Chad Williams

iOS 6 is here and there is a lot to like. As with everything, however, there is room for improvement. I have made a list of features I am hoping for in iOS 7. This is a realistic list. I tried to limit myself to things that I truly believe Apple would do. 

Notification Center iCloud Sync: 

This is a feature I was hoping for in iOS 6 but it did not come. It works with a select few of Apple apps, like Reminders and Messages, but that is about it. Right now, even with Apple apps like Mail, you have to manually tap the little “x” in Notification Center on each device to clear the notifications. Ideally, any Universal app’s notifications in Notification Center would be kept in sync with iCloud. I could just clear out notifications on one device and they would magically disappear from the others. 

Mountain Lion Dock:

Starting with iOS 4, the iOS and OS X docks always matched. They were both 3D with a mirror finish. Just a couple months ago, Mountain Lion was updated and with it came a new dock. I was expecting for iOS 6 to also share this redesigned dock and was disappointed to find that it didn’t. I think the new OS X dock looks better and would love to see it on my Retina iOS devices. 

Improved App Switching:

I do not love iOS’s solution for switching between apps. In iOS, to switch apps quickly, you can double-tap the home button and one row of your most recently used apps slides up. Notice how much of the screen is unused. Apple could completely revamp their fast app switcher by doing something like WebOS’s Cards or OS X’s Mission Control.

Notification Center Widgets for Apps:

Many people have been asking for widgets in Notification Center since iOS 5. iOS 6 added the Share Widget to the Stocks and Weather Widgets. It would be amazing if Apple let developers create companion Widgets for their apps. 

Weather and Stocks for iPad:

I have been upset since iOS 5 that the iPad does not have the Weather or Stocks widgets in Notification Center. I was hoping that the iPad would get them in iOS 6 and was disappointed again. So for a third time, I am getting my hopes up that iOS 7 bring those widgets to the iPad. 

Safari Tab View on iPad:

This is another feature that I hoped would be transferred over from Mountain Lion. I think it would be very useful to have the Safari Tab View on my iPad. 

Safari Smart Search:

Safari 6 for Mountain Lion unified the address bar and the Google search field, just like Google Chrome. I was expecting and hoping to see this carried over to iOS 6. I am not sure why they didn’t change it and I hope they do for iOS 7. 

Scrolling in Folders:

I have always found it frustrating when I make a folder for a category of apps and I cannot fit them all in. I am not asking for Apple to support nesting. I understand that they are trying to get as far away from the traditional file system as possible, and I like that. I do wish, however, that I could scroll inside folders. Folders in their iWork apps support scrolling so I do not think this is an unreasonable thing to hope for. 

Collaborative Shared Photo Streams: 

I love the new shared photo streams in iOS 6. Unfortunately, I was disappointed almost immediately when I realized that they were only one-way. You put photos in a shared photo stream and others subscribe. I like this idea but I think there should be a toggle switch to “Allow Subscribers to Add Photos.”