Apple's new files system runs on all Apple OSes: TVOS, watchOS, iOS macOS:
I'm talking about the user facing aspects iOS's file system, which is not affected in any way by the transition to APFS.
Imagine you're working on a project and putting together a presentation. How would you organize all of your project files (images, videos, charts, spreadsheets, PDFs, etc.) in a common folder on iOS. Now imagine you're working on multiple projects at the same time, and also want to be able to refer to files associated with previously completed projects.
Since IOS was created from the rib of MacOS, I doubt if would be overly hard to put those functions back in. If necessay, they could be switched on or off depending on if a keyboard and/or touchpad was connected and on the particular app being used.
I'm referring to the user interface, not the underlying app functions.
Consider a complex desktop app like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. Think about how small the user interface elements are in those apps, which allows developers to cram all those toolbars, palettes, and windows on your screen. Powerful and efficient, but everything would be too small if you tried using the app with your finger instead of with a pointer controlled by a trackpad or mouse.
Now imagine redesigning such an app for use on an iPad, assuming for the sake of argument that you have all the processing power, RAM, and storage space you might need. You have only two choices: simple and touch-friendly or densely packed with tiny controls that require a stylus or trackpad.
You would end up with a mish-mash of apps on the platform, some meant for touch input and others meant for pointer input. Or you'd end up with a bunch of crappy middle of the road apps that try to strike a balance between the two - which is what Microsoft has done on their platform, with dismal results.
Apple's new files system runs on all Apple OSes: TVOS, watchOS, iOS macOS:
I'm talking about the user facing aspects iOS's file system, which is not affected in any way by the transition to APFS.
Imagine you're working on a project and putting together a presentation. How would you organize all of your project files (images, videos, charts, spreadsheets, PDFs, etc.) in a common folder on iOS. Now imagine you're working on multiple projects at the same time, and also want to be able to refer to files associated with previously completed projects.
Apple has already implemented this to a great extent in iOS:
An app on the Home Screen can be dragged on top of another app creating a subfolder within the iOS Applications Folder.
The User can rename this folder as desired.
Additional apps can be added or removed as desired
A similar approach could be used for the iOS Documents Folder, Pictures Folder, Movies Folder, etc.
Many iOS Apps (Pages, Numbers, Playgrounds, etc.) support multiple files within the the app, and access to Folders and Documents in iCloud Drive.
Below is an example of iOS' ability to access a document within a folder from iCloud, then run an app using that document. It's a bit limited, e.g. you can't run the same app in both windows -- but all the pieces are there...
So, without too much imagination Apple could deliver what you asked for the iPad -- where it makes sense.
Since IOS was created from the rib of MacOS, I doubt if would be overly hard to put those functions back in. If necessay, they could be switched on or off depending on if a keyboard and/or touchpad was connected and on the particular app being used.
I'm referring to the user interface, not the underlying app functions.
Consider a complex desktop app like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. Think about how small the user interface elements are in those apps, which allows developers to cram all those toolbars, palettes, and windows on your screen. Powerful and efficient, but everything would be too small if you tried using the app with your finger instead of with a pointer controlled by a trackpad or mouse.
Now imagine redesigning such an app for use on an iPad, assuming for the sake of argument that you have all the processing power, RAM, and storage space you might need. You have only two choices: simple and touch-friendly or densely packed with tiny controls that require a stylus or trackpad.
You would end up with a mish-mash of apps on the platform, some meant for touch input and others meant for pointer input. Or you'd end up with a bunch of crappy middle of the road apps that try to strike a balance between the two - which is what Microsoft has done on their platform, with dismal results.
I agree with you that most of the obstacles would be in the UI of the apps... But, those are not insurmountable obstacles. And, they don't need to all revised/reformed immediately, all at once... But, I do believe that Apple needs to open that door or be left behind....
Since IOS was created from the rib of MacOS, I doubt if would be overly hard to put those functions back in. If necessay, they could be switched on or off depending on if a keyboard and/or touchpad was connected and on the particular app being used.
I'm referring to the user interface, not the underlying app functions.
Consider a complex desktop app like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. Think about how small the user interface elements are in those apps, which allows developers to cram all those toolbars, palettes, and windows on your screen. Powerful and efficient, but everything would be too small if you tried using the app with your finger instead of with a pointer controlled by a trackpad or mouse.
At least 3 options:
Use the Apple Pencil
Use an optional software Loupe with Cursor to locate, enlarge and select the desired controls with finger or Pencil
The iPad kb could contain a built-in trackpad with cursor.
Now imagine redesigning such an app for use on an iPad, assuming for the sake of argument that you have all the processing power, RAM, and storage space you might need. You have only two choices: simple and touch-friendly or densely packed with tiny controls that require a stylus or trackpad.
See above
You would end up with a mish-mash of apps on the platform, some meant for touch input and others meant for pointer input. Or you'd end up with a bunch of crappy middle of the road apps that try to strike a balance between the two - which is what Microsoft has done on their platform, with dismal results.
Apple could do what it always does -- let the competition show how to do it wrong -- then Apple shows how to do it right!
Likely, Apple would upgrade the UI in its own apps, to show the right way -- then update the HIGs to require 3rd-party apps to conform by a date certain.
Apple has done this before -- recently, e.g.
32-bit apps are no longer supported in iOS 10.3
apps using Swift 2 are no longer supported in iOS 10.3
Finally, this could all be implemented in such a way that:
the Power iPad user would have access to all the features/capabilities he needs
the casual iPad user would not need to know or care about these advanced features/capabilities
An implementation that comes to mind is an optional iOS system menu for the iPad. Power users could invoke this from the Control Center (ala Airplane Mode). The menu would be floating, app-configurable, contextually-aware, zoomable, selectable, etc.
Since IOS was created from the rib of MacOS, I doubt if would be overly hard to put those functions back in. If necessay, they could be switched on or off depending on if a keyboard and/or touchpad was connected and on the particular app being used.
I'm referring to the user interface, not the underlying app functions.
Consider a complex desktop app like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. Think about how small the user interface elements are in those apps, which allows developers to cram all those toolbars, palettes, and windows on your screen. Powerful and efficient, but everything would be too small if you tried using the app with your finger instead of with a pointer controlled by a trackpad or mouse.
Now imagine redesigning such an app for use on an iPad, assuming for the sake of argument that you have all the processing power, RAM, and storage space you might need. You have only two choices: simple and touch-friendly or densely packed with tiny controls that require a stylus or trackpad.
You would end up with a mish-mash of apps on the platform, some meant for touch input and others meant for pointer input. Or you'd end up with a bunch of crappy middle of the road apps that try to strike a balance between the two - which is what Microsoft has done on their platform, with dismal results.
I agree with you that most of the obstacles would be in the UI of the apps... But, those are not insurmountable obstacles. And, they don't need to all revised/reformed immediately, all at once... But, I do believe that Apple needs to open that door or be left behind....
^^^This!
I posted the video below in an earlier post. At about 55 seconds in, the user starts using the pencil in conjunction with his left hand. The Pencil hand selects/draws/manipulates the image, while the left hand selects menu items of what functions to perform.
In some cases the user doesn't seem to need to look at the menu -- he just presses his thumb.
IMO, that's a damn good starting point for what could be done with the UI!
One improvement I can see is use the non-pencil hand to indicate that the user wants to pan/rotate/zoom while the Pencil indicates what, where and how much. That way the user would not have to flip the pencil, pan/rotate/zoom with his fingers, the flip the Pencil back again.
Another idea the frequently comes to mind for the iPad is a chorded kb on the display. Doug Englebart showed a hardware chorded kb in the Mother of all demos. He claimed that with a little training and practice that one could approach or exceed the speed and accuracy of two hands on a qwerty kb. The chorded kb is shown at 34 minutes -- but the whole video is worth watching... This was presented in 1968...
It's worth noting that the demo was developed by SRI -- who later spun off SRI International who developed Siri. SRI International was acquired by Apple in 2010.
This is basically the same idea as the Palm Foleo, http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9436/palm-officially-introduces-the-foleo/ but without having a second processor in the large-screen companion. (ten years later, BT 4 and powerful Ax processors, you don't need two processors). I thought it was a cool idea then, but a bit clunky, as I'd just gotten an iPhone. I'd love something like this. I'd leave it at work, and walk out with my phone, carrying all my files (that are being backed up online continuously.)
Motorola had the Atrix and dock in 2011. And Asus have had a sequence of padphones, where you dock a phone into a tablet and then the tablet into a keyboard dock. And there’s been the Andromium Superbook, the Nexbook and other third party keyboard docks. And Intel have the Compute Card which does this kind of thing, which is anticipated to have an ecosystem of docks, tablets etc.
As soon as I read this article title, I thought you meant that Apple can turn smartphones into computers in and of themselves, like pocket computers. When I read the body, I was disappointed. Slipping my phone into a computer sleeve isn't really all that interesting to me.
Comments
Imagine you're working on a project and putting together a presentation. How would you organize all of your project files (images, videos, charts, spreadsheets, PDFs, etc.) in a common folder on iOS. Now imagine you're working on multiple projects at the same time, and also want to be able to refer to files associated with previously completed projects.
Consider a complex desktop app like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. Think about how small the user interface elements are in those apps, which allows developers to cram all those toolbars, palettes, and windows on your screen. Powerful and efficient, but everything would be too small if you tried using the app with your finger instead of with a pointer controlled by a trackpad or mouse.
Now imagine redesigning such an app for use on an iPad, assuming for the sake of argument that you have all the processing power, RAM, and storage space you might need. You have only two choices: simple and touch-friendly or densely packed with tiny controls that require a stylus or trackpad.
You would end up with a mish-mash of apps on the platform, some meant for touch input and others meant for pointer input. Or you'd end up with a bunch of crappy middle of the road apps that try to strike a balance between the two - which is what Microsoft has done on their platform, with dismal results.
A similar approach could be used for the iOS Documents Folder, Pictures Folder, Movies Folder, etc.
Many iOS Apps (Pages, Numbers, Playgrounds, etc.) support multiple files within the the app, and access to Folders and Documents in iCloud Drive.
Below is an example of iOS' ability to access a document within a folder from iCloud, then run an app using that document. It's a bit limited, e.g. you can't run the same app in both windows -- but all the pieces are there...
So, without too much imagination Apple could deliver what you asked for the iPad -- where it makes sense.
See above
Apple could do what it always does -- let the competition show how to do it wrong -- then Apple shows how to do it right!
Likely, Apple would upgrade the UI in its own apps, to show the right way -- then update the HIGs to require 3rd-party apps to conform by a date certain.
Apple has done this before -- recently, e.g.
Finally, this could all be implemented in such a way that:
An implementation that comes to mind is an optional iOS system menu for the iPad. Power users could invoke this from the Control Center (ala Airplane Mode). The menu would be floating, app-configurable, contextually-aware, zoomable, selectable, etc.
Boom!
I posted the video below in an earlier post. At about 55 seconds in, the user starts using the pencil in conjunction with his left hand. The Pencil hand selects/draws/manipulates the image, while the left hand selects menu items of what functions to perform.
In some cases the user doesn't seem to need to look at the menu -- he just presses his thumb.
IMO, that's a damn good starting point for what could be done with the UI!
One improvement I can see is use the non-pencil hand to indicate that the user wants to pan/rotate/zoom while the Pencil indicates what, where and how much. That way the user would not have to flip the pencil, pan/rotate/zoom with his fingers, the flip the Pencil back again.
Another idea the frequently comes to mind for the iPad is a chorded kb on the display. Doug Englebart showed a hardware chorded kb in the Mother of all demos. He claimed that with a little training and practice that one could approach or exceed the speed and accuracy of two hands on a qwerty kb. The chorded kb is shown at 34 minutes -- but the whole video is worth watching... This was presented in 1968...
It's worth noting that the demo was developed by SRI -- who later spun off SRI International who developed Siri. SRI International was acquired by Apple in 2010.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRI_International
Here's a touch-screen example you can try on an iPad:
http://labs.teague.com/?p=1451
Motorola had the Atrix and dock in 2011.
And Asus have had a sequence of padphones, where you dock a phone into a tablet and then the tablet into a keyboard dock.
And there’s been the Andromium Superbook, the Nexbook and other third party keyboard docks.
And Intel have the Compute Card which does this kind of thing, which is anticipated to have an ecosystem of docks, tablets etc.