“Apple may not have targeted the enterprise directly yet with the iPhone and iPad, but for some time, enterprise users have nonetheless chosen Apple products to use at wo,” Zack Whittaker writes for ZDNet.
“It’s therefore in the Cupertino, California-based technology giant’s best interests to start catering for the needs of those in business, particularly if it can ultimately add to the company’s bottom line,” Whittaker writes. “With the expected release of Apple’s next iteration of its mobile platform, iOS 7, later this year, what can we hope to expect to appease the burgeoning number of enterprise users?”
Whittaker writes, “Here are 15 suggestions that would bolster Apple’s relationship with its enterprise customers.”
• A physical divide between ‘personal’ and ‘work’
• Better email management
• Quick access to core system features, like wi-fi and VPN
• Automatic app updates
• Custom domain search in Spotlight
• Unread item count on lock screen
• Location-aware sound profiles
• Location-aware wi-fi networking
• ‘Guest mode’ for BYOD users
• AirDrop for simple file-sharing functionality
• Longer PIN code for enhanced security
• Set default apps
• iPad multitasking
• Uninstall native, unnecessary apps
• Offline maps
Each of the fifteen bullet points above discussed in the full article here.
Instead of “Uninstall native, unnecessary apps” – make native apps necessary, cool and competitive.
You’re missing the point. Some apps will never be necessary to certain users regardless of how good they are.
Additionally, it’s impossible to make one app fits all. This is why so many people want to be able to set default apps.
I use both the Dolphin web browser and the iCab web browser on iOS. I understand exactly why Apple makes Safari the default browser. But if there was a hack to let me change to another browser, I’d use it.
There is if you jailbreak.
Android let’s YOU pick default apps and install de-install whatever YOU want
I had to buy an Android device for development work and testing. I have a Nexus 7. I hate it as compared to my iPad mini or iPad 4.
Android is a total friggin’ mess, even if it does allow for some things that I wish Apple did.
Yeah, but the ‘Walled Garden’ is so much more lush and beautiful than the open Open OPEN malware and crapware rat hole that is available with jailbreaking. It’s a question of benefits for me.
I’d say hack away if you want to. But as I’ve said here at MDN endlessly: You have all the responsibility for the choices you make. Know what you’re doing before you hack and don’t expect sympathy, don’t expect Apple’s help, if your experiment FAILs. It’s an extremely basis message, relevant to the fundamental aspects of being alive.
And who’s going to decide which apps are ‘cool’, and ‘necessary’?
You? As far as I’m concerned, Stocks, Weather, Passbook and Game Center are redundant, to others, they may be essential. It’s me who decides what is essential to me, nobody else.
Agreed, but is being able to use my text shortcuts in the Maps app too much to ask for?
Not sure if my definition of “guest mode” is the same as his, but it would be great if I could had my iPhone or iPad to my kids so they could play games and not have access to my personal files or e-mail.
Already a solution, its a little painful to set up.
settings/restrictions/on
pick what you wish to allow or not but once set, on or off is fast to do… let your kids play.
Settings / General / Restrictions — choose ON
What is your definition of painful. Thats one of the easiest features to use.
I’ve just tried the Restrictions. Problem is once set when turned off they are reset and you have to do them all again when turned back on. At least that’s what I found.
what’s with all this sharing of expensive work related fragile glass hand computers with snotty nosed rug rats? my kids NEVER ask to PLAY with my gadgets.
Dad’s stuff is Dad’s stuff! Oversharing has really gotten out of hand these days.
I’d no sooner let my kids handle the device I practically run the family with than I would expect a sheriff to let his kids play with his gun.
forget guest mode, let’s have real user accounts on the ipad.
I think the author is rehashing a old he wrote about buying a Dell.
Print to pdf
+1
nice idea
Yes!!!
Most of that list is only useful in his mind.. of the 15 items, perhaps 5 are worth a flip and a couple just dumb.. I wouldn’t want auto app updates ever, Location aware sound profiles, maybe I am missing the point, but why? The others could be debated to some degree, and only a handful are useful.
“Location aware sound profiles, maybe I am missing the point, but why?”
I would use this. At home, I’m often putting my iPhone down on surfaces where I can’t here it vibrate, and miss calls. On the other hand, when I’m in public, I can’t stand having it disturb others with any ringtone. So I’d set it to vibrate outside of home and as a ringtone at home.
App updating I wouldn’t use either but I would set it to on for my girlfriend.
My wish list:
– Consistent stock apps across devices (add Weather, Stocks, and Voice Memos to iPads)
– Consistent icons across devices (why a different Clock icon for different devices?)
– Ability to create, edit, and send from groups (distro lists) in Mail
– Fold Podcasts back into the Music app, nuke the Podcasts app (or a *dramatic* redesign of the Podcasts app)
– Add an actual file system or build Dropbox in at the system level. Or just buy Dropbox and be done with it. (These will never happen, but I can dream; I’m tired of having to open things in different apps and pass them off).
Totally ludicrous that I can transfer my pics via Dropbox but not through my own home wifi network (am I missing something?) even though I can print seamlessly through wifi with no set up which broke sometime ago on my Mac and I gave up trying to sort.
Airdrop would be the single biggest improvement for me for files sharing generally. Embarrassing that in 6 versions this simple functionality doesn’t exist natively between my Mac and iPad its like there is a wall between them.
Another improvement would be an improved user interface/multitasking convention whereby one doesn’t have to go clunkily alternative between apps, mail/iphoto in particular, or through laborious pop up menus to transfer things when its crying out for simple drag and drop. I visualised a ‘swipe to reveal’ function years ago to reveal other apps for transfer which now seems to be an integral aspect of RIM 10.
The other things are a decent screenshot capability which I find vital for my work/purchasing requirements and a more sophisticated way of grouping similar apps which is the one thing that I like about Win 8 and looks a little cheap add on in iOS.
the longer PIN code is possible now, just turn simple passcode OFF.
very good – thx – lawrence is right
Uh, yeah. Been using a whopping long ‘PIN’ for years on iOS.
– Print to network printers instead of restricting printing to the limited list of AirPrint machines.
– Access, control, and stream everything from your Mac- especially useful on iPads.
Reverse Airplay would be cool, but print to network printers would be a problem. This issue is that drivers would need to be developed for iOS for each printer.
Instead of doing that, Apple developed AirPrint, and said to the vendors, “Here, this is the standard. Be compatible with this spec and half a billion mobile devices will be able to use your printers”.
THere is a way around all of this by sharing through your main computer to your apple device.
Sure, but that’s an unnecessary difficulty. iOS needs to treat printers on the network as printers so users don’t have to go through the extra work and rigmarole.
And I get that, but at the same time there just aren’t that many AirPrint-compatible printers in the wild, especially in a corporate office.
there just aren’t that many AirPrint-compatible printers in the wild…
That’s kind of an exaggeration. Go here and read:
What Printers Are AirPrint Compatible?
http://ipod.about.com/od/usingios4/f/Airprint-Compatible-Printers.htm
I count from this 2012-11-30 list:
Brother = 41 AirPrint printers
Canon = 96 AirPrint printers
Dell = 4 AirPrint printers
EPSON = 81 AirPrint printers
Gestetner = 11 AirPrint printers
Hewlett-Packard = 59 AirPrint printers
Infotec = 6 AirPrint printers
Lanier = 6 AirPrint printers
Lenovo = 2 AirPrint printers
Lexmark = who cares, skipped
RICOH = 12 AirPrint printers
ShameDung = 11 AirPrint printers
Savin = 6 AirPrint printers
Here is another list with even HIGHER numbers:
http://ipadinsight.com/ipad-accessories/airprint-supported-printers-list-twice-as-many-printers-as-6-months-ago/
Then there are the helper utility apps that access Mac Printer Sharing, if that’s amenable:
AirPrint Activator
Printopia
On both Windows and Mac, there is a helper utility app called:
FingerPrint
IOW: Research is a wonderful thing! It let’s you know what you’re talking about!
Look into one of these and use it with almost ANY printer: Lantronix xPrintServer Home Edition for iOS Printing – XPS1002HM-01-S
…USER ACCOUNTS
So my kids can use my iPad/iPhone without having access to my email/work stuff.
Make Apple Maps work, still got huge accuracy problems.
Settings / General / Restrictions — choose ON
“Hide” and “Show” seldom used Apps!
put all apps rarely used in a folder.
And move that folder to the last screen on your device.
Automatic updates please.
I mean I love entering my password and all, but come on …
specially since you wanted them or paid for them yes.
No thanks to auto updates. I like to see that an update, whether to iOS or to apps, is stable before I update.
Plus, I don’t want my iPhone auto-updating at a time I may need to use it.
“I love entering my password…”
Why do you need that? For updates you don’t have to enter a password. If you delete an app then updates no longer appear for that app.
• A physical divide between ‘personal’ and ‘work’
– not sure what he means or why its a electronic device use a wall
• Better email management
– best email management out there
• Quick access to core system features, like wi-fi and VPN
– general/accessiblity/assistivetouch/on
• Automatic app updates
– i like being notified
• Custom domain search in Spotlight
– no biggie
• Unread item count on lock screen
– easily done
• Location-aware sound profiles
– haha ok no biggie
• Location-aware wi-fi networking
– mine device does, remembers all the wifi i ever used
• ’Guest mode’ for BYOD users
– general/restrictions/on
• AirDrop for simple file-sharing functionality
– yes yes yes please nice feature
• Longer PIN code for enhanced security
– agreed
• Set default apps
– yes removable if not needed
• iPad multitasking
– i like apples multitasking solution saves battery life dont need to think about anything
• Uninstall native, unnecessary apps
– same as set default apps to me
• Offline maps
– offline siri too
If you turn on wireless mode through iTunes you can send files back and forth from itunes and your iphone/ipad wirelessly and its pretty easy to do
• A physical divide between ‘personal’ and ‘work’
That’s one of BB10’s new features all the techies are praising.
Longer PIN code for enhanced security <<< Already Has This.
iPad multitasking <<< Already Has This.
I have the feeling this guy has never used an iPad or iPhone, except for poking at one in an Apple Store. 😀
The longer PIN is there (although different from what he suggests). For the multitasking take a look at exactly what he’s saying. He wants to be able to have 2 apps in two windows displayed at the same time.
Sounds like this guy wants a lot of Winblows features….FAIL
Being able to close all open apps with one touch instead of one by one.
Why do you need to “close” apps? Switch out of them and they go into a sleep mode.
Please make updates just work. No more password nagging, and that stupid terms and conditions.
Please disrupt that.
How about allowing remote profiles to hide unneeded icons? Allowing different local profiles? Quick settings switch widgets? Allowing individual apps to operate in different time zones (and not just the calendar)?
And better bloody multitasking! For example, I’m halfway through entering account details in an app and I can’t remember the password, so I flick across to my email, copy the password, go back to the app and I have to begin the entire login/signup process again. Android handles this a lot better – with the frozen state of the app remembered with partial inputs in place.
I’d like to see unlimited icons allowed in folders. One of the main reasons why I jailbreak is to avoid having folders labeled “Games 1”, “Games 2”, “Games 3” and having the kids constantly ask which folder a game is in.
Tell the kids to search for the game they want on the search page (swipe right when on the Home screen). Then they can find their own stuff.
Yes, I know about Spotlight. As a matter of fact, before I jailbreak sometimes I don’t even bother with the Springboard or organizing it at all and everything goes through Spotlight.
However, that’s very tedious and doesn’t work when you may not know the name of what it is you’re looking for, but know the icon, or would recognize the name when you see it.
The bottom line though is that the folder item limit is idiotic.
Its a Phone – needs a ‘do not take calls from’ list so you can stop certain calls.
You can already block native applications using an MDM.
http://www.apple.com/ipad/business/it-center/deployment-mdm.html
Mobile Device Management in iOS
Mobile Device Management (MDM) gives businesses the ability to manage large scale deployments of iPhone and iPad.
These capabilities in iOS give IT departments the ability to securely enroll devices in an enterprise environment, wirelessly configure and update settings, monitor compliance with corporate policies, and remotely wipe or lock managed devices. . . .
Download the Mobile Device Management overview:
Click to access iOS_6_MDM_Sep12.pdf
Isn’t research great! It lets you know what you’re talking about. 😉
How about? While in the Mail app, the ability to attach other files like, PDFs and documents from other apps.
How about… Deployment, app and license management tools?
1) PUSH apps centrally over the cloud to thousands of devices. (Can currently can push profiles via MDM but not apps).
2) Get rid of Volume Purchase Plan (VPP) and the hundreds of Apple ID’s that you have to keep track of. VPP and Apple ID’s are a nightmare…
Ability to set up multiple user accounts on each iPhone / iPad.
Only 4 of our 10 staff require use of an iPhone on any given day however as roles rotate, each staff member needs access to an iPhone at least a few times a months.
AHEM:
About iPhone Configuration Utility for Mac OS X
iPhone Configuration Utility lets you easily create, maintain, encrypt, and install configuration profiles, track and install provisioning profiles and authorized applications, and capture device information including console logs.
Configuration profiles are XML files that contain device security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates that permit iPhone and iPod touch to work with your enterprise systems.
iPhone Configuration Utility for Windows can be downloaded here: iPhone Configuration Utility for Windows.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1466?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
For information on how to integrate iOS devices with your enterprise systems, visit http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/
IOW: Apple already has a head start on this list of 15. Encouraging more is a great idea.