iOS7 is live — can be downloaded OTA now

[meeera]

You know you can change that mustard strip by changing your wallpaper, right? (It's just showing your wallpaper through a translucent "overlay".)

[Faterson]

Why would I be changing my preferred iPad wallpaper of several years? Just because Apple messed up its iOS design? And let me tell you, that expanse of mustard looks even more awful in the iPad's landscape mode. Whenever I see it there, my first reaction is, "Where's the hotdog?"

This was the last nudge I needed, and I'll be buying the new Nexus 7 later today. Looks like Apple might be going downhill from now on. It no longer seems tempting to wait for the (potentially imaginary) iPad mini Retina, when I realise that when/if it arrives, it will be defaced with iOS 7. I might still buy it if it arrives, and if Apple do not overprice it at $399/€399 as some terrifying rumours are suggesting, but the idea of an iPad mini Retina suddenly no longer seems quite as desirable following the iOS 7 release.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Faterson

Why would I be changing my preferred iPad wallpaper of several years? Just because Apple messed up its iOS design?

*shrug*. It's not compulsory. Your post didn't give any indication that you knew the reason for the colour, so I was offering a potential solution.

If you're attached to your wallpaper and don't mind a couple of minutes' work, you could stick a black bar on the bottom of the image. Or you could just buy another tablet, sure. It seems a rather expensive solution to a rather trivially fixed issue to me, but whatever floats your boat.

[Faterson]

iOS 7 is ugly overall, that mustard patch is just one highlight, or should I say lowlight. Overlaying it with a black bar, lol, well, that would be sumthing! You know a developer is in trouble when users search for ways to hide whatever the developer created (Newsstand app prior to iOS 7, anyone?).

And it's not that I'm buying the new Nexus 7 because of the mustard patch... It's just that the ugliness that iOS 7 is makes it seem less desirable to wait for the release of an iPad mini Retina, that may not occur at all this year, after all; I've been considering the purchase of the Nexus 7 all along, and iOS 7 just seems to have given me the final push in that direction.

[meeera]

The developers didn't create "that mustard patch". They created a translucent patch, which on your device as it stands is mustard, because that's the colour of your chosen wallpaper. If you want it a different colour, you can change it. Or not.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by meeera

They created a translucent patch

And that's exactly the trouble. Some Apple developer is in love with translucent patches, without thinking of the possible consequences. There should be a way to disable that translucent patch, for those users who don't wish to see it in their dock. The dock was perfect, to my mind, in iOS 6 and earlier. A similarly disturbing translucent patch can now also be seen in iOS 7 when adjusting the iDevice volume, disrupting whatever it is you are currently watching, especially a movie. The transparent volume overlay in iOS 6 and earlier seemed much more appropriate.

Etc., etc. I'm just frustrated by iOS 7. If others love it, good for them!

[Faterson]

PS: I'm not saying the translucent patch looks bad on every device. I'm fine with it on my iPhone (see attached screenshot), where I've been using one of Apple's ancient default wallpapers. But precisely because the translucent patch may not look good on every iDevice, in conjunction with every wallpaper, it would be nice if iOS 7 settings included a switch allowing the user to disable the translucent patch in the dock.

Although I agree that the interface elements in iOS 6 are aesthetically better than those of iOS 7, I found that a good Wallpaper can help to drown out the iOS 7 changes. See attached. However, note that there is currently a bug in the Wallpaper setting that won't allow proper adjustments to be made.

Faterson, if you switch to Android you will have to give up your beloved Marvin. As a matter of fact, I was unimpressed with any of the Android reader apps. I used Android for about two years and hated every effing minute of it.

[Faterson]

You're correct, Jack. I'll have to be using Moon+ reader on Android for the time being. That's a pretty fine e-reader, if you ask me, although it can't compete with Marvin. Remember that Marvin is supposed to appear on Android later on, too. (Definitely not in 2013, but perhaps in 2014, if we're lucky.)

Besides, I'm not ditching iOS by any means. iPad 3 and Marvin will remain my main e-reader, along with iPhone 4 and Marvin. I also use iPad 1 + Marvin. But I need a tertiary tablet for my needs. Typical example: I have a book in the original language open on iPad 3, and the same book in a translated version open on iPad 1. (Compare this feature request.) If I need to look up something in a different app, such as in a specialised dicationary app, I need a third tablet for that; it's like having multiple monitors at work. Switching views between the book you're reading, and the other app, just won't do for optimal work efficiency. So, that's what I'll be using my new Nexus 7 tablet for primarily: as that tertiary "reference" tablet.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Faterson, if you switch to Android you will have to give up your beloved Marvin.

Moon+ Pro and Mantano aren't too shabby. Maybe not a direct replacement, but not bad.

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Moon+ Pro and Mantano aren't too shabby. Maybe not a direct replacement, but not bad.

Oh yes, I forgot about Mantano. It came out about the time I transitioned away from Android. Kindle for Android was never any good and I mostly tried to stay within the Amazon/Kindle ecosytem because of Whispersync and computer apps availibility.

[MeSue]

Has anyone been having trouble with autocorrect on contractions since iOS 7? Every time I type a contraction it mangles it! I'm going bonkers here!

[afv011]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Moon+ Pro and Mantano aren't too shabby. Maybe not a direct replacement, but not bad.

Mantano is also my preferred reader on Android. I don't read often on my phone (actually, almost never), but yesterday I found myself at the car dealer without my eReader, and having my library on Dropbox meant I could install Mantano, download my book, and pick up where I was while waiting for the car to be ready.

Originally Posted by MeSue

Has anyone been having trouble with autocorrect on contractions since iOS 7? Every time I type a contraction it mangles it! I'm going bonkers here!

Unfortunately autocorrect gets me into to much trouble, so I turned it off.

Autocorrect SNAFUs

I do like the way the Compass app in iOS 7 gives me more feedback when calibrating. Before it told you to basically wave the iPhone around in a figure eight, making you look like an idiot! There was little feedback as to whether that was working. Now you just tilt the phone to make a ball go around a circle and it shows you how well the process is going. Much better than iOS 6.