It’s been a week after WWDC has allowed reviewers all over the world to get a hold of the new OS Beta and test everything they can find hidden deep inside the OS. I have to admit, I downloaded it, and have been testing it for the past 5 days. At first I was floored by some of the upgrades, however the more I used it, the more I thought about the things I wanted from it, that we haven’t seen yet. I don’t think it’s fair to talk about the things it doesn’t do well yet, since it is just a beta. However below are the 5 features iOS 5 does not included in the upgrade (or at least can’t be found yet).
Widgets- If you search prior to WWDC and ask what feature needs to be added the most, you’ll find notifications and Widgets. Apple tried to tackle this with its notification center, however the only Widget’s, or features that come close to widgets, is the stock bar and weather bar on the notification center. Apple could have hit a home run by adding Widgets and making most of their fans happy. It would have brought over the Android fans that rave about the need for Widgets. I have never used them myself, however after seeing the weather app widget “want-to-be” on the iOS 5, I can see why these are wanted.
Air Printing- After one year of air printing, why is there only 17 printers compatible with iOS devices? If Apple wants their iPads to be truly PC free, then printer compatibility has to be near the top of the list. They have to have the technology to allow wireless printing with other printers, other than HP. I shouldn’t have to use a third party app. I should just have to click on an email, and press print. It should be that simple.
Turn by Turn Navigation- This wasn’t the biggest thing I was looking for, but with the addition to location based reminders, I would have liked to see google maps integrated with turn by turn navigation. There are some third party apps out there, but I don’t feel like paying over $20.00 dollars for them. Not a huge miss, but it was in the back of my head.
MobileMe to iCloud Combination- I was a little worried about setting up my iCloud account on the iOS beta. Mostly because I want to keep my @me.com user name. However the set up for iCloud isn’t clear on how to do this. I hope Apple comes out, before the actual release and gives clear instructions on how you can keep your MobileMe email, and transfer over your contacts.
Voice Control- I haven’t seen much from voice controls in the iOS. I expected a lot more since Apple partnered with Nuance. I expected the ability to talk to my phone and just say, “Text message- Mom – BRING THE MEAT LOAF- Send”. I see the same voice control that was in the previous iOS. I love the touch screen, but sending texts while driving is very dangerous. I know we shouldn’t be doing it, but it happens. It would be nice to alleviate the temptation if there was a functional voice control feature in the phone.
iOS 5 was a much needed upgrade, but was it all the hype? Some of the features are things that Apple are improving because they didn’t nail it the first time. It could have been a huge leap forward if they just added a few needed features and listened to their own following of fanboys, who were already telling them what they wanted. I consider myself a fanboy, I’m overall impressed with the iOS currently, but there is still a part of me that is screaming to be heard. I’ll be waiting for the first beta update to come out, and hope that some of these features listed above are part of the over 200 improvements to iOS 5.
(About author) Jason is a Virginia local with a passion for technology. A 3 year user of Apple products, and life time geek of chasing the next big electronic.
