9 dumb differences between iOS and OS X Apple should fix

Each new version of iOS and OS X creates more integration across Apple’s computer and mobile platforms, with a clear goal of treating all devices as optimized instances of Apple’s integrated environment. You see that with the adoption of iOS-style gestures and text-entry shortcuts in OS X, as well as in iOS 7’s adoption of the App Exposé-like view of running apps. It’s even more evident in Apple’s applications: Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Notes, Messages, Safari, Maps, iTunes (if you include iOS’s Music, Videos, iTunes U, and Podcasts apps as part of the iTunes family), iBooks, iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

They work increasingly the same across Apple’s full range of devices — except when they don’t.

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Persistent inconsistencies among the “same” apps between OS X and iOS — and sometimes across different types of iOS devices — are an ongoing frustration with users. Apple users experience the frustration precisely because the common apps and OS-level functions are almost the same. They see the Apple promise of a common computing fabric and get upset when they encounter a tear or hole in that fabric.

Sure, there’s a huge gap between how Microsoft services and apps work across Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Phone. Google’s services — Maps, search, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Now, and so on — are similar across platforms but not expected to be the same, perhaps because Google doesn’t face compatibility issues with a desktop version of Android or a mobile version of Chrome OS. In that regard, Apple’s unification state is much better than its competitors’.

Still, Apple has set the bar for a highly integrated fabric, so when it fails, it’s Apple fault. There are several such gaps in the fabric that persist even today that Apple needs to remedy.

Groups in Contacts. You can’t create groups in iOS’s Contacts, but you can see those created in OS X’s Mail. You can’t address an email to a group in Mail in iOS either, though you can in OS X’s Mail. Both iOS and OS X should let you create groups and address emails to groups.

Complex calendar repeating events. I hear this complaint after every iOS release: Why can’t I set up complex repeating events like the third Thursday of the month or every month on the 15th in Calendar? After all, OS X’s Calendar can do it, as can Android’s Calendar app. iOS’s Calendar app should be able to do so as well.

Mail threading. OS X and iOS let you view email threads (aka conversations), but in OS X your conversation shows both what you received and what you sent, so you see the full conversation. iOS’s conversation list shows only the messages you received, not those you sent.

Mail rules. OS X lets you create mail rules for sorting and responding to emails, including junk mail. These rules sync across your Macs via iCloud, but they don’t run in iOS. Thus, when you’re on the road and your Mac is off, all your mail pours into the inbox. Maybe background performance was an issue for running rules in iOS Mail, but now that Apple is switching to 64-bit processors and has made iOS 64-bit-native, its mobile devices could easily run these mail rules as well.

Photo albums. OS X and iOS both let you create albums in the iPhoto and Photos apps, respectively, but albums created in Photos in iOS don’t sync to iPhoto in OS X. Yet you can set them to sync in the other direction, from iPhoto to Photos via iTunes. (From there, iPhoto in iOS sees the albums in Photos.) That’s a real frustration for travelers and other photographers who organize their photos on their iPads and expect to have them available on their Macs when they get home. Also, why can’t the iPhoto app in iOS be used to create albums?

Styles in Pages. The latest update to iWork Pages in iOS assigns paragraph styles to the standard headings available in the Formats pop-over, so the document uses actual paragraph styles when opened in Pages on a Mac or in Word on any computer — a step in the right direction. But you can’t use other styles (paragraph or character) defined in the document when working in iOS nor create or apply them in iOS. Styles are a critical part of document workflow, and they need to be both retained and available as you switch devices. The beta version of iWork for the Web has me nervous because it doesn’t retain much of the metadata in documents, such as styles and tracked changes; that would make it unusable for most business purposes — so far, it’s even less compatible with document features than iWork on iOS is.

Passbook limited to iPhones. The Passbook app is a great way to collect boarding passes and tickets in one convenient place: the Passbook app. But Passbook is available only on iPhones; if you want to check in for a flight from your iPad or Mac, you can’t have the ticket routed to Passbook on your iPhone — you have to check in from the iPhone to be able to add it to Passbook. That’s dumb, as you’re likely to do trip prep from a Mac or iPad, then use your iPhone to manage and access your travel info after you’ve left home. Plus, Apple sells cellular iPads that would be very convenient to use for checking into flights and other sorts of transport — an iPad Mini, for example, makes sense for such use. Passbook should be available on them as well.

Exchange support in Notes. For some bizarre reason, Apple dropped support for Exchange notes in its Notes app in iOS 6, and it remains MIA in iOS 7. Yet it is still available in OS X’s Notes app. This issue may bee related to a bug or compatibility issue in iOS and/or Exchange. Reader Bill Spry tell me he can sync notes in iOS 7 (but not iOS 6) with his Exchange 2010 server; my testing has been with Exchange 2007 and Office 365, and in neither case do I get the option to sync notes with Exchange, though I used to have that option in iOS 5 with Exchange 2007.

Location-based reminders. The Reminders app is one of Apple’s weakest standard apps, but it does have a cool feature: the ability to set reminders based on approaching or leaving a location. That is, it can do so on your Mac or iPhone. This feature is unavailable on the iPad, which also means you can’t set up a location-based reminder from your iPad for use on your iPhone.

There are also unnecessary inconsistencies across iOS devices.

For example, there’s no included calculator, weather, or stocks app on the iPad, but there is on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Yet the iPad does show the current weather in iOS 7’s enhanced Notification Center. These aren’t critical omissions, as you can get the data easily from other apps or websites, but if the goal is to have a unified fabric, why aren’t these widgets universally available? (OS X has a calculator app, but not weather or stocks app, though it has widgets for these. Widgets are an awkward and little-used technology that Apple has had for years in OS X but has let languish.)

In addition, the convenient four-finger sideways swipe to move among open apps is an option for the iPad but not for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

All of these inconsistencies seem both arbitrary and unnecessary. Current and recent-generation iOS devices certainly can handle them all. Apple, please fix the tears and holes in your otherwise highly compelling compute fabric.

This article, “9 dumb differences between iOS and OS X Apple should fix,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Galen Gruman’s Smart User blog. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.