This post is the penultimate in my list of iOS 10 features I want to see. Seeing this series for the first time? Begin at the beginning.
Attachments
I would like to see file attachments capability in other places than just the email App. For example, I want to send any kind of file I want in iMessage. Why? To take advantage of it’s advanced non-SSL encryption. Which you are at it, offer that encryption as an api to iOS developers to start securing more app communication.
App Store
Now that Apple is talking about Paid Search in the App Store, it seems like they are ready to work on more advanced features.
As much as Apple likes to brag about the number of apps that are available, at this point in the App Store’s history, there are too many apps that just don’t matter anymore. It would be great to filter apps by the last time they were updated in the App Store. Too many developers put an app out there and then abandon it before it is a year old, leading to the terrible clutter of the island of misfit unsupported and abandoned apps. Adding search improvements to filter by date to remove old irrelevant apps from searches can help users find relevant apps more quickly. A search filter for apps that were recently on your device or recently removed would be helpful for when iOS decides that it is going to half update an app and then forgets the app exists the next time you reboot – an unfortunately all too common thing these days. This is not the same thing as sorting by recently installed apps.
How about smarter personalized recommendations? I really don’t have games on my phone, so why do I keep getting recommendations for “the latest super amazing gem match puzzler” or “yet another zombie action game that will leave you occupied for hours” or “the buy our in-game gem purchases trope?” Frankly I think these games are ruined by these gimmicks and I’d rather not have anything to do with them.
It would also be cool if iOS could use Proactive to tell you about apps you have NOT used in some time, like maybe 6 months. I haven’t played Candy Crush in about a year but some weird nostalgia keeps me from removing it. Rather than fall to digital hoarding, I should just realize I need to delete it.
Lastly, let me try an app for just one day before I commit to buy it! There have been a couple of expensive and disappointing app purchases I’ve made lately and I would never have made those purchases had I been able to try out the app. I feel in some sense that this is done purposely to trap me into wasting money.
Game Center
Get rid of that darn Game Center banner that slides down!!! Who likes that thing?? I don’t play many games on my phone. Anything I have installed is usually productivity related so any games do not last long. Still that banner is highly annoying every time it interrupts.
(Continued in the final post, Part 11)
Playing with Sharp Objects. 