You ’ve already heard about the hardware variety we ’d wish to see in a novel version of the iPad , if Apple bring out a raw tablet at its special consequence Wednesday , as is widely expected . But what would fresh Apple computer hardware be without software changes also thrown into the mix ?
As right as Io on the iPad is — and it ’s fairly darned dependable — there ’s still mess of room for betterment , especially as Apple ’s competitors in the tablet arena have in the end started to get their acts together and bring on devices that depend more like contenders . Some of the most request enhancements to the iPad — both in our office and among our readers — would involve change to the operating system that runs on Apple ’s tablet . Fortunately , as we saw last year with the going of the original iPad , Apple ’s not above vagabond out new iOS features to the iPad before delivering those features to all other iOS devices .
So here ’s our inclination of iOS tweaks and sweetening — include a few holdover we ’ve need to see for a while — that we hope to hear more about on Wednesday . Apple , of course , has its own idea about what change to make , but that does n’t mean we ca n’t woolgather .
Right now, moving files back and forth between your Mac and iPad relies on clunky interfaces like iTunes’s File Sharing.
Improve the iPad’s productivity features
Despite the vulgar refrain that the iPad is made for substance consumption , lots of people habituate the iPad as a productiveness puppet . But some Modern iOS features could offer major productivity boost .
Improve file exchange : decently now , moving files around on the Io is a mess . you may institutionalize files from one app to another ( for exemplar , Mail can transfer a PDF to GoodReader , and Dropbox can transfer an ePub to iBooks ) , and you may drag files directly into an app ’s file infinite from within iTunes on your Mac . But these method are hassles , and it ’s easygoing to end up with multiple variant of everything .
Right now , moving file back and forth between your Mac and iPad swear on clunky interfaces like iTunes ’s File Sharing .
Right now, moving files back and forth between your Mac and iPad relies on clunky interfaces like iTunes’s File Sharing.
That ’s why we ’d like to see Apple re - think the iOS filesystem . We ’re not asking for the iPad to have a strong private road full of folder like what you ’d find on your Mac . But it would be nice to have a common , shared area for apps to save file to and overt file from . And there ’s flummox to be a more intuitive way for users to move files onto and off of the iPad than that perplexing area at the bottom of the Apps lozenge in iTunes . Being able to mount an iPad ’s partake in - documents area as a strong drive , so you could drag files on and off , would be a nice step . So would built - in access to cloud - based storage — and not just MobileMe , but also pop systems such as Dropbox .
We ’d also care to see the iPad gain a feature that we ’ve like since we first saw it on an Android phone : the power to quick transfer single file and other data from one app to another . iOS does some of this now ( the aforesaid “ undefended in GoodReader ” feature film , for good example ) , but we ’d like to see a lot more . Imagine being able to tap to transport an e - mail message directly to Evernote , or a Safari URL to Twitterrific , without take in to use inept cut - and - paste trading operations or complex JavaScript bookmarklets .
Be a better presenter : The iPad can be a handy presentation twist , most notably when you ’re giving a Keynote presentation on a heavy concealment or using a projector . But it could be even better . We ’d like to see the iPad living system - wide screen mirroring , so you’re able to demo any app ( or multiple apps ) withoutresorting to jailbreaking . If that feature ’s useful enough for Apple to habituate in its introduction , it ’s useful enough to be usable for everyone .
To do anything more than the most basic Home screen organization, you need to turn to iTunes on your Mac—which is not without its own shortcomings.
We ’d also like to regain a way for the iPad to separate out beyond the circumscribed stock of typeface currently installed on the system — there are few thing more thwarting than reassign a Keynote demonstration to your iPad and having all your cautiously choose fonts replaced . We realise that moving fonts along with your presentation files might wreak up some font - licensing issues , but it ’s worth working those out .
intercommunicate better : Given its always - connected potential drop , the iPad could be a good communication equipment . If the newfangled iPad fall with camera , it will presumably supply FaceTime . What about extending FaceTime to support document exhibit , like the iChat Theater feature on the Mac ? And speaking of iChat , is an iOS reading of iChat too much to ask for ? Third - party chat apps are bang-up , but instant messaging is an important enough sensitive that the iPad should support it out of the box .
Other productivity promote : The iPad ’s silver screen is much big than the iPhone ’s , so we ’d like to see Safari on the iPad support tabbed browsing . And while Apple has made a lot of hay out of artist using iPhones and iPads to make beautiful paintings and drawings , we ’d care to see better support for pressure sensitiveness in the iPad hardware and for Apple to give app developersaccess to that pressure - predisposition data , so that creating art on the iPad can be a much sound experience .
iOS notifications demand your immediate attention, interrupt the task at hand. The iPad’s larger screen real estate is an invitation for a better solution.
Make better use of the Home and lock screens
The iPad has a much big screen than the iPhone and iPod mite , but its user interface — most especially on its home and lock screens — doesn’t really take advantage of the space .
To do anything more than the most basic Home screen organization , you need to release to iTunes on your Mac — which is not without its own defect .
Improve app organization : The domicile screen door in Io has tardily evolved over the long time , gaining features such as folder for collect apps , as well as easier , drag - and - drop organisation from within iTunes . But since the app onrush record no sign of subsidence , we could use some impertinent help from Apple in keeping our Home screens tidy . The ability to categorise Page or pamphlet so they automatically collect relevant new apps — say , a games pageboy for the creative new elbow room to not get work done , or a utilities page for new conditions apps and unit convertor — would be gracious . We ’d also welcome the option , in iTunes , to prevent iPhone and iPod touch apps that are n’t optimise for the iPad from automatically establish on our tablet .
You can move or delete multiple messages on the iPad, but Mail provides no option to flag them or mark them as read.
append support for home - screen gismo : While we ’re on the subject of Home screens , the iPad ’s large size and longer battery life make us wish we could get more use out of all that screen existent estate . How about providing a theoretical account for apps to exhibit sure selective information at a glance , such as the day ’s appointments , the workweek ’s weather condition prognosis , and the most - recently - received eastward - mail — right on the Home filmdom ?
Put more info on the lock chamber screen : The postulation to expose belittled , useful nuggets of information go twofold for the iPad ’s spacious lock sieve , which presently moderate a prison term , date , slideshow button , and an image of your choice . That screen could be the perfect place to get a quick glimpse at central bits of information — the twenty-four hour period ’s appointee , local weather condition , and late e - mail service subject headers — without having to repeatedly unlock the gimmick and beg into a bunch of freestanding apps .
Better multitasking and notifications
Apple finally give iPhone and iPad users the power to multitask in iOS 4 , and while it ’s emphatically been an improvement over the fashion things used to be , the iPad ’s larger covert real estate cries out for a more powerful way of working with multiple applications at once .
iOS notifications demand your immediate attention , interrupt the task at handwriting . The iPad ’s larger screen material landed estate is an invitation for a well solution .
incur a better means to do notifications : Whether it ’s dumbfound a calendar monitor , experience an instant message , or presenting an alarm from an app , the iPad take a one - size - fit - all approach to notification — and that size , unfortunately , is aimed more at the iPhone . Despite the iPad ’s bombastic , gorgeous display , notifications remain confined to a tiny little boxwood that pops up in the middle of the screen , disrupt whatever task currently has your attention . And if you have more than one app vying for your attention , pretty soon you ’ve got a stack of dialogs that you have to step through one by one . Contrast this with the approaches found on Android and WebOS tablets , which represent notifications as icons in one recess of the screen , letting the drug user expand and dismiss them at will . At this point , iOS notifications feel as archaic as voicemail before Visual Voicemail add up along .
get subject matter download in the backdrop : There ’s also room for multitasking improvement when it comes to generate content on your iPad . We trust to see a style for paper and magazine apps to periodically check for , and download , content updates in the background knowledge . That way , the freshest news ( or current issue ) is always at your fingertip when you launch each app — a real improvement on the experience of graze those publications on the Web . ( Amazon ’s Kindle , for example , mechanically downloads daily newspaper in the dead of night , so they ’re ready to read when you wake up in the morning . ) Apps such as Twitter clients , RSS reader , and Instapaper could also gain . Improvements here would be in Apple ’s pastime , as well , as they would surely increase periodic and newspaper subscription , and thus increase the tax income the company generate from its cut of those subscriptions .
Better multitasking interface : While iOS 4 ’s multitasking shelf and quick - switch maneuver were initially embrace by iPad exploiter — one elbow room to switch an app is good than none , after all — after a few months of use , there are definite improvements to be made . Currently , while switching between apps is doable with the multitasking shelf , the habitation button double tap total an supernumerary degree of complexity : tap too quickly , the gimmick may not record ; tap too slowly , and you ’ll find yourself back on the Home screen . Apple has been toying with alternative — in its developer build of iOS 4.3 , the company introduced a prevue offour- and five - finger multitouch gesturesfor pull up the multitasking shelf and direct app shift — and we would love to see these gestures ( or a variation thereof ) permanently implemented in a future interlingual rendition of the OS .
In improver , the multitasking interface itself can be clunky and confusing . The shelf point every opened app ’s picture — even if it ’s not actively running — and if you incline not to reboot your twist , that chain of mountains of icons can rise uselessly long . or else , it would be great to see a more visual internal representation of open apps , á la HP ’s WebOS interface or Apple ’s Exposé .
Upgrade the Mail app
From the iPad ’s 2010 liberation , Mail has stand out as firm app that catch most of the basics right and excels at the most important labor — viewing and composition subject matter , displaying attachment , and connecting reliably to nearly any east - mail server . But for the most part , it ’s the same Mail app you ’ll detect on an iPhone , especially now that both machine are runningiOS 4 Mail . And that can be frustrating , especially for those of us who take to do more than just the basics .
The iPad ’s large CRT screen and connectivity options would seem to make it an ideal machine for keeping in tinge on the go . But after nearly a year of iPad Mail economic consumption , we think the lack of some of the Mail - handle feature we take for granted in a desktop e - chain mail node keeps the iPad from being as capable as it could be .
you could move or delete multiple messages on the iPad , but Mail leave no option to flag them or mark them as read .
We ’d love to be be able to tag everything in a mailbox as read ; delete all content in a mailbox ; signal flag messages ( and have that condition synchronise between devices ) ; transmit to contact grouping ; save attachment to an area accessible by other apps ; and have more control over text when viewing and composition messages . We ’d also like to see a few background - inspired features such as mail rules and smart folders ( ideally synced from OS X Mail ) , multiple signatures , folder redaction , and local junk e-mail filtering . last , we hope to see Mail ’s two - pane view when the iPad is in portraiture predilection .
Other improvements
Our wishlist is in all probability long enough as it is , but we can think of a few more iOS improvement that defy sorting .
More radiocommunication syncing and communion : For a gadget that can do so much when untethered , it ’s still frustrative how many matter youcan’tdo wirelessly . The most obvious model is syncing data with iTunes , which still call for a forcible connection . But there are plenitude of other things relating to datasharingwe’d care to be able to do wirelessly — for example , right away sharing a URL or a moment of text from your iPad to your figurer ( or frailty versa ) or sharing a Google Maps route from your iPad to your iPhone . There are third company apps that manage some of these things , and you may sync other type of data point if you ’ve got a MobileMe subscription , but imagine if your computer and your Io devices kept penny-pinching chit on each other , making it simple to share and sync datum instantly .
Accounts and more - flexible app confinement : Far more than the iPhone or iPod hint , the iPad has wrick out to be ashareddevice — everyone in the category has a preferent usance for it and wants a turn . While iOS provides a issue of ways to qualify or permit special actions or access to certain apps , the iPad ’s version of iOS would do well to provide more options for multiple users and fine mastery over app restrictions .
First and foremost , we ’d love to see a canonic version of user accounts that would allow each family line member can have his or her own Safari bookmark , tocopherol - mail service accounts , and app setting . ( Multiple Words With Friends account , anyone ? ) But we ’d also like more flexibility when it come to restrictions — for example , the ability to restrict memory access to specific apps besides Safari , YouTube , and iTunes , and to restrict in - app purchase on a per - app ground . And if we do get exploiter accounts , we ’d receive good maternal dominance for Safari , Mail , and other apps , similar to the pick Mac OS X provide .
iPhoto for iPad : The iPad is an even better photograph web browser app and presenter than the iPhone or iPod touching , but its beauty in this regard is only hide deep . We ’d really like to be able to use our iPads to make albums , contend our library , and add metadata , then back up that data point to a calculator or use those changes for a true sync with iPhoto . A mobile , two - room - sync version of iPhoto build up into iOS would make both consumers and professional photographers quite happy .
Untether the iPad from the computer : When you first bug out up your iPad , you have to connect it to your Mac or PC before you may apply it . That made mother wit when Apple launched the gimmick , since it was a totally new family at the time , but now that the iPad is firmly embedded in the consciousness of the masses , it may be a beneficial opportunity to let the tablet become ego - sufficient — not dependent on the conduit that is iTunes . If the iPad really is the future of computing , it needs to be able to pave its own way . Like a fledgeling bird , it ’s time for the iPad to leave the nest and prove that it can fly .
Dreams, meet reality
As much as we ’d like the company to , Apple wo n’t make all of these changes to the iPad ’s software — it may not even make any of them . But there ’s no question that the folks from Cupertino sleep together the stakes : New iPad hardware is only half the battle . As gracious as more RAM and a fast CPU are , it ’ll be double good to harness those resources into supply an even better experience for iPad user — and that ’s all about software .
Apple place the bar for a tablet experience when it inclose the iPad in 2010 , but as competitors sputter to encounter with last class ’s product , it ’s the improvements to Apple ’s software that resist the best chance of helping the twist maintain its lead . We ’ll see what changes Apple has in store on Wednesday .
[ Macworld editors Christopher Breen , Serenity Caldwell , David Chartier , Dan Frakes , Dan Moren , and Jason Snell contributed to this article . ]
