Author: Munro Stewart

I still think that the app switcher in iOS should show icons instead of screenshots, and either have a scrolling horizontal list of icons or a scrolling vertical list with icons to the left of the full app names, instead of displaying one screenshot at a time.

I wish there was a setting to automatically sync between 2 iOS devices which apps I have installed and their location on the home screens.

It sounds like Google has aquired much of HTC's hardware team and some non-exclusive IP in their latest 1+ billion deal. But I also read that HTC will likely continue on with a new phone separately, using the HTC brand name. So this might mean that Google isn't going to use the HTC name for a product, and may not have acquired the rights to the brand name. This makes sense, as they have now branded their smartphone and some other hardware products as "Pixel". Before that, they had used the "Nexus" brand name for many products.

Back in 2012, it sounded like Google did a similar but slightly different type of acquisition with Motorola. That deal was worth 12+ billion, and they acquired the hardware team and IP. But I believe they also acquired the brand name, and the entire Motorola company, in that much bigger deal. However, they haven't kept the brand name, and did not use it on many products. I believe Lenovo later bought the rights to the Moto and Motorola brand names along with some other assets in a deal with Google.

Missed Opportunity

I find it interesting that Google ended up not using the Motorola brand name, and selling the brand name to Lenovo. And with this smaller HTC deal, it sounds like they again won't be using the brand name in their large purchase of a fairly prominent hardware company's assets. Just like Moto, HTC is a hardware brand that has actually been around for a very long time, going back to Microsoft's Pocket PC mobile OS.

I wonder if Google missed an opportunity when making their decisions to buy HTC and Motorola. HTC may not be a strong enough brand name. But Motorola, and their nickname brand Moto, were and are very strong brand names. So much so, that Lenovo purchased Motorola and its name from Google. And they even decided to keep the brand name and ditched its own brand name for the Moto phones. It sounded like they originally thought they would go with "Moto by Lenovo", and even decided against that to just use Moto by itself as the brand name for Moto branded phones.

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From a user perspective I think that any audio, music, or radio apps or websites like Play Music or Spotify should not have any video ads, only audio ads.

I wonder if Microsoft should rename Windows 10 S in the future to just Windows 10, and Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Plus. Have Windows 10, Windows 10 Plus, and Windows 10 Pro.

For consistency, I think the iPad app folders should only have 4 apps across in landscape mode too.

At iOS 10 I still think that switching from folders with 16 apps and 4 columns to folders with 9 apps and 3 columns in iOS 7 was one of the worst UX and design decisions ever on iOS.

I like that Twitter now allows Direct Messages, but I wonder if a shorter limit would be better. I suggest limiting them to either 1000 or 1500 characters.

Apple should allow you to sync all iOS settings between two iOS devices, including the apps and their order on home screens.

Update - April 20th, 2017

We have more rumors and real analyst articles which show that my idea of the iPhone 8 having a flexible screen wrap around the sides isn't likely at all. Not surprising of course, and the first rumor to really disprove my crazy theory came just a few days after I wrote this article. For people who are interested in finding out what features will be in the "iPhone 8", don't bother reading this article. For people interested in hardware design or possible form factors for future iPhones or other mobile phones, you might still be interested in reading this. I talk about how future phones and mobile devices could have flexible screens that wrap around the side, as well as a couple of the uses this design would have.

• Apple's 'iPhone 8' to replace Touch ID home button with 'function area,' start at $1,000 - Feb 15, 2017
• Alleged 'iPhone 8' diagrams show display dimensions, sensor array - Apr 17, 2017

Original Article

First of all, to get up to speed on some of the possible rumors, here is a quick overview by AppleInsider, which they have been using in their articles about the next big redesign of the iPhone. For instance, this quick overview is included in their last rumor I read today, Apple's 'iPhone 8' again rumored to feature reinforced glass back, stainless steel frame

• Sept. 2017 launch
• Screen sized 5.1"-5.2"
• Edge-to-edge OLED
• Curved glass back, screen
• Dual-lens camera
• 10nm "A11" processor
• Wireless charging
• Touch ID, FaceTime camera, speaker embedded in screen

AppleInsider and many others have also noted various times about 5.8" OLEDs being produced for the next iPhone. And that maybe the actual size of the screen will end up being a usable 5.1" even though the OLED screens being manufactured are 5.8" in size. One possibility might be that they are getting larger sized screens produced, but they will be cut down to a lower 5.1"-5.2". Another is that with a rounded screen, extra length is added to the actual screen size, 5.8", to make the usable screen size appear over a smaller real life dimension, 5.1". A third option would be that there will eventually be two different sizes, both a 5.1-5.2" device, and later or the following year a Plus sized 5.8-5.9" device.

However, one guess that I have is for something a bit different, which I don't think has been noted or suggested in most of the rumors.

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It seems like TechMeme used to have many more stories on products, services, and software instead of so many stories on businesses, people, and money.