iOS 4.3 changes....

Still on 4.1, wasn't there cons to 4.2? And are they still present if I go 4.1->4.3?
 
Miker2k said:
Software configurable "mute" switch. Can be mute or back to orientation.
Click to expand...
Yay! These new gestures look fantastic as well. Hitting the Home button can sometimes be pretty bothersome, so these improvements are welcome.
 
There is video out now of the gestures in action.... I can't wait!

I personally saw no drawbacks to 4.2 but wasn't going to delay because I wanted folders/multitasking on the iPad and airplay support on my iPhone 4.
 
Will wait and see if an untethered Jailbreak for 4.3 shows up. I hope it does because I won't go to 4.2 because of that.
 
Miker2k said:
So the beta just got posted... so far some neat changes.

Software configurable "mute" switch. Can be mute or back to orientation.
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/12...are-option-for-rotation-lock-or-mute-on-ipad/

Mobile hotspot, multi touch, airplay video.
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/12/apple-seeds-ios-4-3-beta-to-developers/
Click to expand...
Software config of the orientation switch (;)) - GOOD!! Changing that on the iPad made absolutely no sense at all, and I'm glad they're making it a preference setting in the next OS drop.

Mobile hotspot? Dammit! Now what am I supposed to do with this Cradlepoint MBR-1000 I just bought last year...?:p:D
 
What's everyone's feeling on the idea of losing the Home button altogether?
 
I don't see the home button being removed anytime soon. Hard resets and screenshots would become impossible.

I do see the home button getting smaller though.

Those new gestures are the new hotness. Hurry Apple! 4.3 is taking too long!
 
I don't mind the home button. It doesn't look bad aesthetically and it doesn't get in the way of anything. I could live without it if they want to make the screen bigger though, but it would throw out Jobs' zen thing with a perfect balance of top and bottom spacing.
 
morgrar said:
What's everyone's feeling on the idea of losing the Home button altogether?
Click to expand...

Given the implementation from the Youtube video, I think it's great. A big advantage to it is that "correct orientation" of the device will be meaningless. The home button is specifically an issue with the iPad, given that its position differs greatly depending on if you use it in landscape or portrait mode.

Another advantage is that it is also faster and more convenient to do multitouch gestures since you are keeping your hands on the screen, instead of bouncing back and forth between the screen and single clicking or double clicking the home button. Why double click home to bring up the app switcher when you can just push up with four fingers? Why double click to bring up the app switcher when you can just switch apps on the fly by swiping left and right? This is like tabbed applications, super nice.

I also think it is hilarious that people on the front page are getting so angry over this news. WTF is the big deal?
 
Last edited:
Overall, I think the 4.3 changes and additions are great stuff. The gestures, mobile hotspot functionality, and the orientation switch option (especially) are things I'd use regularly. I don't own an iPad yet, but I was less enthused when the switch suddenly toggled mute exclusively. Task switching via swiping is much more intuitive than double-clicking and swiping an app list that's only 5 x 1. To me that's a waste of time, effort, and good screen real estate. Using the phone as my laptop's hotspot is gold, since I can avoid paying for an extra data plan and expensive internal or obstructive USB modem. Hopefully AT&T supports it.
 
Last edited:
rflcptr said:
I don't own an iPad yet, but I was less enthused when the switch suddenly toggled mute exclusively. Task switching via swiping is much more intuitive than double-clicking and swiping an app list that's only 5 x 1.
Click to expand...
Trust me when I tell you that if you were an iPad owner, you'd easily be twice as excited about these new features as you are at this moment :)

I genuinely felt that things work quite well already for the iPad, but these UI updates are really going to be substantial. Simple things — and almost obvious things once you see them — but wow. I can appreciate how some could dismiss this stuff as trivial, but for me, this is pretty big stuff here.
 
Phide - I'm honestly surprised at how little fanfare this update has received compared to 4.2 which added multitasking. That one got a lot of coverage. This is the best UI update I've seen from Apple since they introduced Expose and Spaces in OS X. It will make the iPad so much faster to use than it already is.
 
The home button needs to stay, as removing it would actually detract from the ease of use, accessibility, and potential functionality of iOS.

As far as ease of use is concerned, nearly anyone I've seen quickly grasped that the one button meant to quit an app or return to the first home screen page. The sole reliance on gestures can become a bane; we only have up to five free fingers when holding an iPad, and some people don't (!) have five fingers to work with, for example. It can effectively give them a sour taste before they even appreciate any features, or send them looking for alternatives.

That reasoning is also part of my point about accessibility. Given 5 fingers and your available gestures or pinches consumed, how can someone toggle white-on-black, zoom, or voice-over as quickly and intuitively as they can with the current triple-click? It's not so much when a user has to drop into and change their settings in the middle of whatever they're doing.

Functionally speaking, leaving the button won't reduce any and I disagree with the idea that it will make a device more "orientation-independent," because the introducion of cameras on the next iPad are going to present a bias towards orientation, anyway. The button can still open up more possibilities, too. One thing that I haven't seen any OS (mobile or otherwise) natively do is perform searches amongst a subset of all running applications. What if double-clicking, with all that screen real estate that the switcher leaves, presented a mechanism with a search box to find some string of text that dynamically shortened the list of candidate apps to switch to? edit: that wouldn't really depend on the button's existence, but it still could leave options for those that favor touch and want a small but useful feature, like a calculator or widget overlay (hello, iOS Exposé!)

So yeah, I totally welcome the gestures. But leave the home button. :p
 
Last edited:
rflcptr said:
The home button needs to stay, as removing it would actually detract from the ease of use, accessibility, and potential functionality of iOS.
Click to expand...

It could certainly increase the learning curve for new users. One of the things that made the iPhone and iPad so easy to pick up is that the home button always brought you to the front page. Simple. I don't know if people will think that a finger finger pinch to return to the home screen is more difficult, but we'll find out soon enough.

That reasoning is also part of my point about accessibility. Given 5 fingers and your available gestures or pinches consumed, how can someone toggle white-on-black, zoom, or voice-over as quickly and intuitively as they can with the current triple-click? It's not so much when a user has to drop into and change their settings in the middle of whatever they're doing.
Click to expand...

I didn't even know that iOS supported triple click. I'll have to look into that.

Functionally speaking, leaving the button won't reduce any and I disagree with the idea that it will make a device more "orientation-independent," because the introducion of cameras on the next iPad are going to present a bias towards orientation, anyway.
Click to expand...

Good point re: the camera giving it an orientation bias. Of course, that would only be when using the front facing camera, whereas you're always using the home button, but a good point regardless.

The button can still open up more possibilities, too. One thing that I haven't seen any OS (mobile or otherwise) natively do is perform searches amongst a subset of all running applications. What if double-clicking, with all that screen real estate that the switcher leaves, presented a mechanism with a search box to find some string of text that dynamically shortened the list of candidate apps to switch to? edit: that wouldn't really depend on the button's existence, but it still could leave options for those that favor touch and want a small but useful feature, like a calculator or widget overlay (hello, iOS Exposé!)

So yeah, I totally welcome the gestures. But leave the home button. :p
Click to expand...

Interesting. Widgets aside, these are already things that can be handled via Spotlight or the search box in Safari if searching for text. My only real concern is the initial point I made, which is getting newbies into using the iPad/iPhone via the home button. It may or may not be a big deal, I dunno.

Good points either way.
 
Are they placing the rear-facing camera dead-center? In any other place, I'd still think about orientation.

also: Maybe it's something my 3GS doesn't support, but I haven't seen Spotlight actually perform a text search within paused apps on any iDevice.
 
86 5.0L said:
haha, sorry to hear, so are the cons for older hardware? I havent kept up on iOS, because my iphone 4 runs so nice.
Click to expand...

yeah, from what I've heard and seen os4 runs great on anything except the iphone 3G, in which case, os4 is a tool to get you to buy an iphone 4...
 
The 3G is also incredibly ancient technology. There isn't a version of iOS in existence that runs particularly well on it.
 
phide said:
The 3G is also incredibly ancient technology. There isn't a version of iOS in existence that runs particularly well on it.
Click to expand...

The 3G is basically the original iPhone with a 3G antenna and a better battery. A mobile SoC from 2007 isn't going to perform very well when it comes to multitasking, demanding applications, etc etc. The best OS for that is still the original iOS, when it was made to do a very narrow set of functions really well. Anything more than that, well, that's what all of these fancy 1ghz SoCs with tons of RAM are for. :)
 
I've been using the gestures and can say that I love them, and the power button needs to go. I don't think the learning curve would be that bad, and you could easily increase the screen size if the button was gone.
 
The orientation lock is the only thing I'm looking forward to. What was apple thinking in changing that!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top