iOS features in OS X 10.7, according to “source”

From a person in the know, to AppleInsider, to MacLife, the rumor has travelled quickly that iOS features might find their way into OS X 10.7, and this will be featured in Apple’s upcoming Mac event on Wednesday. When we saw this rumor starting to catch on, we thought we’d pass it along and let you guys decide for yourselves, while giving you our opinions.

iOS features in OS X have been rumored for years now, and a lot of people have speculated that iOS apps might replace the apps in dashboard sooner rather than later. So, this isn’t really all that new of an idea. Surely iOS and OS X will start to merge at some point down the road, but just how far down the road that happens to be is up in the air. It’s speculation at best until we hear some official announcements.

The iOS features that are rumoured to be coming to OS X aren’t really all that exciting. Macstories, the rumor originator, thinks we’ll see “elastic scrolling” in some apps. What they mean by elastic scrolling is what happens when you scroll a window too far in an iOS app, and it reveals the background of the app window and then snaps back into place when you release your finger from the screen. You’ll also be able to “pull to refresh,” allegedly. Not exactly the iOS features most are hoping for, are they?

I’m not exactly sure why we need Apple to give developers access to this kind of functionality on the desktop, but that’s just me. Surely developers could have integrated similar functionality already, on their own.

Anyone who has a Magic Trackpad, or has even looked at one, knows Apple’s working hard to figure out how to bring touch gestures to the Mac. There has even been an iMac Touch patent published in Europe. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots. Touch gestures in OS X are coming, and Apple has to make that first step in some way. Maybe this rumour is the first step, and maybe it’s not, but either way, it’s a safe bet to make that iOS and OS X will lean on each other quite heavily moving forward.

Article Via MacLife

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld and TechHive.