Why is it always said that iOS is boring?

[Technarchy]

Er, can't you push a lot of information to the lock screen already? That's an API I thought all developers had access to. I only let IMs, e-mails, and facebook onto the lock screen on my touch but I'm sure you could news or live feed the heck out of the lock screen if you wanted to? There's got to be an app for that.



When I had a jailbreaked 4.x touch, in the end, this is the only JB feature I kept enabled. It would be nice to see a faster toggle screen somewhere. I don't think it would be terribly useful for music controls though - you're never more than a double tap and swipe away from those at any time.

As of right now the lock screen is just notifications and its all or nothing. You can't deal with individual items. And I'd like to see my whole calendar and reminders for the day so I know what's going on at a glance without actually going into my phone.

And the weather. It drives me completely crazy that weather can't be seen on the lock screen.

 

[matttye]

You can turn on/off these type of notifications. Don't want sports, off it goes. Don't want stocks? Turn it off. Events? Turn it off. You have options to set it up to best fit your individual needs.



I like to be able to see my schedule and appointments for the entire work week. It's easier to plan and coordinate what I need to get done in a quicker, more organized manner. Maybe if you don't schedule a lot of things, it's not that important, but when you have appointments throughout the day, being able to see and know what's coming up ahead of time so you can plan in advance is necessary instead of it just popping up 24 hours beforehand.

Apple should at least give the OPTION to have your calendar show 1, 3, 5 days ahead.

My point is that the calendar DOES show appointments ahead of time - there's a list view you can use to plan your week. However, there's absolutely no need for notifications to pop up days ahead of appointments. You'd just have 50 notifications to scroll through rather the nicely laid out, fit for purpose list view in the calendar.

 

[Tinmania]

It's the age-old battle of customizability vs. simplicity. Android to the former, iOS to the latter. The older I get, the more I prefer the latter. I spent my youth customizing Linux and BeOS installations - I don't have the energy or time for it any more.

I got to use the Sony Tablet P with ICS for a while, and you could have more geegaws and widgets on it than you could shake a stick at, and customize tons of home screens with different layouts, but honestly, I was a little underwhelmed by the widget usefulness, even the official google ones. I just didn't find it very useful to have little app blobs where I would not just end up open up the full screen up anyway. I'm sure there are some good uses for it, but iOS 5.x alerts really cover my "glancable" needs and I've grown to prefer the simplicity side of the street.

That said, lots of people like to customize and optimize.

I think many people are confusing choice for customization. I don't really care about customization too much. But I do want choice.

I want the choice to use whatever browser I choose, not Apple's choice. Same for anything else that is hardwired into iOS. Sure I can choose to use Chrome on iOS. Till I tap on a link in email, another app, etc. Then I am sent straight to Safari where I had better not have 8 tabs already open. Ugh.

In 2007 when the iPhone debuted there was an 8 tab limitation on Safari. Soon it will be 2013 and the same limitation is still there?

As for widgets, there are plenty of useful ones. What I personally find humorous is when an iOS user claims to hate them and then extols the virtues of seeing weather in notification center. Uh, that is a widget.



Michael

 

[Tinmania]

Tell me, on average, how big is the screen from an android device nowadays? An android user complaining content is almost out of thumbs reach on an iPhone (the smallest high-end smartphone on the market), what's next?

Btw those capacitive buttons on an android device (most of them have it, some have dedicated) are highly irritating:

- Did I push it...no?..oh it was just android lagging..
OR
- Dammit I accidentally pushed it again, grr..

Sorry, that is me and my iPhone's home button.

On my Nexus 4 I never wonder if I tapped the home button. It just works. And lag? You are talking ancient history now. My Nexus 4 has no lag.

Best of all, when I want to watch a video, browse the web, or play a game I can make my navigation buttons go away. I am stuck with the home button on my iPhone regardless. Of course I don't think I would want to have an even longer iPhone 5. The screen already seems too skinny to me. Any taller and it would look freakish.




Michael

 

[TheNewDude]

I read many of the points in here are there is a lot of argument about widgets and lock screen info and notifications etc...

For me the man issue of the "boring iOS" it that esthetically it looks the same as it did 3 years ago.

Even some of the ICONs are identical.

Why can't Apple just allow Themeing and Font changes and Keyboard skins etc?
They can all be sold on the App Store and even Apple can make money off of it.

I just want somethings that allow me to personalize and customize my phone to me, visually. Add something that differentiates it from others.

 

[cynics]

Anything and everything can get boring. I don't consider Android boring because of how quickly in evolving. If it were to basically stay the same for the next 5 years I'm sure I'd find it boring as well.

That's unlikely to happen as it seems stock Android adopts the good features of manufacture skins over time. Split screen will probably be a stock Android feature one day soon, which would be awesome on my Nexus 10. I like the idea of playing a YouTube video and browsing these forums at the same time.

iOS 7 will be near identical to iOS 6 which was similar to iOS 5 etc etc. I'm sure my 4S won't get some cool feature though, only the 5 and newer will.

 

[Tinmania]

I read many of the points in here are there is a lot of argument about widgets and lock screen info and notifications etc...

For me the man issue of the "boring iOS" it that esthetically it looks the same as it did 3 years ago.

Even some of the ICONs are identical.

Why can't Apple just allow Themeing and Font changes and Keyboard skins etc?
They can all be sold on the App Store and even Apple can make money off of it.

I just want somethings that allow me to personalize and customize my phone to me, visually. Add something that differentiates it from others.

I am not into customizing as much as you are, but I believe we should be able to if we want.

Speaking of keyboards, it is a crying shame you can't add other keyboards to iOS. SwiftKey is amazing and yet there is no way to use it on iOS. How could allowing that be a bad thing? I swear SwiftKey is reading my mind at times.



Michael

 

[Jibbajabba]

Name a worth while widget. Just one.

Local Traintimes here in the UK. The IOS App is just that - an app. If I want to find out when my next train home is I have to open the app, add source and destination, hit search and browse through the times.

Same app exists on Android - but it also comes with a widget which can be pre-configured using source and destination station. It then automatically changes direction based on my geolocation (work <> Home and Home <> Work depending on where I am).

It can be configured to display x amount of times within x amount of minutes / hours.

So iPhone -
1. open app
2. enter start
3. enter destination
4. search / choose

Android
1. Swipe to widget.


2nd app as example.

Cozi.com

App on iPhone requires you to login / check calendar option etc.

Android - widget displays next few appointments without having to open / login to the app.

I could go on, but I really think you don't REALLY care

 

[Tinmania]

I could go on, but I really think you don't REALLY care

I don't always agree with you but on this I have to say I do 100%.




Mike

 

[matttye]

Apple has zero provisions for glance and go information. This is one of my bigger gripes because Apple has a completely blank lock screen that should be able to show a variety of content and live feeds instead of just being dead space.

The lock screen shows all of your notifications, playing songs, lets you change music, etc. It shows plenty.

Notification center in general needs more content. Why isnt there Full music information in notification center, or audio controls if a music app is running? Or settings toggles like brightness and blue tooth? Open up notification center to all developers and let them push the limits.

I agree with settings toggles and opening up the notification centre, but putting music controls there would be pointless when they're in the multitasking bar. Repetition just makes the UI cluttered.

And for lord's sake, the weather icon needs to be dynamic like the calendar icon. It's not 73 and sunny so stop saying it is.

For the weather icon to be dynamic it would need to poll a weather service every so often (otherwise the icon would be just as pointless as it is now). I would rather it didn't do that and use my data just for the sake of updating the icon. Maybe make it an option? Apple is against options though

What's wrong with weather being in the notification bar? Seems like everyone should be satisfied with that; weather at a glance, you can disable it, and it only polls the weather service when you enter the bar.

 

[Diseal3]

Because it is. I'm tired of the overall OS not changing a damn bit.

I like the progress Android manufacturers are making and I like the fact that it is clearly improving overall as an OS. Using a GS3 (Returned Note 2 because of bootloader only for in to be unlocked a few weeks later ) and my experience overall with this device is nothing short of amazing.

 

[Dr McKay]

After using an iPhone since the first one, I switched to Android and it feels like a breath of fresh air.

 

[GoSh4rks]

I agree with settings toggles and opening up the notification centre, but putting music controls there would be pointless when they're in the multitasking bar. Repetition just makes the UI cluttered.

That's a bad example on your part.. It takes two button clicks and a swipe to get to those controls. It is barely faster than actually opening the music app. Why not put them in the notification center?

 

[matttye]

That's a bad example on your part.. It takes two button clicks and a swipe to get to those controls. It is barely faster than actually opening the music app. Why not put them in the notification center?

A WHOLE two button clicks and a swipe? Oh the inconvenience

[/s]

The benefit is obviously that you can reach them quickly from any page and don't need to hunt down the music app (plus it supports other apps like Pandora, Spotify etc).

Personally I wouldn't mind if it moved to the notification bar, but having it in both places would be silly. They should use the current music bar for something else if they relocate music controls.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

Please explain this to me. I see it as a launcher to get me to what I need at the time. I'm not expecting fireworks when I unlock my screen. Android and WP8 are pretty much the same concept launcher wise IMHO. Why would anyone think Android or WP8 as non-boring but iOS boring?

For me, it is all the reasons mentioned. The look and function hasn't changed much since it was introduced. Totally contrary to how things normally work in the fast paced world of technology. Which makes it seem even more dated. Maybe you don't mind using an OS with the same look and feel for a decade or more but I do. Additionally, I don't like being locked into a one-size-fits-all box because one size DOESN'T fit all. And when I say size, I don't just mean screen size (which is also a problem) but the lack of customizing options. I want more than just wallpaper.

Back button? I had android and the back button is just one more button I had to worry about. I don't even see it as an issue with iOS but to each there own. I guess you go back a lot?

I do go back a lot. And I love that ability. It's nice! If you are "worry" about a button, then I don't know what to tell you. It's definitely not something to be worrying about. LOL

 

[GoSh4rks]

A WHOLE two button clicks and a swipe? Oh the inconvenience

[/s]

The benefit is obviously that you can reach them quickly from any page and don't need to hunt down the music app (plus it supports other apps like Pandora, Spotify etc).

Personally I wouldn't mind if it moved to the notification bar, but having it in both places would be silly. They should use the current music bar for something else if they relocate music controls.

Never said it was inconvenient, just that perhaps there is a better way to do things while keeping within the structure that Apple already has. Put it this way - do you think that Apple would have put the controls where they are now had they implemented the current notification center before the music controls? It makes no sense to do two button clicks and swipe over just a swipe.

 

[matttye]

Never said it was inconvenient, just that perhaps there is a better way to do things while keeping within the structure that Apple already has. Put it this way - do you think that Apple would have put the controls where they are now had they implemented the current notification center before the music controls? It makes no sense to do two button clicks and swipe over just a swipe.

Probably yeah. The notification centre only contains notifications at the moment. Even the weather and stock widgets contain notifications.

Music controls are not notifications and Apple probably thinks they don't belong there.

 

[GoSh4rks]

Probably yeah. The notification centre only contains notifications at the moment. Even the weather and stock widgets contain notifications.

Music controls are not notifications and Apple probably thinks they don't belong there.

But they are. They tell you what is currently playing.

 

[F123D]

My point is that the calendar DOES show appointments ahead of time - there's a list view you can use to plan your week. However, there's absolutely no need for notifications to pop up days ahead of appointments. You'd just have 50 notifications to scroll through rather the nicely laid out, fit for purpose list view in the calendar.

Yes, if you want to open and close the calendar app over and over and over and over to check on something. A simple widget solves this. Set to show appointments a couple days ahead and you can see what your schedule looks like with a quick glance to know what's coming up. No pop ups, no notifications, no constantly opening and closing the app. Quick and simple.

The problem is apple has notifications configured so horribly, it's a pain in the butt to have more then a couple appointments show up at a time. That's why you think it's a burden, because of the way apple implemented the notification system.

 

[nick_elt]

For me, it is all the reasons mentioned. The look and function hasn't changed much since it was introduced. Totally contrary to how things normally work in the fast paced world of technology. Which makes it seem even more dated. Maybe you don't mind using an OS with the same look and feel for a decade or more but I do. Additionally, I don't like being locked into a one-size-fits-all box because one size DOESN'T fit all. And when I say size, I don't just mean screen size (which is also a problem) but the lack of customizing options. I want more than just wallpaper.



I do go back a lot. And I love that ability. It's nice! If you are "worry" about a button, then I don't know what to tell you. It's definitely not something to be worrying about. LOL

I find myself trying to push an imaginary back button on my ipad all the time after using my phone all day. The back button is great.

 

[F123D]

Maybe make it an option? Apple is against options though

I think for the most part, that's all people want. To have the option.

 

[Technarchy]

Personally I wouldn't mind if it moved to the notification bar, but having it in both places would be silly. They should use the current music bar for something else if they relocate music controls.

I agree, stick it in notification center only, where it makes far more sense, is easier to get to, and can display better controls, track information and album art.

This would really come in handy with Pandora where you'll hear new music you like and want to know who is the artist, and what is the album.

 

[mackinmike]

iOS... a grid of icons. it's so boring. even more irksome is that i can't even organize a group of icons to the bottom of the screen without it auto-arranging it next to last icon. why?!

 

[mackinmike]

Finding an app isn't hard. Just use spotlight or Siri.

Quick settings to toggle on and off? Why would iOS need that? Battery life is amazing even when leaving everything on. Android needs that to save battery.

Name a worth while widget. Just one. iOS you can get the weather quick via notification bar or Siri. Sports scores and schedules. What widget is out there that is must have on the Android that makes it so much better than iOS?

Back button? I had android and the back button is just one more button I had to worry about. I don't even see it as an issue with iOS but to each there own. I guess you go back a lot?

i'm gonna laugh one day when apple introduces widgets. everyone saying widgets aren't useful will eat their words.

omg, the back button is the most useful function. for example, i like to check my stocks in the morning. in the stock app, there are news links to the highlighted stock. i click the story and it brings me to the browser where it displays story. after reading, i'd like to go back to the stock app to check more stores and quotes. how do i go back to the previous app? i'm forced to double click the home button to bring up the list of opened apps. then i need to click where i want to go. in android/blackberry/wp, the back button does it for ya.

 

[cynics]

Put the player in notifications. And where the player currently is...ready for this....toggles.

/mind blown