I never have argued there aren’t any Mac features that could be incorporated into iPadOS, I’m perfect fine with macOS features being incorporated into iPadOS. I’m just tired of some people hating on iPadOS constantly, trashing it because it isn’t macOS and such. I like both, but I use an iPad as my primary computer because I actually prefer iPadOS. Making Stage Manager act like it does on the Mac rather than the current behavior would be a major downgrade in my opinion, with the possible exception of maybe more than 4 windows per stage. I’d actually love it if they added a toggle-able setting on macOS to make app windows automatically snap on a grid and act like it does on the iPad. Maybe both could have settings for Stage Manager that would enable freeform positioning to make those people happy, and snapping and auto-positioning to make us iPad users happy.
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iPad Why does iPadOS not feel like true OS?
- Thread starter Bubble99
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This feels like one of those interviews where it's common to describe how your strength is also your weakness. The simplicity which made the iPad so popular in the first place is also what's "holding it back" in the eyes of the more pro users, and maybe there's just no way to reconcile the two without one side feeling like they are getting left out.
I am one of those who like the iPad precisely because it doesn't run macOS and is nothing like my Macbook. It's why I am happily using it in the classroom. It's what made it so easy and fun to use when I was overseas with my students on an excursion and task with blogging about their activities. Prior to Apple Silicon, this simplicity granted the iPad its legendary long battery life and inbuilt cellular capabilities. It's also why the iPad is my preferred "couch computer" over my MBA. I do a lot of content consumption on it (both for work and leisure) and I feel that the definition of "real work" needs to be expanded beyond spreadsheets, video editing and coding.
I agree that there's still plenty of room for improvements to iPadOS. For example, YouTube or Overcast often stops playing when I open Reddit (because it loves to play silent ads in the background), and I am still undecided as to whether this is a feature or a bug. The files app is still buggy with onedrive (all signs point to this being an issue with the onedrive app / service, which has also been increasingly unreliable of late). Shortcuts feel like it has been neglected and could be integrated more deeply into the OS.
But by and large, please do not make the iPad another Mac clone. 😕
I use Stage Manager in macOS all the time. I’m looking forward to being able to check it out on a decent iPad!
StoneJack, surely you must at least appreciate the fact that Stage Manager allows you to use a Monitor as an extended display (not mirroring).
No, he just seems like one of those people who hate on the iPad no matter what because it isn’t a Mac. He’ll never appreciate anything like that…
The one thing that irks me about iPadOS (and the iPhone) is the requirement to own a Mac (or PC) if you have a digital music library to be synced to the device. If that stumbling block would ever be changed, I'd be a lot happier with using the iPad.
Really agree on this. File mgrs. and other apps on the device should have read/write access to the music library. Adding your own music to the library is a pain.
I have hidden folder and files in my Finder on iCloud. On a mac I can CMD + SHIFT + "." and it will hide and show those files. iPadOS is impossible to view those files.
Also microsoft app integration in iPadOS sucks. Finder on MacOS has OneDrive integration to where the file structure is well integrated into the Finder system. on iPadOS, its clunky. The OneDrive app on iPadOS requires constant verification with my company for security reasons (so even accessing offline files is not possible without some sort of connection). On MacOS I can access OneDrive without hourly verifcation. This is a microsoft thing, but its a big difference in experience between the two OS's.
Same with the Office apps. Creating reports for my clients on a Mac is a lot more streamlined than on iPad. Dragging and dropping images on iPad does not drop the images in line with text. So having to then select each image to fix the "wrap" is cumbersome (Especially when going through 30+ images). Also the reports done on an iPad look different when opened on a windows computer, makes collaboration complex when formatting keeps shifting.
Cannot open a ".msg" email file. Outlook for iPadOS doesnt support that for some reason.
Also some of the classics "Open .mp3 file in Music app" is a very simple task that for some reason can only be done on a Mac?
Photos is still improving, but I still cant manuall add a "person" or "face" for old scanned photos that the Photos app does not automatically pick up on. I fact, often times the iPadOS/iOS removes those manual faces because it cant recognize them as such.
Photos app on iPadOS still cant do smart albums? I have so many set up on my Mac, but they arent functional on iPadOS
Havent checked in a while, but can we add "keywords" in Photos on iPadOS yet?
I also havent played with "contacts" app in a while, but I create contact groups and smart lists to separate my contacts (coworkers, clients, friends, family, connections, businesses, etc.). I wasnt able to create new lists in iPadOS in the past, not sure if they've addressed that in iOS18.
Also microsoft app integration in iPadOS sucks. Finder on MacOS has OneDrive integration to where the file structure is well integrated into the Finder system. on iPadOS, its clunky. The OneDrive app on iPadOS requires constant verification with my company for security reasons (so even accessing offline files is not possible without some sort of connection). On MacOS I can access OneDrive without hourly verifcation. This is a microsoft thing, but its a big difference in experience between the two OS's.
Same with the Office apps. Creating reports for my clients on a Mac is a lot more streamlined than on iPad. Dragging and dropping images on iPad does not drop the images in line with text. So having to then select each image to fix the "wrap" is cumbersome (Especially when going through 30+ images). Also the reports done on an iPad look different when opened on a windows computer, makes collaboration complex when formatting keeps shifting.
Cannot open a ".msg" email file. Outlook for iPadOS doesnt support that for some reason.
Also some of the classics "Open .mp3 file in Music app" is a very simple task that for some reason can only be done on a Mac?
Photos is still improving, but I still cant manuall add a "person" or "face" for old scanned photos that the Photos app does not automatically pick up on. I fact, often times the iPadOS/iOS removes those manual faces because it cant recognize them as such.
Photos app on iPadOS still cant do smart albums? I have so many set up on my Mac, but they arent functional on iPadOS
Havent checked in a while, but can we add "keywords" in Photos on iPadOS yet?
I also havent played with "contacts" app in a while, but I create contact groups and smart lists to separate my contacts (coworkers, clients, friends, family, connections, businesses, etc.). I wasnt able to create new lists in iPadOS in the past, not sure if they've addressed that in iOS18.
I think it has its uses. I definitely use it, but only like 5% of the time Im on my iPad. I use my ipad for quick or mobile tasks, but if I need to do real mutlitasking for work, I pull out my Mac. Id like for there to be more than 4 apps allowed to be open on the screen at once, and letting me drag things into the corner temporarily to get out of the way. Also not all apps support resizing. Some of the apps I use have the option to either take up half the screen minimum, when I'd like it smaller (iPhone app size). Thats an app developer issue, but still a problem for me.
I would agree that there are some haters, but that doesnt necessarily invalidate the other people's opinions. I for one love the iPad and wish it could do everything in my workflow to completely replace my macbook. The cellular iPad with the magic keyboard almost makes it a perfect device physically. But when my workflow is halted for lack of support, then its so disappointing. Im usually now traveling with both my Macbook and iPad now. I will be using my iPad for most things, but I've learned I still need my MacBook to be able to get my work done in a timely manner.
I think the question is what does "more like Mac" look like to people. Everyone has a different concept of what it could be. I think the UI and interface of iPadOS is wonderful. And Stage manager was a great add for multitasking and its a feature that can be turned on and off easily. Its a great approach to add a feature for only those who need it. It would be a question of if they can expand on that more without compromising the original interface of the iPad. Features like "pro" mode that could turn the "Files" app into a UI that is resembling "finder" more.
And like I mentioned in another post, there are just some features that could/should be added to the iPad OS without any compromise to operations, like the ability to open an mp3 file in the Music app seems a very basic functionality missing that could easily be added. Its kind of ridiculous that I first need to open a .mp3 file in the Music app on my mac to then have it sync onto my iPad.
I’m not arguing there aren’t any areas where I’d like to see improvement on iPadOS, I think there are several valid areas where iPadOS could and likely should improve. I have a wishlist of iPadOS improvements I’d like to see as well. 👍🏻. Hopefully you didn’t feel I was saying your opinions are invalid, I think they are valid. 👍🏻
With Files, I think they could just continue to make it more like Finder without a special mode. Files UI already looks practically identical to Finder, and it already has most of the same features. But I do like the modular software approach of iPadOS, it provides so much more potential and flexibility with it’s software modularity than a fixed desktop OS that assumes multi-windowing and such like macOS IMHO. 👍🏻
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Which means nothing. To minimise costs, Apple uses M series in Macs and higher end iPads. Today, hardware is however nearly meaningless to categorise Apple devices. The A18 Pro has better single thread performance than M1 and about the same multithread score and the same metal scores. It means that MacOS would run fine on an iPhone hardware. Ergo, the iPhone contains Mac hardware. You see meaningless distinctions.
If you can accomplish everything you need to do on an iPad or even an iPhone, then it’s a "true OS".
No one else needs to define what it is except you.
No one else needs to define what it is except you.
He was pointing out that Apple Music isn’t the only option for playing MP3’s on the iPad, and VLC is a good solution for that.
The thing is playing a single song is hardly a good solution. The task is to be able to incorporate a proper play, a library, playlist, edit tags and other things, something that the Mac version has been doing since forever. Give us more than a stupid playback device for the Apple Music store. And that is not solved by vlc, at all.
I think the goal is to add .mp3 files to music library and not just playing it. At least that is my goal.
And unfortunately, there is no other path to the music library other than external synch. I use iMazing on a PC.
The music and video directory is close and off limits with iPadOS so you can’t just download a mp3 file or other music files and drag and drop it on the music folder and have iTunes or music app play it.
Apple does not want you doing that.
I didn't read all 11 pages, but the three key things that bother the crap out of me:
1) Browser is not desktop classed. bunch of websites don't work as intended.
2) window management sucks. windows are not free flowing, need to snap into place. only 4 windows per screen.
3) file management sucks.
1) Browser is not desktop classed. bunch of websites don't work as intended.
2) window management sucks. windows are not free flowing, need to snap into place. only 4 windows per screen.
3) file management sucks.