iPad Worth the Extra Cost?
- sbradshaw
- Community Moderators
- Posts: 6245
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:42 pm
- Location: Utah
- Contact:
Re: iPad Worth the Extra Cost?
I'm an iOS user, but I would recommend looking at the most recent LDSTech broadcast (about a week ago) to see some of the cool features in Gospel Library for Windows. It's very impressive, thanks to the committed volunteer team.
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
-
- Community Administrator
- Posts: 34417
- Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
- Location: U.S.
Re: iPad Worth the Extra Cost?
Just to be clear, what I disliked about the Stream 7 was that I had to manually call up the keyboard and manually dismiss it. It also had the tendency to cover what I was trying to work with. On top of that, it didn't have Swype. Android had all of those features. I could be wrong, but given that's my one and only Win8 machine, I believe that's more the fault of the OS than of the cheap hardware. Yes, the hardware has a few issues. It looks a bit bulky at the edges and won't be confused with a iPad, and it's not real speedy, but I've had no complaints about the hardware vs the value in actual use.ToManyLetters wrote:Not sure that'll really ever be the case. You definitely get what you pay for. $79 is peanuts in the tech world, and, though $79 gets you more than it used to, it's still not a great device. For those looking at getting a Windows device, I'd look at stuff like Asus Vivotab 8 ($180) at the low end, but recommend Microsoft's own Surface 3 ($499+) or Surface Pro 3 ($799+) at the mid- and high-end tiers, respectively.I also have the Stream 7 and while it has it's nice points (like being able to run PC software), the on-screen keyboard sucks and it generally isn't as nice a user experience as the Nexus. But with Windows 10 coming out, this could change in a few months.
I'm glad to hear of an optimistic Windows GL parity date. But what about Tools?
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 530
- Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 1:16 pm
Re: iPad Worth the Extra Cost?
This is only true if you're not using the apps designed for the device. If you're using traditional, full Windows-programs, with only a few exceptions (IE & Office), the programs don't really know you're trying to use the on-screen keyboard--that's why the manually-summoned keyboard is a thing. If you're using the Modern side of things, the keyboard will appear automatically as you'd expect it to on Android or iOS. Don't expect poorly-optimized programs like Chrome to behave well, however. (Though, for the sake of your battery, you probably should just forego Chrome altogether anyway--Chrome is a notoriously bad battery muncher on basically any operating system, but especially so on Windows and OS X.)Just to be clear, what I disliked about the Stream 7 was that I had to manually call up the keyboard and manually dismiss it.
If you're on the non-Modern side of things, where the content doesn't shift for you (for obvious reasons), you can unsnap the whole keyboard and just drag it around.It also had the tendency to cover what I was trying to work with.
I suspect you mean a gesture typing keyboard, as most Android devices don't come with Swype by default, though Android's keyboard does have gesture capabilities on newer devices (Since Jellybean, I believe?) Windows Phone devices do have the "shape writing" gesture keyboard, and while the gesture typing is not yet available to Windows tablets (I suspect it will probably come in Windows 10)--or, for that matter, available by default on iOS, text prediction on Windows' keyboard is leaps and bounds ahead of Android's. Also, Windows' built-in handwriting keyboard is second to none.On top of that, it didn't have Swype. Android had all of those features.
As I understand it, the LDS Tools team for Windows is much more trapped in the bureaucracy of the mobile apps than Gospel Library for Windows is. That said, I believe they should be getting approval (or, at the very least, requesting it) for full feature parity very, very soon now. The biggest thing they need is more developers dedicating time to the project. They recently finished rewriting the backend for the application so that the next version of the app will use the new LDS Tools APIs and sync substantially faster.But what about Tools?
Learn more about Gospel Library for Windows 10 Beta at the link below:
https://tech.lds.org/wiki/Gospel_Library_for_Windows_10
https://tech.lds.org/wiki/Gospel_Library_for_Windows_10
-
- New Member
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:14 pm
Re: iPad Worth the Extra Cost?
I agree with ToManyLetters (above). The Church has put a lot of effort into the development of the iOS apps and the other platforms have been more of a after thought. Windows is the best platform for the Church's needs with the best security, most features, and best usability. I'm hoping the Church will begin to focus on the Windows platform more, especially in since Apple is the least charitable of the tech companies and is in greatest advocacy of views contrary to the Church.