I can't be the only one who uses the iPad's orientation lock button frequently... The very impractical decision to transform it to a mute button is enough of a frustration that it will be a good while before I can convince myself to upgrade to an otherwise compelling release.
I think they made the right decision. The orientation lock is still available on the task switching bar, which is a better place for it since there's no need to lock orientation unless the iPad is already unlocked and in use. The problem with the current 'hold volume down to mute' is that you can't mute without unlocking the iPad first... which makes a noise. It's also inconsistent with the iPhone.
At the Genius Bar on Saturday (free out-of-warranty repair, to boot) the chick who was doing the sign-in on an iPad used the orientation lock about four times while she checked in the lady ahead of me and myself. I'd say that an orientation-aware app used on a public floor would be extremely needy for this sort of hardware lock.
If you have a PIN set for the screenlock you can often need to control orientation from the locked state.
Orientation lock is incredibly useful in two key areas for iPad: people lounging at home, and in business. I use the lock all the time in both settings -- especially when I'm using the iPad to demo and want to be able to pass it around the room.
Hiding the lock away in an area where many, many people will never find it and it's far slower to access is a hugely retrograde step, and the only thing in its defence is that it's consistent with the iPhone. Which is no defence at all: not only are the buttons different (vertical lock vs horizontal), the two devices are different, too.
I feel so strongly about this I'm staying on 3.2. I haven't felt the need to multitask on iPad yet -- I have an iPhone anyway :)
I've been using this beta since the first iteration, and I still cannot stand the step backwards in usability from changing out the function of this switch.
People use their iPhones to listen to things, but use iPads for the screen. On a device you listen to and that RINGS, making this a mute switch makes sense.
On a device you use for the screen, you're often twisting and turning views between portrait and landscape such as to suit each new web site you visit, so making this an orientation lock makes sense.
These devices are not the same, and the switch doesn't need to do the same thing.
It was a bad decision. People don't confuse their iPhone with their iPad. Both functions are accessible from the home home swipe screen; the hardware switches could have remained purposed to the device's most common uses.
I hated it with the first beta too, but having used the betas this long, I am totally used to using the software orientation lock instead of the switch. I don't even try to use it anymore. Just give it some time :)
An unrelated but interesting tip I stumbled on: on the lock screen, you can double click the home button to bring up the audio controls (without unlocking the device). Using those controls you can skip unlimited Pandora songs without getting the 'our license doesn't let you skip...' warning.
Push notifications and email alerts make lots of noise when the product is not in use, unlike MacBooks. It's pretty convenient to have the option to silence them with the flip of a switch without having to turn on the iPad.
Since most iPad users utilize cases, it's pretty much the same three steps to mute as it is now to lock orientation. Given that mute make sense for a physical switch because it's a function relevant to an off iPad, it wins out.
I suppose orientation lock on the iPad will be handled similarly as it is on the iPhone 4: double "click" with the button to bring up the task switcher, slide right the task switcher and the orientation lock button will be on the left.
Very much so. Very happy to have it too - I had to return my iPad when the orientation lock button broke 1 day in. Having a software option for this makes a lot of sense.
Nope. Everybody is missing here that the mute switch has a dual purpose as an indicator when the iPad is not in use. This means that if you're at a meeting, you can just glance down at the iPad and tell if it will make noise. There is nothing essential about orientation that warrants its being indicated externally when iPad's not in use.
Be serious. The amount of people that use the iPad in meetings in negligible compared to the amount that use it laying in their bed every evening, where the orientation switch was very useful.
How do you know? Business and education are a couple of the biggest markets for this product, so I'm sure there are lots of folks who will be using these in meetings, class, and in the library. I've been using this OS for over a month and I can tell you that you get accustomed to it quickly, and the mute switch will come in handy.
And the lock can be activated from the task tray, so it's still there.
I can see a case for using it as the mute switch. I can't see a case for changing the behavior and not providing any way at all to get the old behavior back.
While running the betas, I had that experience as well. Oddly, I got used to the new method after awhile and don't really think about it anymore. But I suppose that's not going to be true for everyone and I may not have used the switch as often as others do, anyway. :)
Is it just me or does the mute switch not actually function?
I'm running pandora and I flipped the "mute" switch and it did nothing. I then switched to a video podcast and the same issue occurs, flipping the switch does NOT mute. The volume rocker worked normally... holding it down actually muted the device.
I've been aware of this change since beta, but what's the point? Especially if it doesn't function as expected. The iPad doesn't have a ringer or a vibrator (lol, for lack of a better word). I find this confusing! Which mute mutes‽
I preferred it as an orientation lock anyway... Maybe this should be configurable?
Sure but you lock it once and you're all set. When the OP said frequently I envisioned him locking/unlocking more often than that. The thing is screen orientation only matters if the display is on. If the display is on the task switcher lock control is accessible. There would basically never be any use for the lock button when the display was off. Contrast that with audio playback where the display may be off and the task switcher audio controls inaccessible.
"All set"? Hardly. You lock it once, but then you fidget and roll over. Oop, need to unlock. So now you have to double-press and try and work the task bar upside down to unlock, then chase the lock button round as the screen rotates to lock it again. Move again? Same daft dance.
Compare to now, where you can unlock and relock the device while you roll, without looking at the screen.
I upgraded my iPhone 4 from 4.1 to 4.2 to see if they made any changes to orientation control on it. No dice. It still lets you lock it into Portrait orientation, or, leave it unlocked. No option to lock it into Landscape mode. Very annoying. Some websites and apps just work better in Landscape mode. Don't understand why it's so hard for them to allow that. Why only Portrait and not Landscape?
I find this kind of disturbing as well. Orientation lock is insanely important on the iPad, and Apple must have realized that because they gave it its own hardware switch to begin with. On my iPhone running 4.1, I only just discovered the double-click-and-swipe orientation lock control because somebody mentioned it on here somewhere... and it's completely broken because it locks the display into portrait mode rather than whatever mode is active at the moment.
Is this true of iOS 4.2 as well -- meaning, you can only lock the display in portrait mode with the double-click-wave-a-dead-cat-and-swipe-the-task-list maneuver? If so, I absolutely am not going to upgrade my iPad to 4.2.
The real frustration is that this would be a perfect place for a system preference: "Side switch: Orientation lock / Mute". But as usual, it's Steve's way or the highway.
Really? Because I would love to be wrong about this. It absolutely does not work that way on the iPhone (3Gs), and I'm given to understand that the whole reason behind this change was to unify the behavior across the different iOS platforms.
Why would they support locking both modes on the iPad, and not on the iPhone? It's not that I don't believe you, but I'm still reluctant to install 4.2 on my iPad until I understand what Apple actually did here.
Yes really; yes it does not work that way on an iPhone. I have no sure knowledge about the reason behind the change and could only guess why they would support it on one but not the other.
It is that you don't believe me, otherwise you would ... believe me; that's OK though I grok "trust, but verify" so I quickly made a demo video:
Awesome. Given that you didn't have time to stage a fake video of landscape rotation lock, I now believe you. :) Thanks!
That really is a strange inconsistency, though. I guess it's tied to the functionality that allows the home screen to reorient itself on the iPad but not on the phone.
I wonder why the free Find feature is only for the newest devices? Most of the time Apple is pretty good about only locking devices out if their hardware can't handle it. The 3GS should be able to handle it, right?
The 3G never got the percentage battery meter or iOS 4 folders. There may be times when it's a hardware limitation, but it often feels like an attempt to nudge you toward an upgrade.
If you jailbreak, the percentage batter meter is just a switch away with the free SBSettings app. If you're not interested in doing that, I believe it's just a simple .plist change and reboot (or respring). However, you can also enable multitasking/wallpaper if you jailbreak.
* Create a free Find My iPhone account on any iPhone 4, iPad, or iPod touch
(4th generation) running iOS 4.2. Once you create an account on a
qualifying device, use your Apple ID and password to enable Find My iPhone
on your other devices running iOS 4.2. Find My iPhone is not available in
all countries.
So you can use iPhone 4 to activate the feature on 3GS, though I have not tried yet.
And the iPod touch 3rd gen (32/64Gb from late 2009/early 2010) should be able to get it too. Really frustrated they only included the latest devices... Their call, though :)
For me the biggy has been lack of multitasking. It's so annoying to open a link in a new tab, only to come back and have safari reload the entire page I was just on. It's like the iPad's browser has Alzheimer's.
I actually dislike it when this happens because I have to download the ~2.5GB dev kit again on my crappy connection before I can publish again. Or am I doing it wrong?
Note: posted in other thread, but this one looks like it'll be the one.
It's worse. The download is 3.5 GB now, and it does not include any previous SDKs. Every project file you have has to be switched over to the current SDK to even compile.
Apple has started to leave the iPad simulator for 3.2 and the iPhone simulators for 4.0 and 4.1 ... but I agree I never understood this either. It's almost impossible to test for devices running 3.1.3 without having an old extra device that has not been upgraded
I know - we made the mistake of the setting the target platform to iOS 3.1 but only ended up testing it under iOs 4.0 devices - simply because no-one seemed to use iOS 3.1.
Wrong !
Although 93.6% of our users use iOs4, the other 6% were pissed off when they found out that the app crashed on iOS 3.1
The icing on the cake ? After the app crashed, the users deleted it - and were prompted to rate it. I'm sure that you can imagine the rest.
Thank god that the 'rate on delete' feature was removed from iOS4 - although that is scant consolation.
May or may not work for you, but there is an option now to select the "Latest SDK". I expect it to be annoying if I ever check out an old revision which fails to compile with the latest SDK, but for now, it is fine for developing shipping products.
I updated my 3G to the GM seed a week ago. So far, the only things I have noticed are icon tweaks in Safari, and the fact that textareas now don't lag quite as badly when they aren't getting a bloom-filter hit on what you've typed so far (I.e. Words not in dictionary/misspellings.) Oddly enough, the 3G doesn't even get the new set of SMS chimes.
Question. I haven't used a Printer for a while so I don't know much about printers, but wasn't it possible to print from wi-fi for quite some time now? Or is it really a "next-generation print architecture" as Apple like to call it.
Today wi-fi printers usually use some proprietary protocol (and with my Canon and HP printers I had nothing but trouble).
Currently the only way to print over the net without drivers is to use Postscript-capable, or possibly PCL-capable, printers with support for LPD or IPP protocols. That's common for network laser printers, but not for cheap consumer inkjets. So if Apple can get manufacturers to support a common protocol for network-enabled consumer-level printers, that would quite an improvement. At least for Apple users...
What sounds better to a potential customer: "This technology eliminates the need for dealing with printer drivers" or "This technology standardizes printer drivers?" If I'm the salesman, I'm going to go with the former. It's not even really a falsehood from the perspective of someone who would have to install the drivers.
I'm not particularly interested in debating the honesty or lack thereof of the advertising. I just want to say that I'm glad that Apple's innovations will allow us to leave behind the old world where you had to either desperately hope the printer would work with you or fight with drivers, and enter a brave new world where you have to either desperately hope the printer will work for you or fight with drivers.
That sounded cool until I read the press release: "A selection of AirPrint enabled printers including the HP Photosmart, HP LaserJet Pro and HP Officejet will be the first to support printing direct from iOS devices." I take that to mean the printer needs to support this, which means AirPrint replaces the driver, and rather than adapt the driver to the OS, the printer adapts to the driver. Is this the case?
It would be nice if AirPrint could be enabled for non-AirPrint printers through something like Apple's AirPort Extreme, which already makes printer sharing easy. Maybe this is already supported via some other means and I'm just missing something.
You could in earlier dev releases but not in the later ones (including, apparently, the public releases today). Apple hasn't made a public statement that I've seen saying whether that feature is coming back. On the plus side, some cheap 3rd party utilities have already sprung up to add that feature.
There seems to be some confusion on this, as the Engadget review of iOS 4.2 includes this:
You are able to utilize printers connected to other machines on your network (in OS X 10.6.5 only), but it's a slightly clunkier way to get things done.
But other reviews I've seen, including MacWorld's, seem to imply that printing to a shared printer isn't supported.
I've built printing into my iOS app, so I'm a bit desperate to determine what the status is exactly. It's so frustrating because it works fine in iOS 4.2 beta, and the difference between AirPrint-compatible printers only and supporting any printer is HUGE (obviously).
I believe the reason this has got so confused is that the earlier betas had a driver/OSX thingy you could install which enabled your printers to show up in AirPrint. However they decided (with no explanation that I know of) to pull this feature for release. What happens, though, is that people who installed that beta driver on OSX still have it and if they are attempting to review 4.2-release on the same machines, they might mistakenly be thinking it has that support with it because the old beta stuff is still installed on their system and so their iPad will happily see their printers and use them.
I'm quite sure that Apple has stated that officially the only printers supported by AirPlay (now) are those few HP models listed in the press release. I've seen a few statements supposedly made by Apple people that always include the words "for now." I suspect what happened is the beta test either revealed that the setup process was "too weird" or they ran into a number of nasty bugs and decided to hold off until they could nail it all down. Whatever the real reason is, though, Apple doesn't seem to be talking about it.
Too late to edit it, but as others pointed out, I'm wrong. I hadn't checked things out since I had done something stupid with my Mac that required a re-install, so I simply assumed that the feature was still there.
There's AirPlay for iPhones though (If you use it). And, independent from the iOS version, the Find-My-Phone functionality now for free. Which was, before, the only reason I was even considering paying for Mobile Me.
I haven't tried the GM seed but I'm hoping for some under-the-hood tweaks for iPod touch, specifically an option for disabling wifi while it's sleep mode (kept on in iOS 4). Waste of battery and useless to me since I've turned off all Push notifications.
It's not entirely arbitrary. There's a limited number of places you can put the prime meridian without the date line bisecting some significant land mass (which would be very inconvenient for the people living there). Britain happens to be one of those places.
Even putting the IDL over the sparsely populated Pacific is inconvenient enough that it was drawn to zig-zag across 40 degrees of longitude, or 2.5 hours of timezones, to be less annoying!
You know... we should optimize the IDL with a graph partitioning algorithm. We can measure inconvenience by the number of times any human's life trajectory passes the IDL. That's impossible to measure, so let's use recorded passenger airline / boat transportation numbers as a proxy. That also quantizes our graph into distinct origin and destination nodes. We penalize any graph edge that transits the IDL. Then we just find the min-cut of that graph, and draw the new IDL across the cut. That still leaves us lee-way about where to cross each edge in the cut, so we can apply aesthetic heuristics to try to draw a maximally straight line, or one most aligned with meridians. Then this will no longer be arbitrary.
Sure, that's why they chose it. ;) And rightly so, since they came up with a good idea. But California came up with the iP(ad|od|hone) so it gets to set timing for that.
I'd really like people NOT to hit Apple's servers every 30 seconds on such a day if they can help it. Especially if someone goes all gung-ho and removes that timer altogether.
