This is my second annual list of Missing Apple Features and Products. Last year’s list was a tweet.
These are features and products that Apple has either promised, and not delivered—or things that seem like obvious low-hanging fruit. 🍎
First, the good news: I’ve checked off the ones that were delivered in 2021.
- ✅ Emoji Search https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ipad-emoji-search/ 🎉 iPhones got this feature in 2020, but iPads didn’t have it until earlier this year. This one deserves a John Gruber-style finally.
- ✅ A better Apple TV remote https://9to5mac.com/2021/06/21/review-the-new-apple-tv-remote-makes-everyone-happy/ The old Apple TV remote is a candidate for the most-hated Apple product of all time. The new one is 💯.
- ✅ A webcam that isn’t 720p https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/18/new-macbook-pro-1080p-facetime-camera/ My Zooms look so much better.
- ✅ Non-static album art in Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/album/mccartney-iii/1536066862 Albums and playlists can now have animated album art. It’s all done very tastefully, and with Apple-esque design. I think Apple must be doing this on behalf of the artists, or at least using some kind of approval process.
- ✅ Automatically remove expired Wallet passes It’s not automatic, but now it’s easy to find and remove them. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212170
- ✅ Multiple users for Apple Card https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/04/apple-introduces-apple-card-family-enabling-people-to-share-apple-card-and-build-credit-together/
- ✅ TestFlight for Mac https://9to5mac.com/2021/11/03/testflight-now-available-on-the-mac-app-store-for-all-users/ A long-awaited app for developers.
- ✅ Multi-User Apple Arcade on Apple TV Until recently, when playing Apple Arcade games on an Apple TV, game progress was associated only with the device’s primary user. Now, Arcade games log into the GameCenter account of the currently-selected user. In fact, the multi-user switching design on tvOS is so nice that I hope Apple considers implementing it on the iPad.
This feature wasn’t on my radar last year. But it’s so important that every Apple user should know about it.
- ✅ Apple ID Legacy Contacts — Allows your loved ones to access your iCloud account after you die. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212360
And now, the obvious features and products that are still missing from Apple’s lineup. How many of these will be checked off next year?
- Maps offline mode — Apple Maps is not useful if you’re starting a trip where there’s no Internet.
- A replacement for Jiggle Mode 🙏🏼 — I’m not religious but I’m praying for this one. Please gods let it happen. John Siracusa’s epic rant should be required listening for anyone working at Apple.
- Reminders in the Calendar app — Every 3rd-party calendar app has this.
- Multiple timers — partial - Apple Watch and HomePod only. Why isn’t this a thing yet?
- iOS icons that are not clamped to the upper-left corner of the screen
- Attractive Apple Watch analog faces — Sorry, they’re just plain ugly. Maybe if we had:
- Truly custom Apple Watch faces — Watchsmith can only do so much.
- Family Sharing for Photos — https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/31/icloud-photo-family-sharing/
- Full quality sharing in Photos — In shared albums, photos are resized.
- Separate photos that I took from photos that I saved — Wallpapers that I download from the Internet don’t belong in my Photos library with pictures of my family. Neither do screenshots.
- Apple Music Radio stations don’t repeat songs if switched from WiFi to cellular
- Incognito mode for Apple Music — If you’re a parent whose Apple Music recommends Kidz Bop every time the kid uses the iPad, you want this. Spotify has it. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8341135
- Apple Music in landscape mode — It would also be nice if it kept the screen on when plugged in, like 3rd-party music apps do. Both of these would be especially useful in the car. Not everyone has CarPlay.
- Xcode for iPad — Getting closer! https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=v868vy6e
- Apple Maps Look Around widely available — Dallas, Nashville, and Salt Lake City are just some of the cities that are not covered by Apple’s competitor to Google Street View. If you live in a smaller town, perhaps it will get coverage sometime in the 2030s. Some mid-sized cities, like Charlotte, still don’t even have basic 3D rendering in Apple Maps, first demoed in 2011.
- Intermediate destinations in Maps — For example, a family vacation with multiple stops. Or, I’m on my way across town and want to make a stop somewhere besides the very limited categories that Maps makes available.
- Download an app on a family member device without having to pay for it before being told you don’t need to pay for it — First you have to click “Buy”. Then you approve the purchase using Face ID, Touch ID, or your password. Only then does the App Store tell you: “A family member has already purchased this item. To download it again for free, select OK.”
- Handoff for Music — partial - HomePod only
- Weather app for iPad — https://9to5mac.com/2021/06/16/ipados-15-hands-on-with-apples-weather-app-for-ipad/ 🔥🧂
- Weather app for Mac
- Weather in the Calendar app
- Dictionary (app) for iOS
- Clipboard history — Even Windows has this now https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/clipboard-in-windows-c436501e-985d-1c8d-97ea-fe46ddf338c6
- Notification sync between devices — https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/is-there-any-way-to-sync-notifications-across-devices-so-i-wont-have-to-delete-the-same-notifications-over-and-over-again.2233486/
- Email signature sync macOS and iOS
- Exclude files in Time Machine based on a wildcard
- Keynote for Apple TV
- Open source FaceTime — Steve Jobs promised this. In 2010.