02 November, 2012

Outgrowing iOS

Lately I've been feeling that I'm bumping into the limits of what iOS can do. It's not a problem with iOS 6 - these limits have been around since iOS, and in fact have been decreasing slowly.

Things I've mentioned:

Some new things:
  • Transferring ringtones and music - you need a computer with iTunes. Not only that, you need THE computer your music is synced to, or you have to delete everything. Here's a problem: let's say your computer dies. You get a new one. If you don't have backups, you can't get your music back, even though it's on your device. Even if you DO have backups, your phone says it's a new computer and wants you to delete and retransfer everything! The alternative is to never transfer songs between phone and computer.
  • Why do I have to choose to backup to iCloud or computer, why can't I backup to both? iCloud is also not using its full potential - incremental restoring.
  • Needs a faster way to turn off WiFi
  • It needs a proper way to manage background apps. Which apps can run in the background? Which apps can continue loading? If you're at home, you want most apps to continue. If you're outside, you probably don't. The phone can't predict this. You need control. Also, to those who say iOS doesn't require you to quit apps - sometimes if you switch to an app, it restores fully. Sometimes it loads again. What's the difference? If the app must load from scratch, what's the point of keeping such a long list in the app switcher?
  • I have to say the detailed privacy settings in iOS 6 are a step forward. 
  • Selecting text or positioning the cursor using the magnifying glass doesn't work for text near the top of the screen. 
  • There's no way to tell the filenames in Photos. If you have 2 very similar photos, and you've decided which one to keep after comparing them on your computer, there's no way to delete the correct one in iOS.

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