
Proof That iOS Still Hasn’t Gotten Undo Right - _hztt
https://daringfireball.net/2018/12/ios_still_hasnt_gotten_undo_right
======
flocial
I still can't select multiline text in a reliable manner after all these
years. Those little handles jump around and you end up stuck selecting the
weirdest substring. Moving app icons from one page to another is more of an
art (I don't have fat fingers either).

I will say that after all these years, the most amazing thing is how much the
iPhone interface got right on launch. Those first years were magical, like
suddenly being thrust into the future. I just hope Apple finds Jobs 2.0 Dalai
Lama style before they do irreparable damage.

~~~
ac4tw
Have you tried using force touch to select text--I have big fingers and it's
my fav. iPhone feature. You just put the cursor on a word and press hard--the
word gets selected. Then press even harder and the surrounding words get
selected--you can also press hard and drag one side of the selection cursor to
select left or right of the datum. (You need a 6s or greater phone though--5se
won't do it).

~~~
molf
This only works for editable text, though, right?

Selecting text from websites or other static text is as clumsy as ever.

~~~
chrispeel
Despite 8_hours_ago's comment, I also find selecting text from websites to not
be so easy on iOS

------
theDoug
The areas Apple runs to add and improve (AR, 3D face emojis, lotta camera
depth work) keep landing in stark contrast to basics like this for me.

I'm still waiting, for almost a decade now, to have two (or more) countdown
timers run simultaneously without a 3rd party app. Cooking two items at once
continues to fall behind on the Cupertino priority list to tracking dozens of
World Clocks to the second.

~~~
arvinsim
I am still waiting for a way to turn off wifi and bluetooth in the control
center.

The decision on making those buttons just disconnect was something I have a
very hard time comprehending.

~~~
rubatuga
Not the same, but you can use Shortcuts to make a shortcut to turn off wifi
completely in the notification centre widget area

------
jchw
On one hand: true.

On the other hand: it's actually not so ridiculous to advertise quick undo for
an app that involves drawing. MyPaint for example stands out as having undo
mapped to Z instead of Ctrl+Z, an amazing quality of life improvement for
drawing that I wish more painting apps had. It sounds minor... but I end up
using Undo an insane amount when drawing, and this lets me relax my hand more.

So, I can also see why that's a good thing to mention, too.

~~~
BlackFingolfin
I'd say there is nothing bad about having _additional_ shortcuts for often
used functions, as long as the standard ones still work (and of course as long
as there _is_ a standard...)

------
amelius
Some other things that iOS still hasn't gotten right:

\- The "back" button. For every application it's in a different location.

\- Connecting an external USB drive is impossible.

\- There is no filesystem.

~~~
saagarjha
> The "back" button. For every application it's in a different location.

Swipe from the left edge of the screen.

~~~
baxuz
Not a system gesture, but installed for sheets on a per-app basis.

~~~
bunnycorn
It is exactly a system gesture.

------
frou_dh
Poweruser oriented touch apps are going to have non-trivial learning curves,
regardless of how well something in particular is signposted.

I take the point that the quoted paragraph from the App Store is indeed
notable, but not that it indicates a major iOS snafu, with some kind of big
win just there for the taking.

~~~
calewis
This is a really great point, most of my friends still don't use half of the
features exist currently. I have no idea how you'd go about messaging that to
users.

~~~
BlackFingolfin
That's where a menu bar shines: it allows you to browse for and discover new
functions. Sure, most people still won't use most of those. But at least you
have a realistic chance of finding them.

Of course this is not unique to menu bars, they just happen to be one
established way to squeeze a lot of functions into a tight places. For a touch
interface, we may want different ways to do that; but I'd argue that it's
still crucial to provide non-hidden, discoverable ways to access all functions
of your app.

------
carlosrg
Unlike Gruber, I do think iOS needs a menu bar, or something similar. Maybe on
iPad only due to size constraints. Something optional for apps (not every app
needs one), hidden by default (something you can invoke with some gesture),
that includes common commands (like text selection commands, undo and redo,
etc) and eventually expandable with Shortcuts. At least _one_ thing besides
the keyboard and text input that is common between apps.

~~~
BlackFingolfin
Actually, he never says that he does _not_ think iOS needs a menu bar. He just
says "I’m not arguing that iOS should have a Mac-style menu bar." which makes
sense, because doing so would distract from the core of his criticism --
adding a menu bar is only one possible way to address it. And there is a
footnote on that sentence, too, which suggests that in a sense, Apple is
already having a (bad) fake menu in their iWorks apps...

------
nailer
Am iPhone X 256GB with Apple Care is 1400 GBP (1780 in USD), and way more if
you're not paying upfront. I really don't want to shake it for any reason.

~~~
majewsky
Why though? Phones (like tablets and most modern notebooks) don't have any
moving parts.

If you're worried that the rapidly changing acceleration loosens some screws,
then you better leave that phone right at home because running to catch the
bus (with the phone in your pocket) produces about the same acceleration
patterns.

~~~
pjc50
It's more about the chances of it slipping out of your grip, like an
overenthusiastic Wiimote.

------
threatofrain
Undo is an art and Google has been practicing it for awhile on Android.

~~~
BlackFingolfin
Out of curiosity (I haven't used Android in quite some time, and even then
only cursory): does Android (resp. Google) have a good solution for uniform
Undo in phone apps? How does it work?

~~~
29083011397778
The back button has been around for awhile now, but only steps back one
page/view. While I don't use iOS, Ikd equate it to the swipe left-to-right
gesture to go back

------
Walf
Nearly every time I use my SO's phone, I tap the non-existent back button to
the right of Home, then curse at Apple.

~~~
beojan
Meh. On most non-Samsung Android devices, the back button is on the left. I
really don't know why Samsung swapped the buttons around.

~~~
cesarb
Old Android had the back button on the right. Google fixed that mistake on
Android 4.0, but Samsung chose to keep the old order.

