Pet Hates

[Burbs]

Tube drivers who like the sound of their own voice just a bit too much, and constantly make pointless and lengthy announcements. Why is it always someone with a really annoying tone too?

(Yes I’m sitting on the tube right now and going slowly insane.)

 

[DiogoJ42]

So, a few days in, and has anyone on the planet found a single improvement in iOS26?
I know it's a bit of a meme for Android users to joke "we had that feature five years ago mate" whenever a new iOS drops. But I never thought I'd see the day when my iPad started emulating Windows smegging Vista. (WE'RE GOING TO DIE!")

I already had all that "reduced motion" stuff ticked anyway, so I'm not seeing the worst of it. But whoever signed off on this abomination has clearly never used "dark mode" in their life. (The fact that "dark mode" should be the default on all platforms is a whole other debate). It's like they deliberately made everything as visually obnoxious as possible?

 

[Matt N]

So, a few days in, and has anyone on the planet found a single improvement in iOS26?
I know it's a bit of a meme for Android users to joke "we had that feature five years ago mate" whenever a new iOS drops. But I never thought I'd see the day when my iPad started emulating Windows smegging Vista. (WE'RE GOING TO DIE!")

I already had all that "reduced motion" stuff ticked anyway, so I'm not seeing the worst of it. But whoever signed off on this abomination has clearly never used "dark mode" in their life. (The fact that "dark mode" should be the default on all platforms is a whole other debate). It's like they deliberately made everything as visually obnoxious as possible?

I think the gradual aim is to make iPads more like touchscreen Macs. I haven’t updated to iOS 26 yet myself, but all the tech folks online seem to be raving about it!

Tech pundits seem very fixated on iPads needing to be a computer replacement and needing to operate like a computer, but I’ll admit I don’t quite get this obsession myself. Can’t it complement a computer rather than replace it? If anything, I use my iPad more like how I use my phone, but on a much bigger screen, rather than like how I use a computer. The bigger screen alone makes me use my iPad way more at home than I use my phone!

 

[DiogoJ42]

From what I've heard, this new "liquid glass" faffitude is intended for VR / AR headsets, where having a see through home screen might be a slim advantage.
I just think of all the sci fi examples of transparent floating screens, that seem infinitely impractical.

As I say, I already had must fancy effects turned off, so I've avoided the worst of it. But the fact that in dark mode, the keyboard defaults to "bright mode" until you type is a pretty basic error.

Must be the first time in my life that I look forward to the next iOS update and can't wait to install it ASAP. I guess they get points for novelty?

 

[DanJB]

Downloaded it on Thursday and within 5 minutes was Googling to see if there’s a way to revert to iOS 18. Hate how much of a faff it is to get apps into a split screen view. The reviews I’ve seen all talk about how well it works with a dock, but if I wanted to have to plug my iPad in to a keyboard to use it properly I’d have bought a bloody laptop

 

[Matt N]

Oh, please don’t say they’ve messed up Split Screen!

One of the things I love about my iPad compared to my phone is that Split Screen makes it really easy to have two pages open in tandem, if need be; you just drag the icon from out of your bottom bar, and it opens in a nice window at the side! If I’m doing something like writing a trip report, I find Split Screen really useful, particularly now I have a 13” iPad!