The killer iOS feature Apple will never add

The killer iOS feature Apple will never add(sachin.posterous.com)

16 points by a4agarwal 13 years ago | 22 comments

jsz0 13 years ago |

Today, no one will choose to use iCloud over Google apps

I do. The only Google service I actually use anymore personally is GMail but that simply forwards to my iCloud account. It's easier and more efficient on battery to just check one mail account. I also ditched Google Calendar / Contacts for iCloud because they work almost exactly the same. Again easier to just use/sync one service IMO. I was never a big Google Docs user to start with but now I use DropBox and native apps. Again I only setup my DropBox once and it's good to go. I can use different (and more powerful) apps as needed. Sometimes Numbers on iOS is fine for quick data entry but for building out a big spreadsheet I'm going to most likely use MS Office on a desktop. I guess you could do this through Google Drive now but I already have DropBox setup so why bother? I use FaceBook/Twitter instead of Google+ which are both first class citizens on iOS/OSX now. FaceBook chat has replaced GTalk just because everyone I know uses it. A lot of this goes back to Google's period where they did a very bad job supporting iOS. The path of least resistance was just to use something else and now I have no need to switch back. From what I've heard their iOS apps have improved greatly but I'm happy with what I'm using.

sbuk 13 years ago | |

So do I. The issue for me is one of trust. I simply do not trust Google with my personal information. It's how they make their money, which is why I don't trust them.

beatgammit 13 years ago | | |

So why do you chose iCloud? It's clearly for lock-in. AFAIK, you can't get iCloud on anything except Apple devices. Sure, iCloud v2 is supposed to work, but it's apparently not the same:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/09/icloud-for-windows-2-0-...

Google Drive, OTOH, works on Windows/Mac OSX/Android/iOS (and probably WP7, Windows 8, Blackberry, etc, but I haven't done my homework). Dropbox is another option.

Personally, I would never use iCloud. It's not because of trust, it's because of portability. What if I have an iPhone, then decide to buy a Samsung phone? I can't use iCloud on that device (AFAIK), so I'd have to transfer everything manually. What if I change from Android to Windows 8? AFAIK, Google Drive will still work.

If you're so bent on trust, then use Dropbox. It's much more portable and they don't really care about your data, just your monthly investment.

ryanpetrich 13 years ago |

Google could do this now across their suite of apps by using iOS's keychain APIs.

eddieroger 13 years ago | |

Yup. Instead of being an Apple problem, it's a Google one. I wonder if users would even notice that they didn't have to log in multiple times, and more worrisome, if that would bother them that they didn't.

jeffehobbs 13 years ago | |

Right, exactly. Google could do this, if they shared a TeamID UUID. What they couldn't do is replace the built in Apple apps (Safari, Mail, Messages), which is a shame. Apple should document the data/API ins and outs of these apps so replacements could work in the same way. Power users should be able to replace Safari with Chrome, etc.

sbuk 13 years ago | | |

Forgive me fo veering off topic, but "power users" is such a horrible notion. It just makes me think of douchey know-it-alls with massively over inflated entitlement glands - especially those that consider themselves to be "power users". Again, apologies, I just really dislike the expression "power user" and I'm seeing it way too much on here lately.

ludflu 13 years ago | |

yup, came here to say this and also - wonder - why haven't they done this already?

a4agarwal 13 years ago | |

Great point. I wonder why they don't. I'm sure it's coming...

hnriot 13 years ago |

The vast majority of users don't care if they use Apple of Google apps most of the time. Even maps which was a big deal among us techies, most of my regular friends couldn't care less which apps they use. And for many, facebook has largely replaced email anyway.

tekgo 13 years ago |

iOS has had the ability to share keychain items between apps from the same developer using 'keychain-access-groups' since iOS3. Google could use a single login for all their iOS apps, but they probably have a host of reasons why they do not.

gte910h 13 years ago |

This is already possible if they have the same Bundle Seed ID.

This feature has been around for either the entirety of or damn near the entirety of iOS programming.

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Genera...

beloch 13 years ago |

Google itself might not want iOS to have this feature. If they can keep their apps sufficiently far ahead of Apple's, power users will use them in spite of the extra hassle. Some of those power users will feel like they're getting a second-rate experience with iOS and might switch to Android. If they could functionally swap native iOS apps out for Google apps such that there's zero hassle to using them, iOS power users would feel like they had the best of both worlds and have zero motivation to switch platforms.

Power users certainly aren't the majority of the market, but they do tend to steer things. There are, of course, many barriers that keep users from switching platforms, but every little bit helps.

defap 13 years ago | |

Some used this same argument to suggest that Google wouldn't want to ship an iOS Google Maps app, and yet, lo and behold, it shipped two weeks ago to great fanfare. To think that Google would not want to participate in an ecosystem as large as iOS because not doing so might drive some small percentage of those users to Android is ridiculous.

chrisringrose 13 years ago |

This isn't an issue of Android being more "open". Google baked-in one-sign in features into Android, sure, just as Apple did with iCloud. But you can't do this for other 3rd party apps on Android. You can't sign in on one app, and continue being signed in on another app (at least not in the way that you complain Apple should allow).

I do like your idea, and agree Apple should allow this. They should also allow changing the default applications, and allow better access to internet APIs, so Mozilla can actually make Firefox for iOS. But that aside, what you're complaining about isn't something Google does either