Mac OS X Lion wishlist

· 7 minute read · via The Masoni Review
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Launchpad in Mac OS X Lion showing a full-screen grid of app icons over a galaxy wallpaper

OS X Lion wordmark in gray Apple typeface

The next iteration of Apple’s Mac OS operating system, 10.7 Lion, is due sometime this summer, and several of its new features and improvements have been either formally announced or revealed in developer alpha build seeds. A desktop OS whose overarching theme is the adoption of features and interface elements from the iPhone and iPad’s iOS platform, new features already revealed include fresh designs of common apps like Mail, Address Book, and iCal, as well as new navigation features like Launchpad, much like iOS’s Springboard, and Mission Control—which itself unifies Expose, Spaces, Dashboard and full-screen mode.

While the new features we’ve seen so far are impressive and rather exciting for those of us using Macs every day, there are a few more additions I’d like to see before WWDC 2011 rolls around this June. Here are just a few improvements or additions, however unrealistic, I’d love to see Apple throw in the Lion mix.

Push Notifications

Apple Push Notification service icon: stacked blue, white, and green app tiles with red notification badges

In iOS, when you receive a text message, Facebook notification, or new Twitter mention, the respective app pushes a notification to the forefront, regardless of whether the app was running at the time. While people have their own gripes with iOS’s notifications system, something similar would work phenomenally in Mac OS—while the interface would be entirely different.

Today, Apple’s FaceTime for Mac client will receive video calls even when the app isn’t running, popping to the forefront and alerting you of the new information. Something similar would work wonders in Mail, which could notify you of emails with a simple dock number regardless of the app running or not, or iChat, which could alert users of new messages or video calls from the background. Ideally, this would be unobtrusive and allow users to concentrate on other applications, knowing that important new alerts would be brought to their attention at the appropriate time.

AirPlay

Apple’s framework to share audio, photos, or video content to networked speakers or tvs has already seen wide implementation and adoption in iOS, in everything from the native YouTube app to audio apps from the App Store. On Macs, iTunes already works seamlessly with AirPlay (formerly AirTunes)—so why not expand compatibility to other apps like Safari? Perhaps even allow Mac App Store developers to build AirPlay into their own audio or video apps?

iChat Improvements

Mac desktop with an iChat video chat window open beside a buddy list

As someone who uses iChat on a daily basis, it’s frustrating that Apple has made hardly any changes to the application since 10.4 Tiger in 2005. Already revealed to be due in Lion is the new compatibility with Yahoo! Chat for video and audio, as well as the long-neglected ability to view all buddy lists in a single window.

But there’s more that needs to be done to reassert iChat’s position as the best instant messenger application on Mac OS. Apple recently launched their FaceTime app independent of iChat—presumably so that they might release a Windows client in the future—much to the chagrin of simplicity freaks like myself. Why offer two applications whose functions are so similar?

A redesign of audio and video chat windows is overdue, as is Facebook Chat integration. Currently possible by setting it up as a Jabber chat account, native support for Facebook is a must for Lion. Building in Skype support would also be a welcome change, and Adium’s inclusion of these features shows that both are entirely within Apple’s ability.

Improvements to the Mac App Store

The Mac App Store represents a fantastic opportunity to streamline Mac OS software updates and downloads, but its potential is currently going unrealized to the tune of crapware. The addition of applications like web browsers—Google Chrome, Firefox—as well as common apps like Skype would add to its convenience and adoption among users. However, this is the developers’ prerogative, but Apple could work with developers to make their rules and regulations friendlier to major software companies. Of course, this is never going to happen.

Adding iTunes and Safari to the Mac App Store would allow them to be updated alongside other apps like Pages or iPhoto, sidestepping Software Update altogether. There are intimations that Apple intends to release Lion itself through the App Store, and this would suggest that they’re moving in this direction. This would be another huge convenience benefit for users.

Game Center app icon divided into quadrants with a chess knight, baseball bat, rocket, and dart target

Finally, Apple could expand Game Center to include Mac OS games. A majority of the top downloaded paid and free apps on both the iOS and Mac App Stores are games, and leveraging their massive Apple ID user base would provide for a booming gaming community that extended to both iOS and Macs. Basically, that’d be one of the coolest things ever.

Cut the Crap

As many of you know or have heretofore been able to glean, I am a stickler for simplification and streamlining in software. It irks me to no end that Compass and Maps are separate apps on iOS, and Apple has begun this duplicity of function on Mac as well with the release of FaceTime as a standalone application. Lion, as I see it, is an opportunity for Apple to backpedal on their increasing complexity and do away with a great deal of the clutter. They’ve already removed the superfluous Front Row application altogether, but there are deeper cuts I’d love to see them make. Below is a list of what I view as unnecessary applications that currently appear in the Applications folder of any fresh Mac OS install, and their functions’ ideal destinations in a new version of the OS:

  • Calculator → Spotlight results
  • Dictionary → Spotlight results
  • DVD Player → iTunes
  • Font Book → System Preferences pane
  • Image Capture → iPhoto
  • Grab → Preview (actually, it’s already there)
  • System Profiler → About This Mac window

Yes, these are obsessive compulsive changes in nature, but the duplication of functionality in Mac OS and, now, iOS, drives me completely insane. Hopefully you agree with some of my ideas or suggestions, and if there’s anything you feel I’ve forgotten, feel free to elaborate in the comments below. —conmas

Addendum: A Few Additional Ideas • May 4, 2011

  • Better management of internet accounts from the System Preferences application
  • Better Keychain management: easier access, control, reduce redundancies
  • Additional settings under Appearance settings menu: perhaps a spectrum of grays available?
  • Uninstalling apps, completely: perhaps built into the Mac App Store