How true is this article about iOS/iPhones/iPads limitations?

[birdie]

The author claims that iOS is absolutely counterproductive and gives certain arguments which I cannot validate or refute since I've never owned iOS based devices.

Can anyone with a good experience and knowledge chime in and refute/acknowledge what's written in the article? Thank you!

Here's the article: Why do Apple iPhone's and iPad's suck and why they are mostly useless as productive devices

[Anibal P]

I'd say he's pretty spot on, iOS is really that limited especially if you don't use any other Apple devices 

 

 

I know I'll get flamed, but it's the truth 

[Nick H. Supervisor]

The hardware limitations seem to be pretty accurate.

The software limitations are partially true from what I remember. There were some ways around them, for example I was able to put files on to my device through iTunes without too much of an issue. That said, my device was jailbroken so it might have been possible because of that.

[Anibal P]

The hardware limitations seem to be pretty accurate.

The software limitations are partially true from what I remember. There were some ways around them, for example I was able to put files on to my device through iTunes without too much of an issue. That said, my device was jailbroken so it might have been possible because of that.

 

iTunes would not be allowed in any serious windows business environment, it's a risk and resource hog that adds no real benefit, hell it's blocked by policy in the few Macs I've seen allowed at work, not a real solution 

[ctebah]

So he starts his article with this sentence:

 

 

I'm not an Apple hater or Android/Microsoft/Blackberry fan. I'm just an IT specialist with a considerable experience. That's why what you are about to read will be a purely technical list of inherent currently unsolvable Apple devices limitations and shortcomings.

 

Then he goes on to say a couple of things like this:

 

 

Here I won't touch iOS broken brain damaged flat user interface made in 80s for 8bit displays.

 

 

TLDR: In short if you are a dimwit or a dumb f*** you should go and buy iPhone 6 right away

 

Looks like he is simply hurt of ###### off at someone and decided to take it out on the web.  If he really wanted to be taken seriously, he should have ommited his personal feelings about the system and wrote it in a purely technical way. 

[zalberg]

Very accurate. iOS does the software isolation for security purposes, not to botch the 'userbility'. From apples standpoint program A shouldn't have influence on program B - so they are walled gardens inside the walled complex so to speak. Customizations were never apples strongpoint either, they designed the system to be fluid and never changed anything. It all looks 'pretty' and feels like every other device. The hardware is interchangable. select your account and recover and iPad 1 looks like iPad 2325 if you had that many. Doing the same thing on an android device is a LOT more time consuming.

 

The hardware limitiations were also thought out. Android hates SD cards now (see Nexus tablets or other flagship devices google releases, no SD card slots) so this point is moot. Most android devices don't have HDMI out either, but there is chromcast screen cast ability, which apple had since the iPad came out in 2009 IIRC. This 'plays' content from an iPad/pod/phone to say an Apple TV or something. The protocol was reversed though so nearly every device can utilize this (via XBMC for example). We can get into the MHL argument and that tablets like the A500 had HDMI out - but it wasn't an enjoyable experience hence why Android went the way of Apple.

 

Most of the software limitations can be overcome with a jailbreak, iFile works great moving things around and even offers an FTP server to upload/download things to or from a device. This also opens the door for any file to be uploaded and cydia tweaks offer quite a few unapproved methods to view unsupported files and tweak the homescreen. 

 

Also on the wifi and battery stuff.. Its irrevelant if its working. I don't care if I have 3203mV left or -77dBm of wifi signal... long as its working. Apple batteries are some of the best I've found. iPad lasts quite a while before it dies - least compared to my A500 or Nexus 7.

[SMELTN]

Here I won't touch iOS broken brain damaged flat user interface made in 80s for 8bit displays. - Man I sure hope he is using the Ubuntu phone, because if he is on Android he is going to HATE Android L when its released because its just as flat and same color pallet as iOS 7/8. 

 

Software limitations:

• Say, you have Adobe Reader installed in iOS. There's no way the document downloaded into Adobe Reader could be opened by another application unless you download it again.
  • You have some sort of editor for certain file types in iOS? Well, the files created in this application cannot be accessed from other iOS applications unless you upload them to the web and then download them back. - Fixed in iOS 8 with extensions
  • You cannot just upload your favourite files from your computer to your iOS device. Forget about files types which iTunes doesn't understand or handle. Forget about uploading MKV, 3GP videos, forget about uploaded OGG or FLAC music, forget about uploading PDF or epub files, etc. etc. etc. - Multiple ways to do this now. Using apps, extensions, default iCloud Drive which is all included in iOS 8
• iOS doesn't allow any customization of its primary (home) screens where you have your applications icons.
  • Forget about adding widgets. - Can in iOS 8 to the Notification center but not the desktop
  • Forget about having more than five quick launch applications. - Quick launch you mean the dock? The same area where default Android only allows like 4 with the middle being a slide up to get to your install apps? 
  • Forget about customizing the lock screen. - true
  • Forget about live wallpapers or applications as wallpapers. - Live wallpapers were added in iOS7. There are like 4-5 color bubble ones included with iOS7. Really an application as a wallpaper? 
• You cannot install applications from anywhere other than from Apple's App Store. Yeah, it means "security" but if Apple goes down (and it will eventually), your device will be as useful as an old telephone. - Uh so he says if the App store goes down you can't install anything. So Google's App store could do the same, as can Amazon's for that matter. Thats a CORE function and if it goes down you can bet it will be back up ASAP. 
• You cannot backup the applications which do not use Apple iCloud. - Some apps have their own cloud backup services which those apps use so not true
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about Wi-Fi/Cellular signal power, nor 3d party applications can access it. - Theirs an App for that
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about battery usage - never know why your battery lasts so little. -  It Does now in iOS 8

 

Hardware limitations:

• There's no HDMI or any other video output (port). - Yes there is. Buy the adapter. Their are MULTIPLE different ones. composite, DVI, HDMI, vga, USB for camera's, etc.
• You cannot plug in your Apple device and access its files in Windows Explorer. - Only image/video files
• There's no expandable storage support (considering iOS limitations it would be totally useless though). - True, but I seem to recall their are a TON of Android phones doing the same thing. Offering different storage size devices instead of a micro sd card slot just like Apple.
• Proprietary charger. - Yes but the plug is $5 now and can be bought at most gas stations.. 

 

TLDR: In short if you are a dimwit or a dumb f**k you should go and buy iPhone 6 right away. - So he says iPhone 6 by name, but considering 90% of his reasons to NOT get an iPhone are all corrected with the release of iOS 8 which came out with the iPhone 6, it seems like some dimwit didn't read up on what was being addressed with the release of iOS8 before he wrote a dumb **** article. 

[ctebah]

 

TLDR: In short if you are a dimwit or a dumb f**k you should go and buy iPhone 6 right away. - So he says iPhone 6 by name, but considering 90% of his reasons to NOT get an iPhone are all corrected with the release of iOS 8 which came out with the iPhone 6, it seems like some dimwit didn't read up on what was being addressed with the release of iOS8 before he wrote a dumb **** article. 

Respect for taking the time to write a good rebutal. 

[game_over]

A lot of this is from an Android point of view and a few of the points refer to the same thing: files, which i agree with.. the rest is not an issue for any Apple user... the experience is definitely better if you have other Apple products - for someone with a mac iOS absolutely obliterates using something like Android.

[UseLess]

@SMELTN - Good reply, well written.

 

I must say, I do agree with the subject topic: "mostly useless as productive devices". iOS is basically not a productive device at its core - its a consumer device that can be kludged to be somewhat productive (now with MS Office, right??)

 

I think his "article" is not well written however - so many points unrelated to being "productive". The biggest thing (I feel) hindering productivity is the lack of a USB plug, and the lack of a drag-and-drop filesystem.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

iTunes would not be allowed in any serious windows business environment...

Are we talking about a business environment, or just the Apple devices in general? From the article I was lead to believe that we were talking generally, but if you want to look specifically at a business environment we can do that?

[Noir Angel]

The hardware limitiations were also thought out. Android hates SD cards now (see Nexus tablets or other flagship devices google releases, no SD card slots) so this point is moot. Most android devices don't have HDMI out either, but there is chromcast screen cast ability, which apple had since the iPad came out in 2009 IIRC. This 'plays' content from an iPad/pod/phone to say an Apple TV or something. The protocol was reversed though so nearly every device can utilize this (via XBMC for example). We can get into the MHL argument and that tablets like the A500 had HDMI out - but it wasn't an enjoyable experience hence why Android went the way of Apple.

 

That's rubbish. Google don't put SD readers into most of the Nexus devices because it's more cost effective not to do so, most other flagships, however, still have removable storage slots. There's no official Google policy on removable storage one way or the other, the functionality still works as it should.

[Ian S.]

First, anyone who quoted him " This material cannot be reproduced on any other website, you are only allowed to link to this webpage."

:P

 

 

Anyways, I agree that he has inserted personal feelings, but I agree with him on most of it. I would like to add, glancing at a mindless row of icons does not give me enough knowledge of where my apps are at, unless they are organized by category. Whereas on Windows 8 I simply know where my tile are because they are large and unique. Simple things that I think is just simple logic in Windows compared to iOS is the use of two hands to drag icons across START, pick up with one hand and use the other to scroll the screen as well as Windows swipe down to open camera on lock.

[Praetor]

while iDevices do really have some productivity constraints, most of my clients that use iPhones and iPads are pretty happy and productive; still they did find some caveats by using iDevices.

[Brian M. Veteran]

The hardware limitations are pretty accurate - but realistically, there isn't really room for things like a HDMI port on the phone, and it would be used by a minority of users. A non-proprietary charger would be very nice though - I'm sick of replacing crappy proprietary cables. As for the software limitations:

 

• iOS almost totally limits the communication between installed applications. Also iOS doesn't have a shared storage space for different applications (aside from images): Fair enough, this is done for security though (apps are sandboxes so that a dodgy app can't read data from your dropbox, etc).
• This is all amazing, right?
  • Whereas in Android you can easily download any files (including webpages themselves) from the web to your device and later open them in an application of your choice, in iOS you can only "download" the files which have their own handlers (i.e. applications which can open/handle such files). Why would you want to open a file in an application that doesn't support it? If an app supports the file, you can open it with said app in iOS.
  • Say, you have Adobe Reader installed in iOS. There's no way the document downloaded into Adobe Reader could be opened by another application unless you download it again. Wrong - adobe can easily use the share panel to allow the document to be opened in other apps which supports PDFs.
  • You have some sort of editor for certain file types in iOS? Well, the files created in this application cannot be accessed from other iOS applications unless you upload them to the web and then download them back. ?Again, this is down to the sandbox. Can be done, however, with the use of share panel above.
  • You cannot just upload your favourite files from your computer to your iOS device. Forget about files types which iTunes doesn't understand or handle. Forget about uploading MKV, 3GP videos, forget about uploaded OGG or FLAC music, forget about uploading PDF or epub files, etc. etc. etc. iTunes lets you upload PDFs and ePub files straight into iBooks. If you want to upload MKVs then you can do this in iTunes if you have an app which supports them, such as VLC, installed.
• iOS doesn't allow any customization of its primary (home) screens where you have your applications icons.
  • Forget about adding widgets. ?Widgets are now available for notification centre.
  • Forget about having more than five quick launch applications. You can drop folders onto the dock if you want to.
  • Forget about customizing the lock screen. Fair point. 
  • Forget about live wallpapers or applications as wallpapers. Fair point, I'd rather have my battery life though.
• You cannot install applications from anywhere other than from Apple's App Store. Yeah, it means "security" but if Apple goes down (and it will eventually), your device will be as useful as an old telephone. I think the hardware will break/become obsolete before Apple dies.
• You cannot backup the applications which do not use Apple iCloud. ?Erm... Everything is backed up via iTunes/iCloud via Backupd. Even data not stored in iCloud.
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about Wi-Fi/Cellular signal power, nor 3d party applications can access it. ?You can view cellular power in db if you require. Don't see why you'd really need to do that though.
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about battery usage - never know why your battery lasts so little. Yes it does as of iOS 8.

That said, productivity is down to the individual user. I'm far more productive on iOS than android simply because a) I'm used to it and b) it syncs with my home/work computers better. That's it - it's familiarity more than anything.

[+virtorio MVC]

You can only be so productive on a phone or tablet, no matter if it's iOS or Android.

[Beyond Godlike]

Here I won't touch iOS broken brain damaged flat user interface made in 80s for 8bit displays. - Man I sure hope he is using the Ubuntu phone, because if he is on Android he is going to HATE Android L when its released because its just as flat and same color pallet as iOS 7/8. 

 

Software limitations:

• Say, you have Adobe Reader installed in iOS. There's no way the document downloaded into Adobe Reader could be opened by another application unless you download it again.
  • You have some sort of editor for certain file types in iOS? Well, the files created in this application cannot be accessed from other iOS applications unless you upload them to the web and then download them back. - Fixed in iOS 8 with extensions
  • You cannot just upload your favourite files from your computer to your iOS device. Forget about files types which iTunes doesn't understand or handle. Forget about uploading MKV, 3GP videos, forget about uploaded OGG or FLAC music, forget about uploading PDF or epub files, etc. etc. etc. - Multiple ways to do this now. Using apps, extensions, default iCloud Drive which is all included in iOS 8
• iOS doesn't allow any customization of its primary (home) screens where you have your applications icons.
  • Forget about adding widgets. - Can in iOS 8 to the Notification center but not the desktop
  • Forget about having more than five quick launch applications. - Quick launch you mean the dock? The same area where default Android only allows like 4 with the middle being a slide up to get to your install apps? 
  • Forget about customizing the lock screen. - true
  • Forget about live wallpapers or applications as wallpapers. - Live wallpapers were added in iOS7. There are like 4-5 color bubble ones included with iOS7. Really an application as a wallpaper? 
• You cannot install applications from anywhere other than from Apple's App Store. Yeah, it means "security" but if Apple goes down (and it will eventually), your device will be as useful as an old telephone. - Uh so he says if the App store goes down you can't install anything. So Google's App store could do the same, as can Amazon's for that matter. Thats a CORE function and if it goes down you can bet it will be back up ASAP. 
• You cannot backup the applications which do not use Apple iCloud. - Some apps have their own cloud backup services which those apps use so not true
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about Wi-Fi/Cellular signal power, nor 3d party applications can access it. - Theirs an App for that
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about battery usage - never know why your battery lasts so little. -  It Does now in iOS 8

 

Hardware limitations:

• There's no HDMI or any other video output (port). - Yes there is. Buy the adapter. Their are MULTIPLE different ones. composite, DVI, HDMI, vga, USB for camera's, etc.
• You cannot plug in your Apple device and access its files in Windows Explorer. - Only image/video files
• There's no expandable storage support (considering iOS limitations it would be totally useless though). - True, but I seem to recall their are a TON of Android phones doing the same thing. Offering different storage size devices instead of a micro sd card slot just like Apple.
• Proprietary charger. - Yes but the plug is $5 now and can be bought at most gas stations.. 

 

TLDR: In short if you are a dimwit or a dumb f**k you should go and buy iPhone 6 right away. - So he says iPhone 6 by name, but considering 90% of his reasons to NOT get an iPhone are all corrected with the release of iOS 8 which came out with the iPhone 6, it seems like some dimwit didn't read up on what was being addressed with the release of iOS8 before he wrote a dumb f**k article. 

 

 

Agreed on this.  iOS has its limits but its also far more secure imo.  I can use my iPad fine but as a phone these limits really bothered me personally.  That being said, i really do miss how stable/fast iOS was and that it just simply worked.  

[birdie]

The article has been updated ;-)

 

The author seems to be a sane person who is open to valid criticism - so he's not exactly an average fanboy.

[Dinggus]

I'd say he's pretty spot on, iOS is really that limited especially if you don't use any other Apple devices 

 

 

I know I'll get flamed, but it's the truth 

 

I agree. I didn't realize it until I decided to try the Nexus 5 which stuck after I learned how nice it was to do whatever I wanted on my phone. Sure, I miss iMessage and jailbreak tweaks, but it sure is nice not needing to wait for a jailbreak.

 

I wil say, it makes me wonder why I switched to all Apple products (iMac, MBAir, iPad 2/3/Mini/Air, iPhone 3GS/4/4S/5, Airport Extreme) etc. I do enjoy iOS on my iPad, but I don't see myself going back to the iPhone anytime soon.

[badb0y]

The hardware limitations are pretty accurate - but realistically, there isn't really room for things like a HDMI port on the phone, and it would be used by a minority of users. A non-proprietary charger would be very nice though - I'm sick of replacing crappy proprietary cables. As for the software limitations:

 

• iOS almost totally limits the communication between installed applications. Also iOS doesn't have a shared storage space for different applications (aside from images): Fair enough, this is done for security though (apps are sandboxes so that a dodgy app can't read data from your dropbox, etc).
• This is all amazing, right?
  • Whereas in Android you can easily download any files (including webpages themselves) from the web to your device and later open them in an application of your choice, in iOS you can only "download" the files which have their own handlers (i.e. applications which can open/handle such files). Why would you want to open a file in an application that doesn't support it? If an app supports the file, you can open it with said app in iOS.
  • Say, you have Adobe Reader installed in iOS. There's no way the document downloaded into Adobe Reader could be opened by another application unless you download it again. Wrong - adobe can easily use the share panel to allow the document to be opened in other apps which supports PDFs.
  • You have some sort of editor for certain file types in iOS? Well, the files created in this application cannot be accessed from other iOS applications unless you upload them to the web and then download them back. ?Again, this is down to the sandbox. Can be done, however, with the use of share panel above.
  • You cannot just upload your favourite files from your computer to your iOS device. Forget about files types which iTunes doesn't understand or handle. Forget about uploading MKV, 3GP videos, forget about uploaded OGG or FLAC music, forget about uploading PDF or epub files, etc. etc. etc. iTunes lets you upload PDFs and ePub files straight into iBooks. If you want to upload MKVs then you can do this in iTunes if you have an app which supports them, such as VLC, installed.
• iOS doesn't allow any customization of its primary (home) screens where you have your applications icons.
  • Forget about adding widgets. ?Widgets are now available for notification centre.
  • Forget about having more than five quick launch applications. You can drop folders onto the dock if you want to.
  • Forget about customizing the lock screen. Fair point. 
  • Forget about live wallpapers or applications as wallpapers. Fair point, I'd rather have my battery life though.
• You cannot install applications from anywhere other than from Apple's App Store. Yeah, it means "security" but if Apple goes down (and it will eventually), your device will be as useful as an old telephone. I think the hardware will break/become obsolete before Apple dies.
• You cannot backup the applications which do not use Apple iCloud. ?Erm... Everything is backed up via iTunes/iCloud via Backupd. Even data not stored in iCloud.
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about Wi-Fi/Cellular signal power, nor 3d party applications can access it. ?You can view cellular power in db if you require. Don't see why you'd really need to do that though.
• iOS doesn't allow you to see raw data about battery usage - never know why your battery lasts so little. Yes it does as of iOS 8.

That said, productivity is down to the individual user. I'm far more productive on iOS than android simply because a) I'm used to it and b) it syncs with my home/work computers better. That's it - it's familiarity more than anything.

 

Again, the root of all problems is "Security". I am not saying security is a bad thing but on the name of security, limitations are a bad thing. Despite of having iTunes, iWidgets, iThis, iThat, iOS 8 users Can't change their theme/ skin. There is NO direct way to transfer files and its so annoying to open that craptunes every time even to transfer little wallpaper?. Having a Folder in Dock is something else than having an App,

NO Custom Home Launchers,  

NO Removable Storage and Battery,

NO Custom ROMs,

NO Flash,

NO Cross-App Functionality, Data Sharing, and Defaults,

NO Multi-User Support,

NO split-screen multitasking,

NO Automation's,

NO Individual user profiles for tablets,

NO Infrared,

NO Fast charging,

NO Power Saving Mode 

etc......... 

Some of the stuff that just came to my mind.. 

[#Michael]

Maybe...just maybe I might have taken this article with a small amount of maturity until he put in this last paragraph:

 

Yeah, iOS is an amazing productive OS. Way to go!

And if you simply need a cool device to show off, then apparently, Apple devices are for you.

P.S. Answering those vehement fanboys in the comments section: I can buy 20 iPhones 6 128GB plus off contract right away - I'm not broke or poor. Secondly, a friend of mine asks me to come to her every ######ing time she needs to upload new audios and videos to her iPhone. How about that? A savvy woman with an IT education cannot master your wonderful easy to use device and that slow stinking ugly counterintuitive POS called iTunes.

 

At that point he sounded like any other teenager on the internet who couldn't get the phone he wanted on launch day and is now bitching about it.

 

Plus I love these statements:

 

• You cannot install applications from anywhere other than from Apple's App Store. Yeah, it means "security" but if Apple goes down (and it will eventually), your device will be as useful as an old telephone.
•  

 

Apple is currently sitting on over $140B (yes that is Billion)...I don't think they are going anywhere anytime soon.

 

 

 EDIT: ###### it.  I have been trying to edit my reply and add more for like 10 minutes now and it keeps erroring out.  This is very annoying that these double posts and submitting bugs cannot get fixed.
 

[Sikh]

 

Again, the root of all problems is "Security". I am not saying security is a bad thing but on the name of security, limitations are a bad thing. Despite of having iTunes, iWidgets, iThis, iThat, iOS 8 users Can't change their theme/ skin. There is NO direct way to transfer files and its so annoying to open that craptunes every time even to transfer little wallpaper?. Having a Folder in Dock is something else than having an App,

NO Custom Home Launchers,  

NO Removable Storage and Battery,

NO Custom ROMs,

NO Flash,

NO Cross-App Functionality, Data Sharing, and Defaults,

NO Multi-User Support,

NO split-screen multitasking,

NO Automation's,

NO Individual user profiles for tablets,

NO Infrared,

NO Fast charging,

NO Power Saving Mode 

etc......... 

Some of the stuff that just came to my mind.. 

 

 

They have had "fast charging" forever. You can charge to 80% I believe in an hour. I forgot what the exact measure was. Sorry its not your 15 minute fast charge that companies are NOW offering. https://www.apple.com/batteries/why-lithium-ion/

 

You don't need a power saving mode on iPhone cause the battery is utilized in a better way than ANY android phone. Android "L" and project volta fix battery life and ill happily go back to my Nexus after its final release. But until Project Volta, the Battery in my Nexus didn't even come close to the battery in my iPhone 5, and both were utilized the same way.

 

Infrared is a gimmick, most consumers wouldn't bother using it. I hate infrared technology, its old and its garbage. Wifi remote solutions are better.

 

Android ITSELF does NOT have multi tasking. Thats specific to samsung, not built into Android.

 

Cross App functionary, Data Sharing - now exists with Extensions.

 

Custom Home Launchers and ROMs are not what normal consumers use. Your point is moot. 

 

No Flash - Funny because android doesn't have flash either anymore. Find something new because this one is old.

[Draconian Guppy]

Some of these apply to power users/nerds/geeks, of the software side... on the hardware side, things are spot on.

 

Didn't the EU force apple to supply a "universal adapter".

[Brian M. Veteran]

There is NO direct way to transfer files and its so annoying to open that craptunes every time even to transfer little wallpaper?. Having a Folder in Dock is something else than having an App,

 

To add to this, you can transfer files wirelessly via airdrop from a Mac. No need to open iTunes at all.

 

Some of these apply to power users/nerds/geeks, of the software side... on the hardware side, things are spot on.

 

Didn't the EU force apple to supply a "universal adapter".

The EU did force this, which is why they now sell the Lightning-to-Micro-USB adapter (bit of a cop out solution if you ask me).

[+LogicalApex MVC]

That's rubbish. Google don't put SD readers into most of the Nexus devices because it's more cost effective not to do so, most other flagships, however, still have removable storage slots. There's no official Google policy on removable storage one way or the other, the functionality still works as it should.

Google has severely neutered the MircoSD card as they don't really want it around.

Without a custom rom or rooting the only thing you can store on it is music and videos. You can't store apps, data, etc. They also adjusted android mount points so that apps will see the internal storage as external.