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iPad Why does iPadOS not feel like true OS?
- Thread starter Bubble99
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Then elaborate, because it sounds like you’re saying the only thing iPad’s are useful for is being a “toy” for content consumption until it supports XCode, when many people, myself included, use the iPad for professional workflows and productivity….
An app like xcode is a benchmark of flexibility of the device. If it can fully run it then the iPad would be taken seriously. Toy versions of serious apps are viewed as a joke by those who know better.
But I have stated them as opinions, and not made negative accusations. You didn’t say “I think Apple does x to make you subscribe to Apple Music”, you stated as if it were a fact “Apple does x to make you subscribe to Apple Music”. There’s a big difference there… I have merely pointed out that you cannot claim with certainty that that is why Apple hasn’t added that feature yet, and it’s equally possible that Apple hasn’t added it because it’s niche and there isn’t much demand for it, so in that case it wouldn’t be a priority. We don’t know the reason, so we can’t just claim our opinions as facts on this matter…
And you seem awfully interested in Apple Music and that app’s features for someone who has “no interest in Apple Music”…
You realize that Windows and Linux don’t have XCode, right? I will note that you have shifted to saying “an app like Xcode”, but by that metric, iPadOS has coding apps as well that perform similar functions. Heck, you can even publish an app to the App Store fully on an iPad with Swift Playground.
And there are many apps on the iPad that aren’t “toy versions”. I use the iPad as my primary computer, and use it exclusively for my graphic design work, 3D modeling/sculpting, writing, file management, etc. None of the apps I use for those things are “toy apps”.
Just because the iPad isn’t sufficient for your use-case, doesn’t mean that it’s a “toy” for everyone else…
Whatever. Apple's implementation sucks, that's my opinion. My interest in its functionality is wrt things ling playlists, album art, etc - not subscribing on a monthly basis to their streaming. Good luck & good-bye.
And you’re free to your opinion. I just don’t get what the big problem is with simply adding the collection to Apple Music on Mac or PC, and then playing it on whatever device you want with all of those things without any subscription… Good luck to you as well.
I remember trying to add MP3s to an iPod touch 15 years ago and hitting this limitation. People have been asking for this for two decades.
Maybe some people want to use their iPad as a laptop replacement but can't because of this ridiculous limitation.
I do not work in AutoCAD, but I frequently find myself copying, pasting and rearranging between multiple sources and targets in several different apps, while also running build commands in different directories on different servers.
Isn’t it great that we can both use the workflow that suits us best?
🤷♂️
See how the fact that I can have an arbitrary number of windows that I can arrange as I see fit does not preclude you from working with one window in full screen, or using Stage Manager, if you prefer that?
🤦♂️
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Yeah, it's absolutely absurd that the iPad's (and iPhone's) built-in music player has this restriction on basic functionality. In a similar vein, Files should have access to the Photo Library. Interestingly, unlike the Music Library, third-party apps (e.g., file manager and camera apps) have read/write access to the Photo Library; ridiculous inconsistency in Apple's implementation (and one reason I think Apple does it to push users into their paid music subscription service).
Finder doesn’t have access to the Photo Library on the Mac on current macOS, so I don’t see why Files would. And Apple Music isn’t really intended to be a system music player, but an app mostly designed to access music streaming, with added options for importing one’s own music (something that competitors like Spotify don’t even offer in any shape or form in the first place). The Apple Music Library isn’t a system process, or bound directly to system processes. You can use an iPhone or iPad without ever touching Apple Music. Photos is directly linked with the camera, and is more of a system process, so is accessed by third party apps. They are two very different things, trying to claim an inconsistency here makes no sense because it’s an apple’s to oranges comparison.
In fact, Apple Music is not the system MP3 player… If I tap on an MP3 file in Files, it doesn’t automatically open in Apple Music, it opens in a true system media player view that pops up within Files. The same is true on the Mac. Apple Music is not the built-in system audio player. Apple Music is an optional app that predominantly adds music streaming services, but (unlike basically any of the competition) also maintains a system to add your own collection via a PC or Mac from the iPod days…
If Apple really wanted to force users to buy a music streaming subscription, why would they provide this option at all? They wouldn’t, they’d presumably remove it. But they didn’t. They’ve retained it as an option.
Apple Music doesn’t really tend to get big updates normally. It’s stayed fairly steady-state with minor changes and improvements here and there over the years, but I’d hardly classify it as a focus of any more recent software update on iOS… So a more difficult to implement feature like that that would have to be reworked and integrated in, presumably to appease a niche percentage of Apple Music users, doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense…
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I’m sure there’s probably been a niche percentage of people asking for this for a while, but Apple is going to prioritize features that actually benefit more users that are in more common demand…
And they can… There are alternatives to Apple Music out there. If they’re not interested in an Apple Music subscription, then there’s not tea a reason an alternative app couldn’t work for that purpose…
We’ve gotten a lot more user-facing features that made much more impactful effect to user workflows than more emojis in the past years…
If you want another, in my opinion more apt, comparison: Books app will not only open any DRM-free EPUB or PDF, but it also will automatically store it in iCloud Drive and sync to all your devices. Can you imagine if that was how it worked on Music app? Instead, they try to sell you on Apple Music (streaming) or iTunes Match, which still requires a real computer. I think it’s even funnier, because music files are widely distributed as DRM-free for many years now, whereas ebooks are still widely DRM-locked. In other words, if you have a DRM-free ebook, it’s probably pirated!
Yeah, and the iTunes Store app on iOS is like 20% banners begging you to subscribe to Apple Music. They even redirect iTunes Store links to Apple Music.
Finder absolutely has access to the Photos Library. You right-click and choose “Show Package Contents”. Everything is available in a directory structure.
If I open (not preview) an audio file on Mac, it opens in the Music app except for certain “niche” audio formats which open in QuickTime Player.
Only if you ignore the first 8 years of the Music app (originally iPod app)
Because it would be a PR nightmare. They're not Google killing off apps and services left and right. Instead, they cover 20% of the iOS iTunes Store app with “Subscribe to Apple Music” banners, redirect iTunes Store links to Apple Music (streaming), and try to corral you into subscribing at every turn.
Only coders are real people whose needs are relevant. Any other professional who uses an iPad in a professional capacity doesn’t count, right? No true Scotsman would use an iPad in a professional context!
Yes! It is fantastic there are options that suit both of us! That was the point of my post; we all have different requirements!
I would like to see iPadOS continue to evolve and grow, and inherit more features from macOS while retaining a touch-oriented interface. What I’m pushing back against (and I’m not aiming this at any specific individual, more at the weight of posts in threads such as this) is the notion that if you can't do This One Particular Thing, then you cannot use iPads for professional work. There is a lot of "if it doesn't work for me, it can work for no-one" around here, followed by an angry rejection of people pointing out how well it works for their own professional workflow.
No one is suggesting that iPads have the versatility and power of Macs, but that doesn't mean they can't work for anyone! I get that many are frustrated by the limitations, but it doesn't mean that if it is not good for you it is good for no one!
All of which is your conjecture. Unless you have internal memos from Apple execs discussing how they’re going to “stick it” to customers by “forcing them” to buy Apple Music, and such, then all you’re doing is stating your opinion as if it’s fact. It isn’t… It’s merely opinion…
In Finder, if I find the Photo library and try to click it, it automatically opens the Photos app. And besides, I think it makes far more sense to view the Photo library in the Photos app than in Finder even if it were possible to view them in Finder.
My point is that Apple Music isn’t a basic system process or default in iOS and iPadOS… If I tap an audio file, it plays in a true system-level player within the Files app, it does not open in Apple Music. Last I played an audio file on my Mac (a while ago as my Mac is not my primary device, my iPad is), it didn’t open Apple Music either. Perhaps you set Apple Music as the default app for audio files? Or perhaps things have changed in macOS since, as it’s admittedly been a while since I’ve played audio files on my Mac… But the point remains that Apple Music is not a system function on iOS and iPadOS, it is an app you can completely ignore and not use. It’s an optional app that can be replaced by a broad range of available third party options… It’s as “system-level” to iOS and iPadOS as Pages or Numbers. There isn’t really any sense of “system Music Library” for Apple to provide access to other apps with in the first place because it’s fundamentally not tied to the system…
We’re well past the “first 8 years of the Music app”. Softwares change in scope of functionality and purpose over time…
It seems hardly anyone talks about it outside a handful of people in a fan forum… I’m pretty sure the vast majority of users out there likely could care less about whether or not they can import MP3 files into Apple Music or not on their iPhone or iPad…. “PR nightmare” would be quite the stretch... And if they were so dedicated to supposedly “forcing” people to buy Apple Music, then surely they would remove that functionality to truly “force” people to do so… The truth of the matter is that this is merely your conjecture, and there are plenty of other potential explanations, such as the seemingly niche nature of that feature, and seeming lack of demand…
And VLC Media Player on iOS allows you to create playlists with your own MP3 files from the Files app. Complete with cover art and everything else. There are third-party apps that do what you’re talking about…
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Let me call up Tim Cook real quick. I'm sure that email is right beside the one that revealed they committed perjury in the App Store lawsuit.
Nope.
Same as you...
If they shut down the iTunes Store? Lol ok. Even Google refunded everyone's Stadia purchases when they shut it down because they know how the PR looks, and Apple cares much more about public image than Google does.
Speaking of conjecture. These forums are just a tiny slice of overall iPad users so you can't project what you see here onto the community of users.
01cowherd is right to compare the Music app’s missing import functionality to the Books app, where you can freely import epubs. If it makes sense to do it for books then it makes more sense to do it for music.
One exec allegedly committed perjury according to an off-the-rails judge likely trying to bolster their career by playing “tough” with a successful company…
Not same as me. I have clearly stated my opinion is merely that. I have specified “in my opinion”, “I think”, etc. I do not pretend that my opinion is anything beyond that. But you seem to regularly frame your opinion as if it were fact when it isn’t…
I said nothing about shutting down the iTunes Store. I said they could (and presumably would if there goal were truly to force users to use Apple Music) remove the ability to import your own MP3 files into Apple Music on the Mac or PC. That would not require removing the entire iTunes Store, and I see no evidence it would create a “PR nightmare” as you claim… Besides, it seems that in your view, if you actually believe they supposedly “committed purgery”, then wouldn’t it seem they wouldn’t care about a “PR nightmare”?… On one hand, you imply that Apple doesn’t care about their public image by supposedly willfully committing purgery, but then you also imply Apple wouldn’t remove one feature in one app because they care about public image. Those two ideas don’t seem to actually jive together logically…
The reality is, with the Apple Music thing, we’re talking about an app limitation at best, not an OS limitation since Apple Music is not a system-level thing on iOS and iPadOS, but merely an optional app you can use or completely ignore/remove. VLC Media Player provides the exact functionality people are talking about, is completely free to install, and has zero adds. If people aren’t interested in an Apple Music subscription (so don’t care about merging a streaming library with their own library), then why not use an app like VLC? It supports album covers, playlists, all sorts of things…. I see zero reason why someone couldn’t use VLC for this…