The TidBITS Wishlist for Apple in 2015
2014 was a huge year for Apple. We saw the larger iPhone 6 and the larger-yet iPhone 6 Plus, the release of the iMac with Retina 5K display, a visual redesign of Mac OS X with 10.10 Yosemite, and a new era of openness in iOS 8 with the surprising announcement of Extensibility. That’s not even counting Apple’s early announcement of the Apple Watch, details about which will remain elusive until its eventual release in 2015.
Though Apple fulfilled many user wishes in 2014, there is still more to be done. Here are some of what the TidBITS crew would like to see from Apple in 2015. We’ll circle back to this article at the end of the year to see what changed.
Clear Rules for Extension Developers — While Extensibility — which brought Notification Center widgets, third-party keyboards, and Share sheet extensions to iOS — was a welcome change, it also reminded us how hostile Apple can be to its developers.
Apple’s opinion about extensions seems to change with the winds. The company might accept an app, and even feature it in the App Store, only to turn around and demand the removal of features, later changing its mind and allowing the offending features to remain. As Adam Engst pointed out in “iOS 8 App Development Becomes a ‘Bring Me a Rock’ Game,” (15 December 2014), this angers both users and developers, and Apple is playing a dangerous game that challenges the loyalty of both.
So, please, Apple: instead of making an example out of high-profile developers, figure out what is and is not acceptable and put it in writing. Developers will thank you, users will thank you, and in the long run, you’ll save yourself a lot of bad press and bitter feelings.
Snow Leopard 2.0 — Mac OS X and iOS have seen major changes in the past couple of years, with design overhauls, important new capabilities, and unprecedented levels of interoperability.
But all of that has come with some steep costs. Updates have become less reliable (see “Apple Releases 8.0.1, but Don’t Update Yet!,” 24 September 2014). Update sizes have become so bloated that some users can’t install them. Overall, Apple’s legendary stability and reliability have suffered some major blows.
For the time being, Mac OS X and iOS are effectively feature complete. The one thing we’ve repeatedly heard from users is a cry for stability. We’d like to see OS X 10.11 and iOS 9 be “Snow Leopard” updates that — just as 10.6 Snow Leopard did for 10.5 Leopard — remove cruft, clean up problems, and polish existing features so that we have a stable base going forward.
A Smaller iPhone — Smartphone sizes have grown continually since the release of the original iPhone, with Android phones outpacing Apple until the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. While lots of people appreciate being able to see more on screen, or having smaller amounts of information appear at more readable sizes, not everyone is enthusiastic.
For many people with smaller hands, decent vision, and fitted clothing (such as numerous active women, not to mention athletes who want to stow an iPhone in a small bike bag or shorts pocket), the iPhone 6 is too large, and the iPhone 6 Plus is laughably massive. Apple’s 2014 answer to that was to keep the smaller iPhone 5s available, but particularly as Apple Pay (available only in the newest iPhone models) becomes more popular, the older iPhone 5s won’t be a reasonable alternative.
So here’s a vote for a svelte iPhone 6s Mini to join the anticipated iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in Apple’s 2015 iPhone refresh. And Apple, while you’re at it, could you please move the side-mounted Sleep/Wake button back to the top where it doesn’t get pressed accidentally all the time while changing volume?
Wishes for Pages — After Michael Cohen spent a year doing a deep dive into Apple’s Pages for “Take Control of Pages,” (see “‘Take Control of Pages’ Documents Apple’s Writing Triumvirate,” 11 December 2014), he has three Pages wishes to submit to the powers-that-be at Apple:
- The return of text box linking: The disappearance of this feature in the transition from Pages 4 to Pages 5 made the laying out of newsletters, brochures, and pamphlets far more cumbersome than it used to be. Put it back, Apple, please!
- The return of bookmarks: Pages 4 provided links from one part of a document to another, which was great for creating indexes, tables of contents, and cross-references. Such links are missing in Pages 5, and the range of interactive documents you can make in Pages is the poorer for it.
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Formula editing in tables in Pages for iOS: In Pages 5, tables are Numbers-style spreadsheets, complete with a huge collection of formulas you can stick in table cells. Not so in Pages for iOS, which only lets you enter or edit text in table cells. Given how hard Apple has worked to make Pages for iOS and Pages for Mac compatible, this is one incompatibility that’s hard to understand — especially since Numbers for iOS can easily handle formula entry and editing in table cells. Apple, put the Pages and Numbers developers in the same room for an afternoon so they can work this thing out!
Stop Skimping on Storage — We were flabbergasted when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus debuted with a paltry 16 GB of storage by default.
Granted, many users haven’t been bothered by the lowest tier of iPhone storage in the past. But the ballooning sizes of both iOS and Apple’s own apps and the ever-larger sizes of iPhone photos and videos make 16 GB increasingly untenable. As Kirk McElhearn has pointed out (see “Apple’s iOS Apps Consume Significant Device Space,” 14 November 2014), a 16 GB iOS 8 device comes with only 12.73 GB of usable space, and if all of Apple’s suggested apps are installed, it drops to a bit over 8 GB. Plus, photos taken by the iPhone 6 hover between 1 and 3 MB each, with one 72-second video taking up over 150 MB! Even without installing other apps, it won’t take long for the average user
to fill up that space.
The lack of free space has significantly hurt iOS 8’s adoption rate. iOS 7 was installed by 74 percent of users in early December 2013, but with a full month more time, iOS 8 is still only at 64 percent penetration. The most likely reason is that an over-the-air upgrade is possible only if the device has more than 5 GB of free space, which is exceedingly uncommon, particularly for those 16 GB devices. (When upgrading via iTunes, space considerations are far less significant.)
To be fair to Apple, how many of us would have opted to spend an extra $100 for a 64 GB device if 32 GB were the default? Fewer, certainly, but Tim Cook has stated in the past that he’s willing to choose to do the right thing over seeking additional profit (see “Tim Cook Chooses the Environment Over Profit,” 28 February 2014). Do the right thing here, Apple, because it’s painful when users unwittingly fail to anticipate just how much storage they will need.
Photos for Mac — Photo management on Apple devices is in a complete state of disarray. Currently, there are three options for bringing photos from an iOS device to a Mac:
- Import using iPhoto (which is on its deathbed) or the ancient Image Capture (which can be confusing)
-
Use a third-party solution, like Dropbox
-
View photos in iCloud Photo Library from the iCloud.com beta, assuming you have access
None of these solutions is ideal. iCloud Photo Library is promising, but until it is available for all users on all Apple platforms, it’s merely a tease.
To resolve this ridiculous situation, Apple has promised Photos for Mac early in 2015. We hope the company delivers on that promise, sooner rather than later, with an app that at the very least matches up with iPhoto’s capabilities. Bonus points if the new Photos doesn’t immediately drive orphaned Aperture users to Adobe Lightroom.
iCloud Drive Sharing — When iCloud Drive was first announced, it seemed that Apple might have created a compelling alternative to Dropbox. That hope was dashed when iCloud Drive finally appeared. As Michael Cohen pointed out, “iCloud Drive Is Not a Dropbox Replacement,” (6 November 2014).
Many of us rely on both Dropbox and iCloud Drive for our work, which is a recipe for confusion. It would be nice if we could store everything in one place (and today, that place would have to be Dropbox). iCloud Drive offers a level of integration that Dropbox can’t match, but iCloud Drive doesn’t allow sharing files and folders with other users. Enabling iCloud Drive users to share documents would go a long way to reducing our reliance on Dropbox. It would be even better if iCloud Drive could retain and restore past versions of files.
This isn’t merely for user convenience. It can’t be in Apple’s best strategic interests to let millions of Mac and iOS users remain reliant on a system-level service like Dropbox for productivity. That hasn’t been a problem for Apple yet, but it could be in the future unless Apple expands iCloud Drive to compete with Dropbox rather than just ceding the space.
A New Apple TV — The third-generation Apple TV debuted in 2012, and after nearly three years, it’s time for an update. In the meantime, Google and Amazon have made serious inroads into the living room, pushing the Apple TV to third place in sales behind Roku and Google’s Chromecast, and not far ahead of Amazon’s Fire TV.
What could Apple do with an Apple TV hardware revision? Many of Josh Centers’s ideas from last year’s “The Future of Apple TV,” (21 February 2014) are still viable. Even one thing Josh was skeptical about last year, voice control, has been proven possible by Amazon’s Fire TV.
Right now, the Apple TV is compelling only for iTunes loyalists. Google’s Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV Stick are less expensive, the Roku offers more content options, the full-sized Fire TV offers more features and capabilities, and an ever-increasing number of smart TVs (which integrate many of the capabilities of these boxes) make buying any of them less necessary. It’s time for Apple to up its TV game.
A New Mac mini — After years of waiting, Apple finally updated the Mac mini in 2014, but what showed up wasn’t exactly what we had in mind. Although the new Mac mini retained the same design it has had for years, it’s actually less expandable than its previous iteration, and suffers from worse multi-core performance. While we were astonished by the iMac with Retina 5K display, the Mac mini warranted only a collective “meh.” (See “Apple Launches iMac with Retina Display, Refreshes Mac mini,” 16 October 2014.)
We’d like to see a redesigned Mac mini with the same sensibilities as the MacBook Air. Imagine a fast, SSD-equipped Mac mini that isn’t much bigger than the current Apple TV. Even if it were a bit over the current Mac mini’s $499 price tag, the tiny form factor would guarantee it a spot on many desks. As it stands, the current Mac mini is the worst of the Mac’s past and present: big, clunky, slow, and non-expandable.
Take Advantage of the iPad’s Screen — iPad sales have been flagging, and if you look at an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, it’s not hard to see why. Both phones feature expanded keyboards and features like Reachability to make screen elements easier to access.
So why is the iPad’s interface just a bigger version of the iPhone’s? It’s time for Apple to differentiate the iPad by taking advantage of all that space. Add additional keyboard keys, bring over Reachability, and make it possible to run apps in split-screen mode. With larger iPhone 6 screen sizes, the iPad isn’t quite as appealing as it once was.
Make the Mac App Store Relevant Again — The promise of the Mac App Store was compelling, offering as it did a single central marketplace that would be accessible to every Mac user. But today, it would be hard to classify it as anything other than a disappointment.
A number of developers have abandoned the Mac App Store entirely. Most notable was Bare Bones Software (see “BBEdit 11 Overhauls Features for Existing Customers,” 26 October 2014), but Panic was unable to make the Coda 2.5 Web authoring program meet Apple’s sandboxing requirements, Golden Hill Software ditched the Mac App Store rather than work around a rejection of their CloudPull Google data backup software, and Realmac Software hasn’t even
submitted RapidWeaver 6 to the Mac App Store because of how it prevents customers from getting support directly.
Dealing with the App Store review process and giving Apple a 30 percent cut made the Mac App Store a tough sell for developers, but Apple’s arcane sandboxing requirements were the last straw for many, particularly utilities like Keyboard Maestro that couldn’t possibly be sandboxed. Equally troubling, developers have no way to offer paid upgrades, forcing awkward and user-unfriendly workarounds so developers can afford to fund ongoing development rather than always chasing new customers. None of these issues is necessarily a deal-breaker on its own, but combined, they make the Mac App Store unpalatable.
It’s time to admit that the Mac App Store is caught in a downward spiral. We can’t see Apple abandoning the Mac App Store, given that it’s how OS X and all Apple apps are distributed, so we’d like to see Apple meet the needs of developers and users alike by relaxing or rolling back the sandboxing requirements, allowing paid upgrades, and letting developers communicate directly with their customers. (The iOS App Store would benefit from the latter two as well.)
Other Ideas? — We have no monopoly on wishes for Apple, so if there are other things you’d like to see Apple focus on in 2015, please share them in the comments.
Please Apple update/rebuild/do something with the music player in iOS to make it usable/useful.
Cheers Gobit
agreed, and include in the plea to fix syncing with iOS devices. I’ve had to restore my iPhone/iPad twelve times and counting since fall.
Goodness! I've NEVER had to do that! Syncing my iPhone 6, my iPadAir2 and my ancient iMac all works seamlessly.
Suzanne, out of curiosity, do you sync large iTunes libraries to your devices? For me, that is always the culprit (usually but not always related to “Other” data getting too large)
Agreed. I like the interface when it works... but streaming large libraries to iOS devices has not worked for quite some time (plenty of posts on this topic in support threads). Apple TV has no problem with this, and it used to work well in early iOS7.
What problems do you have with it?
G’day Josh
Presume your question of 6 Jan was directed at me. Sorry, have been away for a few days – it’s the main holiday season here in New Zealand.
My biggest gripe and has been for years: as soon as I plug the (switched off) iPhone into the car stereo music starts playing – whether I want music from the library on my phone to play or I just want use Maps or an internet radio station. Music just starts automatically, and usually with the first song by alphabetical order in the library. (Originally I thought this might have been dictated by the stereo rather than the iPod/iPhone but different makes/models of car stereo over the years have made no difference – plug it in and the music starts.)
There’s no way to clear the “Now Playing”, without playing something else.
The Purchased, Recently Played, Added in last 5 days, Music Videos, My Top Rated, Recently Played and Top 25 Most Played playlists don’t sync with iTunes, at least not via USB (don’t know about iCloud which I don’t use for a variety of reasons).
There’s no filter/search function under genre. The genre sublist only sorts by artist, there’s no ability to display the genre sublist by album or composer.
There’s no way I can find to edit metadata.
Only songs can be added to playlists, not albums.
I use the Column Browser in iTunes for music selction 90% of the time. Was really, really hoping that this would appear in iOS in landscape orientation, especially with the iPhone 6+’s big screen. Even something done like an “advanced search” function would be useful.
As for searching “classical” music (which makes up about 30% of my library)… Mind you, that’s not well catered for in iTunes either and is another story.
If Apple did something about those in the iOS music app, I’d very happy.
Cheers, Gobit
I'd be grateful if Apple paid some attention to those of us who have been engaged in the Apple space for many years and have one way or another ended up with more than one "Apple Account." My personal details really down't matter, because they are irrelevant and somewhat annoying to me personally. However, I would like to be able to control merging my accounts. I unfortunately have 2 in response to a mindless moment when Apple's on-line software prompted me with something like "Your AppleID must be in the form of an e-mail address." when I entered my AppleID, which was old and I had always, in my mind, separated "ID" from "e-mail address." ID was something (is something still to we old and cranky types), when provided with a passphrase that gives us access to a system or account. So my moment of confusion created something I didn't want. Now my "AppleID" or Apple account, is limited by the fact that I still use an old style ID, and I can't change it to my e-mail address, because that e-mail address is considered an "ID" by Apple for the errant account I created during that episode of brain fade.
Oh yes - merging Apple IDs would be fabulous. I didn't even think about adding that to the article, not because it isn't a great idea, but because it's been so long now that I sort of assume Apple has no interest in resolving the situation. It would have been better to do years ago when Apple IDs first started to be required for everything.
yeah, i have three — two because Mobile Me (i think it was) supported subaccounts, which later became completely distinct accounts, and a third because of the same type of confustication you describe — i wound up with most app store purchases from the latter, but a few purchases and an email history in the first two; took an hour "chatting" to a befuddled and patronizing Apple Support rep to even discover the third account was a distinct entity
Me, too. I was told that merging would be very difficult - can't imagine why.
I have at LEAST 2 that I use and possibly 2 that I've never activated. The first one was created to work with iTunes WAAYBACK in 2003/04; the second was created when I got a Dot Mac account. Since Apple gave me an "@me.com" address when Dot Mac became MobileMe and did the same when iCloud replaced MM ("@icloud.com") I figure somewhere there are 2 Apple IDs reserved for me with those email addresses.
As for merging AppleIDs, it would just require someone who knows how to merge databases. Perhaps Apple should ask one of the students at Cupertino High School for assistance?
Note that your Apple ID does not have to be an actual, valid email address that you can receive email from. It just has to look like an email address. When forced to change my Apple ID to an email address, I used example.com as the domain, which is a reserved name guaranteed never to resolve to an actual server. All correspondence from Apple is still sent to the address that I had originally specified as my contact address.
1. Allow iPads to use the keyboard with arrow keys that is now available on iPhone6 in landscape mode.
2. Announce some workaround for the terribly slow Safari page openings and return to the system that allowed tabbed sites to fill in the background..instead of having tp wait for it to reload when you click on it...Try doing a Google search where you need to compare information over several sites.
3. Allow scrolling when the keyboard is on...it covers too much of the page
Regarding item 3, what do you mean by scrolling? Do you mean the keyboard itself scrolling?
You are spot on wrt os/x and the size of ios. Will Apple hear?
For me, the iPhone 5 series was the best size. After I lost my iPhone 5, replaced it with an iPhone 6 which is almost too big. Oh the 6+ should NOT be considered a replacement for an iPad Mini, Apple. KEEP THE iPAD MINI!!!
I would love to see Apple offer an item similar to what's in all the Microsoft ads these days… a combined iPad and MacBook. I'm frequently frustrated that my iPad is not a Mac, even though I enjoy all the iPad apps. And, whenever I use my MacBook I'm always trying to push the buttons on the screen with my fingers. I have no idea how well the MS Tablet combo works, but I feel it would be possible for Apple to "do it right".
Apple should let iOS apps be subsets of Mac OS Apps; don't degrade the Mac OS apps to the least common denominator. Don't impose mobile interfaces on laptops and desktops, which are used for different tasks.
As I commented last October in relation to John Siracusa's review of Yosemite (http://tidbits.com/article/15156#comments_25243), OS X's new/old Extensions (http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/10/os-x-10-10/16/#extensions) finally allow for customisation of, among other things, cursors and pointers. So I would like Apple to identify the code that controls the pointer so someone can create an Extension to allow customisation. I'll be very happy to buy a copy.
Adam, are you sending this to Apple? If yes, will "they" take the comments seriously?
We have no inside route to get information into Apple, but I know for a fact that they pay attention to media coverage. We're thinking that we'll do a followup wishlist article with the main things that people are suggesting here to make sure all these ideas get some exposure.
How about a Thunderbolt Display (TBD) update? I waited two years for a TBD with Thunderbolt2 and USB3 before giving in and buying a TBD two months ago for use with my closed MacBook Pro wRD. I seriously looked at non-Apple solutions, with much better displays, but the TBD integration (iSight camera etc.) still tipped the balance for me, and I am well pleased with it. I gave up waiting after the iMac with RTD appeared, as it seems any new Retina display will not be useable with existing MacBooks. Apple could have easily added USB3 and improved the display panel years ago, without going to full Retina resolution as in the iMac. It would be too late for me - I am stuck with having to plug USB3 drives into the too-few ports on my MacBook rather than into the TBD where they belong.
Re “iPhone 6 Plus is laughably massive": I just replaced my iPhone 5s and my iPad by an iPhone 6 Plus that I find an excellent one-device compromise.
One further wish: In Apple's Mail for iOS make the mail folders collapsible.
I'd like to see Apple slow down a bit on their new iOS and OS releases and make sure they're ready before they release them. I'm almost as wary now of a new iOS or OS from Apple as I used to be from Microsoft and that's a HUGE criticism Cupertino!
You hit the nailright on the head with Snow Leopard 2.0. Mavericks is so loaded withUnused crud that I wont update since it only brings more crud that I wont use.It's time Apple realized that we' adults and should be able to remove crud or have an option to not install it in the first place
As for the mini, as soon as the useless update was anounced, I rushed out a purchaseda 2012 model with all the imptovements available . Nuf said.
I second the vote for a smaller iPhone. The 4 is an ideal size for me.
Reinstate Appleworks with the good parts of iWork or incorporate the good parts of Appleworks into iWork. I used Appleworks from the 1980s and still do on my old Macs which are obsolete. It was always better and more versatile than Microsoft Works. iWorks has very few advantages, and we shouldn't use Microsoft Office as OpenOffice will do for some more complicated formatting which could be incorporated into the New AppleWorks/ClarisWorks. The AppleWorks suite was great and more useful than many in use today.
Here is another vote for a smaller iPhone. To go with my iPad mini. Sometimes I want to carry one, sometimes both, and a super sized iPhone is certainly not the answer for me.
Because Apple has abandoned legacy code (Classic and PPC) I have a lot of files that I can no longer access. It isn't very practical to migrate thousands of old files to new software. My only option now is continue running an older Mac and not update the OS.
Thanks for the great article. Just a few things, that came to my mind:
Filemaker: access AddressBook(Contacts) and iCal (Calendar) directly like the original Bento up to version 3 (not the crippled Bento 4 downgrade!) did and serve as multi user. Make versions for Android, Ubuntu, too!
Hypercard or anything better like SK8: bring it up to date (JavaScript, HTML5...) and port it to MacOSX, IOS, Windows, Ubuntu and Android!
4k output: let all Mac output 4k video at 60Hz, let all Pro Macs output 8k video. And don´t cripple the existing Macs with inadequate drivers. An old Mac running Windows via Bootcamp has bettter 4k video output the the same Mac with MacOSX!
HDMI2: make it standard on all Macs, that have a HDMI output. Ever heard of 4k TVs, which all have HDMI2 but NO current Mac supports it!
miniDp1.3: miniDP1.2 in 2014 (and beyond is just anemic). There were times when Macs were on the forefront of great new technologies, not a few years late!
target display mode: make it standard on all Macs with a HDMI and/or miniDP connector and an internal screen (Macbook, MacBook AIr, MacBook Pro, iMac)
miniDP on iPads and make it usable as external screen via target display mode
make Apple innovative again (an iPhone with big screen 3 years after Samsung Note is NOT innovative!)
Lenovo Yoga! enough said!
let us use iOS on Macs and MacOS on iPads!
make GREAT hardware a la Retina iMac 5k, NOT like mini2014!
use industry standards for SSD (mSATA, M.2, whatever, not the proprietary junk, Apple uses right now)
RAM expansions on all Macs and get rid of planned obsolence
make high res screens standard, even on MacBook Pros and MacBook Air! fullHD should be the minimum!
USB3.1 plus reversible plug! make it standard on all Macs, iOS devices and peripherals!
AppleTV with 4k output via HDMI2 and support for multiple TV tuners via USB2/3/3.1
Thunderbolt display: the current one just sucks (USB3! 4k! 5k! HDMI2! )
SD slots on Macs, especially on portable ones: make it internal or at least microSD internal!
MacOSX server: make it one click EASY!
Mac mini: no RAM expansion, no 2nd HD, no mSATA M.2 slots, fan
iMac Retina: great, but no easy way to change HD, no mSATA/M.2 slots, no invisible ports (vertical behind stand)
4k displays from 24"-40"!
MBs: no RAM expansion, no mSATA/M.2, ports on sides look ugly! use back! no way to use as tablet, no touch, no 4k display
Software: quality control! Bring back 10.6! Make the 10.6.8 client version into a virtualBox image that any body can use on Mac, Windows, Linux, Solaris... for free
fans: get rid of fans, make Macs silent! Now that we don´t have loud spirring hard drives anymore, thanks to SSD we have to endure the noise of spirring fans?!
bezels: get rid of them, especially on notebook computers around the screen and around the keyboard. Look at the PowerBook G4 12"!
Agree on the Snow Leopard for OS X and iOS. Would love to see Apple slow down the rate of OS X versions. We really don't need a new version every year. Also, an iPhone mini (or nano) would be great. As much as I love the iPhone 6 it seems too big. But thats just me. The other thing I'd like Apple to do is slim down iTunes. Maybe separate out the video portion (like it is on iOS) or just give us a slim down music player. Why not combine the Mac App Store with the iTunes Store. One place for everything. And iOS syncing should be a separate app that hooks into all the other apps.
Stop letting PC designer's design the interface for iTunes, as in iTunes12 unintuitive interface. It's classic Dark Side design.
Stop releasing so many os versions and get them right the first time.
I want a new 17 inch MacBook Pro.
I’m late to the party again, but my biggest wish is to have genuine privacy on iOS. I want to be able to allow or disallow apps and extensions from having any network access at all.
There’s no reason for a photo editor, or simple checklist, to access the internet. If I want to export data, I’ll use a share extension.
Even better would be a full reverse firewall like Little Snitch, but I realize that that’s unrealistic.
I’ve been using my phone on cell only, because with that I can block (non-apple) net access. With the side effect that roughly 50% of my apps nag me to allow cell data every single time I open them. I haven’t had the energy to monitor what they actually send, but when I accidentally let Paperless have net, it squirted out about 4 times as much data as the actual checklist data I’d entered. I doubt they’re collecting everything I enter, but there’s no way know without a lot of work (and if they encrypt it, there’s no way to know at all.)
Add some features to Mail to make it more useful for professional use, such as: move sent mails (and the mail to which you reply, which belongs to the same thread) to dedicated folders, depending on subject and content of the mail. An example for this is the Win App Speedfiler or even better, simplyfile. The feature should also enable you to use a key shortcut to jump to any mail folder (see simplyfile, its cool). Autoarchive of mails would also be part of my "professionalization pack", as well as a good self-learning spam filter (I know there is one, but there is plenty of room to improve it). Maybe a mail scheduler, while you are at it? And then take the focus to the calendar and allow private appointments, which only you can read, while others just see that your calendar is blocked.
A Wish for Pages: How about reinstating Mail Merge? Or am I the only one who has to revert to Pages 09 for mail merging?
- more advanced text formatting when composing mail messages. e.g. I use Windows at work and much of the formatting that's available in MS Word can be done in outloo email messages. Biggest one is indenting with bullets.
The visibiliy of iOS screen seems to have too much more about looks than being able to see the controls. The population is aging.
I agree with the Lenovo Yoga comment. I hadn't hearf of it before and won't replace my macbook pro until something like that's available. Before I saw that comment I was going to say compare to MS Surface but done better.
in iOS, an option to not need to swipe after turning the display back on. I know, it's to keep the the device from taking input until you really want it too, ie pocket dial. I press the 'off' button to save power to the screen. Don't like the off,on,swipe dance. I don't put my iPod touch in my pocket. Everyone doesn't use the device the same way. Just give the option. Still default as it does now. (continued in next post
last one: Why the heck doesn't use their very own keychain to log into * Apple accounts * For me that's only iTunes - I don't use iCloud - when I buy something. Is it for security?! What's so special about Apple needing to be more secure than all the web sites I use? Ironic. As always, if you need to write down your password or put it in a file, you have less security. Thanks sooo much Tidbits! You folk are fabulous!
To clarify re: iOS screen readability - forgot to say, in reference to the change from iOS 6 to iOS 7. e.g.. the skinny + sign to close a web page window.
And last one for sure: updated iPod Touch, including an FM radio like the Nano.
I heartily endorse the suggestion of not adding any more functions to OS X and spend a year clearing up the current version. Mind you, I'll probably wait until 10.10.3 until 'up'grading to Yosemite!
iOS: I dream of the old simple days when I created a playlist of podcasts in iTunes and then listened to them as one of the playlists in Music. Having to listen to them in Podcasts which is a real mess, is a nightmare.
Revert to iTunes 11 :(
Bento? iWorks? When, in 1989, I used my first PC, it had Cardbox installed. That simple database did more than anything to convince me of the utility of PCs. The Psion 3 in 1991 had a brilliant flexible database. Harry McCracken and I are agreed there is nothing comparable on iOS.