Multi-User Support for iPad On the Way?

The iPad has many attributes, but one of its more annoying shortcomings is its single-user design. Email, contacts, apps, and other tools are implemented for one person, when in reality several people may use an iPad.

This may change, however. Apple’s engineering team is looking into adding multi-user support to the iPad, says AppleInsider, which bases its report on a bug-report reply sent by Apple to an unnamed software developer.

Using Apple’s Bug Reporter tool, the developer suggested the company add multi-user support to the iPad. Apple’s response included the following statement: “After further investigation it has been determined that this is a known issue, which is currently being investigated by engineering.”

AppleInsider has the full reply, which reads very much like a form letter. So are we reading too much into this? Well, the developer points out that it had previously used Bug Reporter to suggest new features, but this latest response was the first time Apple had responded to its suggestions.

Let’s hope the multi-user news is true. A mobile appliance that starts at $400 and is often shared among several people should definitely be designed for more than one user.

Contact Jeff Bertolucci at Today@PCWorld, Twitter (@jbertolucci) or jbertolucci.blogspot.com.