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Honestly that's exactly what the iPad needs. The focus on discoverability has crippled the iPad since the beginning, so its about time Apple started making the

by valine 7y ago

Honestly that's exactly what the iPad needs. The focus on discoverability has crippled the iPad since the beginning, so its about time Apple started making the iPad faster to use. Software designed to maximize productivity always has a learning curve.

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
But this is functionality that normal computers can do in immediately obvious ways. Edit: “immediately obvious” was a bit strong. They can do it in ways that are significantly easier to discover.
- Jtsummers 7y ago
  Based on my colleagues, nothing about computer interfaces is immediately obvious.
- minhazm 7y ago
  For example? Keep in mind the iPad has keyboard support can already support most of the common keyboard shortcuts.
- emsy 7y ago
  Watch my parents use a computer and I'm confident you'll change your mind :)
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    Well, I suppose “obvious” is relative. I think an interface that presents you with multiple windows by default, and then lets you drag them, is a lot more discoverable than what the iPad is doing.
    - chipotle_coyote 7y ago
      I agree. This is a challenge with the iOS (and Android) UIs, I think. Mice and trackpads have a more obvious and somewhat richer set of "verbs" for interaction, e.g., right-click versus "try tapping with two fingers," and menu bars make all their commands very easily discoverable in ways that toolbar-only UIs have a lot of trouble duplicating. I'm not sure, though, what a better approach is on the iPad, assuming that we don't just give a menu bar. I'm pretty interested in a lot of these changes; as silly as it may sound, being able to display two documents from the same app side by side on the iPad will alone solve one of my huge frustrations with the system as it is now, and the changes to the Files app sound like they'll be really useful in practice. I know there will be a lot of folks, particularly in the HN crowd, who will be upset that iPads can't do [Insert Thing They Need], but iOS, er, iPadOS is reaching a point where there's very little it can't do that I personally need. (Adding my proviso that "the iPad can't do this thing I need to do the way I'm used to doing it" should not be conflated with "the iPad can't do this thing I need.")
      - 0815test 7y ago
        > This is a challenge with the iOS (and Android) UIs, I think. Mice and trackpads have a more obvious and somewhat richer set of "verbs" for interaction GTK+3 has a good approach there, I think. It turns the window titlebar into a thick "header bar", which includes a "title" part for easy grabbing as well as a handful of button-accessible menus (fewer than the top levels in a traditional menubar), including a kitchen-sink "hamburger menu" for lesser-used options. It becomes a bit less convenient for mouse&keyboard use, but the touch usability is absolutely there. Too bad that running Linux on tablet-like computers is still way too fiddly, it could be a fierce competitor to the iPad ecosystem for more pro tasks. Added: And on recent GTK+3 releases, one can shrink the window horizontally and the buttons will simply shift to the bottom when there's not enough room for them in the top headerbar. This solves a flexibility issue with the previous headerbar-only approach (especially on smaller or lower-res screens), while still being quite intuitive.
        pcr910303 7y ago
        > GTK+3 has a good approach there, I think. It turns the window titlebar into a thick "header bar", which includes a "title" part for easy grabbing as well as a handful of button-accessible menus In case you don’t know, that’s what modeled after macOS. (It had it from the beginning. AFAIK)
farisjarrah 7y ago
Mouse support would be cool. Much easier to use a mouse when interacting with text then doing touch in my opinion.
- dantheman0207 7y ago
  iPad OS includes mouse support.
  - Asmod4n 7y ago
    But sadly only mouse and not trackpad support. (Can be activated under accessibility)
    - freehunter 7y ago
      According to this reddit thread which references a Twitter feed, it does work with magic trackpad: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/bwfk09/mouse_support_on_ipad/ https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/bwfk09/mouse_support... I haven't tried it so I don't know.
    - ben_w 7y ago
      Surely… the screen is the trackpad?
      - solarkraft 7y ago
        It's not.
  - pier25 7y ago
    With a really ugly round cursor though

by valine 7y ago

Wowfunhappy 7y ago

But this is functionality that normal computers can do in immediately obvious ways. Edit: “immediately obvious” was a bit strong. They can do it in ways that are significantly easier to discover.

Jtsummers 7y ago
Based on my colleagues, nothing about computer interfaces is immediately obvious.
minhazm 7y ago
For example? Keep in mind the iPad has keyboard support can already support most of the common keyboard shortcuts.
emsy 7y ago
Watch my parents use a computer and I'm confident you'll change your mind :)
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  Well, I suppose “obvious” is relative. I think an interface that presents you with multiple windows by default, and then lets you drag them, is a lot more discoverable than what the iPad is doing.
  - chipotle_coyote 7y ago
    I agree. This is a challenge with the iOS (and Android) UIs, I think. Mice and trackpads have a more obvious and somewhat richer set of "verbs" for interaction, e.g., right-click versus "try tapping with two fingers," and menu bars make all their commands very easily discoverable in ways that toolbar-only UIs have a lot of trouble duplicating. I'm not sure, though, what a better approach is on the iPad, assuming that we don't just give a menu bar. I'm pretty interested in a lot of these changes; as silly as it may sound, being able to display two documents from the same app side by side on the iPad will alone solve one of my huge frustrations with the system as it is now, and the changes to the Files app sound like they'll be really useful in practice. I know there will be a lot of folks, particularly in the HN crowd, who will be upset that iPads can't do [Insert Thing They Need], but iOS, er, iPadOS is reaching a point where there's very little it can't do that I personally need. (Adding my proviso that "the iPad can't do this thing I need to do the way I'm used to doing it" should not be conflated with "the iPad can't do this thing I need.")
    - 0815test 7y ago
      > This is a challenge with the iOS (and Android) UIs, I think. Mice and trackpads have a more obvious and somewhat richer set of "verbs" for interaction GTK+3 has a good approach there, I think. It turns the window titlebar into a thick "header bar", which includes a "title" part for easy grabbing as well as a handful of button-accessible menus (fewer than the top levels in a traditional menubar), including a kitchen-sink "hamburger menu" for lesser-used options. It becomes a bit less convenient for mouse&keyboard use, but the touch usability is absolutely there. Too bad that running Linux on tablet-like computers is still way too fiddly, it could be a fierce competitor to the iPad ecosystem for more pro tasks. Added: And on recent GTK+3 releases, one can shrink the window horizontally and the buttons will simply shift to the bottom when there's not enough room for them in the top headerbar. This solves a flexibility issue with the previous headerbar-only approach (especially on smaller or lower-res screens), while still being quite intuitive.
      - pcr910303 7y ago
        > GTK+3 has a good approach there, I think. It turns the window titlebar into a thick "header bar", which includes a "title" part for easy grabbing as well as a handful of button-accessible menus In case you don’t know, that’s what modeled after macOS. (It had it from the beginning. AFAIK)

farisjarrah 7y ago

Mouse support would be cool. Much easier to use a mouse when interacting with text then doing touch in my opinion.

dantheman0207 7y ago
iPad OS includes mouse support.
- Asmod4n 7y ago
  But sadly only mouse and not trackpad support. (Can be activated under accessibility)
  - freehunter 7y ago
    According to this reddit thread which references a Twitter feed, it does work with magic trackpad: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/bwfk09/mouse_support_on_ipad/ https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/bwfk09/mouse_support... I haven't tried it so I don't know.
  - ben_w 7y ago
    Surely… the screen is the trackpad?
    - solarkraft 7y ago
      It's not.
- pier25 7y ago
  With a really ugly round cursor though