Apple: Fix OS X Dashboard by Enabling iOS Apps

Apple news, views and reviews

Apple: Fix OS X Dashboard by Enabling iOS Apps

31 December 2012 1,803 views 3 Comments

Back in the day, Microsoft copied Dashboard and the first iOS apps were based on OS X Dashboard Widgets. However, little has changed since, though…

When Apple delivered Dashboard as part of OS X 10.5 Tiger back in 2006, it made quite a splash. It was such a good idea that Microsoft copied it and, many believe, OS X Dashboard Widgets were the template used to create the first iPhone apps. Over the intervening years, however, little if any new effort has been put into improving Dashboard or Widgets — should Apple kill it or revitalize it?

Although I use OS X Dashboard multiple times a day, the only time most users ever think about it is how to turn Dashboard off to conserve system resources — See also: How To: Disable Dashboard in OS X Mountain Lion. However, at least one Redditor has a question if not a plan for saving OS X Dashboard:

Enable the usage of iOS apps in Dashboard. People can open and arrange iOS apps they’ve purchased or downloaded in the Dashboard. In the early days of iOS, widgets and apps were very similar. For apps that have iPad and iPhone versions, you would be able to pick either. It might end up competing with “Live Tiles” on the Windows 8 side of things — curtquarquesso, Reddit

Does that sound loopy? Perhaps, but it could be a brilliant way to even more closely integrate iOS and OS X, the ultimate Back to Mac move — a sticky layer that’s constant among iCloud, Mac and iThing.

Fundamentally, OS X and iOS share the same underlying codebase, so the concept is at least plausible…

What’s your take?

Related posts:
— How To: Disable Dashboard in OS X Mountain Lion
— OS X Dashboard Widgets: MiniTV 2.0 Works, Delivers BBC, CNN, ABC, More
— MacWall: Browse desktop wallpapers in Dashboard
— OS X Dashboard: Get the Warp Speed Calculator widget
— Get your Mac back: Make Lion Dashboard translucent

3 Comments »

immovableobject said:

Trying to run an iOS app on a cursor based system could be an exercise in frustration. iOS apps assume multitouch input capability and are not designed for cursor control. Even a magic trackpad which supports multitouch, is a relative positioning device still requiring a cursor, not an absolute positioning like a touch screen.

Maybe Apple could solve some of the UI problems, but it might require developers to modify their apps to be aware of when they were being used in a mouse-based context. This is just not a problem worth solving.

# 31 December 2012 at 3:39 pm

Five video looks back at Apple 2012 - FairerPlatform said:

[...] posts: — First iPhone 5 Ad of 2013: Dreams — Apple Innovation: 1993 vs. 2003 — Apple: Fix OS X Dashboard by Enabling iOS Apps — Microsoft Surface vs. iPad: Winning? — 27-inch iMac Benchmarks: Bang for the [...]

# 2 January 2013 at 1:06 pm

Apple's Mac Logo: Still Going Decades On - FairerPlatform said:

[...] Related posts: — Apple Results: Q1 FY13 Earnings Coming Jan 23 — Space Station Song Recorded on iPad — Five video looks back at Apple 2012 — Apple Innovation: 1993 vs. 2003 — Apple: Fix OS X Dashboard by Enabling iOS Apps [...]

# 4 January 2013 at 11:01 am