6 Features Apple Should Have Included in iOS 5

6 Features Apple Should Have Included in iOS 5

Posted 06/07/2011 at 3:00pm | by J.R. Bookwalter

Oops, we forgot a few.

The dust has settled at Moscone West and the WWDC 2011 keynote is now only a memory. Apple CEO Steve Jobs and friends covered a lot of ground in only two hours, but like many keynotes before it, some of the more interesting possibilities are the ones that didn’t get talked about.

Developers are busy putting iOS 5 through its paces on Tuesday after Apple made it available at WWDC 2011, highlighting 10 key features that we’ll all come to know and love this fall. Among them are long-awaited favorites like Notifications Center, built-in Twitter integration, iMessage and the ability to use an iOS device without a computer.

But no matter how much ground Apple chooses to cover with each major iOS update, there will always be a few “wish list” features that get left behind. With that in mind, here’s a look at the stuff we’ve heard whispered about in rumors of the past, and are still waiting for in the future.

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6 Features Apple Should Have Included in iOS 5

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Voice Commands
This one seemed to be a lock for iOS 5 -- Apple purchased the company behind the free Siri “virtual personal assistant” app and was rumored to be knee-deep in negotiations with Nuance to include their voice command technology. So what happened? We’ll never know, but there are rumblings that Cupertino may yet surprise us with system-wide voice commands when iOS 5 is released this fall.
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Push Email
Sure, MobileMe/iCloud email gets pushed around your devices no problem, and Yahoo is still offering the same free push email introduced with the original iPhone in 2007. But what about our other accounts? Competing platforms like webOS seem to make this happen without an Exchange server using IMAP-IDLE, and yet Apple refuses to show us the love in iOS yet again. Le sigh…
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Home Sharing Plus
iOS 4.3 added Home Sharing to stream your iTunes content from any Mac in the same network, and for that we’re grateful. But there are a few issues with the current incarnation. For example, want to watch part of a movie and then return to it later? Better have a good memory of where you were at, because Home Sharing will start right back at the beginning again.
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Multitasking Plus
With the fancy new swipe gestures included with iOS 5, it almost feels like multitasking on your device has improved -- but not quite. We’re still basically “app switching” the same way we have been since iOS 4 was released, but we’d sure like to see a few more bits of fine-tuning to the way things currently are. We’re getting there!
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Facebook Integration
Do you get the impression that Apple was trying to rub Twitter in Facebook’s face on Monday by revealing the new iOS 5 built-in integration? Apple and Facebook apparently still haven’t worked out their differences dating back to the introduction of Ping with iTunes 10, but it seems they’ve moved on to make Twitter a new favored service in the meantime. Could deeper Facebook integration still be in the cards?
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Speaking of Integration…
This one isn’t really “missing” per se. We would have loved to see Apple incorporate Instapaper into Mobile Safari with iOS 5, rather than have them reinvent the wheel by creating a half-baked feature on their own with Reading List. But as developer Marco Arment says, fewer than one percent of iOS device owners actually use Instapaper -- so maybe average users just haven’t caught on quite yet.

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TheBreen

June 08, 2011 at 11:30am

Facebook is creepy enough as it is without being integrated into my OS, thankyouverymuch. It has demonstrated repeatedly that it doesn't care about user preferences. If Facebook wants to make all your info public it will. With access to system level calls how soon will it be until people find their Contacts, Film Rolls etc. published without their knowledge or consent? #conspiracytheorist

@TheBreen

nicvargus

June 07, 2011 at 3:44pm

I would love deeper facebook integration. It makes sense.

lelebuonerba

June 08, 2011 at 9:19am

i just hate to have to login a dozen times every day for almost every app i have

brandonwalkermedia

June 07, 2011 at 3:42pm

NO FACEBOOK! Maybe if we are lucky with Apple's help Twitter can KILL FaceBook! i would HATE to have Facebook integration (just think about it every time you do something a blue edged box pops up and stops you)

Ben

June 07, 2011 at 7:49pm

I'm with Nic, Facebook FTW.

Although it might be cool if they had a setting which allowed you to flip between the two services. I just never had the time to keep up with all of those little messages on Twitter. Every time I opened it up, it was flooded with junk. I guess Facebook could be the same way too, depending on how you use it.