Sharing iPad - could use multiuser accounts

[digitalbits6]

I know that my iPad is going to be shared around the office and the coffee table. With the new A4 processor, it has the speed and would be nice to enhance the iPhone OS with multiuser support. This way, guests, friends, family could access their own email without looking at mine. Does anyone else feel this way?

At a minimum, I'd recommend a Guest account. Easy setup and access to email - Yahoo, Gmail, etc.

If you loan your iPhone out, its typically for a short period of time (since it's your phone). But the iPad is more like a laptop and it definitely is an eBook. It will get loaned out longer to read, browse, surf the Internet, watch a movie, etc. But does this mean you are giving full access to all your email accounts when you loan out your iPad?

So I hope this gets addressed. I think that after a friends use your iPad, they will end up wanting one of their own. But without the fingers-on experience, they may never know about the capabilities and usefulness of this new category of electronic gadget.

 

[jsh1120]

I've complained about this problem in other threads. I purchased the iPad as a "family" device. I didn't expect it to be a full-fledged laptop computer, but I did expect to share it with my wife and seven year old daughter. As you've discovered, the underlying philosophy (and OS) is that an iPad is like a personal phone, not like a family computer. And as you've correctly noted, that's not exactly appropriate for many users.

Yes, separate "accounts" would resolve the problem. But it would also mean fewer iPad sales and I suspect it's not a high priority in Cupertino.

Ultimately, as annoying as it is, it's not a deal breaker in our household. The mail app accesses both my wife's and my accounts. That might well be an issue for some couples. Fortunately, it is not for us. Even if it were, the fact that there is only one mail app means that password protection has to be associated with an email account, not the app itself. It's possible to accomplish that through account settings, but it's a PITA. (You have to set up and delete the account password every time you access email.)

As for sharing with my daughter, I created a page devoted to her apps and a playlist of her songs. Apps we share (e.g. Angry Birds) are placed on the task bar at the bottom of all screens. This created some turf issues with my daughter who demanded to have the game on "her" screen, but she has grudgingly agreed to share it with me.

All in all, the iPhone DNA that the iPad shares is to blame. The iPad isn't a phone and perhaps Apple will recognize the weakness of using the same OS on both devices. I wouldn't hold my breath, though.

 

[jsh1120]

This is one of the first issues I had with the ipad. Privacy.

Who wants to have to enter a password every time you chack your mail.

Well, your prayers have been answered. A new Cydia tweak called "iUsers".

Using this and folder lock has secured my ipad fairly well. All i need to do is go through every app and see what ones have access to my photos and docs etc. and put them in a folder with folder lock on.

Best part about this? the folder lock only remains active on the guest account i created.

It was a breeze to setup, all we need is a basic guide to what apps should be locked down. I think it will not be long before this is an iusers feature or something similar.

Does this work with Version 4.3.4 of iOS? I was under the impression that the OS version released within the last few days plugs the hole used to jailbreak the iPad 2.

Edit: I think I answered my own question. Upgrading to the newest iOS version eliminates this approach, at least for the time being.