Things Apple Should Consider

[as400man]

I have been playing with 7 on my iPhone and had a few thoughts on what Apple should considering doing to continue to grow iOS

- iWork should be free for everyone

One thing lacking from an enterprise perspective is native Office compatibility without a cost to entry. Apple has taken a great step by making it free for new iOS devices, but it should just be made free for every device. That would be a great step towards making iPad a more effective tool for quick editing of Office formatted files. It seems rather silly that you have a $600+ device, but you still have to pay $10/app for a Word, Excel and Powerpoint clone. I know the argument can be made that you have to pay for Office on Windows, but you can also reverse that and say Apple is giving it away for some, why not all.

- iCloud for Enterprises

I know you have services like Box that can be a file storage, but Apple should make an enterprise level iCloud that could even sync with an enterprise file system to further extend the benefit of iWork on devices. It would make iPads even more valuable to enterprise users. This would be a feature that stands iOS out from an enterprise perspective. It would also be a great tool for Apple to demonstrate the power of iCloud and encourage more adoption of the platform.

- Embrace Jailbreaking

This will probably be one of my more controversial suggestions, but I think it could be a good thing for Apple. Why fight jailbreaking? Why not give people the option to unlock an "Advanced Features" option on their device to enable things that are typically used by jail breakers? This would allow innovation without the constant cat and mouse game regarding exploits. It would also allow innovation and creativity that is currently being banished from the AppStore because of current policies. They would be able to focus their efforts other things people want, rather than putting effort in shutting down jailbreaking. Apple could even go as far as to charge for the feature and provision from the AppleID. It could be argued that people will complain about the changes to their device, but most who want this option understand the risks they are exposing themselves to, and even jailbreak currently.

- Unify Enterprise Management

There are tools that allow you to manage iOS devices, but Apple should make a management utility that centralizes the enterprise management of iOS devices. It seems like a cliche, but central management is one thing Blackberry did right. You could push apps, provision devices and policies from the portal. Apple should get ahead of the game and make an iPhone Enterprise Administrator Portal that is powered by iCloud. You have the devices provision from your Enterprise iCloud, and you can manage, wipe, provision, or even push internal apps from it. If it is powered by iCloud, the IT admins wouldn't need to have a local server like BES to manage devices.

Ron

 

[kch50428]

Apple - Feedback

 

[Grabber5.0]

Apple - Feedback

They read that? :O

I honestly never thought of that, but really, as much feedback as they probably get, I bet they don't consider much of it, and implement even less.

 

[Coachbulldog]

- Embrace Jailbreaking

This will probably be one of my more controversial suggestions, but I think it could be a good thing for Apple. Why fight jailreaking? Why not give people the option to unlock an "Advanced Features" option on their device to enable things that are typically used by jail breakers? This would allow innovation without the constant cat and mouse game regarding exploits.

I will preface my question and comment with the disclaimer that I know nothing about jailbreaking an iPhone. I wasn't even aware of why someone would jailbreak a phone until I started reading and posting on iMore a few weeks ago. I apologize in advance if this is a ridiculous question but why does Apple build "advanced features" into the iPhone and then lock them away from consumers? It seems if these features improve the experience of using an iPhone then Apple should make them part of the standard OS.

 

[The_colombian]

I'm sure they do consider feedback being that many jailbreak features have made it to official ios

 

[Coachbulldog]

They don't. Jailbreak features are not something Apple has hidden away from consumers.

Thanks for the answer. Like I said, I have little to zero technology knowledge.

 

[Alik Malix]

Suggesting that Apple offer iWork for free was one of the thing I posted to Apple Feedback. I was surprised they did that, even if it's just for new devices. Regarding the rest of your ideas, they don't interest me, but I. Can understand how the yuan be important and will draw more attention to Apple.

1. What I want is a quick program to access iCloud and Photos on my device from my PC. They have iCloud Control, but that's not exactly what I mean (but I'm using it to stream photos back and forth. I want to have access to iCloud without firing up my browser on my PC.

2. I want a simpler Drag and Drop ability to my devices (please do not suggest android). iTunes is great, but I hope to have a simpler, much simpler interface.
Imagine a split screen:
Left side - what's on my device with sections for music, photos, apps, movies, documents.
Right side - what's backed up to my PC separated into sections with purchased/owed music, photos, all purchased apps, movies, and documents.
You would naturally just drag and drop back and forth, backup device or restore backup.

I know most of this is pretty much what iTunes does, but I'm still confused by it, I plugin my I devices with fear of not sure what is happening with its "syncing".

3. I'm a big fan of apple native apps, and I prefer them over the 3rd party, I have NEVER had trouble with apple maps, but a lot of people do prefer changing default apps. Apple should really consider this - it will win over many hearts. Better yet, ship absolutely clean iOS, and let us decide on the weather, calculator, music app, maps, browser, camera, etc, and obviously provide Apple versions. My iPad has no calculator, or weather preinstalled, and I actually found a calculator matching the one on the iPhone. Siri does the weather for me - and I like it that way. It looks like the iWork apps are going to be handled that way going forward already, as well.

4. This is a small detail, but I would love to move my photos/images to other albums in camera roll, instead of throwing a shortcut there. Make that an option in settings.

5. In iOS 7 in the share tab, Facebook, titter, flickr, etc - if I'm not signed into it in settings, do NOT show up as an option in share.