Great Scott!: With iOS proponent Scott Forstall gone from Apple, what direction with the valuable iOS take?By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Apple's yearly WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) is a month away and we're sure to see the latest features and builds of Mac OS X and iOS. Studying the current mobile landscape and features available to competing smartphone and tablet platforms, I've compiled a personal wish list of features I hope to see on iOS 7.
More intuitive predictive keyboard - The typing experience on iOS has remained virtually unchanged since 2007. Since Apple doesn't allow third-party developers to alter the user interface, we're not likely to see apps like SwiftKey or Swype come to iOS. Looking at the keyboard experience on BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone and modified Android using SwiftKey Flow, it seems iOS users are missing a lot. There's got to be an easier and more intuitive way to type more accurately on the iPhone and iPad and this is one area that can truly be improved.
Ad-hoc file sharing beween iOS devices - Would't it be cool if iOS had an equivalent of Samsung's S Beam or even PalmOS' old Touch to Share function. Just a quick and easy way to push whatever is on your screen to your other devices or your Mac on the fly. I think this can be done securely and elegantly even without NFC (Near Field Communication) chips.
Screen Sharing on Facetime and iMessage- With BlackBerrys BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) coming to iOS this Summer, Apple's own messaging platform needs to offer more. We're not likely to see interoperability with other platforms but hopefully features like screen sharing, the ability to leave short video messages, flow from text to voice to video when needed, would keep current users happy.
Universal Printing: iOS needs to go beyond AirPrint and the handful of printers that iPhones and iPads can talk to. As Post PC as we'd like to believe we are, the ability to print anytime anywhere is one feature that will make mobile devices even more enticing than notebooks and desktops and it is about time that the company who revolutionzed printing on PCs and Macs re-establish itself by making it possible in its mobile devices.
Improved Sharing Options: Sharing files and documents on iOS brings up very limited options. Mail, iMessage, Twitter, Facebook and a few others. On Android, you get a ton of options based on the number of apps you have installed. It would be awesome if iOS would rejig the system so that trusted applications can gain access to the files that can be shared.
Maps: It's a good time for Maps on iOS to make a big comeback specially in the turn-by-turn navigation and functionality areas. I think we will see something significant in this area.
These are just a few of the features and areas that I feel iOS users will welcome and which will help keep the competition at bay. We'll know for sure what Apple has in store at WWDC next month.