

My iOS 7 Wishlist - sciwiz
http://tomdale.net/2013/01/my-ios-7-wishlist/

======
uptown
Yet the problem with your phone doing all of this location-aware intelligence
is that you wind up with the dead-battery he started his article out with.

Whenever I read articles like this one I'm left wondering whether my life is
distinctly different from most. I generally have a pretty good idea about my
calendar - where I'll be going that day, and what restaurant I'll grab a bite
to eat in if that's part of my agenda.

These services built around finding a great noodle shop in some far-flung town
are neat demonstration-cases, but to me they're about as useful as "Hotel
Tonight". In my life, I don't ever anticipate winding up in a new city without
knowing where I was going to sleep that night beforehand.

Maybe I just plan differently because I've needed to up until now - or maybe
this is the start of an evolution that I'm already beyond - but given the
choice of a phone whose battery lasts all day so I can find things when I want
them versus a phone that's dead by 3pm because it's been busy coming up with
the top 5 museum exhibits I won't have time to go check-out, I'll always pick
the former.

~~~
jamesaguilar
> Yet the problem with your phone doing all of this location-aware
> intelligence is that you wind up with the dead-battery he started his
> article out with.

Unlikely. The main culprits in high battery usage are the screen, the gps, and
the radio when there's not very much signal. Google Now does not ever show up
in my top-five battery users list.

~~~
mathieuh
An app itself doesn't use much battery unless it's doing something CPU
intensive. Android reports the actual thing that was using the battery. For
example, if I watch YouTube until my battery's dead, it won't say YouTube used
the battery, it will say the screen did.

~~~
jamesaguilar
That is not actually true, because YouTube is quite CPU intensive. If you
perform the experiment you just proposed, you will find YouTube has used a
significant portion of the battery. But I see what you mean.

You could also try this: if Google Now is waking your phone up any significant
portion of the time, it'll show up in the list as a low percentage app. You
can click on it to see how much time it's keeping the CPU awake, keeping the
screen on, using the GPS, etc. I believe Google Now processing is accounted to
the Google Search app (because that is where all its output shows up). On my
phone, which has Google Now enabled, it shows zero active time for GPS, screen
awake, CPU, etc.

~~~
cmurphycode
Actually, Now's time goes under Maps- at least the location services, which
are the big draw. I have all of the tracking enabled, and maps uses between 20
and 30% of my overall.

~~~
jamesaguilar
Oh, in that case, yeah, it is using a fair amount for me too -- don't get me
wrong, I'm still at 85% after charging it this morning, but maps is showing
about 30% of that.

~~~
cmurphycode
Lucky :) Even if I don't use my phone at all, it'll be below 80% by this time,
and Maps & co seem to be a major culprit, since Now keeps on chugging even
when the phone hasn't woken in a long time.

Interestingly, GSam battery monitor (which I just got last week, and is really
neat!) shows the number of times each app woke the device. I've been on for
4.5 hours, and Maps is at 441, with the next Android System at 85 and Google
Search (which is Now) at 53.

Android System has also shown up more in usage % since I started having Now.

I think there's definitely a significant drain with Now. I've had it enabled
since the Verizon release, somewhere around 12/20, but I think I will disable
it at the start of next month and keep an eye on how it behaves. I certainly
feel that my battery life has gone down since the upgrade.

------
rdl
My #1 wishlist item, which would be easy to implement, is "guest mode" -- let
me hit a button on the lock screen (or elsewhere) which lets me loan someone
my phone briefly without any personalization or sensitive data. A standard web
browser, phone app, etc. Maybe let me customize what apps are available in
"limited mode". This matters even more on an iPad, which I'm generally willing
to share, vs. my phone, which I won't let out of my sight due to fear of
missing a call.

This would be for: 1) Loaning someone my phone briefly 2) Kids -- you might
want to lock the phone down to a single app. (or, for me, lock the phone to a
single cat toy application for cats) 3) Theft -- if someone steals my device,
it would be nice to remotely drop it into "browser and email only" to keep him
online so I can continue to location-track and then order pipehitter as a
service to recover the device.

~~~
0x0
I think you can do the lock-to-one-app in iOS 6 already, random first google
hit: [http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/10/01/how-to-lock-the-
ipad...](http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/10/01/how-to-lock-the-ipad-to-a-
single-app-for-kid-mode/)

~~~
smackfu
Not too useful when that one app is a browser though that has all your
identity in it.

It's really only good if you want to let someone play a game and only that
game.

~~~
btown
But if you use Google Chrome for all your browsing, you can let Safari be a
no-identity browser for this purpose.

------
bborud
I have one wish: that the iOS programmers at Apple learn how to write
efficient concurrent code and that they stop leaning on the next, faster,
generation processor so hard that any phone that is just one generation older
than the leatest and greatest becomes slow as shit.

My iPhone used to be fast. Most things used to be snappy. Now it is slow as
shit. From the address book lookups (which I have timed to usually clock in at
8-9 seconds, but which can take as long as 20 seconds) to the atrocious piece
of penguin dung that is the podcast app. Seriously, Apple could not have
created a shittier app if they had hired a bunch of Microsoft engineers to
bang their foreheads on keyboards for 88 hours.

iOS software is fucking slow.

(Firing Scott Forstall to stop the skeuomorphic wankery was a good start. Now
they need a real software engineering director to beat some sense into the
engineers and to make sure they have "Concurrency 101" under their belt before
writing another line of code)

~~~
taligent
> Apple learn how to write efficient concurrent code

Sorry but what ? Apple has one of the best concurrency implementations on ANY
platform. GCD is superbly designed and combined with blocks makes concurrency
trivial.

The biggest problem is that developers often try and over optimise.

> which I have timed to usually clock in at 8-9 seconds, but which can take as
> long as 20 seconds

This is definitely not normal.

> iOS software is fucking slow.

No. It really isn't.

~~~
jarek
> > which I have timed to usually clock in at 8-9 seconds, but which can take
> as long as 20 seconds

> This is definitely not normal.

Big consolation to users experiencing this! That's a Linux-level response to
user concerns.

------
te_chris
They need to have a way to set defaults for different types of apps too,
coming from android that's incredibly infuriating. Also intents. Oh, and fix
the complete mess that is notification centre, it's so cludgy and awful
compared to android - e.g why the hell can't I swipe away individual
notifications? Why do I have to clear all or none of them * rage *. (I'm a
recent convert to a 4S as I'm putting an app into the store and need to use
it).

~~~
mikeevans
Not to mention they couldn't make the "clear all" button any smaller.

------
martythemaniak
Sounds a bit like my wishlist for iOS2 and 3. At the time, I wanted to write
an app that analysed my call history and show me interesting facts. There were
no call log APIs in iOS2, so I wrote an Android version, which at the time
became one of the top Android apps. I kept hoping Apple would loosen up, but
of course they didn't.

Anyway, I wouldn't hold my breath. Doing this would be a big pivot for them
and with the amount of money they're raking in, there can't be many urgent
calls for this inside the company.

------
jonknee
I'd love to be able to actually replace Apple's apps with Google's. When I hit
a link I don't want it to open in Safari, I want Chrome. Ditto with Map links.
I want Siri to be replaced with Google Voice Search (and for there to be APIs
that allow Google to fully replace Siri).

~~~
squidsoup
Given that you're primarily wanting Google software, what is it about iOS or
the iPhone that is keeping you from switching to an Android phone?

~~~
justinph
Not the orignal commenter, but I've tried switching to Android several times
so I feel qualified to reply:

* Apple hardware is superior to any of the Nexus phones. Buttons don't rock without triggering action, screens are consistent colors, etc.

* There is a hardware home button that doesn't change locations. This makes it easy to get 'home' from anywhere, and, most importantly, to orient the device by feel in your hand without looking at it.

* The phone in't huge.

* Battery life is better on iOS.

* There is only one email app, not seperate apps for exchange / imap and gmail.

* The quality of apps on iOS is vastly superior to Android. Both in terms of function, but also UI. This is partly because of developers, but also because there isn't the screen size fragmentation issue.

I really want google to succeed with Android. I want someone to make a phone
that's better than the iPhone. No one is doing it, yet, though.

~~~
pcl
_There is only one email app, not seperate apps for exchange / imap and
gmail._

The goofy mail experience was a big turn-off for me last time I tried
switching to Android.

 _The quality of apps on iOS is vastly superior to Android._

This might be true on average, but in my case, I only really use a handful of
apps with any regularity, and they all seem to be around parity on both
platforms.

~~~
jamesaguilar
This hasn't always been the case. I've switched between Apple and Android
about three times. The most recent time, just a few months ago, I stuck with
Android. Because while the long tail of apps on iPhone look and work better,
the top-100/top-200 apps an Android are roughly on par with those same apps on
iPhone. Since those are all I use, the question turns to OS feature-sets, and
Android has iOS beat on that front. If you're in to mobile gaming, though, you
probably need to have an iPhone.

~~~
eagsalazar2
And the top 3 apps I use many times per day: email, maps, calendar are way way
better on Android at least if you are using gmail. Without exaggeration, if
you use gmail the main experience on Android _crushes_ iOS.

~~~
clauretano
Have you seen the new (last month) Gmail app for iOS? It's really quite nice
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gmail-email-from-
google/id42...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gmail-email-from-
google/id422689480?mt=8)

~~~
bruceboughton
Nowhere near as nice as Sparrow though... apart from push.

------
nicholassmith
Here's my feature wishlist for iOS7:

    
    
        - 
    

Nothing. I don't want anything new. I'm happy with the current feature set my
phone currently has. What I desperately want from iOS 7 is a renewed focus on
stability and Not Sucking. There's been a significant amount of additional
functionality brought in over the last few releases, but it feels like in
terms of stability it's not improved anywhere near as quickly.

~~~
gurkendoktor
I'll go even further and say:

I want to be able to turn existing stuff _off_ in Settings. I don't need a
Spotlight home screen to the left, I don't want the ugly notification centre
that I accidentally trigger and never use, and neither will I ever touch
Newsstand or Stocks or Weather or Siri. How hard can it be to present a list
of on/off switches - some of them exist already for parental controls.

~~~
dshep
I think iOS 4.x was the best iOS. I'd probably stay there too if apps didn't
start requiring iOS5+. About the only thing I like in iOS5 is the weather app.

------
roc
Google Now isn't awesome because Google exposed various APIs into their
omniscient database. And they're not letting random apps grab 'Now'
information for their own purposes either. They haven't played the "Open" card
on "Now", at all, that I've seen.

So thinking Apple would match it by just opening some APIs is double-unlikely.
Particularly not with their reluctance to allow _any_ hooks that third party
developers might misuse.

If Apple pursued this, they'd develop a first-party solution by more-tightly-
integrating the existing first-party apps (Maps/Calendar/Passbook/Siri) and
call it a day.

A measured step forward on that front is actually more Apple-like and would be
less surprising than if they rolled out the more oft-cited requests, like
widgets, services, siri API and changeable defaults.

Particularly since making Siri "aware" of your immediate future
needs/obligations would be a feature multiplier all its own.

~~~
mtgx
Ironically, Apple's services like Maps and Siri are the ones that are not very
"integrated" but are quite "fragmented" instead, since they need hooks into
different databases from 3rd party vendors of which they have no control on,
while Google only uses their own Google search engine for Google Now, and
their own Maps database for Maps.

Also, Google has already brought Voice Search to the iPhone. I think Google
Now is also a service they'd like to bring, since it seems like one of those
services where they would benefit if it was on the most popular mobile
platforms at least.

~~~
dsl
Apple pays for Yelp's data, Google scrapes it. Your guess is as good as mine
as to which lasts longer.

------
sergiotapia
>Let us do what we want.

Pretty much everyone I know who has ditched iOS has done so because of this
reason. Seems to me like the author is just a bit behind and finally caught
on.

I love the Apple hardware, dislike the closed options I get on iOS.

~~~
prawks
This is what happens when you market a phone as something that "just works".
It's great that iOS is able to be used by kindergarten-level children, but at
the same time, it's not.

My next phone is going to be Android-based, because I believe that I can
handle using mobile devices expecting users to be able to think critically.

~~~
Domenic_S
You might have a perspective problem. A mobile device that expects you to
"think critically"? Come on now.

Some people enjoy building and tweaking PCs. Most don't. Some people enjoy
tinkering on their cars. Most don't. Some people enjoy tinkering with their
phone, "thinking critically" while using it; most don't.

I enjoy endless tinkering with servers, caches, micro-optimizations, and so
forth. But I can't stand tinkering with my tools -- I prefer to tinker with
other things _using_ my tools. I consider my phone a tool.

Not everyone is like me, and not everyone is like you. There's no right or
wrong, just preference.

~~~
prawks
> Not everyone is like me, and not everyone is like you. There's no right or
> wrong, just preference.

I never said there was. The poster I was responding to said that he disliked
the closed environment iOS provides. Perhaps my wording was a bit more
confrontational that I meant, but my comment still stands:

Apple's products are not marketed to or designed for power users.

That's really all I meant by it. I never said that everyone is like everyone
else; they're not. Many people who enjoy tinkering use Apple's phones. These
people are, as is apparent to me now (hence my buying an Android next), better
off using an open platform like Android.

As an aside, it's just as easy to classify servers and caches as tools that
should "just work". It's about perspective, and preference.

------
RexRollman
Personally, the biggest thing for me is file management. I hate it that I
can't just connect a device and copy files to and from it via USB.

Now, I'm not saying that I need to see every file and folder on the iOS
device, but exposing a data folder for each installed application would be a
big help.

~~~
mixmastamyk
It's getting worse. My Nexus 7 doesn't allow it either, although you can work
around it and (use it as a flashdrive at least) by pretending it's a camera.

I understand the problem is having a disk mounted by two OSs similtaneously.
There is newer protocol called mtp
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol>) that is supposed to
be the answer, but it isn't supported by older OSs. Feels like they reinvented
the wheel though.

~~~
revelation
MTP is a complete trainwreck. The main problem is that the support in Windows
is absolutely useless. Copying a big file and want to continue exploring the
contents? Nope. Any kind of simultaneous operation will just plain not work.
There is a very odd warning if you copy over plain old data like zip files -
it tells you that the device might not be able to _play_ the content. You can
still copy them over, at crappy speed. But then trying to read them again will
often fail with a weird error that amounts to "The connection broke".

Oh, and Explorer constantly locks up when dealing with MTP devices. It either
plain crashes or waiting for data that is never coming, no matter, its
blocking the GUI interactions for fucks sake, in 2013.

~~~
mixmastamyk
I believe it. Not sure what was wrong with ftp, sshfs, or even a smb lite?

------
stickydink
A more cost-efficient way of ensuring you're ok in OP's scenario (blown out
tyre, phone battery dead), than buying an iPhone? Get a charger for your
vehicle.

------
rednukleus
Sounds like the author just wants Android in a iPhone form factor.

~~~
ajross
It's more than simple form factor. Apple's hardware integration work too is
way beyond what the Android OEMs are doing, too.

One of the complaints in the article is battery life, and that's dead on. My
wife's 4S routinely lasts all day. Occasionally she forgets to plug it in and
in the morning it's crossed 24h of uptime with a little power to spare until
she can plug it in at work. My Galaxy Nexus with the extended battery (7.77WH
vs. 5.3 in the iPhone) will never make 24h without special attention (e.g.
airplane mode, disable sync, etc...). And it's routine on days of slightly-
heavier-than-normal usage for it to die before I plug it in at bedtime.

Some of that effect is simply the larger backlight (75% more screen area on
the Nexus), but surely not all of it. Power management in iOS is just plain
better than it is in the Android world, and quite noticeably so.

For me, that's an acceptable trade for Android's deeper features and
hackability. But I won't say I don't wish it did a little better, and wouldn't
begrudge someone making a product decision based on it.

~~~
aetherson
For whatever it's worth: I got a Motorola Droid RAZR M a few months back,
explicitly because it's not gigantic and I don't like gigantic phones.

It gets 24+ hours of battery life, even though I play Ingress a few hours a
day (though I don't do much else that's heavily battery draining). It is not
gigantic. It is presently on Android 4.1, and while it's not the entirely pure
Android experience you'd get with a Nexus, it's not that far off.

The screen isn't anywhere near as pretty as an iPhone's, and the build quality
is probably inferior (but, honestly, plenty high for me).

I'm pretty happy with it.

------
jsz0
The most interesting thing about iOS7 to me is how Apple will handle the
issues around iCloud Documents and data portability between apps. I appreciate
they are trying to move away from traditional file systems because I really
believe there _are_ better ways of doing things. The problem here is Apple's
approach isn't exactly working. In a lot (most?) ways it's actually worse than
dealing with a traditional file system. If they can't figure it out for iOS7 I
think they need to admit defeat and try something different. A perfect example
of this is creating a text document in TextEdit on your Mac. It's utterly
useless on your iOS device. You can't access it at all. Sure they could
release TextEdit for iOS but that does not solve the real problem or address
the problems of portability of data between iOS apps. In my opinion iOS7 is
their last shot to get this right. If they can't figure it out dust off iDisk
and just go back to the basics. It's annoying to deal with file systems but it
works at least.

------
jetako
Google Now is the one feature that will determine whether I switch from iPhone
to Android in the next 6 months. If Apple doesn't come up with something
comparable in that time frame, they will lose a customer.

~~~
jasonbarone
Same here, I've been a raving Apple product fan for years but Google Now and
app-to-app integrations are just too damn useful to pass up. It's now to the
point where it's an inconvenience to use some iPhone apps.

------
jxdxbx
I am worried that so much of the "integration" people are calling for is
integration with the services of just one company, Google. And most people
that want to replace the built-in iOS app defaults want to replace them with
Google apps so they can use more Google services. Is that healthy for the web?

Now, Google offers the best-in-class web services in a number of domains. But
I've never been very fond of many of them, and where Google apps are less than
great I prefer to use the alternative--Yelp instead of Google Local, standard
IMAP email instead of Gmail, Wolfram Alpha for some searches, etc.

To Google's credit, it is easier to use an alternative search engine with
Android than it is to use just about any alternative service on iOS. But I
don't think we're going to see Google Now integrating with Bing maps or
Duckduckgo or Yelp anytime soon.

~~~
dannyr
"Integration" may benefit Google at first. You have think of the possibilities
though if that integration is available to any developer.

Google is good at a number of apps but not all.

On Android, a lot of core functionalities built by Google can be replaced with
a third-party app. You can replace the keyboard, use a different Home screen
or Launcher, another app to manage your Contacts or have a different dialer.

I think the current situation is worse since only Apple can integrate tightly
with iOS. Apple did allow Facebook & Twitter some integration though.

~~~
jxdxbx
I think this is true as far as iOS goes--and it is more likely that Apple will
open up the iPhone to third parties than that Google Now and so on will start
working with third parties.

My concern is more with how so many very tech-savvy people, usually so
skeptical of companies that get a little too ambitious--are extolling the
virtues of a system that requires your email, search, maps, and nearly
everything else be sourced from a single provider.

More on point, even if iOS allows for changing default apps, it should keep
system-wide _settings_ as far as possible. For example, the drop-down email
sheet that apps can use will probably have to stay Apple, even if you're using
Gmail for your mail, at least until there's a more robust contracts-like
system. But right now this would mean having to input your email credentials
into both system settings, and the gmail app separately.

------
Void_

      Tell me why I’m an idiot for having this opinion by tweeting @tomdale.
    

Off topic, but this is genius.

I never understood why everybody copied that "you should follow me" rudeness
of a line.

Not thinking too high about yourself is how you win people's goodwill.

~~~
MartinCron
I never read "you should follow me" as particularly rude, maybe a little self-
important, but not full on rude. Once you start _trying to get followers_
you've pretty much implanted yourself in the realm of self-importance.

I do agree that this is just brilliant.

------
purephase
The holy grail for me (and one that keeps me on iOS) is hardware. Apple knows
this, which is why they are so aggressive in patent submission and litigation.
Android terrifies them.

If Samsung/LG et. al. could make a somewhat more affordable handset with the
design ascetics of an Apple device that ran stock Android, it would seriously
disrupt Apple's position.

I had hope for Intel's concept phone [1], but it doesn't look like it
manifested in the way it was originally sold.

1\. [http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-medfield-concept-
phone-...](http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-medfield-concept-phone-
tablet-2011-12)

~~~
cheald
The Nexus 4 is honestly an excellent piece of hardware. I'd still say the
iPhone is better-built, but I don't feel like the N4 is far enough behind to
leave me feeling jealous.

The screen size is a sticking point for some folks, but the device doesn't
"feel" big (my dad is a vocal critic of too-big phones, and he rather likes my
N4) like some other phones of similar sizes. The battery life is absolutely an
issue, but that's a software issue rather than a hardware one; I average about
36 hours on a charge on my N4, but that did take a bit of tweaking (turning
off location reporting services that are on by default, primarily) to get
there.

All that said, I feel that in terms of software, stock Android is so much
better than iOS at this point that it's not even a contest; the "battery life"
issue is part of the double-edged sword that is developer freedom - on the
other edge is a system that lets developers do wonderful things. Apple is
absolutely still top of the game in terms of hardware, but they're going to
have to do a hard burn to catch up on software.

~~~
purephase
Honestly, I used the N4 for a few hours and was left wanting. The size of the
device really throws me off because I can just barely use it with a single
hand, and it is extremely awkward.

It may not sound important, but as a parent of a 5mth old, being able to use a
device with a single hand is essential.

~~~
cheald
Oh, I hear you. It's very different if you're coming from a smaller device.
The screen size is a showstopper for some people, no doubt. It works for me,
but I can see how others would like something more iPhone-sized.

(Parent of two here, I totally understand the "one hand" thing!)

------
Xuzz
What APIs would something like Google Now need that don't currently exist? The
only one I can think of is a way to launch it easier, rather than with an
icon. But the push and local notifications, geo-tracking, ability to access
your Gmail, and even the ability for Google Maps to pre-download map tiles are
available to Google on iOS. What else does it need?

~~~
pcl
_the ability for Google Maps to pre-download map tiles [is] available to
Google on iOS_

Google Now will automatically pre-download the map vector data _before_ your
trip, without you asking it to. For Google to do the equivalent on iOS, they'd
need to be able to perform periodic background jobs, which isn't something
that iOS supports currently.

~~~
Xuzz
It wouldn't be perfect, but the Google Now app could recognize that you're
nearing an airport — something iOS does support, with background location
updates — and then download the map data when it gets that notification. iOS
apps can also share data between apps from the same vendor (via the Keychain,
pasteboards, or various other mechanisms), so there wouldn't be an issue with
passing that data over to the Google Maps app for offline viewing.

------
dmix
> Jellybean has been a dream to use. There are some rough edges, but the
> moments where I wish I still had my iPhone are few and far between.

Totally agree. I was scared ditching my iphone 4 for a Samsung S3 but it's
been really great. Plus it has lots of nice encryption features.

------
jwwest
Is there something stopping Google from shipping Google Now for iOS? If you
use Chrome on iOS they're collecting all sorts of information, you can also
pull GPS data etc from G+ on iOS and associate it server-side.

You don't get the cool springboard shortcut though.

------
saturdaysaint
Google Now sounds interesting but when it comes to digital content apps
(kindle, audible, etc), I don't see how shopping in your browser is even an
inconvenience. If I bring up Siri and say "Google Game Of Thrones Kindle" I
can have the book bought and on my screen with a few taps.

------
thegyppo
I've recently moved to an iPhone 5 after being on Android for a few years. I'm
a heavy Gtalk user & it pains me that there's no official Google app for it on
iOS - something I'd love to see.

------
tobylane
There's adding enough APIs for google programmers, and adding enough data
access for google marketers. I hope we get the first one, but that doesn't
mean we'll get Google's apps.

------
dshep
Google Now has been pretty useless for me. Its mostly an annoyance, I'm always
having to dismiss its place suggestions and "Time to home/work" notifications.

------
DigitalSea
I think we all need to revert back to the days of 3 sometimes 4 days battery
life on old school Nokia's like the Nokia 3315. It's amazing how battery life
on phones seems to get progressively worse even though battery technology is
better, we're still cramming in battery draining features when all someone
needs in an emergency is the ability to make a phone call or send a text, not
a web browser, email client and a Facebook app.

~~~
shadesandcolour
Sure making a phone call or sending out a message is all that you need to do
in an emergency. But that's not what the cell phone is for anymore. Back when
batteries lasted 3-4 days on a charge they were there for when you needed
them. Now people feel like they need them all the time. This isn't a failure
of hardware or software. A mobile phone isn't a just a phone anymore, so how
can we expect it to have the same battery life as something that is just a
phone?

