screens, lighter than macOS screens.

EDIT: Unless seeing black bars above and below content is a no go. If that’s the most important thing, there’s no Apple devices that show zero black bars with the variety of content available. MAYBE the Apple TV if it’s connected to a projector or you’ve got screens of each variety of content ratios to switch between.

 

[turbineseaplane]

People like Federico

He seems like a great guy, but honestly his thoughts about iPads are so unbelievably deep in the weeds of “WTF - you actually do that with your iPad?“, that I find most all of his takes to be totally lacking “normal person” objectivity and relatability.

Just the time he spends making “shortcuts” to do everything.

It all just screams of trying to jam a square peg in the round hole.

 

[Mainsail]

I think some of these posts are a bit harsh. Giving iPadOS a D grade or a F grade? Seems a bit hyperbolic.

There is no way the iPad could be as popular as it is if it had a horrible OS. Not possible. Also, I would ask if iPad OS is a D, which tablet has an OS that would be graded as an A? I would like to see an example of a tablet OS that is better than iPadOS.

The problem seems to be that people want desktop like multitasking on a touch based tablet platform. That’s just not possible. I am not saying iPadOS is perfect. It definitely has room for improvement. But, it needs to be evaluated in the proper context.

 

[Ludatyk]

He seems like a great guy, but honestly his thoughts about iPads are so unbelievably deep in the weeds of “WTF - you actually do that with your iPad?“, that I find most all of his takes to be totally lacking “normal person” objectivity and relatability.

Just the time he spends making “shortcuts” to do everything.

It all just screams of trying to jam a square peg in the round hole.

Granted, he takes doing tasks to the extreme with the iPad. But I like how passionate he is about the iPad platform. Anything news related about the iPad... I look for his input.

I still have a iMac to do certain tasks, I'm not solely on the iPad as he is.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Granted, he takes doing tasks to the extreme with the iPad. But I like how passionate he is about the iPad platform. Anything news related about the iPad... I look for his input.

I still have a iMac to do certain tasks, I'm not solely on the iPad as he is.

I agree about his passion, that’s for sure..

I just question his objectivity (and a few others in his circles), as they sometimes are rather myopic and defensive about the “real work on iPad” narrative...

Sometimes it’s like they don’t even remotely grasp how really far outside the scope of the iPad many people’s ”real work” truly is. It’s easy to get blind to that, for all of us, when we don’t do what others do all the time.

iPad’s are great - I do a ton on mine - but man do I still get frustrated as hell with it when even a mildly complex Word or Excel Situation comes up (daily)

 

[sosumi99]

I agree about his passion, that’s for sure..

I just question his objectivity (and a few others in his circles), as they sometimes are rather myopic and defensive about the “real work on iPad” narrative...

Sometimes it’s like they don’t even remotely grasp how really far outside the scope of the iPad many people’s ”real work” truly is. It’s easy to get blind to that, for all of us, when we don’t do what others do all the time.

iPad’s are great - I do a ton on mine - but man do I still get frustrated as hell with it when even a mildly complex Word or Excel Situation comes up (daily)

Agreed. I admire how far he's been able to stretch the iPad (even before the current incarnation of multitasking) with Python and JavaScript and shortcuts and callback URLs to get what he wanted done done. However, many of his solutions require a great deal of technical expertise and time to devote to simply bending the system to do basic things. It's jaw-dropping in the sense that I'm impressed that he can get the iPad to do it, rather than that it's done well.

Moreover, these solutions are fragile. I also rely on Shortcuts (née Workflow), but it's clear that like AppleScript, Apple is not devoting enough attention to it. Actions break all the time with system updates (the "Make PDF from" action, for example, was broken for months in iPad OS until it was fixed recently, and that made it impossible for me to use a bunch of my shortcuts in the interim) and aren't nearly as flexible as they can be with a good scripting system. When you have to resort to these kludges, you feel like you're playing sysadmin all the time. And if I wanted to do that, I would have just stuck with a Mac or Linux machine and done everything through vim and Python scripts -- would be much more reliable and stable.

 

[turbineseaplane]

When you have to resort to these kludges, you feel like you're playing sysadmin all the time. And if I wanted to do that, I would have just stuck with a Mac or Linux machine and done everything through vim and Python scripts -- would be much more reliable and stable.

A perfect synopsis of the situation..

In efforts to keep things “simple” on the iPad, they’ve managed to make many aspects more complicated than they were on a Mac.

Just yesterday I was fighting some PDF Export bug from MSMWord on my iPad and I was literally ready to heave it across the room at a wall I was so mad...I had a deadline… Had to borrow someone’s MacBook in the house and quickly finish up the project, which of course had no issues and was quickly accomplished on a Mac.

I try to stretch my iPad usage...but seriously SCREW that sort of experience.

That made me ponder a Macbook purchase all evening yesterday.

 

[urkel]

It all just screams of trying to jam a square peg in the round hole.

I really think a lot of iPad advocates (myself included) seem to take on the iPad-centric lifestyle as a challenge. I love the hardware and I got bored of the Mac so I am one of those who enjoys battling the iPads shortcomings while figuring out how to implement it into my workflow. But often times our solution to problems tend to be 10 steps when it traditionally can be solved in 2.

In efforts to keep things “simple” on the iPad, they’ve managed to make many aspects more complicated than they were on a Mac.

Thats why the idea of a "Pro Mode" setting would make sense. I love the simplicity of the iPad because it encourages my parents to enjoy technology without being technological. But clearly the iPad is capable of doing so much more so trying to serve two distinct types of users is confusing one side while holding back the other.
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They exist. They’re the ones who flip and flop Icons, drag and drop without even really thinking about it. Imagine an excel Power User and their command of keyboard shortcuts. Like that.

There’s a huge difference between someone being a power user with a program like Excel vs someone declaring themselves a power user because they figured out how to use the advertised commands of a UI.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I really think a lot of iPad advocates (myself included) seem to take on the iPad-centric lifestyle as a challenge

I myself have tried to embrace that “challenge” in spots, but I have to admit, that when I‘m on a deadline and need to actually output a deliverable, the last thing I’m looking for is a “challenge” with my hardware and software tools.

Too much of that experience will lead many to abandon the iPad for many tasks and never again look back - and I wouldn’t blame them after yesterday.

iPad’s need SO much more thought and QC put into the software. For me it’s literally all about the software at this point (hardware is way way way past great already IMO).

Apple needs to get serious (more serious) about divorcing iPadOS from iOS and the phone line. It needs to be its own thing with it’s own large amount of resources put into it, or it simply will never “arrive” like it could.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

There’s a huge difference between someone being a power user with a program like Excel vs someone declaring themselves a power user because they figured out how to use the advertised commands of a UI.

From Wikipedia:
A power user is a user of computers, software and other electronic devices, who uses advanced features of computer hardware,[1][2][3] operating systems,[4] programs, or websites[5]which are not used by the average user.

You are correct! Average users of the iPad use multitasking with no problem. It’s just some older folks AND folks set in their ways that have a problem with it.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I’d avoid using Wikipedia as the backbone of any argument.

 

[Ludatyk]

A perfect synopsis of the situation..

In efforts to keep things “simple” on the iPad, they’ve managed to make many aspects more complicated than they were on a Mac.

But that’s the whole point. For those that want to keep things simple, they can. Such as one app at a time, go home to open another app (repeat the process) or even opening the AppSwitcher to navigate to apps. They can avoid doing Drag & Drop... by not evoking it. But for some people such as Federico have decided he wanted more out of the OS.

And yeah, perhaps it’s way too complicated... but that’s it’s his workflow. And it’s odd, there’s reviewers saying “oh the iPad software is too basic” and “it’s not a laptop replacement.” Yet, Apple is trying to push the iPad forward... but now the narrative is “no we want it simple.”

 

[turbineseaplane]

But that’s the whole point. For those that want to keep things simple, they can. Such as one app at a time, go home to open another app (repeat the process) or even opening the AppSwitcher to navigate to apps. They can avoid doing Drag & Drop... by not evoking it. But for some people such as Federico have decided he wanted more out of the OS.

And yeah, perhaps it’s way too complicated... but that’s it’s his workflow. And it’s odd, there’s reviewers saying “oh the iPad software is too basic” and “it’s not a laptop replacement.” Yet, Apple is trying to push the iPad forward... but now the narrative is “no we want it simple.”

I’m not really following what you’re saying honestly..

My main point is just that the complexity and barrier to getting more complex things done on the iPad is actually much higher than doing the same thing on a Mac, which is a failure on the software side.

I’m all for a Pro mode that takes the handcuffs off (If that would help).
Things like the half baked nonsense “files” app just need to get way way better.

I’m not in the bag for any one side of this. I have and love my iPad and try to use it for so many things and I’m very objective about it — and it’s unbelievably more tedious to do even simple things I try with it (PDF collaboration and creation and research and comparison with word files and on and on and on).

Maybe the iPad will never be meant to do more than it’s doing now. Fair enough. That would be an opportunity perhaps lost I think — and if that is the case, it still doesn’t excuse the rampant buggy software with things like external keyboard interactions..

Apple needs to really figure out what they want to do here. It just seems like they’ve spent 5+ years waffling on what they want the iPad to actually be and do.

 

[rui no onna]

Average users of the iPad use multitasking with no problem. It’s just some older folks AND folks set in their ways that have a problem with it.

More likely than not, the average iPad user doesn't use multitasking beyond leaving apps running in the background and switching between those apps. I doubt majority of iPad users know how to use Split View and Slide Over. PIP at most.

 

[Ludatyk]

My main point is just that the complexity and barrier to getting more complex things done on the iPad is actually much higher than doing the same thing on a Mac, which is a failure on the software side.

Agreed. And that’s the dilemma of it, because the Mac is a much more mature platform... it’s going to take some years to achieve that kind of status as far as getting task done. And for those that don’t care to wait, I fully understand.

And my main point is... Federico is trying to be ahead of that curve. We all know as far as Apple has mention, the iPad is their future for computing. And all I’m trying to say is... take a breather, there’s going to be much more in store for the iPad.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

More likely than not, the average iPad user doesn't use multitasking beyond leaving apps running in the background and switching between those apps. I doubt majority of iPad users know how to use Split View and Slide Over. PIP at most.

I see... so that would make using multitasking something that average users don’t do, meaning it’s a power user feature.

 

[sparksd]

More likely than not, the average iPad user doesn't use multitasking beyond leaving apps running in the background and switching between those apps. I doubt majority of iPad users know how to use Split View and Slide Over. PIP at most.

I would agree with that. I'm a retired s/w engineer so i get the mechanics and uses of it but the other members of my family with their own iPads - wife, daughter, sister, brothers, etc. - don't and when I've shown it to them, they've said "I won't remember that - I don't need it or want it."

 

[ericwn]

It's kind of odd though, for him to be so negative about it that way. I mean, he claims that he prefers it as a one-app full window OS... yet, he can still use it that way.

He can still open up an app as full screen, close the app or even swipe up for the AppSwitcher to go to a different app. I mean, it's like basketball players from past generations criticizing younger generations for their reliance on the 3 ball.

I think the multitasking implementation is where his criticism is at, not the fact that the simple stuff from day one is still there.

 

[thadoggfather]

I think the multitasking implementation is where his criticism is at, not the fact that the simple stuff from day one is still there.

yeah its weird that he 'hates' iPadOS all together because of this one thing that can be ignored.

Defaulting to desktop mode safari, being able to use a mouse even if its a half baked accessibility touch pointer for now, dark mode, and optional side column widget menu on home screen are all wonderful additions.

And its new to me, since I came from iOS 11 not 12, so its not iOS 13 specific, but I welcome being able to swipe up to exit apps like on my XR

I think battery has gotten a bit worse on 13 vs. 11 for me too, but not so much I'm tethered to a wall all the time like I was fearing would be the case on my 2017 12.9"

 

[JD2015]

Personally I love iPad OS and think multi window support is better than on Mac OS, for example, less steps involved to invoke split screen. Slide over is also very useful . People talk about the features as not intuitive. However, neither are alot of features to the average user in windows or Mac OS. It is down to the user to learn and explore if they wish to get full usage out of the system and apps.

 

[turbineseaplane]

less steps involved to invoke split screen.

Umm - on a Mac just “open a new window” and put it where you want..

Boom - “Split screen and Slide Over” all at once.
Can’t get any easier or more intuitive

(yes - I know you are referring to the built in modes Apple offers for those things on the Mac, but those are tedious and clunky vs just making a simple new window of any App)