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It still remains a crippled user experience in many ways: - PDF reader: Preview would be a nice addition to the set of default app, but you have to choose betw

It still remains a crippled user experience in many ways: - PDF reader: Preview would be a nice addition to the set of default app, but you have to choose between the very basic viewer tied to Files.app and various viewers with many schemes to get into your wallet. - Files: I know a lot of apps rely on databases, but we still have to use files every now and then. The Files.app is very clunky for what I consider a solved problem. - The weird stage manager: Even on a 13" screen, it's hard to manage more than two apps side by side. Why not introduce a simple workspace manager a la GNOME if they user want to save a particular set of windows. - Profiles: Even browsers are adding them these days as they recognize that people have a faceted life. Instead we have custom notification settings. The ipad is not that personal of a device. It's closer to the Apple TV than my laptop in terms of privacy.

zffr 1y ago
Preview was just included in iOS 26
- throwaway290 1y ago
  Books is much better for PDFs
  - skydhash 1y ago
    It would be, if not for the constant Book Store upselling in the UI. You can't disable it.
    - throwaway290 1y ago
      Never saw it. Screen time to your help!
yoz-y 1y ago
they are adding Preview to iOS. I haven’t tried it yet but if it works like on macOS then most file formats should be handled rather well. Saddest is the removal of slideover, ultimately that’s the only multi-tasking feature I really used in the old iPadOS and it was really quite nice.
scarface_74 1y ago
It’s not really a solved problem on any desktop platform. Once you download an app on a desktop, it has complete access to all of your files you have access to in user space. The Files app itself works just the same to manage files as Windows and Macs assuming you didn’t have multiple windows to work with. The Files app as method to open and save files with in an app, works like any other file picker with more granular permissions. The idea that any file storage service is a first class citizen (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc) is definitely a win.
- StopDisinfo910 1y ago
  > It’s not really a solved problem on any desktop platform. Once you download an app on a desktop, it has complete access to all of your files you have access to in user space. Amusingly, Linux solved that with flatpack. Applications are installed in their own sandboxed containers and you decide which files they can and can’t access. The Linux desktop has some very interesting pieces of technology. Apple could do the same on macOS but that would pierce the veil that their user hostile policies are actually motivated by greed and not security.
  - icedchai 1y ago
    Apple has "App Sandbox" and an entitlement system on the Mac: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/app-sandbox https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/app-sandb... It's "baked in" and doesn't require containers.
    - scarface_74 1y ago
      Isn’t this only enforced for Mac App Store apps?
      - icedchai 1y ago
        I've read that apps outside of the Mac App Store can use it. I think they have to be signed / notarized.
cm277 1y ago
After years with a mini, I jumped to an Air just so I could finally get a proper 'netbook' experience. Don't like Chromebooks, Windows is too complex; there is room for a simplified laptop that is easy to use and update but let's you use proper apps without going all the way to a full laptop with pro tools. I've started to see this as a generational challenge. I am Gen X, I used to run FreeBSD and Linux, I don't mind the complexity and upkeep of a Windows laptop with all the trimmings (I do mind the complexity of the unixes, sorry). But what about Gen Z who are used to simple, powerful technology with simplified apps and UIs? why would they/should they put up with legacy UX and ways of working? My guess is that where Microsoft is going with the new Office apps which are just web apps with thicker clients. Simplify, simplify until we can all work with iPads, Windows/ARM or whatever. Makes sense to be honest, although I'll probably keep a Thinkpad around the way old mechanics keep a set of tools in the garage although they will probably never use them again.
- skydhash 1y ago
  The iPad can work wonder if your workflow suits it. But it's the antithesis of power users. It's very tied to a cloud approach, but when you don't control the cloud backend, nor the app, it's hard to customize your workflow. Which is kinda the first step to mastery.
- dogleash 1y ago
  > Gen Z who are used to simple, powerful technology with simplified apps and UIs? why would they/should they put up with legacy UX and ways of working? I disagree with the premise. The modern UIs are rife with more special cases, hidden gestures and non-transferable knowledge than the old “one mouse button is enough” or even early windows’ ugly but constant model. Gen Z has harder UI, over a superficial simplicity that is really just a constrained interaction space. The problem for zoomers is now when they use a deep interaction model, the new complexity of UI becomes a frustration multiplier rather than fixed cost.
  - epistasis 1y ago
    That and the visual language is so ambiguous and slapdash. Discovery is so much harder these days. And with every changing widget layouts, it's so hard to have a spatial memory if where to interact! Word in Windows 3.1 was far easier.
anonymousiam 1y ago
Additional crippled features: - Requirement to use ONLY the Apple web renderer (WebKit) - Why does my iPad Pro take minutes to refresh my email boxes and show new messages, when it's not doing anything else at all? Email on all my other devices is snappy. - Little or no support for emulation of other platforms. - No way to turn off participation in the "Find My" BLE mesh network. I'd rather have a choice about whether or not I want to use my battery/network to support their mesh network. With Apple's announcement about incorporating AI into all their future products, I'm not certain that I will not be buying anything else from them.
- kalleboo 1y ago
  > No way to turn off participation in the "Find My" BLE mesh network There is a setting to disable participation in the "Find My network" under "Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone/iPad > Find My network"
  - anonymousiam 1y ago
    You're confusing opting out of the Find My functionality with opting out of their mesh network, which there is no way to do unless you turn off Bluetooth, which has other undesirable consequences.
    - kalleboo 1y ago
      There are two separate options on that screen. One is "Find My iPhone/iPad" which just turns off the functionality. The second one is "Find My network" which opts out of the mesh network. This one has a description that starts with "Participating in the Find My network..." since turning it off means you are no longer participating in the mesh network. https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/find-my/ https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/find-my/ > "When your device participates in the Find My network, it can both be located by the network and anonymously help locate other missing devices. You can choose to have your iOS or iPadOS device not participate in the Find My network by going to Settings[...]"

zffr 1y ago

Preview was just included in iOS 26

throwaway290 1y ago
Books is much better for PDFs
- skydhash 1y ago
  It would be, if not for the constant Book Store upselling in the UI. You can't disable it.
  - throwaway290 1y ago
    Never saw it. Screen time to your help!

yoz-y 1y ago

they are adding Preview to iOS. I haven’t tried it yet but if it works like on macOS then most file formats should be handled rather well. Saddest is the removal of slideover, ultimately that’s the only multi-tasking feature I really used in the old iPadOS and it was really quite nice.

scarface_74 1y ago

It’s not really a solved problem on any desktop platform. Once you download an app on a desktop, it has complete access to all of your files you have access to in user space. The Files app itself works just the same to manage files as Windows and Macs assuming you didn’t have multiple windows to work with. The Files app as method to open and save files with in an app, works like any other file picker with more granular permissions. The idea that any file storage service is a first class citizen (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc) is definitely a win.

StopDisinfo910 1y ago
> It’s not really a solved problem on any desktop platform. Once you download an app on a desktop, it has complete access to all of your files you have access to in user space. Amusingly, Linux solved that with flatpack. Applications are installed in their own sandboxed containers and you decide which files they can and can’t access. The Linux desktop has some very interesting pieces of technology. Apple could do the same on macOS but that would pierce the veil that their user hostile policies are actually motivated by greed and not security.
- icedchai 1y ago
  Apple has "App Sandbox" and an entitlement system on the Mac: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/app-sandbox https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/app-sandb... It's "baked in" and doesn't require containers.
  - scarface_74 1y ago
    Isn’t this only enforced for Mac App Store apps?
    - icedchai 1y ago
      I've read that apps outside of the Mac App Store can use it. I think they have to be signed / notarized.

cm277 1y ago

After years with a mini, I jumped to an Air just so I could finally get a proper 'netbook' experience. Don't like Chromebooks, Windows is too complex; there is room for a simplified laptop that is easy to use and update but let's you use proper apps without going all the way to a full laptop with pro tools. I've started to see this as a generational challenge. I am Gen X, I used to run FreeBSD and Linux, I don't mind the complexity and upkeep of a Windows laptop with all the trimmings (I do mind the complexity of the unixes, sorry). But what about Gen Z who are used to simple, powerful technology with simplified apps and UIs? why would they/should they put up with legacy UX and ways of working? My guess is that where Microsoft is going with the new Office apps which are just web apps with thicker clients. Simplify, simplify until we can all work with iPads, Windows/ARM or whatever. Makes sense to be honest, although I'll probably keep a Thinkpad around the way old mechanics keep a set of tools in the garage although they will probably never use them again.

skydhash 1y ago
The iPad can work wonder if your workflow suits it. But it's the antithesis of power users. It's very tied to a cloud approach, but when you don't control the cloud backend, nor the app, it's hard to customize your workflow. Which is kinda the first step to mastery.
dogleash 1y ago
> Gen Z who are used to simple, powerful technology with simplified apps and UIs? why would they/should they put up with legacy UX and ways of working? I disagree with the premise. The modern UIs are rife with more special cases, hidden gestures and non-transferable knowledge than the old “one mouse button is enough” or even early windows’ ugly but constant model. Gen Z has harder UI, over a superficial simplicity that is really just a constrained interaction space. The problem for zoomers is now when they use a deep interaction model, the new complexity of UI becomes a frustration multiplier rather than fixed cost.
- epistasis 1y ago
  That and the visual language is so ambiguous and slapdash. Discovery is so much harder these days. And with every changing widget layouts, it's so hard to have a spatial memory if where to interact! Word in Windows 3.1 was far easier.

anonymousiam 1y ago

Additional crippled features: - Requirement to use ONLY the Apple web renderer (WebKit) - Why does my iPad Pro take minutes to refresh my email boxes and show new messages, when it's not doing anything else at all? Email on all my other devices is snappy. - Little or no support for emulation of other platforms. - No way to turn off participation in the "Find My" BLE mesh network. I'd rather have a choice about whether or not I want to use my battery/network to support their mesh network. With Apple's announcement about incorporating AI into all their future products, I'm not certain that I will not be buying anything else from them.

kalleboo 1y ago
> No way to turn off participation in the "Find My" BLE mesh network There is a setting to disable participation in the "Find My network" under "Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone/iPad > Find My network"
- anonymousiam 1y ago
  You're confusing opting out of the Find My functionality with opting out of their mesh network, which there is no way to do unless you turn off Bluetooth, which has other undesirable consequences.
  - kalleboo 1y ago
    There are two separate options on that screen. One is "Find My iPhone/iPad" which just turns off the functionality. The second one is "Find My network" which opts out of the mesh network. This one has a description that starts with "Participating in the Find My network..." since turning it off means you are no longer participating in the mesh network. https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/find-my/ https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/find-my/ > "When your device participates in the Find My network, it can both be located by the network and anonymously help locate other missing devices. You can choose to have your iOS or iPadOS device not participate in the Find My network by going to Settings[...]"