Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz
My point was that you can have apps like say, hopefully an iOS version of Calibre Companion (but at least stuff like Dropbox), which offers all its files as shared app storage, so you can add files to a shared sandbox and all your ereader apps can see them. But thanks for clarifying what I meant. 
From the sound of it, it seems there will be two new storage methods. A generic shared file storage area, and the ability to store files inside the app sandbox and administrate which apps can access what types of stuff.
I never said 3rd-party apps are the biggest buzz overall. A lot of people do seem to be very excited about it, though. Personally, it is the shared app storage that I think is most interesting, although I still prefer Android-style Actual File Systems.
Lots of interesting changes that's for sure. iOS will change in ways that makes me much more interested in it as a personal device. Who knows -- I may even decide I like it on a personal level!  |
I'm pretty sure that it's not a shared file storage area, at least not on the device itself and accessible from multiple apps. One can already use something like dropbox to achieve that in the cloud.
Just to clarify, the capability to share files between apps already exists. For example, I can listen to the music loaded in iTunes via a 3rd party app such as OnCue Pro (my preferred music app) and I can listen to audio books in iTunes via the audible app. However, it has to be exposed by the first app (in this case iTunes). It is my understanding that the iOS 8 will be basically the same, however Apple has enhanced the interface for sharing data and is strongly encouraging developers to support shared data. From a users point of view, it amounts to roughly the same thing. The question is how will Apple implement book sharing in iBooks? Will a 3rd party app be able to access the books much like 3rd party apps can access music via iTunes or will it be one way? That is something we probably won't know until Apple actually releases the iBooks app for iOS 8.