G+_L I Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Android is still light years ahead So I recently acquired an iPad Mini 2 - mainly because I wanted to see how the other side lived. I've never spent more than 2 minutes with a non-PC iDevice so this was going to be interesting. Tl;dr - choice is still limiting, all the new keyboards still suck, downloading and sharing files (especially music files) is frustrating at best, and sharing text/data between apps is as horribly unpredictable and disappointing as a slot machine in the Vegas airport. -- The device itself is thin, fast, a good size for web browsing, and the speaker sounds impossibly smooth. The new notifications thing is helpful as is the quick settings panel that allows you to also control media playback. Lots of content apps show up here first so I'll be glad to not be left out again, and certain apps like G+ look great. But oh my goodness is iOS a piece of excrement or what? I thought they'd fixed a lot of these problems ages ago but it seems perhaps the fruit fanboys in the media have rebranded them as features: 1. Typing sucks. The main keyboard is decent for regular typing but there's no swipe typing and no options for a number key row. In fact the theme of the entire iOS ecosystem seems to be: no options - take what we give you. I tried installing Swiftkey and that was even worse. No arrow keys and no number row. But plenty of emoji! Bah. And trying to position your cursor in the middle of a word to correct it is damn near impossible. Moist of the time I just gave up and had to retype it. So frustrating. When I mentioned this to someone with an iPad the response was to get a Bluetooth keyboard. I shouldn't have to do this! 2. Files that are downloaded to the device exist only in the silos of the apps that download then with the exception seemingly of photos and videos - which can be put into the global photo roll. But his is it in 2015 that I cannot download an mp3 file to the iPad without having to go through some very limiting workarounds?!? I refuse to install iTunes so I guess it'll be Google music for me and (at home) running a web server for my music collection. 3. Sharing between apps is putrid. There are some occasions where you can download a doc in one app and open it in another one but usually the app has to build in it's own sharing mechanism (like OneDrive opens into Word and Gmail opens links in Chrome and docs into Google Docs). I can see why the iPhone/iPad are popular and how some of the simplified "features" appeal to the less tech savvy (and pro-DRM content providers) but it still feels like I thought it felt in 2010 - like an intentionally and unapologetically crippled device. Android has it's problems with fragmentation and carriers and prettiness and what not, but it has never (OK almost never) gotten in my way when I try to do things. I guess I'm going to have to jailbreak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_L I Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Patrick Quirke Thanks. I suppose you could say I rather want iOS to get better. I kinda thought they'd gotten there from what I saw of the iOS 8 launch. My layouts on my Android devices are more or less the same and I just copy the apps and settings from one to another with Titanium Backup but when I get a layout I like I tend to keep it for months/years lol. I loved my Nexus 7 (2012) before it died a horrible death. I would even use it to code on. And before that my Nook tablet with CM on it. They were a joy to use even with the known limitations. I hope I can get to a similar place with this iPad and be less judgy but as it stands I can't see it as more than a content consumption device. I don't want to get a Nexus 9 and I'm not sure there are any non-refurbished Nexus 7s out there anymore but I suppose I can wait to see what this year's Nexus will be. Maybe a Nexus 8? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_L I Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Patrick Quirke How do you manage with the wonky keyboard and cursor positioning issues? And do you find that its a bit useless without an accompanying Mac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_L I Posted March 26, 2015 Author Share Posted March 26, 2015 Andrew Uschold all I heard about when this iPad came out was that this thing would change everything that the PC was over. I didn't believe it but that was the narrative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Pradyumn Vij Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Wow I did not know Apple was that shit, but did see someone manually entering their contacts from their iPhone 4 to their iPhone 6 on the train today. Patrick Quirke Surface Pro 3 is about the most popular laptop at my University among the STEM students. Most of the computer science students still use laptops though. I still consider it when I see friends taking notes or writing math or pseudo code on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Mark Harry Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I had an iPhone 4 for 18 months of purgatory. My Palm Treo Pro did things the iPhone wouldn't. I don't intend to insult anyone, but iOS is for simple people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_L I Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Mark Harry I had the Treo Pro when the iPhone launched and I felt the same way at the time. But ecosystem is king. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Mark Harry Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Lionel D Being self employed the only things I care about is the way Contacts, Calendar and Maps integrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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