With a new year comes new tech. For the next few weeks, I plan on making some wishlist for some Apple products that I’d like to see this year. While some of these wishes are based on rumors, The rest are Simple things I’d like to see .
Last week, I discussed the things I’d like to see with the Mac in 2020. This time, I’m tackling my favorite Apple device, the iPad.
iPadOS v2
In 2019, Apple finally split out iPadOS from iOS, giving the iPad its own operating system. Hopefully, this means that the iPad will be seeing more advanced features every year. Apple did a great job with the initial split, focusing on iPad features just for the iPad like multitasking and a revamped home screen . Apple needs to keep bringing new ideas to the iPad.
iPad Multitasking
While I think that iPadOS has grown into a much more advanced system, it still has some ways to go. Multitasking has improved greatly since iOS 9, with split view and slide over. You could slide over from the right edge of the device and spin through all the capable apps. It was a slog to get through as more apps added the capability.
Apple refined the multitasking element in the following years with a drag and drop metaphor. To get apps to multitask on the iPad, you had to open an app then use the dock to drag another app to the side of the screen or slide over position. This works okay, but it isn’t easy to find. If someone didn’t know that they could drag an app over to the side of the screen to get two apps open, they wouldn’t ever know you could even open two apps at the same time.
John Gruber has lambasted the iPad for this lack of discoverable, and while I can get around multitasking on the iPad, I don’t think that most people do without being told. I’m not sure how Apple could work its magic, but I think Apple needs to make multitasking more user-discoverable on iPad.
Renee Ritchie suggests that a three finger pitch could set an opened app to the side of the screen and then it would so you a smaller version of the home screen on the opposite side. This could allow more freedom and easier access to apps, but the three finger pitch is about as discoverable as the swipe up. It does give you access to more apps though, which I like.
Mouse Support
Apple added limited pointer support in iPadOS 13 as an accessibility feature. Currently, the pointer only acts like a digital finger, but one you can move with a mouse. It doesn’t act like you might expect a mouse to. iPadOS isn’t built for normal mouse use -yet. So for example, to scroll a page, you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen, press and hold the button and move it upward.
If Apple built more mouse support, maybe even making it a standard feature, it would make the iPad an even better device. It could blend the line between tablet and laptop even more.
More than that, if Apple made it a true feature and not just an accessibility feature, it would hopefully get stronger. Apple could build mouse support in so that the mouse would act like you would expect it to. Things like scrolling could work much better than clicking and dragging a page.
Adding mouse support wouldn’t be changing the nature of the iPad. The iPad wouldn’t become a toaster fridge device like Apple has worried about. The tablet would just become more feature rich.
Docking Options
It wasn’t until recently that I started to dock my iPad, and that’s only because my work has USB-C hubs that we use to connect our work laptops to monitor, keyboards, and mice. What I have been doing though is plugging my iPad in.
It can really elevate the experience of the iPad becoming more of a computer-like device. The screen gets larger and easier to look at when sitting at a desk. You can get an actual keyboard to type on and not a screen or screen cover.
I want Apple to explore more areas like this!
I would love to be able to take my iPad with me and then plug it in to a iMac size screen and have my keyboard and mouse ready to go. It would be awesome if Apple allowed the screens to be extended (having each screen be its own thing) instead of mirrored as well. You can do so much more.
Or how about a dock that just uses the smart connector? That connection hasn’t really done anything but keyboards so far. Apple could build it out and make a dock that could charge and do all of the things listed above, without having to plug in a cable.
I’m not sure that would be everyone’s dream setting, but I would really love it.
Apps
I actually love iOS and iPadOS. I love the simplicity of the apps that are out, but I want more.
iPad apps still seem to be limited in scope for the most part. Of course, there are apps like LumaFusion that really push the boundary of what an app can do. More apps need to be pushed further.
A lot of this is up to the developers, but I’d like to see Apple get in the game. They need to push their apps further and they need to encourage developers to do the same.
While I’m at it, I’d love for the subscriptions to stop. I don’t want to subscribe to everything in my life. It was nice when there were only a couple of them, but now, most apps are moving that way. I’m getting subscription fatigue!
New iPad Keyboard
While I don’t want to buy a new Smart Keyboard Folio, I would like Apple to tackle the iPad Keyboard once again.
I like my Smart Keyboard Folio on my iPad, but I don’t love it. I actually think that I liked the Smart Keyboard Cover on the previous iPad Pro more. While the current one is simpler in design I don’t really trust it to stay on my iPad at all. It seems like the magnets have grown weaker since use. Also, it seems nice to have multiple angles to put the iPad in, I only use one.
It would be nice for Apple to come up with a design that offers more angles and could be a little more stable on the lap. A laptop like design is not what I’m wanting. I know about the Brydge keyboard, but I’m not sure that I want to add all the bulk to my iPad.
I could really go for an iPad dock too. Every keyboard design seems to make the iPad like a laptop or use the screen cover to create a keyboard. I would like a actual keyboard dock though. Something you can dock at a desk that offers a better keyboard experience and charges it. Or maybe, something like can give you a different angle to draw at or something.
Design
I have no complaints about the design of my current iPad. The iPad Pro design is great. It is thin, powerful, and feels like the future. I would love for some of this design choices to filter down to the lower level models, but not at the expense of the price.
To that point, I’d love for Apple to clean up the line a little. Early in 2019, Apple introduced the iPad Air which had a larger screen and a smart connector for a keyboard. The standard iPad didn’t have either of those nor did the mini. It made the iPad Air a step between the normal iPad and the Pro.
But then, Apple updated the base iPad.
Now, the lowest cost iPad is almost as big as the iPad Air and it has support for the Smart Connector. So now the only real difference is the processor and the screen. The iPad Air still has a laminated screen which makes the device a bit thinner and brings the images closer to the glass, and a better processor. I don’t feel like they really need both of these devices anymore.
But eventually, I hope the entire iPad line gets the Pro treatment. I love having FaceID on my Pro, and I love the industrial design. For artist, I think moving the line to the Apple Pencil 2 would really give everything a boost too. The pencil is just so much better in most every way.
Battery
The battery on these devices are great, but I would love to see the iPad do what the iPhone 11 Pros have done this year. Extending battery life can be a game changer. As the iPad gets more powerful, it will need to be able to run longer anyway. I don’t want to make the iPad thicker, I love how small it is now, but I would like a longer battery.
Right now, I’m not sure if it is age or iPadOS, but I feel like my battery dies pretty fast. That’s hard for me to check which one it is, because unlike the iPhone, you can’t really check on the life of the iPad battery. It would be a nice inclusion for the owner so that we can know if we need to get the battery replaced or if it is just the bad operating system.
One Thing I Don’t Want
One thing I don’t want is for the iPad to be the device we use for AR stuff. There are rumors that the iPad will be including a time-of-flight sensor in the next iteration.
It is hard for me to believe that most people will use their iPad as an AR screen. For AR to really take off, I think we need a new revolution in computing. AR glasses or holograms or something other than holding a device up. It’s a good proof of concept, but it’s not something I want to really ever do with my device.
But then, I never really wanted to take photos with my iPad but people do that all the time now. It does have a good viewfinder.
Wrap up
So those are my big wants for the iPad. Everything right now is software related.
I love my iPad. It is my most used everyday device. But it still has a little ways to go to become the perfect device. Apps are great, but they need to be stronger, and multitasking could be more discoverable.
No matter what happens, I think Apple splitting the iPad away from the iOS will be a great move for the device. It will just take a while for the little tablet to get as good as it can be.