The iPad is great, and iOS is, well, neat. However, there are a few features from Android, that I would love to see on the iPad. Chief among these is widgets.
On my Android phone, I have widgets telling me how much power is left on my phone, the number of days until my wedding, and a photo of my fiancée, to mention a few. Others include widgets to turn on and off various services on the phone, set the sound profile, and turn airplane mode on or off:
On my iPad, the only things that could fall under the header of widgets, are the little numbers on apps like Things, Mail and Newsrack, telling me how many outstanding tasks, and unread emails and blog posts I have:
So having established that I want widgets, what do I want them to do? For one, I’d love to have a widget for toggling airplane mode, a countdown to my wedding day and one to toggle sound and rotation lock.
I’m sure there are other things you guys would want to see; feel free to use the comment field to share them!
Tag: ipad
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Give me one bar, make it do more!
I have said it once, and I’ll say it again; I love my iPad. It’s light-weight, instant-on and, most importantly, for the most part, it just works. However, there are a few frustrations, some of which I’ve mentioned previously, such as what they did to the rotation lock switch.
Now, most of the time I spend on it, is spent browsing the web. However, whenever I go to open a new page, I am presented with this:
Now, I like the fact that I can search from the browser, but why make it a separate box? If it were up to me, Apple’d take an idea from Google Chrome, and make it look like this:
Make one bar, its default function an address bar, unless something that is neither a URL, an IP or a combination is inputed, in which case it performs a search instead. -
My number one wanted feature on the iPad
As should be obvious by now, I love my iPad, and bring it with me most everywhere I go. I use it for work and play, planning and doodling in equal amounts. It has more or less supplanted my netbook as my default unit for web browsing, emailand many other things.
Along with my android phone, I’ve got internet access most anywhere I go, and am very happy about that fact, too. There is one feature from my android phone that I’d like to see however, which is only currently available on iOS devices when they’ve been jailbroken; a unified file management system.
On any and all android devices, you can access the file system, and any files on it, directly from the unit, allowing you to modify them at will, and opening them in other programs.
Sure, there are apps that sort of do what I want, but they don’t do it particularly well, nor particularly elegantly. moreover, i think it’s something that should be handled, not by some app, but natively, in the OS.
Like my wishes for what used to be the rotation lock button, I understand, and to some extent accept that this might not be forthcoming for some time, though I honestly think it would be a mistake on Apple’s part not to implement it soon. -
2010 roundup
Almost past us, I think it is time to take a look back and take stock of 2010, and see what the year brought. -
The iPad and videos – an app review
One of the things I immediately thought of when I got my iPad was how it would do when it comes to video playback. Now, according to the technical specifications, Videos, the built-in video player is able to handle both .mov and .avi. On trying to transfer .avi-files, however, I was told that the format was unsupported.
The problem, of course, is the fact that avi is simply a container format, able to contain a myriad of differently encoded movies. However, I was annoyed that I couldn’t even transfeer the files to the device. As a result, I went out and tried to find a good alternative, and found not one, but two, that both have strengths and weaknesses. Here, then, are my thoughts on the three movie playback apps I’ve got on my iPad; Videos, CineXPlayer and VLC:
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Mobile multitasking – Android versus iOS
The two main contenders in the mobile OS world today have two vastly different approaches to multitasking. Both have merits, and potential drawbacks. Let’s have a look:
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There’s an app for that, or, my must-have apps for the iPad
I simply adore my most recent toy. A slim and slender device the iPad is a perfect example of what product design can be when you put your mind to it. However, the iPad is just the platform, without apps, it has very little value in and of itself.
There is a plethora of apps, but there is a lot of chaff, and not all that much wheat, and finding the good ones can be a real challenge. Still, it all depends on what you want from your iPad, and in the end, you’ll find a lot of good apps.
What apps, then, are my favourites? Here goes:
The iWorks suite with Pages, Keynote and Numbers was the first apps I installed, and they are excellently suited for the device. The apps themselves take up very little screen real estate, allowing you, the use to concentrate on the task at hand. They are simple and intuitive to use, and well worth the money you pay for them.
I’ve been using Dropbox for a while now, and must admit that the Dropbox app is very neat indeed. I’d like to see better integration with the OS, and a sync capability for folders, but what there is is a lot better than nothing.
As a pen and paper role-player, I’ve found a couple of apps that are indispensable for the GM. The first is BattleMap, an app that let’s you design your dungeons and reveal them bit by bit to your players. A bit expensive, it’s a great resource. Another good one is an app called Tabletop Initiative Tracker, which is excellent for combat situations, and free to boot.
For keeping track of my todo-lists and action items, I use Sorted, that has a simple and intuitive layout. I also like to keep tabs on my investments, and since I have a bit of stock in Norwegian conglomerate Orkla, I have installed Bloomberg, Reuters and mTrader, all of which are good apps.
As a news junkie, I also use FlipBoard (which also serves to keep me up to date on Facebook and Twitter) and MobileRSS to keep track of my subscribed RSS feeds. To allow me to watch .avi-movies, I use a lovely little app called CineXPlayer. The last app for this post is the post I use to keep track of my WordPress blogs. The WordPress app is nifty and does the job excellently. -
The iPad reviewed
First off, I know I said I wasn’t going to get an iPad. That decision was based on the hype and buzz about it, after laying hands on one myself, though, I’ve got to say I was simply wrong. Probably not about my concerns, as I still feel they are valid, but about my decision not to get one.
What it all boils down to is this; do I think it is worth paying the cost, and accepting the limitations for what I get?
Quite obviously, my answer to that is yes. If it hadn’t been, you would not have been reading this, now would you? The question to answer, then, is not if, but why it is worth it to do so.
This post will be part rationalisation, part review, and I ask you to bear with me in that respect. Still, though, here goes…
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