It is possible to actually like the iPad but be frustrated/annoyed/wistful about how much better it could be. Since Apple sells way more iPads than Macs, some more love from Apple for iPadOS would benefit a lot of people.
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Tragedy of the clueless
- Thread starter StoneJack
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I would like power users to once explain how they would design their requests in a way that wouldn’t fundamentally make the UI more confusing for the 90% of iPad users out there.
It’s fine to claim it could be optional, but expand on how you do that in a way that rolls out to hundreds of millions of users without confusing them.
You absolutely have to weigh the UX for the vast majority user base against the benefits a power user may get, and find a way to implement it that doesn’t deter from the ease of use that attracts regular iPad users in the first place.
@richprj I’m using your post as a springboard for my thoughts, this isn’t a direct response to you
Oh I agree there’s always room for improvement. There’s just a subset of loud users that complain to complain.
But those large sales tell Apple that people like the iPad as it is.
It is flat or bad sales that communicate to a company improvements are needed. There isn’t a CMO in the world who sees a product line as popular as the iPad who then says “oh damn, we better make wholesale changes to make this more like the device with fewer sales!”
It’s always power users who demand more, and fair enough. But Apple will look at the situation and say well, we’ve got devices with MacOS and we’ve got devices with iPadOS, iPadOS seems vastly more popular, so let’s make iterative improvements.
Open up more power-user stuff like terminal access, disk management, a better file manager, etc. Make all of this stuff optionally available from the App Store so that regular users that don't want it never have to see it.
They could also add whatever frameworks and APIs that are available in MacOS and not in iPadOS. This would make things neater for software developers. If security and privacy are of concern, I imagine Apple could add some strict virtual sandboxing around these capabilities.
This is more my peeve, but background tasks. Let me toggle a "High Power Mode" that lets apps run when they're not in focus. Since it has to be turned on, users that don't need it don't have to take the hit to battery life. Better yet, this could be a per-app permission.
The two that are least likely to happen are JIT and the ability to get software from elsewhere.
There is a big difference between the request to run macOS and clean up the pain points in iPadOS that would not kill the UI experience at all.
IMO, it is much more nuanced than the black or white - they sell a lot of iPads; therefore people like it the way it is.
I have two iPads and think they could be much more useful. This video below (ignoring the click bait title and some of the sensationalism) shows a lot of things that would make it much more useful to me starting about the 9 minute mark.
How Apple JUST Ruined the M4 iPad Pro with iPadOS 18.. - YouTube
None of these would ruin the iPad experience.
Let me be clear - i don’t think the iPad can’t be improved. But I don’t think you can use positive sales numbers as a reason that incentivises Apple to improve the product.
If you read the post I was replying to, the other user claimed that iPad was killing Surface market. Which was not true.
I am not asking Apple to "fix" my business workflow because I don't expect them to, and there's nothing to fix. We will continue using Windows for the foreseeable future because that's what that entire business segment is running on. The choice of OS is driven by the availability of business software.
As far as Apple is concerned, I am talking about my personal / small business use. This is something they could certainly "fix" very easily, but chose not to. Merely providing a real filesystem would take care of most of my needs. Don't tell me that there are any real reasons why iPadOS can't have it, when full blown MacOS with real filesystem used to run on significantly less powerful hardware, and Android has had it from the start. This is an artificial limitation.
I agree with this - just pointing out the subtlety that it being the bestselling product doesn't mean people don't want more.
You seem to mistake hardware requirements as a basis for what a UI/UX should do. That’s not how design works.
I know it’s frustrating to you, but the iPad is not the tool you want it to be. I’d suggest using the right tool for the job.
Personal records, small business records, ongoing projects. I travel a lot for work, sometimes for a couple weeks at a time, I still need to access and work with my data. I have it saved in an encrypted container (using a cross-platform app) that I sync with all of my devices, keep a live copy in Onedrive Vault, and at least three rotating backups on SSDs.
I can't think of a reason to not have your personal data organized and backed up. But then, I am an engineer....
But an Android tablet is ? Because it does have all these tools...
I really don't want to switch ecosystems again. There's a lot of what I like about Apple. But lugging two laptops everywhere I travel is tiresome...
Yep totally agree. And the noise around the M4's power vs software is, in my mind, the biggest message Apple has received thus far. And of course, that's far too close to WWDC for them to announce any changes there, but certainly the more power it continues to get the louder the message to Apple will be.
Can you elaborate on this? I'm a backup advocate and use Time Machine plus iCloud. Your solution is obviously more robust, but I'm struggling to work out exactly what you're doing and what the iPad doesn't allow
Mine is plenty backed up, just not as deeply nested as yours are to require specialized software to keep everything in sync. iCloud does all my syncing more than fine.
Yes, use the tool that gets the tasks done you’re looking to use it for. You can lament that you can’t do it on X device, but if it’s actually important to you then use the tool for the job.
I could technically do my entire job on a Mac, but I administer an almost entirely Windows environment, so my daily driver computer is a Lenovo X13. It’s a nice little device, but it’s no MacBook.
I could kludge my way through doing everything I need it to, or I can focus on getting work done. I think my company would prefer the latter 🤷♂️
But it's what @Webcat86 mention....
Now, when it comes simultaneously audio playback... that's a valid criticism for Apple to address. But it needs to be implemented in a fashion that won't confuse hundreds of million iPad users. I'm hoping that the new Control Center redesign can help with adding dedicated volume switcher corresponding to an app.
Because it's ironic that we can play games (while audio is playing) and listen to music, therefore gaming devs are encouraged to carry this out it. But I don't see it from non-gaming devs.
OK, I will try...
I am traveling a lot for work. Often for extended periods. I still need to conduct a small side business, pay bills, take care of taxes, track my finances, resolve issues with home remodeling vendors etc. I am also fairly anal about planning and tracking my projects, either work or personal - schedule, spending, any issues. I need to be able to access my data from anywhere. This is one major requirement.
I also don't own or use just one device or one OS. I still use a Windows desktop at home because of things I can't easily do on Mac. I used to run Linux. I used to be all-Android in my mobile life. I have figured long ago that I absolutely don't want a setup that locks me into just one ecosystem or just one service. All of my data is in common, widely accessible formats (PDF, Excel, etc.). And whatever I use to store it in should be cross-platform. That's the second major requirement.
It needs to be encrypted, for obvious reasons. This is the third major requirement.
Finally, I want to keep multiple backups, and two easily accessible "live" working copies - local and remote. That's just based on some past issues I ran into. As they say in some circles, two is one and one is none.
So right now, I keep my data in a Cryptomator container, stored in Onedrive. I also sync it to an encrypted DMG container on my MacBook. The Cryptomator data is accessible from any device I own. The DMG container is for when I don't have wifi, or need to search with Spotlight. I keep them synchronized via a file sync utility.
I also have three SSDs. One is a yearly backup. One is a bi-montly backup. These two are getting straight copy of everything, and are stored at home and at work, respectively. The third one is for TimeMachine backups, and it travels with me everywhere. The final backup is in OneDrive Vault. Again, while this may seem like an overkill, it's based on a few personal experiences that taught me the value of having multiple backups in multiple unrelated locations.
With this setup, I could switch to Android or Linux or some other setup tomorrow and I would just continue using my data with no hoop jumping whatsoever. Someone could steal my online storage account, block me out and erase all data (happened to someone I know) and I would still have all of the data, up-to-date, and easily accessible.
iCloud is only good for Apple. As long as you don't change ecosystems or have other devices you need to access your data from, it's fine.
It syncs to my Windows box just fine. From there I can rclone to my NAS once a month or if I'm feeling anxious.
How would adding a simple "Synchronize folders" command to Files app make the UI more confusing for 90% of iPad users ?
As I said - a simple "Synchronize folders" command in Files. Certainly not any more confusing than "Connect to Server" command that's already there.
This is a non-issue. "Connect to Server" is a more confusing concept for an average tech-illiterate user than "Synchronize Folders" yet it is present in Files already.
Well this has certainly got me thinking I need to improve my backup game. Thanks for elaborating. Fortunately I’m all Apple these days so I don’t need the cross platform functionality, but I could learn a thing or two from you to improve my backups.
Well, if you're all Apple and plan to stay all Apple for ever, it's a bit simpler. But I would still not want to single handedly rely on TimeMachine for backups. I don't think there's a single ironclad backup solution, you need at least one other unrelated alternative.
Sure, let me ask my parents what they would expect a button with that label would do, or my grandmother, or my clients.
In your scenario, what would that button do? Describe how to navigate to it, and what each step of the process would look like visually.
The point I’m getting at is that every new “simple thing” is being added to a UI that literally hundreds of millions of people, the vast majority of whom don’t know a pixel from a frying pan, will use. Every advanced feature needs to be weighed *heavily* against ease of use. Pull too hard towards advanced features, and you get people like me (whom support people with their technology) utterly confused as to why their device is doing something unexpected that they don’t even have the language to describe.
Wise advice. There’s nothing worse than realizing your backup solution has failed and you don’t have any other alternative solution in place.