General Apple Megathread

[edslunch]

I can imagine Apple is at a crossroads. iOS is falling behind android and Apple is losing mind share at a time when they're under competitive price pressure. These moves might be unrelated but it wouldn't surprise me to see a reboot happening

[MrMastodonFarm]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57...news&tag=title

The exit of Apple iOS software chief Scott Forstall was apparently anything but quiet. Forstall was forced out after he refused to sign a letter apologizing for problems with Apple Maps,

Forstall recently sent an email to some of the folks on Apple's iOS software team saying that the group "wasn't working on enough big ideas in mobile software," according to the WSJ. That's effectively saying that Forstall thought the company was struggling to compete

[Russic]

iOS 6 took some rather odd turns in terms of design and layout consistency. You can insert a photo or a video into an iMessage or an email, but the button is different in each app. The thumbnail that signifies the ability to send something to your photos app mysteriously changes from the standard sunflower, to a metallic grey icon depending where in the OS you are. These are very curious errors to make, and they lead me to believe things were unravelling a bit on Forstall's side of the net.

Jony Ive taking over on UI is possibly the most interesting change I've seen Apple make in years. On one hand, he's a fan of minimalist design and doesn't enjoy crap like leather stitching. On the other, he's a hardware designer, and UI design is a different beast. Regardless, I'm excited to see where this goes.

[Flaming Choy]

Originally Posted by Russic

iOS 6 took some rather odd turns in terms of design and layout consistency. You can insert a photo or a video into an iMessage or an email, but the button is different in each app. The thumbnail that signifies the ability to send something to your photos app mysteriously changes from the standard sunflower, to a metallic grey icon depending where in the OS you are. These are very curious errors to make, and they lead me to believe things were unravelling a bit on Forstall's side of the net.

Jony Ive taking over on UI is possibly the most interesting change I've seen Apple make in years. On one hand, he's a fan of minimalist design and doesn't enjoy crap like leather stitching. On the other, he's a hardware designer, and UI design is a different beast. Regardless, I'm excited to see where this goes.

Posted about this in the EAD thread, so didn't see it here.

Agree with you that an Ivy lead UI refresh could be very interesting and much needed. I personally really like the Windows mobile UI so I'm pretty interested in what changes Apple has planned.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Russic

Jony Ive taking over on UI is possibly the most interesting change I've seen Apple make in years. On one hand, he's a fan of minimalist design and doesn't enjoy crap like leather stitching. On the other, he's a hardware designer, and UI design is a different beast. Regardless, I'm excited to see where this goes.

Yup, agreed with this totally. I think a (hopefully) fresh pair of eyes taking over the UI design is a good thing but is Ivy the guy? Dunno, but it will be interesting to see how it turns out. iOS 6 is brand spanking new so he has a whole year to put his mark on the next release of iOS.

[Jimmy Stang]

Airplay question: Suppose I'd like to stream a video from the internet to my Apple TV via Airplay with my iPad being the middle man. Does the full video stream come to my iPad and then get beamed back to the Apple TV? Or is it somehow redirected to the Apple TV to save on battery, network resources, etc.?

The reason I ask is because it doesn't really seem to use up as much juice as I would expect it to. I have listened to about 30 minutes of radio and watched about 30 minutes of a documentary, and I have only used 4% of the battery. Seems too good to be true.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

Airplay question: Suppose I'd like to stream a video from the internet to my Apple TV via Airplay with my iPad being the middle man. Does the full video stream come to my iPad and then get beamed back to the Apple TV? Or is it somehow redirected to the Apple TV to save on battery, network resources, etc.?

The reason I ask is because it doesn't really seem to use up as much juice as I would expect it to. I have listened to about 30 minutes of radio and watched about 30 minutes of a documentary, and I have only used 4% of the battery. Seems too good to be true.

It's not a pass through/hand-off technology - that's why non-iOS airplay compatible devices work (like the airport express, various speaker systems, etc) - they just have to be able to handle a few simple data stream types. It also means you can use streams that are encrypted or require login (eg. MLB at Bat, NHL GC Live, etc) - the iPad does all the heavy lifting to get you connected, and then the airplay device just handles the display output.

With the screen off, you can expect the iPad to be able to stream for a really long time - the screen is the single largest source of power consumption on the device.

[Jimmy Stang]

Thanks for the explanation. My wife convinced me that we "needed" an iPad, and I am actually pretty impressed with the Airplay performance. Previously I have been using my Macbook Air to mirror, which works well enough, but the iPad is more efficient and just plain handy.

[Russic]

I find airplay is generally the biggest "wow" feature Apple has going right now that very few people seem to know about. When my father-in-law found out he could stream his music to our Apple TV with zero setup he was equally confused and impressed.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I am actually pretty impressed with the Airplay performance.

The part that impresses me the most is how well it can synchronize video and audio. As an example, watching MLB At Bat on the iPad, with the audio streamed to an Airplay device, the sound is perfectly synced - it would be very obvious if it wasn't when the bat contacts the ball.

It's obviously not the only, nor the first, tech to do that, but it does it extremely well.

[photon]

Yeah I try to Airplay to my Boxee Box quite often and it seems to be pretty buggy and laggy. I've been considering switching to an Apple TV because I seem to use airplay more than I use playing non mp4 files, converting for the times when I do would probably be less annoying.

[burn_this_city]

5 different devices.

[Rathji]

It is 5 computers, and unlimited devices, I believe.

There used to be a limit of 7 CD burns I think as well, but I am pretty sure they removed that.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Rathji

It is 5 computers, and unlimited devices

Addendum - This only really applies anymore to video purchased through the iTunes Store though - any music you buy now, or that you upgrade via iTunes Match, is DRM free.

Addendum Addendum - iTunes Match is supported on up to 10 devices (meaning up to 10 total devices, including iOS, AppleTV, and PC's/Mac's), although I still think if you had non-DRM iTunes tracks downloaded and copied on to a machine, you could sync those tracks without having to burn one of the 5 device non-iTunes Match activations.

[Brannigans Law]

I still hope for iOS 7 or 6.xxx whatever to improve the folder system and revert the mp3 player back to what it was before. It's baffling to see Apple making such a blunder as iOS6. I'm still dead set in my ways and love itunes. It's so true what they say about getting people hooked in an "apple world" or a "google/android world".

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

I still hope for iOS 7 or 6.xxx whatever to improve the folder system

Not sure what you mean by this? You don't like how Apple organizes the files on disk?

[Brannigans Law]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Not sure what you mean by this? You don't like how Apple organizes the files on disk?

Sorry should have been more specific. I don't like how folders are limited to a certain number of apps, and in android you can see 3 icons and choose which ones you see. It's a better preview of what's inside them.

Also, widgets. Mmmm. Widgets.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

Sorry should have been more specific. I don't like how folders are limited to a certain number of apps, and in android you can see 3 icons and choose which ones you see. It's a better preview of what's inside them.

Also, widgets. Mmmm. Widgets.

I misread I thought you meant iTunes

[woob]

Any of you dual ecosystem (Windows + Apple) people have any good iOS app recommendations for remote control of Windows 8?

My grand vision is as follows: I'm building a Windows8 HTPC from a spare system I have. This will be hooked up to my TV via HDMI. I then want to be able to control it from my iPad while parking my butt on my couch. So I want a solid VNC type interaction, not a RDP solution. Ideally, having it recognize touch via the iPad would be sweet, but I know it's likely just going to be me controlling the mouse pointer.

Recommendations? Cross posting this to the Windows8 thread as well.

[Rathji]

Splashtop has an app that would work for what I think you are asking.

edit: Actually it looks like they pulled the controller app from their website, but I assume Splashtop 2 would work for you.