5 small however irritating iOS points I want had been mounted already

iOS has come a good distance.

In 2007, the working system (then referred to as iPhone OS) lacked the flexibility to alter the background, to multitask, or to even copy and paste. Quick-forward some eighteen years, and Apple’s mobile OS has advanced to the purpose the place I can now safely describe it as being a mature platform. Today, we’re spoiled with superior settings choices, granular management over our house screens, and even a rising set of on-device AI features.

And, but, regardless of iOS in its modern-day incarnation being a robust working system, I discover myself shocked by among the small quality-of-life options that it conspicuously lacks. Each 12 months throughout Apple’s WWDC software conference, I maintain my breath that a few of these quibbles will probably be ironed out in a system replace, solely to return out disenchanted on an annual foundation.

Listed below are 5 small-yet-notable issues specifically that proceed to harass me in regards to the iPhone’s software program expertise, from the angle of somebody who incessantly makes use of the rivaling Android platform for each leisure and productiveness.

1

There is no everlasting quantity row

The iOS digital keyboard continues to lack this primary addition

Relating to our fashionable smartphones, we depend on digital keyboards for a large number of duties: textual content messaging, emailing, internet shopping, interacting with AI chatbots, and extra. On Android, it is lengthy been attainable to allow a everlasting quantity row on the high of the keyboard, for fast entry to these all-important numerals.

Sadly, issues aren’t fairly as easy inside the Apple ecosystem. To today, iOS lacks a system-wide toggle for pinning the quantity row to the digital keyboard, which is usually a nuisance (particularly when inputting passwords). It must be mentioned that some iOS apps are contextually conscious, surfacing a row of numbers on-screen relying on the textual content discipline in query. In my expertise, nonetheless, these conditions are far and few between.

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2

Notifications are transient

I generally neglect to take motion on vital notifications

I am a agency believer that Android merely does notifications higher than iOS, and I do know I am not the one one to carry this opinion. Placing apart the presence of persistent notification icons inside the standing bar, which iOS lacks, the default habits on Android is to current notifications on each the lock display screen and the notification panel till manually interacted with.

With the iPhone, there is no such toggle accessible. In consequence, notifications disappear from the lock display screen as soon as unlocked, siloing away their contents inside a cluttered notification heart setup that feels loads clunkier than its Google-designed counterpart. iOS notification administration is leaps and bounds higher than it was just a few brief years in the past, however I might like to see Apple embrace Android’s method to lock display screen persistency.

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3

Alarm quantity lacks independence

The amount slider for alarms should not be tied to the system

One other long-time Android staple is the flexibility to set a separate quantity stage for alarms, media, telephone calls, notifications, and different alerts. For me, the alarm tone separation is of explicit worth: I desire cranking up its slider to eleven to make sure I get up on time, with out impacting different system sounds within the course of.

Each time I am utilizing an iPhone, this alarm quantity luxurious is not afforded to me. Apple takes an all-or-nothing method, with a central ringtone and alerts slider that impacts the whole lot and something that is not media-related. I discover myself having to choose between an alarm tone that I do know will wake me up within the mornings, or a name and textual content quantity that will not finally lead to tinnitus.

I might love for Apple to make this small change, because it’d dramatically enhance the end-user expertise with out compromising on the simplicity of iOS. And, whereas we’re at it, Apple also needs to pooch Android’s ingenious ‘Alarm set for X hours from now’ notification.

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4

The clear all button is MIA

Certain, it is not strictly obligatory, however I would like it anyway

Earlier than you say it, I do know: iOS is designed in such a method that RAM administration is finished with out the necessity for person intervention, and shutting apps can really do extra hurt than good in the case of system efficiency and battery life.

With that out of the best way, I nonetheless desire a devoted clear all button inside the iPhone’s app switcher interface. There’s one thing cathartic about tapping one button and seeing all of your open apps fling off-screen, and it is one thing that virtually each Android-based telephone has provided for a number of years now.

Personally, I feel Google’s implementation supplies the right stability right here: the clear all button is hidden by default, tucked away on the very again of the app switcher. This ensures it will not by chance be hit, whereas disincentivizing its routine use throughout common day-to-day telephone operation.

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5

App information is obfuscated

Digging into Settings for app administration is usually a ache

One of many smallest Android options that does not get the adore it deserves is the App information context menu entry. This button seems when lengthy urgent or right-clicking on any app icon, proper alongside different context menu shortcuts and fast actions. As a quick-and-easy option to bounce into the app administration web page for any given app, I discover myself tapping on App information on a semi-daily foundation.

Over on iOS, there is no equal data shortcut — to entry per-app settings, you will want to go into the principle Settings app, navigate the Apps, after which scroll by means of the alphabetized record. Much more frustratingly, the choice to handle an iOS app’s storage utilization is hidden inside a wholly separate menu, which is positioned in Settings > Common > iPhone Storage. Briefly, this additional friction slows down my work stream, and I might like to see Apple take inspiration from Google on this one.

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