Scott Forstall Leaves Apple

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

ArthurG

All fair points, and of course what you like is a very individual thing. I may well end up running back to iOS with my tail between my legs in a while.

However I was more looking to that dude who said iOS is streets ahead of Android - having used both I'm not sure what that is based on. And I don't mean in the magical Apple sense where just because it's Apple its better.

Then again maybe I should just drop it or it'll turn into a big Apple vs. Google rant..... :O

Piliger

ArthurG wrote: »

Having moved in the last while from iOS6 to JellyBean, I'm not sure that I could agree with you, and thats having spent my entire smartphone life with Apple up to now.

The ability to customise your phone in pretty much every way, Google Now, widgets, not to mention maps, etc etc, are in my mind far ahead of iOS (at least for now).

Thats before you even get to the simple ability to turn Wifi/Bluetooth etc off from the notification menu (sounds small but it's very very handy).

I'm sure you may disagree, but in fairness spell out why you think thats the case.

PS - I still have my old 'new iPad 3 or whatever its called, and wouldn't give it up for the world, at least until next year....

Customisation is a bore. So you can turn off wifi ... wooooo. What about the thousands of utterly broken and unreliable apps that litter the app store ? The wild variety of OS versions ? the lack of security protection for users who download apps that can suck out personal details and bank details ?
No. An OS should have design consistency, design quality, reliability and be rick solid, smooth and easy to use. It should 'just work'. That's why iOS is streets ahead of Android and why iOS users can reply on Apple security when downloading apps and using their personal and bank details.

ArthurG

Piliger wrote: »

...An OS should have design consistency....

Fair enough man, you're obviously passionate about your iOS, but don't you see the irony in this statement, in a thread about Scott Forstall?

Oafley Jones

Piliger wrote: »

An OS should have design consistency, design quality, reliability and be rick solid, smooth and easy to use.

I agree and they're the reasons I'm delighted Forstall is gone.

Piliger

ArthurG wrote: »

Fair enough man, you're obviously passionate about your iOS, but don't you see the irony in this statement, in a thread about Scott Forstall?

No. One or two exceptions just make the rule. I'm not passionate at all, just know what the best is.

DubDJ

Am I the only one who likes some of Forstalls input? For example iBooks, Game Centre and more recently Podcasts. Love the old analogue feel to the Podcasts app. And I can't picture iBooks without the book shelf. I actually really like those apps design wise. However I'd like a bit more consistency within the apps. Contacts and Calanders as an example. Use one unified design for the iPhone and iPad app. Not two completely different looking apps.

jack presley

DubDJ wrote: »

Love the old analogue feel to the Podcasts app.

Would you not prefer it to work properly and maybe have the ability to create playlists?

miralize

DubDJ wrote: »

Am I the only one who likes some of Forstalls input? For example iBooks, Game Centre and more recently Podcasts. Love the old analogue feel to the Podcasts app. And I can't picture iBooks without the book shelf. I actually really like those apps design wise. However I'd like a bit more consistency within the apps. Contacts and Calanders as an example. Use one unified design for the iPhone and iPad app. Not two completely different looking apps.

Podcasts is atrocious. The core functionality is missing, and in its place is a tape deck (Copied from Braun design no less)?!? Because so many people can relate to that, these days

DubDJ

I don't use Podcasts too much but have the general idea that it doesn't work very well. But in terms of design, I think it's a lovely looking app. But when I first opened it I found it very buggy and slow. Was my first experience with a badly written app from Apple. But I thought it looked great. I thought it had been fixed since but haven't used it recently to know.

Piliger

jack presley wrote: »

Would you not prefer it to work properly and maybe have the ability to create playlists?

Playlists of Podcasts ? why ??????

Piliger

miralize wrote: »

Podcasts is atrocious. The core functionality is missing, and in its place is a tape deck (Copied from Braun design no less)?!? Because so many people can relate to that, these days

What is the core functionality of Podcasts that is missing ? I have been using it for a few weeks and love it. It has lots of functionality .. speed control, timer, drag position, back 10, fwd 30 ......

The Tape Desk is very cool ... BUT it should be an option instead of standard, though it's easy to not tap the screen and turn it on.

What's wrong with it ?

Piliger

DubDJ wrote: »

Am I the only one who likes some of Forstalls input? For example iBooks, Game Centre and more recently Podcasts. Love the old analogue feel to the Podcasts app. And I can't picture iBooks without the book shelf. I actually really like those apps design wise. However I'd like a bit more consistency within the apps. Contacts and Calanders as an example. Use one unified design for the iPhone and iPad app. Not two completely different looking apps.

I think retro design if fine - but it should only be there as an option where there is some customisation allowed. As you say ... one unified design ... with options if they chose to allow customisation.
My favourite hate one if the shelves..... always thought it was bizarre, and in GameCentre it still is.

miralize

Piliger wrote: »

What is the core functionality of Podcasts that is missing ? I have been using it for a few weeks and love it. It has lots of functionality .. speed control, timer, drag position, back 10, fwd 30 ......

The Tape Desk is very cool ... BUT it should be an option instead of standard, though it's easy to not tap the screen and turn it on.

What's wrong with it ?

Playlists, bookmarks, iCLoud syncing, Auto refreshing... its missing alot. And its just a bit gimmicky..

DubDJ

I just had a mess around with it on my iPhone 5 and iPad (3rd gen) and it worked flawlessly. So they did work out the bugs and make it a quality app living up to their standard.

Now I'm not a big podcast listener but everything I need seems to be in the app. I manage everything through iTunes anyway so once their downloading to that and syncing to both devices it's fine for me. They probably could add a few features but I still find it a brilliant app. Works great for me. And love the UI.

jack presley

Piliger wrote: »

Playlists of Podcasts ? why ??????

I thought that'd be fairly obvious. To play them in the order you want, like any other playlist.

At the moment if you have for example multiple episodes of a few podcasts, it will play all of the episodes of the first, then all of the second, etc. whereas it'd be preferable to be able to play one of the first, then one of the second and so on.

Piliger

miralize wrote: »

Playlists, bookmarks, iCLoud syncing, Auto refreshing... its missing alot. And its just a bit gimmicky..

You're entitled of course ... but I cannot for the life of me imagine why anyone would want or need playlists or bookmarks for Podcasts. And mine autorefreshes... if that means autodownloading ... ttbomk.

Piliger

jack presley wrote: »

I thought that'd be fairly obvious. To play them in the order you want, like any other playlist.

At the moment if you have for example multiple episodes of a few podcasts, it will play all of the episodes of the first, then all of the second, etc. whereas it'd be preferable to be able to play one of the first, then one of the second and so on.

I can honestly say I find that bizarre ... but maybe I'm missing something :P

Creamy Goodness

iCloud syncing is an glaring omission.

Listening to a podcast in the morning in bed on my iPad, head off to work I want to pick up where I left off on my iPhone in the same position as I paused on my iPad.

The podcast app is atrocious, buggy and quite possibly the worst piece of software apple has produced.

I use it for all my podcasts, I have four subscriptions, one of them never updates, another one updates then it shows me no podcasts, another one randomly marks podcasts from a few weeks back as being unplayed and the final subscription i have works ok but hasn't had a new podcast in a while.

A mobile app should first and foremost be functionally bulletproof, podcasts app is anything but.

Podcasts app was broken out from the original iPod app, I ask you to compare and contrast these two apps and honestly tell me which is the better.

ArthurG

I realised a few days ago that I was (stupidly) trying to have a rational debate with fanboys in the Apple forum. Not gonna happen. Ironically I love my iPad and wouldn't switch I for anything, but I still acknowledge iOS shortcomings. What can you do? From what I can see from certain posters here its a case of ignoring it or respond with 'no one needs that functionality'.

Fingleberries

Piliger wrote: »

I can honestly say I find that bizarre ... but maybe I'm missing something :P

Creating a set of playlists for episodes of different Podcasts - for a long drive where you might like to have some variety and won't be stopping regularly to change the podcast playing. Or if you want to set up a playlist to see you through the workday.

While the Rooster Teeth Podcast may be great, several hours of it back-to-back might not be what you're in the mood for, so you'd create a playlist of episodes from different sources. (OK, bad example - the RT podcast should keep you going for a good while and not need changing ).

Anyway. Rather than anything to do with the Analogue / Skeumorphic design of the Apple Podcasts app. It is purely on functionality that it should be panned.

It effectively broke Podcasts for me for a time, and I've had to find other apps that actually play podcasts (unlike the Apple one, which may or may not download podcasts episodes; if it does it may or may not play them; or may think about it for a while to toy with the idea of playing the podcast )

DubDJ

Before the Podcasts app was broken away as a standalone one did the Music app have the ability to make playlists of them and sync between devices etc? Or is this just features you wish Apple added themselves?

jack presley

DubDJ wrote: »

Before the Podcasts app was broken away as a standalone one did the Music app have the ability to make playlists of them and sync between devices etc? Or is this just features you wish Apple added themselves?

Yeah you could easily create playlists for podcasts in iTunes and synch then to your phone/pod

DubDJ

jack presley wrote: »

Yeah you could easily create playlists for podcasts in iTunes and synch then to your phone/pod

I meant iCloud sync between devices. It's also the way Apple are going, breaking away the videos into its own app, and then the Poscasts.

I personally think playlists aren't too important when it comes to things like podcasts. They're usually 45-60mins long anyway and if one didn't do you for your journey you'd probably only need to change it once. For me the Podcast app is great. Does everything I need. And it's working perfect also. Have all my podcasts on both devices and they play perfectly. Not a big Podcast listener but if I was I don't think if call it a bad app either.

Piliger

DubDJ wrote: »

I meant iCloud sync between devices. It's also the way Apple are going, breaking away the videos into its own app, and then the Poscasts.

I personally think playlists aren't too important when it comes to things like podcasts. They're usually 45-60mins long anyway and if one didn't do you for your journey you'd probably only need to change it once. For me the Podcast app is great. Does everything I need. And it's working perfect also. Have all my podcasts on both devices and they play perfectly. Not a big Podcast listener but if I was I don't think if call it a bad app either.

Careful .... if you like an Apple product or App, you'll be labelled as a fanboi by those who cannot grasp why anyone anywhere would actually disagree with them. The fact is that genuine Apple users are the most demanding and discerning users of all devices. Anyone who follows Apple forums or Apple orientated sites knows that.

DubDJ

Piliger wrote: »

Careful .... if you like an Apple product or App, you'll be labelled as a fanboi by those who cannot grasp why anyone anywhere would actually disagree with them. The fact is that genuine Apple users are the most demanding and discerning users of all devices. Anyone who follows Apple forums or Apple orientated sites knows that.

Yeah I just let that all go over my head. And try not to get into these fanboy debates. I use Google or G related stuff just as much as Apple products or services. Both great companies. Each to their own I suppose, I just use what suits me best.

With Apple being such a big company any small problem is blown up to be a major disaster. It's Apples own doing really. Maps for example, POI's are terrible and some place names wrong but Turn by Turn and a lot of the Satellite imagery as well as the data is actually more accurate and up to date than Googles. I prefer the Apple Maps overall. Just use google search for places and use the exact address. I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

In my opinion iOS users brag about their devices and show them off too much, Android users hate on other people's choices, and Windows phone users are just nice guys :P

jack presley

DubDJ wrote: »

I meant iCloud sync between devices. It's also the way Apple are going, breaking away the videos into its own app, and then the Poscasts.

I personally think playlists aren't too important when it comes to things like podcasts. They're usually 45-60mins long anyway and if one didn't do you for your journey you'd probably only need to change it once. For me the Podcast app is great. Does everything I need. And it's working perfect also. Have all my podcasts on both devices and they play perfectly. Not a big Podcast listener but if I was I don't think if call it a bad app either.

I don't know what category I fall into then. I like Apple generally but hate the Podcast app! What does that make me?

Fair enough that you're happy with the podcast app and the podcasts you subscribe to are all 45-60 minutes long but as you said you aren't a big podcast listener so maybe that's why not being able to make playlists doesn't bother you. However I'm at the other end of the scale in that for the most part I listen to podcasts (80-85% podcasts, 15-20% music) so playlists are a big deal to me.

And some of the ones I subscribe to are as short as 3-5 minutes each and when you download 5-6 of these a day, along with a few that are 20-25 minutes and a couple around 45 minutes long being able to sort them into the order you want is a big deal.

DubDJ

jack presley wrote: »

I don't know what category I fall into then. I like Apple generally but hate the Podcast app! What does that make me?

Fair enough that you're happy with the podcast app and the podcasts you subscribe to are all 45-60 minutes long but as you said you aren't a big podcast listener so maybe that's why not being able to make playlists doesn't bother you. However I'm at the other end of the scale in that for the most part I listen to podcasts (80-85% podcasts, 15-20% music) so playlists are a big deal to me.

And some of the ones I subscribe to are as short as 3-5 minutes each and when you download 5-6 of these a day, along with a few that are 20-25 minutes and a couple around 45 minutes long being able to sort them into the order you want is a big deal.

Wasn't aware Podcasts do be as short as that. In that case I can definitely see a need for playlists. I think 99% of the Podcasts i've downloaded have fallen between 45-60 mins. Some a tiny bit shorter and some a lot longer. For me i've no need for playlists but I can see how other might see this as an important feature the app is lacking.

Piliger

DubDJ wrote: »

Wasn't aware Podcasts do be as short as that. In that case I can definitely see a need for playlists. I think 99% of the Podcasts i've downloaded have fallen between 45-60 mins. Some a tiny bit shorter and some a lot longer. For me i've no need for playlists but I can see how other might see this as an important feature the app is lacking.

It is ridiculous and arrogant to expect Apple to cater for every tiny minority user interest, such as this imho. I understand unhappiness .... but the vitriolic 'hate' for the app is OTT.

jack presley

Piliger wrote: »

It is ridiculous and arrogant to expect Apple to cater for every tiny minority user interest, such as this imho. I understand unhappiness .... but the vitriolic 'hate' for the app is OTT.

OK, hate is probably too strong a word. The old way of listening through the Music app was perfect and I would have loved for them not to 'improve' by introducing the podcast app as it doesn't do what I need it to do but I've gone elsewhere and it's not the end of the world.

While I don't expect them to cater specifically for my needs, they did exactly that before they made the change but now they don't. That's all I was saying when I got into this debate