iPad Mouse Support - The Missing Elephant

[sparksd]

They do have the product you are looking for:
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook

It's called a laptop. What is the point of spending Tens of Billions of dollars investing in researching in digital capacitive touchscreens when your users literally just want to attach a mouse to it. It makes zero sense.

Hey, I just spent ten years and almost $100 billion in R&D on the below so we can go back to the computing paradigm we just spent all this money getting away from:

1. Developing a 4-5" touchscreen phone/9-12" touchscreen tablet
2. Developing multitouch digitization of finger manipulation via capacitive touch
3. Enduring months of arguments that caused a huge row in the company over a brand spanking new computing user interface paradigm
4. 4k/HDR displays better than have ever been designed or deployed
5. Designed and delivered an in-house chipset that yearly rapidly approaches outperformance of clamshell laptops
6. Conceived and developed a touchscreen button that can read your fingerprint in 10ms
7. Developed a system wide encryption protocol that has the NSA worried
8. Releasing a new phone and then two new phones every year on time for ten years straight, while also releasing a new desktop OS every year on time for 8 years straight
9. Also conceiving, developing, and releasing BRAND NEW products at a good pace.
10. Designed a chip that forced the US Government to spend several million dollars to hack. This chip protects your medical info and credit card info.
11. Put a credit card in your phone and convinced every bank that matters to support that system
12. Bought a music company and turned it into a service
13. Pioneered AI on a mobile device (while also neutering it)

You may ask, and you may request, but

1. The 3.5" floppy stopped shipping as a native config in Mac products in 1998. It became an outside accessory that lasted four more years in the PC world before losing its standard as default.
2. The headphone jack died in the iPhone last year. This year will cement the decline in Apple and then other manufacturers competing on size until the old fashioned RCA jack slips into the darkness with RCA Video/Stereo Cables/RGB/COAX/ UHF.
3. USB-A is on the outs. Microsoft has already made it known they intend to eventually replace the aging standard.
4. Disc Drives do not ship on any Microsoft Surface. Nor any laptop not intended for the Enterprise.
5. Flash is dead. Adobe is plotting a successor.
6. the mouse? I use a trackpad on My mac. But I am increasingly using my iPad and find I am faster without a mouse.

These are my opinions and are not reflective of those who read them.
Remember, kids. It's all life, it's just a game. And the sooner you realize that asking for a carburetor for your inline v-8 fuel injection vehicle is not just silly, it's a waste of time.

The carburetor analogy is not apropos here - a carburetor adds nothing to the functional utility of a vehicle where the discussion here is regarding the functional utility of supporting a mouse on the iPad.

 

[robbietop]

1. I was misinformed on the display resolution. I heard 120hz and thought 4k. 2k is better with 120hz, I won't lie. But that's overkill!
2. How much longer will Apple continue shipping with a headphone jack on flagship? Just because Volvo sells internal combustion engines now doesn't change the fact they just announced they will be moving to all electric. The transition has begun. It is only a matter of time at this point.
3. And the carburetor analogy is perfect. Carburetors were the main way of controlling throttle for an engine. They were highly inefficient (high revving would actually spit unused gasoline out the tailpipe) and at the end of the day were supplanted by tightly controlled nozzles. The sad side of the story is that carburetors actually survived into the 1990s because some people believed (erroneously) that carburetors gave a car more power and thus more control. Sure, you may not be used to tapping on a screen and using a keyboard at the same time, but Microsoft and Apple sure as hell want you to learn. The mouse is inefficient and actually takes time to position it where you want it. Whereas with my iPad, I just point to what I want...and I touch it. No finding where the pointer is on the screen or which screen it is on or maneuvering it into position like a helicopter. I just move my finger, something I've been doing since birth, and voila.
4. Condensing my rant: Apple just spent ten years and multiple billions of dollars to replace the mouse. With your finger. After you get the mouse, you're gonna want USB ports. After USB ports you'll want a trackpad. After a trackpad you'll want a backlit keyboard. After that you'll have a MacBook. Which defeats the purpose of designing a touchscreen tablet.

 

[seadragon]

Condensing my rant: Apple just spent ten years and multiple billions of dollars to replace the mouse. With your finger. After you get the mouse, you're gonna want USB ports. After USB ports you'll want a trackpad. After a trackpad you'll want a backlit keyboard. After that you'll have a MacBook. Which defeats the purpose of designing a touchscreen tablet.

It's the desire to have an Apple all in one device. That's what I want. No more need to buy and carry both a laptop and tablet. Why must we choose between finger, mouse and keyboard input? The finger doesn't cut it when iPad is docked to a keyboard. Mouse is MUCH better in this case. The processors in the iPad noware also very powerful. Personally, I think in the not so distant future, the laptop will be gone along with those that keep saying "get a laptop".

 

[kasakka]

1. The mouse is inefficient and actually takes time to position it where you want it. Whereas with my iPad, I just point to what I want...and I touch it. No finding where the pointer is on the screen or which screen it is on or maneuvering it into position like a helicopter. I just move my finger, something I've been doing since birth, and voila.

I could similarly say that the finger is inefficient because it is terrible for hitting touch targets smaller than it, as anyone who has used non-mobile optimized websites on a smartphone would know.

 

[richpjr]

It's the desire to have an Apple all in one device. That's what I want. No more need to buy and carry both a laptop and tablet. Why must we choose between finger, mouse and keyboard input? The finger doesn't cut it when iPad is docked to a keyboard. Mouse is MUCH better in this case. The processors in the iPad now are very powerful now. Personally, I think in the not so distant future, the laptop will be gone along with those that keep saying "get a laptop".

I really scratch my head at why there is so much rationalization about why people shouldn't use a mouse or should get a different device. Bottom line, I like my iPad and it would be more useful to me if it had mouse support.

 

[seadragon]

I really scratch my head at why there is so much rationalization about why people shouldn't use a mouse or should get a different device. Bottom line, I like my iPad and it would be more useful to me if it had mouse support.

Yes, this exactly. I don't know what it is. I believe some people just can't fathom the idea of using an iPad for more than just consumption and cannot envision how much more it can do. The iPad would just shine even more if the ability to use a mouse with apps was a reality.

For me, I am ALMOST at the point where I can leave my laptop behind while on the road for work or vacation. The thought of bringing just my ipad with Smart Keyboard, Pencil and Mouse is very appealing. Adobe just updated their Lightroom Mobile app and it is a major step forward in my not needing a computer to process my photos. I was using it this morning and it now offers almost everything I use in the desktop version.

I'm actually heading to Disney World for a week in September and at this point I'm planning on leaving my old laptop at home. I can use Jump Desktop and the Citrix mouse to connect into the office if required. I can process my photos in Lightroom Mobile, and I can even create some basic videos using LumaFusion. I am quite impressed with this. The iPad experience has come a long way in just the last few months in terms of both hardware and apps and the soon to be iOS 11.

Mouse support for other apps would be the missing piece of the puzzle for me. I hope it happens!

 

[robbietop]

Once you put a mouse on the iPad, the whole UI ceases to function properly.
As an engineer, here are the issues introducing a mouse creates that will need to be solved:

1. Drivers. You now have to incorporate a way to install the drivers into iOS safely. And knowing Apple, the Mouse will be REQUIRED to be a part of the Made for iPhone Program. There is no way they are allowing any Bluetooth mouse to just pair with their LOCKED device.
2. USB mice will be a no go. IF Apple even allows this, the mouse will be REQUIRED to be Bluetooth. And it will have to be approved by Apple with signed certificates as part of the MFi program. This will not be negotiable. Can you use PS4 or Xbox controllers with an iPad without jailbreaking? No. Gonna be the same with a mouse. Logitech will make one, but that will most likely be your only choice.
3. You will now need to create a new layer in the UI for a pointer. Since iOS is touchscreen only, other than AppleTV, the bitmap background will need to be opened up for a freely moving image above it. This complicates the code years after the fact, introducing a feature that t has never even been planned for now opens up whole new bugs. Such as what happens if the mouse is moved during the same time period as the digitizer. While not exactly a common issue, it could happen. And if not coded for properly, two simultaneous inputs can create confusion for the user. Also, there is the question of whether to even allow the digitizer to activate if the pointer is live. From a design perspective, this is a serious issue. Confused customers are not happy customers and if you have ever met the common electronics consumer, they are legendary in their confusion.
4. While you may find it useful at first, there is a common understanding of the reasons why Windows tablets failed to take off in the early 2000s. Other than the obvious battery life issues and subpar processors, there was a common agreement that having a touchscreen and a mouse simultaneously invokes the schema of both at the same time and can create a confusion in the user's mind. Have you ever been messing around on your iPad all day and then grab your laptop and accidentally reach for the screen to "click" on something? Eventually, most users default to the mouse and keyboard, only using the touchscreen as a "complement" to the experience. This defeats the point of having a touch screen in the first place. It's not there to be a gimmick or infrequently used input device, it is the input device.
5. The UI will need to be abandoned in favor of the Desktop OS X. Design is psychology. The iPad and iPhone feel as if they run intuitively but that took 3 years of tinkering and psychological debates to actually arrive at what we have. Apple makes it look so easy. Now, you use your finger to touch icons lined in a row that reduces the complexity of a Mac or PC into widgets that become full fledged apps. This may be Apple's intention of eventually phasing out Mac OS entirely in favor of iOS as the next-gen OS Apple needs in the desktop/portable market. However, Apple seems to be playing a very long game here to avoid Google, Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft copying and stealing of their work. Once you have a pointer, the Ducks in a Row vertical and horizontal alignment of apps paradigm is useless.
6. Now that we have a desktop OS, we don't need all of the refinements that the touch OS needed such as splitscreen and PiP. And now we have a TouchScreen MacBook. We stop selling the ASK separately, and raise the price of the iPad to that of the MacBook, phasing it out. Again, this may be the long game Apple intends in order to phase out iOS or Mac OS. It is obvious at this point that Apple is loathe to have two different OSes to support.

I am sorry I went into the deep end on this one but as an engineer, introducing the mouse waters down the touchscreen and makes my job harder down the road as first it is a mouse and then it's USB, and then finally you're gonna demand a glass of milk with your mouse.
And at this point, we must ask the question: Why bother having a laptop without a touchscreen? Why not just put one on the MacBook.

 

[sparksd]

Once you put a mouse on the iPad, the whole UI ceases to function properly.
As an engineer, here are the issues introducing a mouse creates that will need to be solved:

1. Drivers. You now have to incorporate a way to install the drivers into iOS safely. And knowing Apple, the Mouse will be REQUIRED to be a part of the Made for iPhone Program. There is no way they are allowing any Bluetooth mouse to just pair with their LOCKED device.
2. USB mice will be a no go. IF Apple even allows this, the mouse will be REQUIRED to be Bluetooth. And it will have to be approved by Apple with signed certificates as part of the MFi program. This will not be negotiable. Can you use PS4 or Xbox controllers with an iPad without jailbreaking? No. Gonna be the same with a mouse. Logitech will make one, but that will most likely be your only choice.
3. You will now need to create a new layer in the UI for a pointer. Since iOS is touchscreen only, other than AppleTV, the bitmap background will need to be opened up for a freely moving image above it. This complicates the code years after the fact, introducing a feature that t has never even been planned for now opens up whole new bugs. Such as what happens if the mouse is moved during the same time period as the digitizer. While not exactly a common issue, it could happen. And if not coded for properly, two simultaneous inputs can create confusion for the user. Also, there is the question of whether to even allow the digitizer to activate if the pointer is live. From a design perspective, this is a serious issue. Confused customers are not happy customers and if you have ever met the common electronics consumer, they are legendary in their confusion.
4. While you may find it useful at first, there is a common understanding of the reasons why Windows tablets failed to take off in the early 2000s. Other than the obvious battery life issues and subpar processors, there was a common agreement that having a touchscreen and a mouse simultaneously invokes the schema of both at the same time and can create a confusion in the user's mind. Have you ever been messing around on your iPad all day and then grab your laptop and accidentally reach for the screen to "click" on something? Eventually, most users default to the mouse and keyboard, only using the touchscreen as a "complement" to the experience. This defeats the point of having a touch screen in the first place. It's not there to be a gimmick or infrequently used input device, it is the input device.
5. The UI will need to be abandoned in favor of the Desktop OS X. Design is psychology. The iPad and iPhone feel as if they run intuitively but that took 3 years of tinkering and psychological debates to actually arrive at what we have. Apple makes it look so easy. Now, you use your finger to touch icons lined in a row that reduces the complexity of a Mac or PC into widgets that become full fledged apps. This may be Apple's intention of eventually phasing out Mac OS entirely in favor of iOS as the next-gen OS Apple needs in the desktop/portable market. However, Apple seems to be playing a very long game here to avoid Google, Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft copying and stealing of their work. Once you have a pointer, the Ducks in a Row vertical and horizontal alignment of apps paradigm is useless.
6. Now that we have a desktop OS, we don't need all of the refinements that the touch OS needed such as splitscreen and PiP. And now we have a TouchScreen MacBook. We stop selling the ASK separately, and raise the price of the iPad to that of the MacBook, phasing it out. Again, this may be the long game Apple intends in order to phase out iOS or Mac OS. It is obvious at this point that Apple is loathe to have two different OSes to support.

I am sorry I went into the deep end on this one but as an engineer, introducing the mouse waters down the touchscreen and makes my job harder down the road as first it is a mouse and then it's USB, and then finally you're gonna demand a glass of milk with your mouse.
And at this point, we must ask the question: Why bother having a laptop without a touchscreen? Why not just put one on the MacBook.

I'm also an engineer and disagree with you, particularly your next to last paragraph. But I'll never convince you and you'll never convince me, so it's wait and see what Apple does in the future. As I mentioned earlier, I need a mouse so I've moved on and will work with a laptop.

 

[kasakka]

Once you put a mouse on the iPad, the whole UI ceases to function properly.
As an engineer, here are the issues introducing a mouse creates that will need to be solved:

1. Drivers. You now have to incorporate a way to install the drivers into iOS safely. And knowing Apple, the Mouse will be REQUIRED to be a part of the Made for iPhone Program. There is no way they are allowing any Bluetooth mouse to just pair with their LOCKED device.
2. USB mice will be a no go. IF Apple even allows this, the mouse will be REQUIRED to be Bluetooth. And it will have to be approved by Apple with signed certificates as part of the MFi program. This will not be negotiable. Can you use PS4 or Xbox controllers with an iPad without jailbreaking? No. Gonna be the same with a mouse. Logitech will make one, but that will most likely be your only choice.
3. You will now need to create a new layer in the UI for a pointer. Since iOS is touchscreen only, other than AppleTV, the bitmap background will need to be opened up for a freely moving image above it. This complicates the code years after the fact, introducing a feature that t has never even been planned for now opens up whole new bugs. Such as what happens if the mouse is moved during the same time period as the digitizer. While not exactly a common issue, it could happen. And if not coded for properly, two simultaneous inputs can create confusion for the user. Also, there is the question of whether to even allow the digitizer to activate if the pointer is live. From a design perspective, this is a serious issue. Confused customers are not happy customers and if you have ever met the common electronics consumer, they are legendary in their confusion.
4. While you may find it useful at first, there is a common understanding of the reasons why Windows tablets failed to take off in the early 2000s. Other than the obvious battery life issues and subpar processors, there was a common agreement that having a touchscreen and a mouse simultaneously invokes the schema of both at the same time and can create a confusion in the user's mind. Have you ever been messing around on your iPad all day and then grab your laptop and accidentally reach for the screen to "click" on something? Eventually, most users default to the mouse and keyboard, only using the touchscreen as a "complement" to the experience. This defeats the point of having a touch screen in the first place. It's not there to be a gimmick or infrequently used input device, it is the input device.
5. The UI will need to be abandoned in favor of the Desktop OS X. Design is psychology. The iPad and iPhone feel as if they run intuitively but that took 3 years of tinkering and psychological debates to actually arrive at what we have. Apple makes it look so easy. Now, you use your finger to touch icons lined in a row that reduces the complexity of a Mac or PC into widgets that become full fledged apps. This may be Apple's intention of eventually phasing out Mac OS entirely in favor of iOS as the next-gen OS Apple needs in the desktop/portable market. However, Apple seems to be playing a very long game here to avoid Google, Samsung, Amazon, and Microsoft copying and stealing of their work. Once you have a pointer, the Ducks in a Row vertical and horizontal alignment of apps paradigm is useless.
6. Now that we have a desktop OS, we don't need all of the refinements that the touch OS needed such as splitscreen and PiP. And now we have a TouchScreen MacBook. We stop selling the ASK separately, and raise the price of the iPad to that of the MacBook, phasing it out. Again, this may be the long game Apple intends in order to phase out iOS or Mac OS. It is obvious at this point that Apple is loathe to have two different OSes to support.

I am sorry I went into the deep end on this one but as an engineer, introducing the mouse waters down the touchscreen and makes my job harder down the road as first it is a mouse and then it's USB, and then finally you're gonna demand a glass of milk with your mouse.
And at this point, we must ask the question: Why bother having a laptop without a touchscreen? Why not just put one on the MacBook.

I disagree with pretty much everything you said. Download Xcode and try the iOS Simulator in iPad mode on your Mac if you have one. It has to be operated by a mouse due to no touchscreen Macs and it works perfectly fine. It requires literally no changes to iOS. There's even a jailbreak hack from 2012 that puts a cursor on screen and works fine with any Bluetooth mouse. You can simply have a generic Apple mouse driver and while it may not work with any extra buttons a Logitech mouse might have, it will still work as expected. No, you won't be able to use USB mice and that's fine. Apple Magic Mouse or Trackpad should work fine as should any Bluetooth mouse currently made that doesn't require a separate dongle.

It's really a fairly trivial thing for Apple to implement.

 

[seadragon]

I disagree with pretty much everything you said. Download Xcode and try the iOS Simulator in iPad mode on your Mac if you have one. It has to be operated by a mouse due to no touchscreen Macs and it works perfectly fine. It requires literally no changes to iOS. There's even a jailbreak hack from 2012 that puts a cursor on screen and works fine with any Bluetooth mouse. You can simply have a generic Apple mouse driver and while it may not work with any extra buttons a Logitech mouse might have, it will still work as expected. No, you won't be able to use USB mice and that's fine. Apple Magic Mouse or Trackpad should work fine as should any Bluetooth mouse currently made that doesn't require a separate dongle.

It's really a fairly trivial thing for Apple to implement.

Completely agree. Some people are literally overthinking this.

 

[Cashmonee]

The biggest fear is that as soon as you introduce a mouse developers will start developing for it. If that happens, how long until we lose touch first? And you can say we won’t, but the reality is you would likely end up with apps like Excel and Photoshop that become mouse first and abandon the movement they have made towards a touch interface.

As I said before, I don’t know if Apple is planning an eventual merging of iOS and macOS, they may be. If they do, no one knows what that will look like. If they do not, then my preference would be to bring the touch features people want to macOS and not mouse features to the iPad. I think most of you would be happier that way, honestly. From what it sounds, you want macOS that boots into Launchpad on the iPad. I don’t want Windows 8 on my iPad.

 

[richpjr]

I disagree with pretty much everything you said. Download Xcode and try the iOS Simulator in iPad mode on your Mac if you have one. It has to be operated by a mouse due to no touchscreen Macs and it works perfectly fine. It requires literally no changes to iOS. There's even a jailbreak hack from 2012 that puts a cursor on screen and works fine with any Bluetooth mouse. You can simply have a generic Apple mouse driver and while it may not work with any extra buttons a Logitech mouse might have, it will still work as expected. No, you won't be able to use USB mice and that's fine. Apple Magic Mouse or Trackpad should work fine as should any Bluetooth mouse currently made that doesn't require a separate dongle.

It's really a fairly trivial thing for Apple to implement.

This sums it up nicely. I'm a programmer, use a mouse in Xcode and it works just fine.

 

[Act3]

The biggest fear is that as soon as you introduce a mouse developers will start developing for it. If that happens, how long until we lose touch first? And you can say we won’t, but the reality is you would likely end up with apps like Excel and Photoshop that become mouse first and abandon the movement they have made towards a touch interface.

As I said before, I don’t know if Apple is planning an eventual merging of iOS and macOS, they may be. If they do, no one knows what that will look like. If they do not, then my preference would be to bring the touch features people want to macOS and not mouse features to the iPad. I think most of you would be happier that way, honestly. From what it sounds, you want macOS that boots into Launchpad on the iPad. I don’t want Windows 8 on my iPad.

Many iPad games are made with MFi controller support. Haven't found a game that requires it nor did it kill touch screen support.

 

[richpjr]

The biggest fear is that as soon as you introduce a mouse developers will start developing for it. If that happens, how long until we lose touch first? And you can say we won’t, but the reality is you would likely end up with apps like Excel and Photoshop that become mouse first and abandon the movement they have made towards a touch interface.

As I said before, I don’t know if Apple is planning an eventual merging of iOS and macOS, they may be. If they do, no one knows what that will look like. If they do not, then my preference would be to bring the touch features people want to macOS and not mouse features to the iPad. I think most of you would be happier that way, honestly. From what it sounds, you want macOS that boots into Launchpad on the iPad. I don’t want Windows 8 on my iPad.

Hasn't Apple said multiple times that they were not planning on merging the two OS's? Adding touch to a Mac leaves you with the same ergonomic problem that an iPad on an ASK has - a user has to reach up to touch the screen.

 

[Cashmonee]

Hasn't Apple said multiple times that they were not planning on merging the two OS's? Adding touch to a Mac leaves you with the same ergonomic problem that an iPad on an ASK has - a user has to reach up to touch the screen.

I honestly don’t know if they plan to merge them, and I doubt Apple would be honest about it. I dont understand your second question. I would imagine a hinge that allows a MacBook to fold into a “tablet”. I think I would rather see that happen than see iOS become closer to a desktop OS.

Look, I have had times when I want a mouse on my iPad. I agree it would be nice from time to time. However, I there are two things that stop me from requesting it as a feature. One, I don’t want iOS to become any more complicated or desktopified than is absolutely necessary, and two the realization that a mouse won’t solve the “I want my iPad to be my laptop” issue. I still wouldn’t want to use Excel on my iPad or write a paper in word with 15 tabs in Safari for research. So leave out a feature that would complicate and confuse without actually solving the real problem.

 

[seadragon]

How on earth does a mouse complicate and confuse? So because some of don't want a mouse, nobody should be able to use one?

I would use it and I want the option. And I'm not alone.

I'll never understand the resistance to this.

 

[Cashmonee]

How on earth does a mouse complicate and confuse? So because some of don't want a mouse, nobody should be able to use one?

I would use it and I want the option. And I'm not alone.

I'll never understand the resistance to this.

Like I said before, as soon as you implement a mouse, there will be apps that are designed for the mouse. It changes the mindset of how the OS is operated. Look at Windows 8 as an example of how multiple UI’s lead to real usability issues.

I would also say that you are in a very small (but vocal) minority. I suspect most don’t want or care about mouse support. I am not in favor of a feature that has the potential to push the OS in the wrong direction to satisfy the 1% of the users that want a feature they will use 10% of the time.

 

[sparksd]

Like I said before, as soon as you implement a mouse, there will be apps that are designed for the mouse. It changes the mindset of how the OS is operated. Look at Windows 8 as an example of how multiple UI’s lead to real usability issues.

I would also say that you are in a very small (but vocal) minority. I suspect most don’t want or care about mouse support. I am not in favor of a feature that has the potential to push the OS in the wrong direction to satisfy the 1% of the users that want a feature they will use 10% of the time.

And we think you're in a very small minority. And Apple could care less what any of us think.
[doublepost=1500411855][/doublepost]

And we think you're in a very small minority. And Apple could care less what any of us think.

My flippant response aside, I'm actually curious as to how Apple approaches things like this, i.e., what kind of market research do they do? Back in Jobs' day, he was the market research; what do they do today? Who rules - the bean counters or the philosophers? Who owns the vision?

 

[seadragon]

C'mon guys... it's just an itty bitty mouse...

 

[sparksd]

C'mon guys... it's just an itty bitty mouse...

Sure, a mouse today but next week it's Pizza Rat.

 

[seadragon]

Sure, a mouse today but next week it's Pizza Rat.

LOL... pizza rat!

That's what some people are picturing in their minds I think.

 

[richpjr]

Like I said before, as soon as you implement a mouse, there will be apps that are designed for the mouse. It changes the mindset of how the OS is operated. Look at Windows 8 as an example of how multiple UI’s lead to real usability issues.

I would also say that you are in a very small (but vocal) minority. I suspect most don’t want or care about mouse support. I am not in favor of a feature that has the potential to push the OS in the wrong direction to satisfy the 1% of the users that want a feature they will use 10% of the time.

Just don't see it. When Apple released the ASK, people didn't write apps for it even though it required the OS to not display the onscreen keyboard and accept input from a Bluetooth device. Since all apps have to work when no keyboard was paired, apps would still have to be designed to work without when and wouldn't ruin the OS experience when not in use. iOS is (slowly) maturing and we are now getting rudimentary file support management, something that some insisted wasn't needed in prior generations. As Apple pushes this more and more as a computer replacement it will naturally get more features from said computers.

 

[seadragon]

Also, last I checked, Apple has strict interface guidelines that MUST be followed by app developers. They could easily stipulate that mouse input would not impede on the touch interface in any way. Not an issue as far as I'm concerned.

 

[sparksd]

Just don't see it. When Apple released the ASK, people didn't write apps for it even though it required the OS to not display the onscreen keyboard and accept input from a Bluetooth device. Since all apps have to work when no keyboard was paired, apps would still have to be designed to work without when and wouldn't ruin the OS experience when not in use. iOS is (slowly) maturing and we are now getting rudimentary file support management, something that some insisted wasn't needed in prior generations. As Apple pushes this more and more as a computer replacement it will naturally get more features from said computers.

This is where Apple's tight control of their ecosystem can come into play - enforce a rule that apps MAY support a mouse but WILL fully and completely support the touch interface. Developers can choose whether to provide mouse support or not and users can choose whether to use those apps or not.
[doublepost=1500417366][/doublepost]

Also, last I checked, Apple has strict interface guidelines that MUST be followed by app developers. They could easily stipulate that mouse input would not impede on the touch interface in any way. Not an issue as far as I'm concerned.

We were typing our responses simultaneously. I agree that touch input has to predominate and that a mouse must not detract in any way. It can be done but it needs to be carefully thought through.

 

[Act3]

This is where Apple's tight control of their ecosystem can come into play - enforce a rule that apps MAY support a mouse but WILL fully and completely support the touch interface

i.e. games and game controller support for one example. People just don't seem to get it with the mouse and how it will not affect their overall touch screen experience.