Here’s How Apple Can Improve the iPad with a Few Software Tweaks

I am experimenting with the 12.9” iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard. It is as close to an iPad laptop as we have come. I find the keyboard a pure delight, though they could be a tad bit taller. Besides that, the action on the keys just makes me eager to press the next key, and the next one, and the next one...

Still, there is a lot for Apple to do before this can be considered a good laptop. Just because it is an iPad laptop doesn’t mean that it should have a lower standard. It needs to be a good laptop. We don’t have to harp on the hardware limitations. This is first-gen hardware. It is what it is. And it is not terrible.

There are, however, many aspects of the software that Apple can update in short order. We are not talking about hard computer science that needs to be cracked. We are talking about giving attention to areas that are a bit neglected.

I am writing this days before Apple announces the next version of iPadOS. They might address some of these issues before you read this post. But from my perspective, had Apple really been focused, they would have already dealt with these issues. Regardless of what they actually announce, here are some small steps they can take for a huge effect.

Trackpad parity

Mac users are very familiar with how trackpads work on all Macs. We have loads of muscle memory built up. That experience should be more transferable to the iPad. Unfortunately, it isn’t. In my opinion, the trackpad in the iPad works only halfway at times. At other times, it feels completely broken.

One of the biggest absent features is dragging. At the moment, there is no way to perform any type of dragging action on the iPad, even when using a Magic Trackpad II from Apple. It is a hardware rather than a software issue.

There is also an accessibility feature effected by the wonky trackpad. If you have the right Zoom features turned on, you can zoom your screen by pressing the Control key and doing a two-finger scroll. On the Mac, it happens as smoothly as you would expect. On the iPad, it is a jerky mess that is so bad, you are better off not trying to use the feature at all. The trackpad feature on the iPad is slapped together by people who thought we were too stupid to notice the problems. These are solved problems. Apple just needs to care about it a little more.

Safari

I was very excited when Apple announce that mobile Safari on the iPad would achieve near parity with Safari on the desktop. In reality, that is simply not true, not even close. There are just too many web properties that don’t work correctly on the iPad. There are too many projects I can successfully start on my iPad and have to finish on my Mac. Most of that is due to the web browser. Some critical function is going to fail at some point during the day.

It is easy to say that these are just niche situations that most people don’t have. However, that is simply not the case. Regardless of your level of tech savvy, something you do fairly routinely is simply not going to work on the iPad. And it will work on the Mac. I have lost count of the times I have watched my wife try to use the iPad, only to see her give up and go back to the Mac to use a browser that works. Whatever Apple needs to do, they need to do it fast. The browser is holding the iPad back in a way that is noticeable by everyone who tries to use it.

Speech

I can’t leave this alone without mentioning at least one accessibility feature. On the Mac, there is an option to have items read aloud that are under the cursor when you zoom. You can point to a paragraph on a web page, do a key combination for temporary zoom, and the text of that paragraph will be read aloud.

You can do the same zooming for the iPad. The problem is there is no option to have things read aloud. Yes, I know all about other ways to have things read on the iPad. But this one is pretty basic to the zoom functionality we are used to on the Mac. On the iPad, it just feels broken without it. Why is it not there? No one knows. All of the pieces are there. It is just that no one at Apple seems to really care as much about the iPad. I don’t care if that is not true. That is exactly how it seems.

Conclusion: No more excuses

If I seem pissed off, it is because I am. I love Apple and I love the iPad. Apple is laying an egg right now. We have had the iPad for 10 years. Apple is out of excuses. They don’t get to ask us to keep waiting for the iPad to mature. Right now, the iPad is a joke of a platform for productivity compared to the Mac. The things it is missing are obvious and also solved problems. The iPad is not short on engineers. It is short on love from the company.

No one interested in doing serious, mission-critical work should be looking at an iPad right now because it is only a pet project that Apple plays with from time to time. It is a hobby, an experiment. Maybe iOS 14 will fix it and show that Apple is serious about it. But I doubt it. Apple has had plenty of opportunities to do that. I am writing this on an iPad Pro right now. But I will not post it until I can do it at home on my Mac.

The iPad is better than it has ever been. But it is a far cry from a Mac replacement. You shouldn’t take this system any more seriously than Apple does. To pervert the words of Apple, if you want to get serious work done without stupid compromises, go back to the Mac.

David Johnson