03:20
htc
Apple iOS 4.3 debuted days before the release of the long-awaited iPad 2 ($499-$829, 4.5 stars), bringing with it a number of relatively small but welcome changes. AirPlay now lets you stream media from an iPad to Apple TV, Safari boasts speed improvements, there are new ways to use the orientation lock, and Home Sharing makes the leap to the tablet. This free update still doesn't offer flash support, but Apple iOS 4.3 operating system remains the tablet OS champ, besting the Motorola Xoom's ($599-$799, 3.5 stars) Honeycomb OS in terms of overall usability.
Setup and Interface
Installing iOS 4.3 is as simple as plugging your iPad into a Mac or PC, launching iTunes (Free, 4 stars), confirming that you want to download the update, and then syncing it to the tablet. The entire process took about 10 minutes over my wired home network.
On the surface, iOS 4.3 looks very similar to iOS 4.2. It features Apple's simple, yet elegant app grid and, of course, the same impressive ease of use. Overall, the updated iPad OS is superior to the Honeycomb Android operating system found on the Motorola Xoom, due to a better all-around OS polish and app catalog. Still, it can pick up a few lessons from its rival, namely how it handles notifications, multitasking, and search.
There are more subtle visual changes, too. Apple has apparently addressed the user backlash that occurred when it changed the rotation lock switch to a mute switch in iOS 4.2. You can now choose your preferred usage within Settings, a nice correction to the former problem.
Search
Clicking the Home button launches the Spotlight search bar that lets you quickly find apps, e-mail, or other files that live on your iPad. You can also search the Web and Wikipedia, which launches the Safari Web browser and takes you to either a Google or Wikipedia search result when you enter a query. You can tailor which items you want Spotlight to scour (Contacts, Applications, Music, Podcasts, Videos, Audiobooks, Notes, Mail, Events), but there isn't a way to change the default Web search engine from Google to Bing, Yahoo!, or any other engine. Honeycomb, as implemented on the Xoom, provides superior search by giving you live search results from your iPad and the Web.
Lack of Flash Support
The iPad still doesn't support Flash video, but as more sites have converted to HTML 5 it's become less of an issue. I was able to enjoy video from CNN, College Humor, and Vimeo. In my tests, CBS and NBC proved to be the rare mainstream site that gave the iPad trouble, and that was only partially so. Short clips played back fine, but full episodes where met with text that stated that video playback wasn't supported on the device. The same happened at ABC, but I was at least told to download the ABC Player app if I want to view full episodes. You can, however, view Hulu video by downloading the Hulu Plus ($7.99/month, 3.5 stars) app.
Multitasking
Multitasking was one of the most eagerly awaited features in iOS 4.2, an addition that gives the iPad a more computer-like feel by letting you run multiple applications at once. It remains unchanged in 4.3. We tested the iPad's ability to do more than one thing at once by launching an e-book, Winnie the Pooh (which came free with iBooks) and the Life Magazine app. After reading Pooh's first two pages, I decided to leave the app and check out Life photos. When I was done looking at photos of JFK, I returned to Winnie the Pooh to find the app opened to the page where I had left off—excellent. The multi-tasking really made me smile when I fired up Slacker Radio's (Free, 4.5 stars) app and listened to a custom station while reading about Christopher Robin's adventures.
Courtesy of iOS 4.2, double-tapping the Home button ghosts the iPad's dock (by adding translucent effects), moves it slightly upward, and reveals a second row of icons. These icons represent all the apps that are currently active and running in the background. I could swipe left and right through Safari, Life, Maps, App Store, Maxim HD, and other items that were. From this dock, you can kill any one of these apps by simply pressing and holding an icon, and tapping the minus sign that appears. I really liked that I could swap between these open apps by double tapping the Home button and tapping another icon (which produces a Cover Flow-like app-switching visual).
The Xoom's take on the Honeycomb OS serves up a Multitasking button. By tapping it, every app or Web site that's currently open appears in a vertical, scrollable slideshow of windows that also shows —what it's doing. This is superior to iOS 4.3, which just shows you icons for the apps you have open. In addition, Honeycomb has an excellent notification system that pings you no matter which app you're in; iOS 4.3, for the most part, demands that you return to the homescreen to see notifications (such as a new e-mail), which is counterintuitive.
Setup and Interface
Installing iOS 4.3 is as simple as plugging your iPad into a Mac or PC, launching iTunes (Free, 4 stars), confirming that you want to download the update, and then syncing it to the tablet. The entire process took about 10 minutes over my wired home network.
On the surface, iOS 4.3 looks very similar to iOS 4.2. It features Apple's simple, yet elegant app grid and, of course, the same impressive ease of use. Overall, the updated iPad OS is superior to the Honeycomb Android operating system found on the Motorola Xoom, due to a better all-around OS polish and app catalog. Still, it can pick up a few lessons from its rival, namely how it handles notifications, multitasking, and search.
There are more subtle visual changes, too. Apple has apparently addressed the user backlash that occurred when it changed the rotation lock switch to a mute switch in iOS 4.2. You can now choose your preferred usage within Settings, a nice correction to the former problem.
Search
Clicking the Home button launches the Spotlight search bar that lets you quickly find apps, e-mail, or other files that live on your iPad. You can also search the Web and Wikipedia, which launches the Safari Web browser and takes you to either a Google or Wikipedia search result when you enter a query. You can tailor which items you want Spotlight to scour (Contacts, Applications, Music, Podcasts, Videos, Audiobooks, Notes, Mail, Events), but there isn't a way to change the default Web search engine from Google to Bing, Yahoo!, or any other engine. Honeycomb, as implemented on the Xoom, provides superior search by giving you live search results from your iPad and the Web.
Lack of Flash Support
The iPad still doesn't support Flash video, but as more sites have converted to HTML 5 it's become less of an issue. I was able to enjoy video from CNN, College Humor, and Vimeo. In my tests, CBS and NBC proved to be the rare mainstream site that gave the iPad trouble, and that was only partially so. Short clips played back fine, but full episodes where met with text that stated that video playback wasn't supported on the device. The same happened at ABC, but I was at least told to download the ABC Player app if I want to view full episodes. You can, however, view Hulu video by downloading the Hulu Plus ($7.99/month, 3.5 stars) app.
Multitasking
Multitasking was one of the most eagerly awaited features in iOS 4.2, an addition that gives the iPad a more computer-like feel by letting you run multiple applications at once. It remains unchanged in 4.3. We tested the iPad's ability to do more than one thing at once by launching an e-book, Winnie the Pooh (which came free with iBooks) and the Life Magazine app. After reading Pooh's first two pages, I decided to leave the app and check out Life photos. When I was done looking at photos of JFK, I returned to Winnie the Pooh to find the app opened to the page where I had left off—excellent. The multi-tasking really made me smile when I fired up Slacker Radio's (Free, 4.5 stars) app and listened to a custom station while reading about Christopher Robin's adventures.
Courtesy of iOS 4.2, double-tapping the Home button ghosts the iPad's dock (by adding translucent effects), moves it slightly upward, and reveals a second row of icons. These icons represent all the apps that are currently active and running in the background. I could swipe left and right through Safari, Life, Maps, App Store, Maxim HD, and other items that were. From this dock, you can kill any one of these apps by simply pressing and holding an icon, and tapping the minus sign that appears. I really liked that I could swap between these open apps by double tapping the Home button and tapping another icon (which produces a Cover Flow-like app-switching visual).
The Xoom's take on the Honeycomb OS serves up a Multitasking button. By tapping it, every app or Web site that's currently open appears in a vertical, scrollable slideshow of windows that also shows —what it's doing. This is superior to iOS 4.3, which just shows you icons for the apps you have open. In addition, Honeycomb has an excellent notification system that pings you no matter which app you're in; iOS 4.3, for the most part, demands that you return to the homescreen to see notifications (such as a new e-mail), which is counterintuitive.
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