
Secret iPad - fraXis
https://thinkfractional.blog/secret-ipad/
======
_bxg1
Even now, hearing about this app I think "Wow! That's so novel and cool! (
_magical_ , even)". I've said it before, but I dearly miss the creativity
people had in the first few years of iOS. We have much better devices now; we
should have _better_ apps! I should be so desensitized by how _interesting_
the new apps are that a skeuomorphic guitar tuner sounds banal and obvious!
Instead today's apps are boring. They've been reduced to nothing but feeds to
scroll through, clients for online services, and crappy games.

What in the world happened?

Edit: Some people are mentioning the quality productivity apps available,
particularly on the iPad Pro. I didn't mean to suggest there aren't quality
apps, I meant to suggest there aren't _interesting_ apps that turn these
devices into wondrous multi-tools. Apps that use the sensors in novel ways to
interface with the real world; that make your phone or tablet more of a
_device_ and less of a _screen_.

I also want to say I didn't mean to imply that there are no quality games on
mobile; it's just hard for them to survive (Apple Arcade is an interesting
workaround for this), and also games in general just usually don't have the
kind of novelty I'm talking about here.

~~~
freehunter
There really is no excuse for the lack of "real" software on the iPad (using
"real" as in desktop quality). Only a small amount can be blamed on the system
itself, appealing to a very niche audience (like XCode).

Arbitrary Javascript code written on the iPad can run, as evidenced by
Play.js. Arbitrary Python code written on the iPad can run as evidenced by
Pythonista. Arbitrary Swift code can run as evidenced by Swift Playgrounds.
There's a Github app, there's a file explorer app, you can connect USB drives
and keyboard and as of very recently, a mouse.

So where is VS Code for the iPad? Where is desktop-class software for the
iPad? Why is this [1] article from _8 years ago_ still the best-in-class way
to write code on an iPad? Is there still some kind of missing support I'm not
seeing?

[1] [https://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-
macbook...](https://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-macbook-for-
an-ipad)

~~~
fxtentacle
I believe this is simply because people doing serious coding work always want
to have a proper permanently attached keyboard. So they would use a MacBook
Air with ARM CPU, but not a tablet.

~~~
arvinsim
It's definitely not about the hardware, given that the iPad has.
mouse/trackpad support now. It's about the software.

~~~
int_19h
Software is written for hardware. So long as most people don't use iPads with
a mouse, few iPad apps will bother optimizing UX for it.

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li4ick
If you like this kind of behind the scenes, i highly recommend Ken Kocienda's
book "Creative Selection" about the development of some parts of the first
iPhone.

~~~
i_am_ralpht
Totally agree; it's really fun to hear how things like autocorrect evolved
over the development of the iPhone, and really how the designers and engineers
thought about their work at the time. It's also nuts to think that so much of
the iPhone software and experience was done inside of 18 months.

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jedberg
I wasn't there but I heard from the folks at Netflix who were there that they
had a very similar experience getting Netflix to work on a pre-release iPad.
Secret dark rooms, bulky cases so you couldn't tell the exact dimensions,
cagey Apple reps with NDAs, very little time with the device, etc.

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connordg
Here’s another post about a similar situation with an app which was on the
first iPad’s sent to reporters:

    
    
        https://home.theodoregray.com/blog/2014/7/31/how-the-elements-came-to-be
    
        Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22775624

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jbverschoor
So I guess the term on the NDA is 10 years?

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dhosek
I love these behind the scenes accounts of stuff.

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snazz
I’m surprised they weren’t told about it at all in advance. Is that standard
for Apple nowadays?

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nmstoker
The author writes well. Slightly off-topic compared to the iPad piece but the
story about his time in a glider in the Yorkshire dales is a cracking read:

[https://thinkfractional.blog/a-day-to-
remember/](https://thinkfractional.blog/a-day-to-remember/)

~~~
snake42
Thanks for mentioning this. What a fantastic read.

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XCSme
Nice read, interesting how you can have apps already be successful before you
even release them.

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jes5199
I still use GuitarTookit! Skeuomorphic design has fallen out of favor but I’m
glad they haven’t changed it

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lynguist
Thank you for sharing it. It made for a captivating read.

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rekabis
Now _that_ was a fun read. Very well written!

