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It is obvious that iOS needs an update. It is really behind the competition both in design and functionality. Making someone the face of the brand and mentioni

by cateye 13y ago

It is obvious that iOS needs an update. It is really behind the competition both in design and functionality. Making someone the face of the brand and mentioning him a lot seems to me just some marketing trick.

mwfunk 13y ago
His employer has done absolutely nothing to either make him the face of the brand or mention him a lot, unless you consider a couple of obligatory press releases as being a media blitzkrieg. Your perception comes from people theorizing about the situation a lot on the Internet, which is very different from anybody marketing anything.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  Who are you referring to here, Jony Ive? After Tim Cook, Jony Ive has to be the most well known "brand" at Apple, based primarily on the large investment they make on the classic Jony Ive hardware/design descriptions he does for new devices.
ocean12 13y ago
I'm curious: in which areas does iOS functionality lag the other competing mobile OS's?
- youngerdryas 13y ago
  Malware.
- Kylekramer 13y ago
  Obvious, but frustrates me everyday: inter-app communication. The whole OS feels like some odd riddle where no one is allowed to talk to one another and you still have to get things done.
- jisaacks 13y ago
  Things I miss from Android after switching to iOS: * The keyboard (mainly showing the proper case) * An exposed file system * The ability to set default applications (like default browser)
- potatolicious 13y ago
  Oh no, now you've done it :) I'm an iOS dev full-time, so this is a favorite topic... - Multitasking architecture is broken for many use cases. The biggest one is any sort of messaging application - your app doesn't actually execute any code when a notification comes in, so when your user reacts to the notification and launches your app, your app has to go and re-fetch much of the same data that the notification already carried. This comes across to the user as being slow and finicky. - Basic UI paradigms are behind what the community is pushing. This isn't a lag behind competing OSes, but rather lagging behind itself. Apple used to be the flag-bearer for the state of the art of iOS UX, but the community has largely taken over to both good and bad results. See: pull to refresh, launch screens, side menus, etc. Apple can, and should, reclaim its position as being at the leading edge of its own platform. - Lack of a proper inter-app communications channel. Intents on Android is very powerful, something like this is totally lacking in iOS. - Lack of customizability when it comes to core functions. I cannot associate all mailto: links in the browser to GMail for example. I must use Apple's Mail. Ditto for Maps. There are a bunch of others, but today is a rather busy day :P
  - coob 13y ago
    As a user, I prefer knowing that if an app is in the background, unless it's VOIP or Satnav it's not doing anything. We've seen what happened when apps can do what they want - they will abuse system resources. As a developer, I can appreciate the need for limits on the notification system for the sake of scale. Oh and and inter-app communications channel you're after is it? http://audiob.us http://audiob.us
    - yusefnapora 13y ago
      Audiobus only works because Apple's multitasking rules specifically allow audio apps to work in the background. It's not limited to just VOIP apps; for example, I use Dropvox all the time to record while my phone is locked. Not saying Audiobus isn't cool, but it's really not even close to equivalent to Android's intent system, and it doesn't solve the same problem.
    - jonknee 13y ago
- robterrell 13y ago
  Interapplication communication (i.e. intents). JIT-compiled javascript in hosted webviews. Bluetooth communication of many types, NFC of all types. WebGL support. That's just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more, and these may not matter to you, but there is a functionality gap.
- tritchey 13y ago
  Ditto on the above lists. Similar to inter-app communication issue is some way to meaningfully work with documents and data outside of application silos, either to share documents between apps, or to get documents onto and off the device.
- myko 13y ago
  This is more of a hardware nit, but the iPhone is very annoying to hold in the hand. I expect Ive to step it up here and do something more like the curved edges of the Nexus 4, or even the less curved but still more comfortable HTC One.

by cateye 13y ago

mwfunk 13y ago

His employer has done absolutely nothing to either make him the face of the brand or mention him a lot, unless you consider a couple of obligatory press releases as being a media blitzkrieg. Your perception comes from people theorizing about the situation a lot on the Internet, which is very different from anybody marketing anything.

ghshephard 13y ago
Who are you referring to here, Jony Ive? After Tim Cook, Jony Ive has to be the most well known "brand" at Apple, based primarily on the large investment they make on the classic Jony Ive hardware/design descriptions he does for new devices.

ocean12 13y ago

I'm curious: in which areas does iOS functionality lag the other competing mobile OS's?

youngerdryas 13y ago
Malware.
Kylekramer 13y ago
Obvious, but frustrates me everyday: inter-app communication. The whole OS feels like some odd riddle where no one is allowed to talk to one another and you still have to get things done.
jisaacks 13y ago
Things I miss from Android after switching to iOS: * The keyboard (mainly showing the proper case) * An exposed file system * The ability to set default applications (like default browser)
potatolicious 13y ago
Oh no, now you've done it :) I'm an iOS dev full-time, so this is a favorite topic... - Multitasking architecture is broken for many use cases. The biggest one is any sort of messaging application - your app doesn't actually execute any code when a notification comes in, so when your user reacts to the notification and launches your app, your app has to go and re-fetch much of the same data that the notification already carried. This comes across to the user as being slow and finicky. - Basic UI paradigms are behind what the community is pushing. This isn't a lag behind competing OSes, but rather lagging behind itself. Apple used to be the flag-bearer for the state of the art of iOS UX, but the community has largely taken over to both good and bad results. See: pull to refresh, launch screens, side menus, etc. Apple can, and should, reclaim its position as being at the leading edge of its own platform. - Lack of a proper inter-app communications channel. Intents on Android is very powerful, something like this is totally lacking in iOS. - Lack of customizability when it comes to core functions. I cannot associate all mailto: links in the browser to GMail for example. I must use Apple's Mail. Ditto for Maps. There are a bunch of others, but today is a rather busy day :P
- coob 13y ago
  As a user, I prefer knowing that if an app is in the background, unless it's VOIP or Satnav it's not doing anything. We've seen what happened when apps can do what they want - they will abuse system resources. As a developer, I can appreciate the need for limits on the notification system for the sake of scale. Oh and and inter-app communications channel you're after is it? http://audiob.us http://audiob.us
  - yusefnapora 13y ago
    Audiobus only works because Apple's multitasking rules specifically allow audio apps to work in the background. It's not limited to just VOIP apps; for example, I use Dropvox all the time to record while my phone is locked. Not saying Audiobus isn't cool, but it's really not even close to equivalent to Android's intent system, and it doesn't solve the same problem.
  - jonknee 13y ago
robterrell 13y ago
Interapplication communication (i.e. intents). JIT-compiled javascript in hosted webviews. Bluetooth communication of many types, NFC of all types. WebGL support. That's just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more, and these may not matter to you, but there is a functionality gap.
tritchey 13y ago
Ditto on the above lists. Similar to inter-app communication issue is some way to meaningfully work with documents and data outside of application silos, either to share documents between apps, or to get documents onto and off the device.
myko 13y ago
This is more of a hardware nit, but the iPhone is very annoying to hold in the hand. I expect Ive to step it up here and do something more like the curved edges of the Nexus 4, or even the less curved but still more comfortable HTC One.