Renzatic
Egg Nog King of the Eastern Seaboard
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2020
- Posts
- 4,127
They just need to figure out how to merge the traditional interfaces and the touch interfaces in a good way. And how to get developers to make stuff that work well with it.
So, not anytime soon.
The difference is really an issue of information density. When you're using a mouse or trackpad, having a bunch of little buttons, tabs, and scrollbars to click on isn't a problem. When you're stabbing at a screen with your finger? Yeah, you want some big targets, and a lot of space to work with.
Compare Affinity Photo on the desktop to it's iPad equivalent for a good example of this.
...so yeah, it's not going to be a problem solved anytime soon. Giving a choice to flip between either interface depending upon your current need is a good, though kinda janky, middle ground solution.
edit: Or you could design the app to its best fit. Like if you're using Photoshop on an iPad, using an exclusively touch friendly interface makes sense, since you're engaging in a workflow better suited to that form factor. If you're using Excel on your iPad? Yeah, you can make it able to take touch input, but design the interface as if the mouse and trackpad is a given.