In yesterday’s column, I celebrated the addition of Split View and other enhanced\u00a0iPad multitasking options for iOS 9. True, Split View will require an iPad Air 2, minimum,, but it represents a significant improvement, one that will provide more opportunities for being productive on these tablets. The feature might also pave the way for an even larger iPad, which some call iPad Pro, which\u00a0may arrive with the fall model refresh.<\/p>\n
All good things to be sure. But there are limitations on what developers can do under Apple’s sandboxing restrictions, and that might become\u00a0the deal killer for people with the sort of workflow I have.<\/p>\n
As most of you know, I host two nationally syndicated radio shows, and use Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack to grab the audio from Skype and mix it with my mic. My current layout consists of a Behringer mixer with a USB interface and a set of mics that change depending on my needs. I normally use a Blue Yeti Pro, which has both traditional XLR and USB ports.<\/p>\n
Of course, you can mix and match almost\u00a0any conceivable combination of audio inputs with Audio Hijack. Unfortunately this app does its magic by using methods that do not appear\u00a0to fit within Apple’s sandboxing guidelines, and thus this\u00a0app and other products from Rogue Amoeba will, unless things change, be barred from the Mac App Store.<\/p>\n
According to Rogue Amoeba CEO Paul Kafasis, in response to the forthcoming enhanced multitasking capabilities of the iPad:<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this doesn\u2019t really change much for us. More powerful iPads will certainly be capable of performing more powerful tasks, and running more powerful applications.<\/p>\n
However, for us, the major limitation on the iPad and iOS has always been artificial. That is, Apple\u2019s restrictions on that platform, on what can be shipped through their app store, precludes apps like Audio Hijack, Airfoil, and Nicecast. Just as these apps don\u2019t appear in the Mac App Store, due to Apple\u2019s restrictions, they can\u2019t appear on iOS at all (short of jailbreaking).<\/p>\n
More power on both the hardware and software sides will certainly increase iPad productivity. Unfortunately, the artificial handicapping Apple puts in place will continue to preclude many types of applications from ever appearing on the device.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now Apple doesn’t prevent you from installing Audio Hijack on a Mac. Rogue Amoeba sells their apps from their own site, and they have Apple developer certificates. So unless you block every app other than those offered in the Mac App Store, there’s no problem downloading and running it; an Option key on launch lets you run any app regardless of OS X’s Gatekeeper settings.<\/p>\n
While I understand Apple’s penchant for security, Audio Hijack doesn’t make your Mac less secure. The same is true for the security and drive maintenance apps that are also blocked from being offered in\u00a0the App Store.<\/p>\n
Obviously the situation is less favorable on iOS. You can side-load apps if you jailbreak your device, which is something that makes it vulnerable to malware even if it allows you to install apps that Apple won’t approve. Yes, I realize you can install unofficial apps on an Android device without going through as many\u00a0hoops, but I wouldn’t recommend it there either. Android has known potential security issues even when you stay with Google Play.<\/p>\n
The practical impact of this situation is that there are lots of things that can be done on an iPad, but Apple’s restrictions, however well intentioned, are making it impossible to perform tasks routinely done on a Mac or PC. The inability to properly capture and record audio from Skype is a key example. Yes, I saw a product in the App Store, Sky Recorder, which is supposed to do\u00a0just that apparently\u00a0by using the app to initiate the conversation, and grab the audio from both ends. I suppose that is a workable if clumsy solution, but nowhere near as elegant as Audio Hijack.<\/p>\n
For now then, that’s the deal-breaker when it comes to doing some of the tasks\u00a0I require for\u00a0my workflow. It doesn’t prevent me from making\u00a0live recordings, or even editing a recording, but still. I shouldn’t be forced to go to a second device to handle some of my\u00a0work.<\/p>\n
The solution is in Apple’s hands. If there was a way to do this\u00a0as Audio Hijack does, I would presume a developer would have figured it out. From Kafasis’ comments, I do believe he’d be willing to try if Apple provided the proper features in their developer tools. So far they won’t.<\/p>\n
Now it may well be that the needs of radio hosts, including podcasters, aren’t terribly high on Apple’s list of iOS priorities. But the company that invented Proactive Siri to anticipate your needs and wants ought to be quite capable of opening the iOS platform to allow an app to seamlessly transfer audio and video to a recording app.<\/p>\n
If that were possible, I can assure you I’d be using\u00a0an iPad far more frequently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In yesterday’s column, I celebrated the addition of Split View and other enhanced\u00a0iPad multitasking options for iOS 9. True, Split View will require an iPad Air 2, minimum,, but it represents a significant improvement, one that will provide more opportunities for being productive on these tablets. The feature might also pave the way for an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9351,8919,10137,15115,9658,12291,14478,10711,12597,176,13332,13290,123,8295],"class_list":["post-21538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-android","tag-app-store","tag-apple-inc","tag-audio-hijack","tag-behringer","tag-ios","tag-ios-8","tag-ipad","tag-mac-app-store","tag-mac-os-x","tag-rogue-amoeba","tag-siri","tag-skype","tag-usb"],"yoast_head":"\n
Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices? - Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices? - Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In yesterday’s column, I celebrated the addition of Split View and other enhanced\u00a0iPad multitasking options for iOS 9. True, Split View will require an iPad Air 2, minimum,, but it represents a significant improvement, one that will provide more opportunities for being productive on these tablets. The feature might also pave the way for an […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-16T21:45:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-16T22:13:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Steinberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@technightowl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@technightowl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Steinberg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gene Steinberg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0fe9df12a34fed15d45e05db1c205e2a\"},\"headline\":\"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices?\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-16T21:45:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-16T22:13:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":867,\"commentCount\":2,\"keywords\":[\"Android\",\"App Store\",\"Apple Inc.\",\"Audio Hijack\",\"Behringer\",\"iOS\",\"iOS 8\",\"iPad\",\"Mac App Store\",\"Mac Os X\",\"Rogue Amoeba\",\"Siri\",\"Skype\",\"USB\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/\",\"name\":\"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices? - Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-16T21:45:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-16T22:13:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0fe9df12a34fed15d45e05db1c205e2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gene Steinberg's Mac Radio Tech Blog\",\"description\":\"Tech Commentaries From Best-Selllng Author Gene Steinberg\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0fe9df12a34fed15d45e05db1c205e2a\",\"name\":\"Gene Steinberg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24fa8d75c69c3030b03da85850df6d736f514f8393b61cc4ac158168b192df2e?s=96&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24fa8d75c69c3030b03da85850df6d736f514f8393b61cc4ac158168b192df2e?s=96&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24fa8d75c69c3030b03da85850df6d736f514f8393b61cc4ac158168b192df2e?s=96&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Gene Steinberg\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.technightowl.live\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices? - Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices? - Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl","og_description":"In yesterday’s column, I celebrated the addition of Split View and other enhanced\u00a0iPad multitasking options for iOS 9. True, Split View will require an iPad Air 2, minimum,, but it represents a significant improvement, one that will provide more opportunities for being productive on these tablets. The feature might also pave the way for an […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/","og_site_name":"Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl","article_published_time":"2015-06-16T21:45:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-16T22:13:16+00:00","author":"Gene Steinberg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@technightowl","twitter_site":"@technightowl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Steinberg","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/"},"author":{"name":"Gene Steinberg","@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0fe9df12a34fed15d45e05db1c205e2a"},"headline":"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices?","datePublished":"2015-06-16T21:45:48+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-16T22:13:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/"},"wordCount":867,"commentCount":2,"keywords":["Android","App Store","Apple Inc.","Audio Hijack","Behringer","iOS","iOS 8","iPad","Mac App Store","Mac Os X","Rogue Amoeba","Siri","Skype","USB"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/","url":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/","name":"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices? - Gene Steinberg's Tech Night Owl","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-06-16T21:45:48+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-16T22:13:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0fe9df12a34fed15d45e05db1c205e2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/2015\/06\/is-apple-killing-ipad-productivity-choices\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Apple Killing iPad Productivity Choices?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/","name":"Gene Steinberg's Mac Radio Tech Blog","description":"Tech Commentaries From Best-Selllng Author Gene Steinberg","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0fe9df12a34fed15d45e05db1c205e2a","name":"Gene Steinberg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24fa8d75c69c3030b03da85850df6d736f514f8393b61cc4ac158168b192df2e?s=96&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24fa8d75c69c3030b03da85850df6d736f514f8393b61cc4ac158168b192df2e?s=96&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24fa8d75c69c3030b03da85850df6d736f514f8393b61cc4ac158168b192df2e?s=96&r=r","caption":"Gene Steinberg"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.technightowl.live"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technightowl.live\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}