We’re heading into that new iOS time of year, and this year it’s expected that Apple will unveil version six of its mobile operating system. The thing is, there’s a good chance that Apple’s going to be looking to push the envelope further into the future with this version of iOS, instead of looking to redefine its past. But, David Chartier, of Ars Technica and Macworld fame, is hoping that Apple actually addresses some problems in iOS and gets back to the basics instead.
David Chartier on getting back to basics in iOS 6:
Surely, you will be inundated with “new features I’d like to see in iOS 6” lists between now and when Apple finally relents and previews the next iteration of its most significant OS ever. I want to take a different approach and focus on the features that have felt broken, or at least unfinished, since their release … In Lion, Apple went “Back to the Mac”—or as I called it in my Macworld analysis, “back to basics”. While we’re only five years into iOS, I think it could use some of the same attention in iOS 6.
Chartier goes on to list seven things he wishes Apple would address in the new iOS version, and he’s bang on with his thoughts. Photos is broken, toggles are needed for Wi-Fi, 3G, and VPN, iCloud restore needs to be better, and AirDrop for iOS would be huge. Without stealing his thunder, you should go read the article, I have to say every one of the things he’s talking about has annoyed me over the last year. But, if history is any indication, and we use OS X as an example, it looks really unlikely that Apple would go back into the past and streamline previous systems. Look at Spotlight and Dashboard in Lion. While they both got small tweaks, neither really got a huge upgrade. Instead, Apple went out and redesigned major new features that cirvumevent and sometimes even replace past technologies that were long in the tooth. Spotlight was made a little bit less useful with Launchpad, and Dashboard could probably be replaced almost entirely with the upcoming Notfication Center in Mountain Lion.
That being said, I’m with Chartier 100 percent. A lot of basic things have been skimmed over or forgotten in iOS, and iOS 6 would be an excellent time to revisit them.
Read I hope Apple gets back to basics in iOS 6 by David Chartier over on Wind on a Leaf
