3 ms·

What doesn’t the OS do as of OS 26 that most ordinary people care about?

dmitshur 1y ago
A random recent example off the top of my head: view photos in AVIF format. It does work in Photos app, but not in Preview app nor in Messages app somehow. At least this the case on iOS 26 and so I suspect iPadOS 26 too. It works on macOS 26. Edit: I realize that ordinary people might not yet care about exporting to AVIF, but they may receive such photos from other people.
fkyoureadthedoc 1y ago
No much imo. I feel more constrained by screen size than I do OS limitations
poisonborz 1y ago
"Ordinary people" wouldn't care about anything above even an M1 CPU. The post is about the iPad Pro. The target audience would care about having the software features that macOS has.
- raw_anon_1111 1y ago
  Im talking about the operating system.
  - eptcyka 1y ago
    The ability to run Xcode? Maybe run Linux in a VM (no, emulation does not count). Maybe run nvim with python/node/rust/go/gcc toolchains on the iPad? How about Wireshark? I really liked using Nixdroid on my Pixel, why can't I have something similar on iOS/iPadOS? Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?
    - raw_anon_1111 1y ago
      Yeah those are things most people want on an iPad with 6GB RAM…
      - eptcyka 1y ago
        The pros come with 12 and 16 GB of memory. That is plenty.
        raw_anon_1111 1y ago
        I would not want to run XCode let alone Android Studio with an Android emulator with 12GB RAM or a VM. Even the lowest end MacBook Air comes with 16GB RAM.
        eptcyka 1y ago
        It depends entirely on your target - you don’t need an emulator if you are already running an android device. Xcode on my macbook doesn’t need 12GB. It is of course a different story if you need to also run clang-analyzer or rust-analyzer in addition to xcode/studio, but still, 16GB would be enough to get by for a sizeable chunk of devs.
        raw_anon_1111 1y ago
        (I replied to the wrong comment originally) I haven’t done mobile development for ages, but isn’t it always slower to have to update the app on the phone all of the time?
        eptcyka 1y ago
        Not always. And there are things that just do not work on emulators.
      - pjmlp 1y ago
        My first computer had 48 KB, 6 GB are a lot when not juggling Electron processes.
- ako 1y ago
  Not true, it’s a pretty good machine to edit videos on, extra cpu/gpu power is welcome there. I connect it to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse and use Final Cut Pro to edit videos. On holidays I can connect my action cam to the iPad, download the videos and edit them, without having to bring a laptop.
  - wpm 1y ago
    Yeah… but you had to bring an iPad? I’d choose the laptop every time as I can do all of that in addition to using a non-bullshit browser if I need to do something online.
    - ako 1y ago
      Yes, I rather bring an iPad than a laptop, easier lighter and smaller to travel with, also better for movie watching in the plane. Laptop is hard to fit on a table.
pretext-1 1y ago
A lot of small things. For example importing Live Photos. On macOS when you drag and drop an image and video file with the same name into the Photos app, the Photos app combines both into a single Live Photo. On iOS/iPadOS this does not work. There is bigger things too. A proper web browser for example. Google Docs is barely usable in Safari on iPad with larger documents. The permanent banner at the top asking you to install the app is so annoying. The Google Docs app is somehow even worse. And it’s not just Google apps. Many iPad apps are just upscaled iPhone apps with lots of features missing compared to the web version. And don’t even think about support for multiple tabs or windows in apps. For YouTube and Netflix my iPad Pro is great but anything beyond hurts. And this is the „Pro“ model. You can say maybe I’m too advanced for the „Pro“ but most users have _something_ besides of YouTube and Netflix they want to do and will feel these limitations sooner or later. It’s it not a laptop replacement and Apple wouldn’t want it to be.
- raw_anon_1111 1y ago
  Why would you use the web app for GSuite instead of just using the apps? I use GSuite on my iPad all of the time.
tempoponet 1y ago
Everyone has their own hill to die on, that's the thing about personal computing. It's the same if you ask why they can't switch mobile OS. It's some seemingly trivial app or feature that almost nobody cares about.

A random recent example off the top of my head: view photos in AVIF format. It does work in Photos app, but not in Preview app nor in Messages app somehow. At least this the case on iOS 26 and so I suspect iPadOS 26 too. It works on macOS 26. Edit: I realize that ordinary people might not yet care about exporting to AVIF, but they may receive such photos from other people.

fkyoureadthedoc 1y ago

No much imo. I feel more constrained by screen size than I do OS limitations

poisonborz 1y ago

"Ordinary people" wouldn't care about anything above even an M1 CPU. The post is about the iPad Pro. The target audience would care about having the software features that macOS has.

raw_anon_1111 1y ago
Im talking about the operating system.
- eptcyka 1y ago
  The ability to run Xcode? Maybe run Linux in a VM (no, emulation does not count). Maybe run nvim with python/node/rust/go/gcc toolchains on the iPad? How about Wireshark? I really liked using Nixdroid on my Pixel, why can't I have something similar on iOS/iPadOS? Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?
  - raw_anon_1111 1y ago
    Yeah those are things most people want on an iPad with 6GB RAM…
    - eptcyka 1y ago
      The pros come with 12 and 16 GB of memory. That is plenty.
      - raw_anon_1111 1y ago
        I would not want to run XCode let alone Android Studio with an Android emulator with 12GB RAM or a VM. Even the lowest end MacBook Air comes with 16GB RAM.
        eptcyka 1y ago
        It depends entirely on your target - you don’t need an emulator if you are already running an android device. Xcode on my macbook doesn’t need 12GB. It is of course a different story if you need to also run clang-analyzer or rust-analyzer in addition to xcode/studio, but still, 16GB would be enough to get by for a sizeable chunk of devs.
        raw_anon_1111 1y ago
        (I replied to the wrong comment originally) I haven’t done mobile development for ages, but isn’t it always slower to have to update the app on the phone all of the time?
        eptcyka 1y ago
        Not always. And there are things that just do not work on emulators.
    - pjmlp 1y ago
      My first computer had 48 KB, 6 GB are a lot when not juggling Electron processes.
ako 1y ago
Not true, it’s a pretty good machine to edit videos on, extra cpu/gpu power is welcome there. I connect it to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse and use Final Cut Pro to edit videos. On holidays I can connect my action cam to the iPad, download the videos and edit them, without having to bring a laptop.
- wpm 1y ago
  Yeah… but you had to bring an iPad? I’d choose the laptop every time as I can do all of that in addition to using a non-bullshit browser if I need to do something online.
  - ako 1y ago
    Yes, I rather bring an iPad than a laptop, easier lighter and smaller to travel with, also better for movie watching in the plane. Laptop is hard to fit on a table.

pretext-1 1y ago

A lot of small things. For example importing Live Photos. On macOS when you drag and drop an image and video file with the same name into the Photos app, the Photos app combines both into a single Live Photo. On iOS/iPadOS this does not work. There is bigger things too. A proper web browser for example. Google Docs is barely usable in Safari on iPad with larger documents. The permanent banner at the top asking you to install the app is so annoying. The Google Docs app is somehow even worse. And it’s not just Google apps. Many iPad apps are just upscaled iPhone apps with lots of features missing compared to the web version. And don’t even think about support for multiple tabs or windows in apps. For YouTube and Netflix my iPad Pro is great but anything beyond hurts. And this is the „Pro“ model. You can say maybe I’m too advanced for the „Pro“ but most users have _something_ besides of YouTube and Netflix they want to do and will feel these limitations sooner or later. It’s it not a laptop replacement and Apple wouldn’t want it to be.

raw_anon_1111 1y ago
Why would you use the web app for GSuite instead of just using the apps? I use GSuite on my iPad all of the time.

tempoponet 1y ago

Everyone has their own hill to die on, that's the thing about personal computing. It's the same if you ask why they can't switch mobile OS. It's some seemingly trivial app or feature that almost nobody cares about.