I went out and bought an iPad Mini with Retina yesterday thanks to a new program at my company. They’ll buy me a new mobile device every 12 months in addition to the existing new laptop every 16 months program. I had originally planned on waiting (a long time) for the iPhone 6 but decided this was a better option.
It’s my first iPad and so far I’m pretty impressed with it, especially the display. The pixel density is quite impressive and makes for a great reading device. It makes my iPhone feel hilariously tiny and squished.
I do already have some complaints about it though:
- iCloud: I’ve had an iPhone since launch day of the 4 and each time I upgraded or replaced it, it was just a matter of restoring the device from an iTunes or iCloud backup and it was exactly like the phone before it. Setting up the iPad however was nothing like that. Practically speaking it’s an entirely separate device from my iPhone. I had to set up all of my settings and apps from scratch. It would have been much nicer if it kept my app settings in sync between my two apps, at least at first. Or something. I don’t know. I just know it was a huge pain to get everything set back up.
- Lack of universal apps: It was disappointing to discover just how many of my favorite apps were designed only for an iPhone. Thankfully a few of them (but not all) had separate apps designed just for iPads but come on developers, it’s nearly 2014. Get with the program.
- Weight: It’s not heavy exactly but it’s not as light as I would like it to be either. If you’re holding it by one corner with your hand, it does make your hand tired after a bit. When I switch back to using my iPhone, it feels like I’m holding a feather.
Still, I’m not regretting getting one. It’ll be nice to have a device that I can more easily read stuff on and consume media with.
I don’t think that Apple allows there to be combined Phone/Tablet apps – I think they have to be listed as two separate apps, for reasons that are beyond comprehension.
At least, that’s what was explained to me at work.
That is certainly not the case. They’re called universal apps. Many of the apps I installed via iTunes that I already had due to my iPhone work perfect on my iPad.
They used to be flagged by a little gray plus sign in the App Store but now it just lists out what devices it is optimized for.
It looks like Universal Apps were introduced in 2010:
http://devimages.apple.com/iphone/resources/introductiontouniversalapps.pdf
As someone who’s owned an iPad since release day of the first one, I always find it interesting to see the reactions of new iPad owners. What struck me was your first couple of points, which seem to be based on an assumption that apps for phones and tablets should be the same.
While there are some cases where this is true, I suspect that the more you use your iPad you’ll realize that the screen size differences mean that in many cases there ought to be different UI patterns.
In some cases I know devs create separate apps just to keep things separate… in many cases, especially with paid apps, it’s to create separate revenue streams. If it takes 50% more work to create different interfaces, should they raise the price for all buyers, or just offer two apps so that folks can only pay for what they’re using?
I suspect you’ll love the device. I owned the first iPad, the big iPad 4, and have now purchased the new mini with retina. It’s a great tablet. Enjoy!
That’s a fair point about it being double the work.
I guess I just see it as a big iPhone since it’s the same operating system, apps, etc. My first thought is I can just keep using the same apps across all devices, as if it was a computer app or a website where the resolution didn’t matter. I’m so used to working with responsive designs.
This is going to sound like iOS bashing, but it really isn’t.
Android (and Windows Phone, actually), let you code one program that scales from the smallest device to the largest device, all with their SDK. I really don’t understand why Apple won’t let devs do that…
Just realized I’m a bit of an idiot with how I said that.
Not sure why the *Devs* don’t do that, is what I meant.
Android pretty much is forced to because anyone can make an Android device with any resolution and screen size. Apple controls what their devices and there’s only 2 aspect ratios — phones and iPads. It’s still kinda crappy though, yes.
Which makes even more sense, to me, to keep one code base instead of two separate ones.
I agree with you, too much work with Adaptive designs for the “Lets have two separate apps!” mindset.