OS X 10.11 Wishlist

[grahamperrin]

10.11 and beyond

… 11. Focus mode which blurs out the background behind all but the foremost app …

Yeah, Isolator has that capability with Lion and less.

I still use Isolator regularly with Mavericks – for dimming and more; for the focus that results from dimming.

Might Apple make it a feature? Yosemite appears to brighten background windows by default, increasing the need for third party solutions such as Isolator. So I can't imagine the company integrating something that draws attention to a somewhat strange default.

… 5. Reading List section in Safari overhauled, integrating Safari Reader, better offline access …

I wish for Safari to regain lost capabilities such as reading feeds.

… 7. New Music app replaces iTunes

8. New Videos app replaces QuickTime/iTunes

I understand the wish, but Apple might prefer a single interface to a single store.

10.13 or later might involve a single app that combines some of the features of App Store, Finder, iSync, iTunes and iTunes Store. Continuity across devices, or words to that effect. That's not something I wish for, but if Apple forces the change then I wish for it to be done reasonably well; for its roadmap to be publicised well in advance.

9. New iSync app handles all iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch syncing …

See above, but I guess that Apple will avoid words such as sync and synchronise; that'll there'll be emphasis on something like streaming, without using the word streaming.

 

[Linuxpro]

I am a first time Mac owner. I will be the first to admit it was a mistake. Honestly we pay a premium for Apple stuff. Must we me subjected to Apple's across the board, "opt-in"? Most people have used a computer before (I have worked in IT for 19 years). How many of us have experienced junk like handoff, airdrop, iMessage?

Our computers are our personal space. We do not expect to be swamped with unexpected, and undocumented features we never opted into. These features rob our computers of performance.

I would like to see 10.11 Ask the new user, "Do you want to be logged into FaceTime?". The OS should offer him the opportunity to uninstall it for good. The same should happen with Gamecenter, Messages, and so on.

 

[neutrak]

Yosemite has been a much needed visual overhaul. I think things could still do with some tweaking here and there but it's good progress.

The one thing that really sets OS X back now is the animations. Aside from the fact that for a lot of users (those with retina displays) the animations are very laggy, they're also very outdated. Consider the animation for launchpad. Why couldn't the icons enter in the same way as they do in iOS 7 and onwards.

Visually, OS X looks like iOS 7 and onwards but it doesn't feel like it. Opening folders in launchpad doesn't have a consistent animation with iOS 7 either. Other things like the genie effect for minimising windows could probably use an overhaul. All the animations that Mac OS X uses are the same ones they've been using for the past 10 years. Looking at the promo video for the new Edge browser by Microsoft, the animations used are much more fluid and natural than what we find in OS X.

I feel like Apple risks being left behind in this regard if Microsoft really manages to pull things together with Windows 10. Our mobile platforms have beautiful, modern animations, now I think it's time we start expecting a consistent experience with our computer UIs.

 

[tdale]

I am a first time Mac owner. I will be the first to admit it was a mistake. Honestly we pay a premium for Apple stuff. Must we me subjected to Apple's across the board, "opt-in"? Most people have used a computer before (I have worked in IT for 19 years). How many of us have experienced junk like handoff, airdrop, iMessage?

Our computers are our personal space. We do not expect to be swamped with unexpected, and undocumented features we never opted into. These features rob our computers of performance.

I would like to see 10.11 Ask the new user, "Do you want to be logged into FaceTime?". The OS should offer him the opportunity to uninstall it for good. The same should happen with Gamecenter, Messages, and so on.

So you only want the features that you want? If Apple or anyone did that there will be 8000 versions of the OS. Don't use the features you don;t like/use, quite simple really

 

[bmac89]

I am a first time Mac owner. I will be the first to admit it was a mistake. Honestly we pay a premium for Apple stuff. Must we me subjected to Apple's across the board, "opt-in"? Most people have used a computer before (I have worked in IT for 19 years). How many of us have experienced junk like handoff, airdrop, iMessage?

Our computers are our personal space. We do not expect to be swamped with unexpected, and undocumented features we never opted into. These features rob our computers of performance.

I would like to see 10.11 Ask the new user, "Do you want to be logged into FaceTime?". The OS should offer him the opportunity to uninstall it for good. The same should happen with Gamecenter, Messages, and so on.

If you don't log in with your Icloud account then it won't automatically log you into any app... it will ask if you want to be logged in.

Also you can uninstall Imessage etc - Simply drag and drop the app into the trash can. I don't see how Imessages robs the computer of performance but if that is the case then uninstall it. Personally I don't use Imessage but I have seen no problems with these apps slowing down the system.

By the way when I log into windows there are countless inbuilt functions which I don't need or want and actually slow down the system, yet you can't even uninstall them because they are literally inbuilt into the operating system. Plus all the bloatware which is often installed, even on many premium top end PC Computers and is hard to remove.

 

[robertsawicki]

One thing I want fixed is how you display bookmarks on Safari! Seriously, I hate going up to Bookmarks, then clicking Show Bookmarks, find what I need in my reading list, going back to Bookmarks, click Show Bookmarks, then Hide Bookmarks.

So ANNOYING!

Or am I dumb and missing something?

 

[CameronN]

One thing I want fixed is how you display bookmarks on Safari! Seriously, I hate going up to Bookmarks, then clicking Show Bookmarks, find what I need in my reading list, going back to Bookmarks, click Show Bookmarks, then Hide Bookmarks.

So ANNOYING!

Or am I dumb and missing something?

Ummm, there is a button right next to your forward arrow that shows/hides the bookmark pane...

 

[lowendlinux]

I am a first time Mac owner. I will be the first to admit it was a mistake. Honestly we pay a premium for Apple stuff. Must we me subjected to Apple's across the board, "opt-in"? Most people have used a computer before (I have worked in IT for 19 years). How many of us have experienced junk like handoff, airdrop, iMessage?

Our computers are our personal space. We do not expect to be swamped with unexpected, and undocumented features we never opted into. These features rob our computers of performance.

I would like to see 10.11 Ask the new user, "Do you want to be logged into FaceTime?". The OS should offer him the opportunity to uninstall it for good. The same should happen with Gamecenter, Messages, and so on.

Welcome to commercial operating systems. I use Macs all day long at work it's nice to come home and not have to look at OSX. I can finally be content and have my computer my way not Apples way.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

WiFi tweak to stop my macs from dropping out and not reconnecting to known networks.

 

[Hookemfins]

One thing I want fixed is how you display bookmarks on Safari! Seriously, I hate going up to Bookmarks, then clicking Show Bookmarks, find what I need in my reading list, going back to Bookmarks, click Show Bookmarks, then Hide Bookmarks.

So ANNOYING!

Or am I dumb and missing something?

How about just going to the menu bar up top, select Bookmarks (between history and window) find your site and it disappears?.

For the record, the side bar with bookmarks disappears once I select a site.

 

[satcomer]

What I want is an iCloud mapping service that will point out on the Apple Maps where the kids iPhones is at at any given time, if you logged into the same iCloud account.

 

[Hookemfins]

Our computers are our personal space. We do not expect to be swamped with unexpected, and undocumented features we never opted into. These features rob our computers of performance.

Guess you've never had a Windows computer where the manufacturer puts in a bunch of crapware loaded into services running in the background.

Don't like FaceTime? Ignore it or drag it to trash or unhide from the dock. Same with any other app you don't like.

 

[lowendlinux]

Some core applications can be removed others not so much. Try dragging safari or facetime to the trash and see what finder says. Yes they can be removed nut no it's not as simple as dragging them to the trash

 

[tevion5]

More options to make the OS snappier on older Macs

Here's hoping for PowerPC support!

----------

I feel like Apple risks being left behind in this regard if Microsoft really manages to pull things together with Windows 10. Our mobile platforms have beautiful, modern animations, now I think it's time we start expecting a consistent experience with our computer UIs.

This would be funny if Microsoft pushed Apple to up their game in UI design! I could actually see it happening alright. I only use Windows for gaming and OS X for everything else, but I'm happy to see healthy completion. Balmer's replacement seems to be doing great work with a company that has missed the mark for nearly a decade now.

 

[talmy]

Guess you've never had a Windows computer where the manufacturer puts in a bunch of crapware loaded into services running in the background.

Don't like FaceTime? Ignore it or drag it to trash or unhide from the dock. Same with any other app you don't like.

Some core applications can be removed others not so much. Try dragging safari or facetime to the trash and see what finder says. Yes they can be removed nut no it's not as simple as dragging them to the trash

It's hardly worthwhile removing them. They don't run in the background and use little services (basically just the disk space). Safari is 34MB (0.03% of a small 120GB SSD) and FaceTime is about a quarter of that. Heck, Grapher is bigger than Safari and people don't gripe about that.

 

[Hookemfins]

It's hardly worthwhile removing them. They don't run in the background and use little services (basically just the disk space). Safari is 34MB (0.03% of a small 120GB SSD) and FaceTime is about a quarter of that. Heck, Grapher is bigger than Safari and people don't gripe about that.

I agree 100%. I don't use FaceTime so I just removed it from dock but still in app folder. My comment was that Windows manufactures put a lot a crap in their system that is not necessary. If the person I was responding to had problems with FaceTime than how did he survive Windows?

 

[lowendlinux]

It's hardly worthwhile removing them. They don't run in the background and use little services (basically just the disk space). Safari is 34MB (0.03% of a small 120GB SSD) and FaceTime is about a quarter of that. Heck, Grapher is bigger than Safari and people don't gripe about that.

I agree it’s probably not worth it but some people like totally clean systems. The only thing I was really commenting on is the just drag it and drop it in the trash thing, not all applications can be uninstalled that way.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Some core applications can be removed others not so much. Try dragging safari or facetime to the trash and see what finder says. Yes they can be removed nut no it's not as simple as dragging them to the trash

Try doing the same with internet explorer lol

Last time I checked, the install size of OS X in considerably smaller than Windows of the same era by a massive margin.

This is a problem on all major operating systems.

 

[lowendlinux]

Try doing the same with internet explorer lol

Last time I checked, the install size of OS X in considerably smaller than Windows of the same era by a massive margin.

This is a problem on all major operating systems.

I don’t think a person with the user name “Linuxpro” is using Windows as a reference.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I don’t think a person with the user name “Linuxpro” is using Windows as a reference.

I know haha that's why I added 'major operating systems'

 

[bmac89]

I agree it’s probably not worth it but some people like totally clean systems. The only thing I was really commenting on is the just drag it and drop it in the trash thing, not all applications can be uninstalled that way.

Well you can use an app like AppZapper. Drag the app into appzappaer and it lists all associated files. You can then essentially uninstall everything or manually remove the associated files you wish to remove.

I didn't mention this in my earlier post because generally dragging and droping an app to the trash can is adequate.
I have never had any problem doing this with Apple apps which come with OSX. However I also have never had an issue with an apple app slowing down my system - especially when the app isn't even running! On the other hand I have had many issues with windows features slowing down my system and there is absolutely no way to uninstall these inbuilt features.

If people want a completely clean system, then from my experience this is far easier to achieve with OSX than with a clean (non OEM) Windows install... even without all the bloatware added by the PC manufacturer.

Both operating system have there pluses and minuses... but Windows dosen't exactly get its reputation for being a clean system free of unnecessary features and bloatware.

 

[robertsawicki]

Ummm, there is a button right next to your forward arrow that shows/hides the bookmark pane...

Ohh now I know! That will save me some trouble.

 

[Linuxpro]

So you only want the features that you want? If Apple or anyone did that there will be 8000 versions of the OS. Don't use the features you don;t like/use, quite simple really

The same OS only needs to prompt the user. There is no need for more than one version. Ultimately it would be nice to offer two different OS-X installs. One for the home user and one for the serious user. Since when does the serious user need iPhoto, or facetime?

The apple extras leave me feeling like poor Arthur Dent (from the old Hitchhikers Guide series) when he was on board the Heart of Gold. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAswvg60FnY What we call Apple here on Earth is “Sirius Cybernetics Corp” on the fictional Hitchhikers Galaxy world.

“Do you want all your devices ringing at the same time, waking your family, every time your brother calls from California?
(Three choices)“Yes, log me into Facetime, No, maybe later, Please queue Facetime to be uninstalled”

“Do you want Spotlight Search to clutter your media with index files, and consume all your resources in the process?”
(Three choices)“Yes, No, maybe later, Please queue Spotlight Search to be uninstalled”

“iMessage is a cruel joke designed by the Apple developers. Want to be another poor victim?”

(Three choices)“Yes, No, maybe later, Please queue iMessage to be uninstalled”

“Do you want a dumb photo management tool that requires that you import all the photographs from a memory card, or create a new library, before you can edit them?”
(Three choices)“Yes, No, maybe later, Please queue iPhoto to be uninstalled”

It really is that simple.

 

[Linuxpro]

Guess you've never had a Windows computer where the manufacturer puts in a bunch of crapware loaded into services running in the background.

Don't like FaceTime? Ignore it or drag it to trash or unhide from the dock. Same with any other app you don't like.

[sarcasm] What is Windows? [/sarcasm]

My employer buys me a computer. I install Linux how I want it. I get any software I need by typing "yum install [appname]". I do not have to deal with any "bloatware".

I bought the macbook to replace my old Dell Netbook running Linux since (I forget when Redhat 5.2 came out).

I am not sure where you have been? The Apple owner cannot remove iMessage, Mail, iPhoto, Facebook, Photobooth, Airdrop, or kill the Spotlight daemon unless he becomes admin, and uses the command line. Dragging the icons to to rubbish will not work.

Would it be so hard to allow the the consumer to choose? Not everyone has experience with the bash like me.

Let us discuss stuff like iMessage….. I entered the Apple world back in 2011 when I bought an iPad. Later I bought an iPhone. I am partly color-blind. I cannot tell green from blue bubbles unless I know to look. I had no idea I was using iMessage.

When I saw the little badge show up on the message icon on my iPad, I thought, “Funny how my dumb iPhone is forwarding SMS to my iPad over the WiFi. I wonder why they felt the need to do that?”. I thought that is what the messaging in the iPad was for. I had no idea it was a complete messaging system in and of itself.

I wondered why SMS on my iPhone seemed to be so unreliable. I read about it in the press last year. I never knew I was using iMessage. Thanks Apple. I really needed that. Of course when I started up my macbook, Apple set me up on iMessage, Facetime, etc.

Many of my friends did not know either. Keep in mind that I have been working in IT for 19 years. What chance does "john consumer" have?


What I want for 10.11 is for my existing 10.10 apps to run, and a nice user friendly menu that will allow my 70 year old auntie to customize her Mac as she sees fit without calling me to come neuter it for her.

 

[bmac89]

I am not sure where you have been? The Apple owner cannot remove iMessage, Mail, iPhoto, Facebook, Photobooth, Airdrop, or kill the Spotlight daemon unless he becomes admin, and uses the command line. Dragging the icons to to rubbish will not work.

Would it be so hard to allow the the consumer to choose? Not everyone has experience with the bash like me.

Dragging the app (in application folder) to the trash does works for me. I have done it before and just tried again to confirm.

I have successfully uninstalled iMessage, Mail, iPhoto, Photobooth, Safari, Itunes.... (the list goes on)

If you want a so called full uninstall including any preference files etc then you can use appzapper or of course manually delete if you know where to look. However I have never had a problem just trashing a mac app. I've used the uninstall function in Windows and it often still leaves remnants of the uninstalled applications.

To put this into perspective:

Photobooth App is 8.5mb
Photobooth application support files and preferences are 8kb.

So trashing the app is essentially uninstalling it. No command line is required. Also the app uses zero system resources when it is not running.

I just wish it was that easy to uninstall unnecessary features (that actually slow down the computer) in Windows.

As you know, spotlight can be disabled by command line or more simply the privacy can be set to not index. I agree that an option to delay or schedule indexing would be nice. Most users are happy with spotlight and it would be unwise for apple to offer a preference to disable an important core feature like this. If spotlight isn't indexing then it isn't using system resources. Most people who look for an alternative to spotlight will know how to use command line or are able to follow a guide on the internet to disable spotlight.
Next people will want to have an option to disable finder in OSX or file explorer in Windows.

I have no Facebook share on my Yosemite. I don't use airdrop and have removed it from the sidebar - it is not using any system resources as I'm not using it.

Also it is quite normal to require an Admin account to uninstall apps. It is the same for Windows.