Any reason why Apple's mobile products don't support drag and drop?

[Mopetar]

I've noticed that several iPad owners (who bought their iPads specifically for this purpose) have gone back to using hard copy merely because transferring the PDFs to their iPads was too much of a PITA.

I've never really had a problem with this. If you want to add them from your computer, you'll need to use iTunes (or if you jailbreak some other program to sync them). Otherwise, if you open a PDF file on the web, you can just download it to the device.

The biggest PITA is just having to use iTunes, which has entirely too much other bloat for a syncing program. Really, Apple should separate iTunes into different programs. One is the content store, one is the media player, and the other is the syncing program.

The sync program should also allow a dropbox like feature where you can specify a folder and have any content in it synced to the iDevice, and allow the ability for this to occur wirelessly.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Couldn't disagree more. As someone with extensive knowledge in this area, the only version you cannot jailbreak currently is the latest update 6.1.3 which didn't do anything except break the jailbreak.

That is exactly why it is a HUGE pain to deal with Jailbreak and iOS.

You have to be paying attention and update and re-jailbreak your devices when a "window opens" aka the current version in iTunes can be jailbroken. Because once they release that firmware that breaks Jailbreak, you are hosed until another window opens because they purposefully don't let you install old firmware on your iDevices.

Comparing that to Android where once I get root access (the closest equivalent) I can use OTA Rootkeeper to make it so that even after I update (and even if that update has the old exploit patched) I can still re-root the devices using my root backup.

If the iOS Jailbreaking community ever gets that far then the problems with updating go away, but until then its a pain in the ass.

 

[mosco]

How is MX clunky? Almost everything is on screen gestures. I WISH I had something like that on the iPad!

I find loading and switching videos takes too long. Maybe my use case is different, because I mainly use these apps on the subway and I am playing back videos that I recorded with windows media center. So that means that I am not always in a stable position, and I have to do a lot of seeking past commercials, but I find no player works as quickly and steadily as hardware decoding on iOS.

Once my work HTC One comes in, I am going to switch to it for a couple weeks while i get ready for Google i/o and maybe MXPlayer will be more responsive. I wasn't impressed with it on the Nexus 7 or Nexus 4. I haven't tried it on the Note 2 yet.

 

[mosco]

That is exactly why it is a HUGE pain to deal with Jailbreak and iOS.

You have to be paying attention and update and re-jailbreak your devices when a "window opens" aka the current version in iTunes can be jailbroken. Because once they release that firmware that breaks Jailbreak, you are hosed until another window opens because they purposefully don't let you install old firmware on your iDevices.

Comparing that to Android where once I get root access (the closest equivalent) I can use OTA Rootkeeper to make it so that even after I update (and even if that update has the old exploit patched) I can still re-root the devices using my root backup.

If the iOS Jailbreaking community ever gets that far then the problems with updating go away, but until then its a pain in the ass.

Jailbreaking is a pain, but it isn't needed at all to help the OP.

 

[HeXen]

Jailbreaking sucks imo, bunch of crappy games and apps, I ended up reverting it, 1000's of generic crap that joe blow created from what i've seen, hard to say which ones are probably malware of some sort. I just use Any DVD converter and convert any video I want into Ipad compatable format and it's simple as that. I have a ton of e-mags I downloaded and those work just fine on their own with Ibooks.
I got Zinio for magazine subscriptions, plenty of streaming apps for internet TV, I have Netflix too...so no media problems whatsoever.

You can also get Splashtop and remote connect to your PC if you wanted to. It's literally using your desktop on an Ipad which takes some getting used to but you of course have access to whatever is on your PC, can even play games cause Splashtop has some kind of input to touch method, would work well for some games.
Another alternative to get a cloudbox (NAS) and stream content from that.

 

[Zaap]

I've never really had a problem with this. If you want to add them from your computer, you'll need to use iTunes (or if you jailbreak some other program to sync them). Otherwise, if you open a PDF file on the web, you can just download it to the device.

For me it wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm talking about people that found it too much a hassle. (Although I don't think I could stand it if I couldn't easily use the PDF app of my choice on an iPad). Clearly, these are work files on a computer, and also files that tend to get revised a lot and so have to be swapped out multiple times per day. I can see where people that loathe iTunes even more than I do would opt out of having to be so dependent on it.

 

[Zaap]

Most android media players use the SeekBar class for example as their progress bar. The performance of this class is generally pretty awful and I don't find it very responsive. This is one example of where I find the experience better.

I don't really know what this means. Maybe it's your device or how the videos were ripped/converted? Playing videos is not in any way unresponsive on any of my devices, using any of my preferred video apps. (MX Player, DicePlayer mainly.)

 

[Bateluer]

Because they want you to use iTunes. And they're Apple and know how you should be using your devices.

 

[kyrax12]

This is one of the issues why I am switching back to Android.

Freaking insane.

 

[QueBert]

Why doesn't Google offer a program similar to iTunes? (it goes both ways here...)

 

[thunng8]

I currently use GSPlayer but there are a lot of different options. Unfortunately, Dolby has gone after apps that don't license AC3 audio support recently, so there is only one app CineXPlayer that supports it currently. I am hoping Dolby don't try and pull the same thing with the google store.

There are actually quite a few apps that support Dolby, not just CineXPlayer.

Example of a very good app is: nplayer

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/id539397400?mt=8

Full hardware decoding of h264 encoded file including files in mkv (all 1080p files play perfectly and doesn't drain the battery.), fast wifi file transfer, and support of SMB, WebDav, FTP and DLNA.

Olny limitation at the moment is DTS audio is not supported which is not as common as AC3/Dolby.

 

[ControlD]

Why doesn't Google offer a program similar to iTunes? (it goes both ways here...)

Why should they? It isn't necessary. You can use whatever media management software you wish or just a simple file manager.

I echo what has been said already. If you know you want to do things that require a jailbreak, just forget it and get something Android instead. It takes longer and longer for each jailbreak to be released these days and it's always a PITA to update. There are tons of great JB apps out there but the hassle just seems silly when there is another option that works out of the box.

 

[MrX8503]

Download video player of your choice. I like OPlayer but there are literally dozens in the App Store.

Install iTunes on your computer. Sorry, you'll have to deal with it.

Connect iPad to computer, fire up iTunes.

Don't Sync the iPad to the computer. Just connect it so the iPad shows up. You can click on it in the top right of iTunes to get to it.

Click the 'Apps' tab at the top. Choose your video player in the apps list on the left at the 'file sharing' section. Drag and drop your videos to the Documents list.

Disconnect iPad. Keep in mind, however, that the Apps can't use hardware decoding on the videos. So things should still be in an iPad-friendly encoding. But I've done an up to 5Mbps 720p MKV without any problems.

Best solution.

 

[Nothinman]

Why doesn't Google offer a program similar to iTunes? (it goes both ways here...)

I've thought about that too and while I think there's a use case for things like full device backups, upgrades, etc there's no need for much else because you can manage all of your media with the USB storage or MTP support, apps via the Play website, etc. Google specifically sought to make a device that didn't need a behemoth app like iTunes and they've done an excellent job.

 

[Zaap]

I echo what has been said already. If you know you want to do things that require a jailbreak, just forget it and get something Android instead. It takes longer and longer for each jailbreak to be released these days and it's always a PITA to update. There are tons of great JB apps out there but the hassle just seems silly when there is another option that works out of the box.

Just the term 'jailbreak' speaks volumes. I don't get Apple's insistence on keeping the user imprisoned rather than just let people use their devices to their full potential. I don't mean just allowing every possible app on the app store, or UI hacks that might slow performance, but basic function like file system access, global app choice for file types, drag and drop file management etc. Leave iTunes just for media management. Even those stuck in their 'ecosystem' cells couldn't have much to complain about while millions of others could consider sticking with or switching to iOS.

 

[Red Storm]

I've thought about that too and while I think there's a use case for things like full device backups, upgrades, etc there's no need for much else because you can manage all of your media with the USB storage or MTP support, apps via the Play website, etc. Google specifically sought to make a device that didn't need a behemoth app like iTunes and they've done an excellent job.

Yeah they don't tie you down to a specific computer. I can hop on any computer and manage my device with ease, even completely wireless thanks to various apps.

My wife plugs her iPhone into my laptop and suddenly the ID changes so she ended up calling me asking why she couldn't download apps and why it was asking for my password and not hers. I had no idea why it was doing that and had to go research it and figure it out at night when we both were home. Apparently it automatically changes the Apple ID from hers to mine when she plugs it in, even though the device was setup with her account...

 

[poofyhairguy]

Best solution.

Really? No hardware decoder sounds like it sucks. No DTS sucks too for the other option (a TON of my movie mkvs have DTS tracks).

What blows my mind is that the XBMC on my wife's iPad 2 can play almost everything in my huge library. DTS, Dolby, high bitrates, odd encodes. Its terrible anything in the walled garden is so much worse on the same hardware.

Honestly if I wasn't going to Jailbreak an iPad, I would just use Air Video for everything and let a computer convert to Apple's level of approval on the fly.

 

[AMDZen]

Why should they? It isn't necessary. You can use whatever media management software you wish or just a simple file manager.

I echo what has been said already. If you know you want to do things that require a jailbreak, just forget it and get something Android instead. It takes longer and longer for each jailbreak to be released these days and it's always a PITA to update. There are tons of great JB apps out there but the hassle just seems silly when there is another option that works out of the box.

Man all you anti-apple people have3 no idea what you are talking about. Now I remember why I hate Phandroid's so much. Jailbreaking is just as easy as rooting your device if not easier. I doubt you've ever jailbroken a device in your life and have zero experience with it.

Just the term 'jailbreak' speaks volumes. I don't get Apple's insistence on keeping the user imprisoned rather than just let people use their devices to their full potential. I don't mean just allowing every possible app on the app store, or UI hacks that might slow performance, but basic function like file system access, global app choice for file types, drag and drop file management etc. Leave iTunes just for media management. Even those stuck in their 'ecosystem' cells couldn't have much to complain about while millions of others could consider sticking with or switching to iOS.

And android doesn't allow you to do everything you want to do without rooting it. It goes both ways.

Nobody in the Jailbreak community uses iTunes or has any of the issues you're talking about. There is twice the amount of development time in the iOS community as there is in the Android community and there are several things I can do on my iOS device that I can't do on Android so get over yourselves.

 

[Red Storm]

Man all you anti-apple people have3 no idea what you are talking about. Now I remember why I hate Phandroid's so much. Jailbreaking is just as easy as rooting your device if not easier. I doubt you've ever jailbroken a device in your life and have zero experience with it.

Device management doesn't require root. I have yet to root my Note 2 since I first got it and have no intention of doing so, because it isn't a requirement on Android.

 

[ControlD]

Man all you anti-apple people have3 no idea what you are talking about. Now I remember why I hate Phandroid's so much. Jailbreaking is just as easy as rooting your device if not easier. I doubt you've ever jailbroken a device in your life and have zero experience with it.

Well, you would be flat-out wrong then. My phone is a 4S, my tablet is an iPad 3 and our "family" tablet is a iPad 1. My laptop is a MacBook Pro. If that qualifies me as an "anti-Apple" person then so be it. For the record, my phone is jailbroken and has been since the day the first iOS5 jailbreak was released. My iPad 1 has been jailbroken since the day I bought it. My iPod Touch 2G has been jailbroken since the day I bought it. I would guess I have been into the JB scene long enough to know the ins and outs of it.

Jailbreaking is easy. It is also a PITA. I don't like having to wipe my device for major iOS updates. Maybe for you it isn't a big deal but to me it sucks. It also requires waiting for months at a time to update to the latest iOS version while waiting for a JB to be released. Then you have to make sure every minor bug fix release isn't going to remove the jailbreak. It is a hassle.

 

[AMDZen]

12

 

[AMDZen]

Device management doesn't require root. I have yet to root my Note 2 since I first got it and have no intention of doing so, because it isn't a requirement on Android.

It is to do the things I want to do with it and thus I say it is. Just like jailbreaking is an absolute requirement on any iOS device I have owned or ever will own.

Its not required for you, just like jailbreaking is required for your wife on her iPhone or for millions of other lay-person's on their devices.

Well, you would be flat-out wrong then. My phone is a 4S, my tablet is an iPad 3 and our "family" tablet is a iPad 1. My laptop is a MacBook Pro. If that qualifies me as an "anti-Apple" person then so be it. For the record, my phone is jailbroken and has been since the day the first iOS5 jailbreak was released. My iPad 1 has been jailbroken since the day I bought it. My iPod Touch 2G has been jailbroken since the day I bought it. I would guess I have been into the JB scene long enough to know the ins and outs of it.

Jailbreaking is easy. It is also a PITA. I don't like having to wipe my device for major iOS updates. Maybe for you it isn't a big deal but to me it sucks.

Prove it. Post a screen shot of cydia or something with your user name as the carrier in the top left corner or something like that.

 

[Red Storm]

It is to do the things I want to do with it and thus I say it is. Just like jailbreaking is an absolute requirement on any iOS device I have owned or ever will own.

Its not required for you, just like jailbreaking is required for your wife on her iPhone or for millions of other lay-person's on their devices.

This thread is about simple drag and drop and device management in general, which does not require root to accomplish. I consider it a requirement to have these super basic features but I have no desire to deal with rooting/jailbreaking.

 

[ControlD]

Prove it. Post a screen shot of cydia or something with your user name as the carrier in the top left corner or something like that.

 

[AMDZen]

Well there you go