What’s the most annoying thing about iOS to date? There’s a lot of stuff to gripe about. Some things aren’t optimally designed, like notifcations, and other things are afterthoughts, like multi-tasking. But, there’s one thing that hasn’t even been addressed yet, and I think that iOS 5 could provide the best possible opportunity to introduce it: data syncing across iOS devices.
As we’re all very aware of, Apple’s sitting on a giant data center in North Carolina. They’ve already announced that the site will go live this spring, and many believe that it will be part of a MobileMe relaunch. Apple’s come out and said that the data center is specifically for MobileMe and iTunes. But, what if it was also used to sync data between your iPhone or iPod touch and your iPad. Heck, this feature would be a stellar new feature in a new MobileMe.
It should already be a part of Game Center
Currently, the most obvious need for the syncing is games, and with Game Center still lacking in some areas, it would make sense that Apple would eventually let users sync their saved games between devices. I’m sure everyone’s spent time getting annoyed that Angry Birds data isn’t carried over from one device to another. There are ways to sync the devices manually, but it isn’t exactly for the faint of heart or the beginner.
Heck, it should happen for all apps
Getting your game files is one thing, but getting access to your documents and app specific information from one device to another is even more important moving forward. While this kind of functionality usually just takes syncing support on a web server somewhere, the large volume of apps that don’t support syncing of your information is a testament to this dire need.
Why shouldn’t I be able to create my grocery list on my iPad, then have it automatically show up on my iPhone by the time I get to the store? Again, this technology already exists, but I wouldn’t mind if Apple made it easier for developers who don’t have piles of money to burn on servers in the cloud.
When iOS was released all those years ago, most people had one device, but now that a large number of iPhone and iPod touch users also have an iPad, getting information from one device to another needs to be addressed relatively fast.
Apple could make this happen in iOS 5, and we would all be better off with it in our arsenal.
Note: If you liked this post, you’ll probably like our post on a new iOS lock screen.
"But, what if it was also used to sync data between your iPhone or iPod touch and your iPad"
that argument will inevitably be answered as "no" at first (IMHO)- the center apple is developing seems to be in a desire to purposely keep your device dumb/simple/stateless (?) - meaning you will hold a terminal in your hand to remote data and never "need" to download/hold onto content (like netflix streaming, gaming i would assume will also be made to fit this model)
obviously that is not the end all but is the big/driving concept, which is why i would say that handling a users specific data transfer needs(outside of content serving) from device to device, would not be an immediate concern.
as well, you can at some level facilitate that with other resources as you pointed out, like email, text messages, putting it originally on your iphone, etc
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LikeThis has been the one thing about iOS that I've always despised. I hate upgrading to a new iPhone, or installing the OS fresh because there is no way to back up any of the app data. I really hope this is address in iOS 5 as well. +1
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LikeUntil we're in a world where this happens automagically, I refuse to call the iPad a post-pc device. ;)
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