I missed a call earlier this morning because I was in the living room testing out iTunes Match and seeing how many bowls of Raisin Bran I could eat. My iPhone was on the charger in my bedroom and a call came in, but I was none the wiser. I was using the iPad to trade iMessages with friends, fire out e-mail responses, and enjoying the music raining down from iCloud, but I missed a simple phone call. Shouldn’t there be a notification for that?
I think this is really one of those areas where iCloud and notifications could really come in handy. I realize that a call notification on the iPad wouldn’t actually be actionable, but I believe it would be useful nonetheless. A quick, specialized one-line notification that would flash the status bar green would be lovely. Well, maybe not. That would look funky during Skype calls (where the status bar flashes red), but I’m sure a smart UI designer could come up with something useful and unobtrusive. It wouldn’t rely on Bluetooth because iCloud over Wi-Fi or 3G would probably be fast enough to notfiy you after the first ring, and we’ve learned from the PlayBook that it’s no fun to keep your phone and tablet tethered.
Palm (or was it HP?) demoed something similar way back before they nuked all of their products. The Pre 3 could pair with the Touchpad and let you know when a call was coming in – and it would even let you answer straight from the tablet. I’m not even demanding that much from Apple. A notification on my tablet to simply let me know that my phone is ringing would be enough.
Surely I’m not alone in wishing this..
