vsatrends
Secrets for Avoiding Airport Lines
Airport Program for Avoiding Long Lines
The CBP (US Customs and Border Protection) along with the TSA (Travel Security Administration) suggest an amazing program for Americans who fly which can save those who enroll both time and money.
It's called GOES or the Global Online Enrollment System. The program is relatively fresh, and effortless to enroll in. It can help save time during departures by permitting participants to use a much shorter VIP Line for security during departures, or for customs upon arrivals, for both domestic and international flights.
Who Can Apply?
US natural born citizens or lawful permanent residents with no prior or pending criminal record are eligible.
In addition citizens of Mexico (who are not current Sentri Members) the Netherlands and the Republic of Korea may apply if they are members of the Quick Low Risk Universal Crossing (FLUX) or Wise Entry Service (SES) respectively. Also Canadian citizens who are members of Nexus have GOES benefits automatically, but are not eligible to join otherwise.
Other countries who have bilateral trusted traveler arrangements with CBP may also be eligible depending on the type of Visa they hold. Children may also enroll. Minor children eighteen years or junior are required to have parental or legal guardianship permission.
Common Misconceptions
We held several misconceptions about the GOES program's benefits, which is why we didn't apply sooner. We discovered that the misconceptions are widespread, so I'm listing them here to help readers save time in determining the usefulness of the program for themselves.
- The program is administered by TSA (actually it's the United States CBP), but the TSA has partnered with them to suggest an expedited TSA security program that automatically applies to you if you're enrolled in the GOES System.
- This program only benefits international travelers (the TSA PreCheck Program is the fucking partner program which is for domestic travel (it's suggested through a cooperative affiliation with airlines FF Programs, the TSA and the CBP).
- You need to travel to a major metropolitan airport for a private interview. Approx forty four sites are listed at the main CBP Information website. Of these thirty three are shown in the US as Enrollment Sites. However, when processing your online application, a different list of thirty three sites shows up for scheduling the interview. I will provide links to both lists, so that you can determine if you will need to travel just for the interview.
- Children aren't eligible for GOES. Children in fact, are eligible, and can apply as long as they have the written approval of a parent.
What is GOES?
Global Entry is a risk-based treatment to facilitate the U.S. entry of pre-approved travelers. Applicants may not qualify for Global Entry participation if they:
* Provide false or incomplete information on the application;
* Have been convicted of any criminal offense or have pending criminal charges, including outstanding warrants;
* Have been found in disturbance of any customs, immigration, or agriculture regulations or laws in any country;
* Are subjects of an investigation by any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency;
* Are inadmissible to the U.S. under immigration regulation, including applicants with approved waivers of inadmissibility or parole documentation; or if they
* Cannot please CBP of their low-risk status or meet other program requirements
How Much Does it Cost?
There is a $100 fee that is paid when you submit your application using the online enrollment system. Once approved your term is for five years, at which time, you can renew, again online, through an expedited application process.
The Process to Enroll
Instantaneously following this section will be click-able links for you to use to get to the right place online to enroll and accomplish an application. The process is very ordinary. You navigate to the GOES site and setup an online account for each individual who is applying. After the account is setup, you are provided links within the CBP's system to begin the application process. This can be accomplished in one sitting, and the information you will need in advance is your passport and your driver's license.
When you come in your information online, there is one confusing section which makes it sound like you will need to provide extra information to prove your citizenship. But this information doesn't apply to natural born citizens; all you need to come in is your finish passport and driver's license information. When the application is finish you are put into a pending approval category. There are help screens along the way to guide, and you are told to recall your login information and check back at this site periodically to find out if you're pending status has been updated. It took about a week for our applications to be moved into the category that permits you to setup an interview (called conditional approval).
Once you are in this category, you must schedule your interview within thirty days, which is why it's significant to check back at the site frequently.
I recommend checking back every few days, and when your approved, scheduling your interview as soon as possible afterwords. Again, within the online system, you click on a link that brings you to the available sites to schedule an interview. This was one of the aspects that was originally very confusing for us. We reviewed the information on sites available to us, and there was no local office listed as an enrollment center for us. Which is why we delayed applying for so long. We intended to submit our application when we knew we'd be traveling to one of the locations listed. As it turned out, the list for interviews was different than the one shown for enrollment centers, and there was a local interview site for us which made the entire process much simpler.
The link below will bring you to the GOES home page where you can begin the application process.
This link is to the main program information section which describes the program and the enrollment process. When you click on the link under “What is Global Entry?” you are brought to the very first section where you create your online account.
Advantages of becoming a ‘Trusted Traveler' in the Global Entry Network
We mistakenly assumed that the Global Entry Network was only advantageous if you were traveling internationally.
- Expedited passage through US Custom-made and Immigrations upon arriving in the US at the conclusion of international travel. You avoid the lines for both points in the come back immigration process, the very first passport check line, and the 2nd declarations of customs line. The time savings you build up can make the difference in whether or not you make your connections to flights back home, and in fact could have saved us the cost of extra flights on our most latest international tour.
- Expedited passage through TSA security whenever you're flying somewhere. You are permitted into a VIP line that is much shorter and where you do not need to eliminate your footwear, belt, jacket, laptop, and 3-1-1 bag. One caveat here applies: shortly after we joined, we weren't expedited on a flight, and didn't realize airlines could routinely ‘randomly select' passengers to ‘temporarily liquidate from VIP status'! We now know to get our boarding passes before we leave for the airport and check them to make sure our VIP status is intact!
- Entry into other Countries expedited entry programs like SmartGate, which offers streamlined entry for US citizens into Australia, Privium Program at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Korea's Clever Entry Service.
The Interview
The interview is conducted by United States CBP agents in an office setting, and its an individual interview. My spouse and I were able to schedule our interview for the same time so that we could go together. You are required to bring the letter you printed out after scheduling the interview online, as well as your passport and drivers license.
The agent asked as general questions about our travels, and both agents were friendly and helpful…not at all intimidating. They use your documentation to research the background information that was gathered on you on a monitor, then ask you to place each arm on a glass topped little machine that scans your fingerprints. After the fingerprints are processed, they put a little sticker in your passport that identifies you to US Customs officials, and give you some documentation to carry with you when you travel that explains what to do to take advantage of your trusted status.
The picture above to the right shows a little card you can carry with you that explains how to use the kiosks for customs declarations when your traveling internationally.
Extra Helpful Links
Here are a few more links that may help to better explain various aspects of the CBP's Trusted Traveler System
This link takes you to a large FAQ section where answers are provided to address the many facets of this and cooperative programs in other countries.
This link beings you to the TSA's site that describes all of the ins and outs of the Precheck program.
This link provides you with the details the stir entails. In addition the fresh telephone number is 202.325.8000. The Toll Free Number will remain the same.
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Two Unscrupulous Websites to Avoid: Ava's Flowers & Trustpilot
Why Ava's Flowers & Trust Pilot are two Online Sites Consumers Should Avoid
This post discusses two online businesses I encountered recently that operate deceptively and who's business practices aren't focused on building customer satisfaction. The sites I warn against using are:
- Trust Pilot – This is a Business That Purports to Operate a Consumer Review Website
- Ava's Flowers – Their Website Represents Them as a Local Florist That's Conveniently Well Situated in Every Single City, Town & Village in the USA
Introduction
Infrequently do I have occasion to write such a negative post. In fact it agonies me to do so. Who wants to expend energy on negativity?
What vsatips & vsatrends are all about…
The concentrate of my websites has always been on sharing amazing things I've discovered and have leisurely grown to depend on because they proceed being amazing. Or, I write about tips for using implements or resources that I love. Last I like to share ideas on how to accomplish challenging tasks using technology or at times I write about something that doesn't fall into any one of those usual groups but that I just ran across and thought was cool enough to want to share.
What vsatips & vsatrends are not usually about is…
Writing about businesses or companies who's poor practices garner so many customer complaints they show up to be intentionally tearing off their customers. Or, that their treatment of customers is so poor that claims of harassment aren't infrequent. Their foot business is serving customers yet it emerges they are failing monumentally and at every perceptible level. Yet their failure's seem to not be negatively impacting their bottom line. Fairly the opposite in fact emerges to be the case. They show up to be financially healthy and fairly possibly even flourishing. Which leads to the unavoidable perception that their business practices must be balancing precariously upon a very fine line inbetween suitable and borderline criminal behavior.
The Sequence of Events Leading Up to My Writing These Profoundly Negative Reviews of Ava's Flowers & Trust Pilot
Sending Mother's Day Flowers has Become a Time-Honored Tradition
Mother's Day this year introduced some high's and some lows for me. Included among the highs were:
- I was the proud and glad recipient of flowers from my son's
- This was a very first since they've both recently entered youthfull adulthood.
- Talking to them both on Mother's Day caused me to recognize that they've both totally crossed that invisible line which leaves childhood fully behind and which opens up fresh doors for relationship bonding and titillating fresh avenues to explore
Some of the lows were:
- The largest low was that they were unwittingly scammed by a website calling themselves Ava's Flowers.
- Ava's was supposed produce a beautiful flower arrangement on Mother's Day…instead they delivered a sorry arrangement of half browned out flowers not on Mother's Day, but a day earlier.
- While most florists would own up to their errors and correct them, Ava's never even returned any of the four calls I made in which I left messages explaining what the problems were.
- After discussing the problems with my son's, which was something I'd hoped to avoid, I discovered that they were misled by Ava's website into believing that Ava's was a local florist.
- Spending a lot of time on Mother's Day and subsequent days attempting to reach a resolution to the problem
Ava's & Trustpilot's Coalition – If you do a Google Search for Ava's Flowers Reviews you'll find that there are hundreds of negative reviews out there…the only ones that seem to be positive are Trust Pilots.
Ava's Flowers is Scam Website Tricking Innocents Into Believing That They are ‘Local'
My son's put forward some time and effort into selecting who and where they'd choose to do business for their 1st flower delivery. After reviewing the multitude of choices they selected Ava's because they were local. Not just to my metropolitan area but to my actual suburb too. It emerges that Ava's has gone to excellent lengths to present their services online as local…no matter where in the USA you may reside.
I'm not fairly sure how Ava's pulls this off, but you can visit their website and see for yourself, which leads to my warning:
Buyer's Beware of Ava's Flower's
Ava's Flower's is not a local florist. Not unless you're from Mahwah, Fresh Jersey.
According to a latest local Better Business Bureau report… Ava's Flower's is not a reputable business. The BBB has amassed a hefty number of complaints about Ava's.
They've received so many complaints in fact that they published a report about Avas. You can read the BBB's PDF report regarding Ava's Flower's here.
But is Deceiving Consumers into Thinking Ava's Flowers is Local Their Only Crime?
Sadly, no. if that were the case I wouldn't feel compelled to be spending this beautiful spring Saturday indoors writing this negative blog post. The flowers that were delivered were substandard…over half of them were brown, violated and dying. After getting over my initial shock that my boys even thought to honor me on Mother's Day in such a kind and loving way, I called the delivery phone number left on the little delivery card. There was nothing but a number to call.
That call led to me spending the rest of Mother's Day attempting to figure out how to remedy the situation so I could gladfully report back to my boys that the flowers were AMAZING and HOW MUCH I loved and appreciated them. My calls…Four of them in total weren't returned. The only form of communication I ever received back from Ava's Flowers was a ‘cease and desist' order from Trust Pilot.
The Evidence Stacked Against Ava's Flowers
ConsumerAffairs.com Lists their top four hundred fifty six complaints about Ava's Flowers on their website. If you'd like to read them on a PDF I've copied around the very first forty onto a PDF document you can download here.
ReviewsTalk.com is evidently a REAL review site. I say that because I found a review there which explained to me a lot about how Ava's operates and what their true business practices are. I've placed a crimson box around the enlightening section in the screenshot below:
An online petition was signed by four hundred eleven supporters at switch.org asking the City of Fresh York to investigate all the negative complaints against Ava's or the alias they use in NY Fresh City Florists.
The Trustworthiness of Trustpilot's Reviews is Questionable at Best
In case you've never heard of them (don't feel bad, I hadn't either) Trustpilot is a website purporting to be a review site for consumers. It was Trustpilot's site that I choose…or truly, that chose me as my place to register my unhappiness given the abysmal flowers I'd received from Ava's. I say ‘chose me‘ because I searched for reviews of Ava's and Trustpilot was the only review site alternative appearing in my search results. So I created a user account at Trustpilot purely so I could write my negative review for Ava's Flowers.
What I discovered after receiving four almost instantaneous upvotes for my review was that within hours of my posting it…Trustpilot was contacted by Ava's Flowers and told to unpublish my review…most likely along with thousands of others I suspect…until I could prove my claim. Which I've spent the last few weeks attempting to do.
Restoring My Trustpilot Review Proved to Be a Time Consuming & Ultimate Utter Failure
Why, you might wonder? If Trustpilot wants to protect consumers, why would they side with the large businesses that their user base is generally writing about? That's a excellent question (and one I also wondered about.) It's one that's been answered several times in the following articles:
It was this third link, while reading through the comments section, that I got the response to my question in the form of
Trustpilot's Business Model
Rachael dale's comment: “Everyone knows TrustPilot business models – Trustpilot takes money from businesses to demonstrate fake positive reviews about other companies, ‘ John Lewis ‘ for example pays a monthly fee for Trustpilot's fake reviews and they earn a monthly fee from John lewis. Would they want to piss off John Lewis by demonstrating bad reviews from them? No they would only want to demonstrate positive reviews about them. So they put fake reviews for such companies.’”
“If you notice there's a pattern. After every one bad review there are five fake positive ones (only for websites they take a monthly fee for the rest its just a string of bad reviews) so as to bury a negative one on a pile of good ones so that people think OHH it does not matter they have one bad one but five positives.”
So in the end conclusion it's all Lies on the Trustpilot website!
Lest you think I'm not being thorough in my research regarding Trustpilot…let me put your fears to rest. No, I'm not basing my opinion upon a handful of negative online articles. Fairly the contrary in fact…I've spent far too much time researching this topic and fear tremendous my readers with tons of worthless data that you'd need to slog through in order to arrive at any useful kernels of wisdom.
Below PlanetMaketing ‘s comparison confirms what we've already learned and adds a bit of fresh information about Trustpilot's business practices.
What's a little scary to me is how meaty Trust Pilot actually is…granted this was found at their own website!
In fact, if their advertising is to be believed, the web building engine I use for vsatrends, WordPress.com is a client! Which makes me think that most of their clientele are garnered using ‘threat based' motivation versus positive.
Above: Some of Trust Pilot's Business Clients
But their business model does seem to be the guiding force behind their representation of consumer's reviews. When you very first arrive at Trustpilot's site as a fresh consumer you're met with the screenshot below…which is actually a permanently switching update of their most latest reviews. I observed it for a while to see if there were ever an example of negative reviews outweighing positive ones in numbers…but never encountered that phenomenon.
In fact I've compiled so much compelling evidence proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that both Ava's Flowers and Trustpilot are websites that consumers should attempt to veer totally clear of in order to remain safe online, that I'm adding an Extra Resource section below for anyone who might be interested in extra information.
Fear of Identity Theft is Just One Reason Why Consumer's Should Steer Clear of Trustpilot
The following screenshot is taken from Wikipedia's article on Trustpilot.
Florists are The Flawless Business Playmate for Fake Online Review Websites
Why do I say that? Because it dawned on me as I've been researching and writing this, that florists provide a product which their customer's generally don't have a lot of recourse for when the florist fails to produce. One big reason is because the recipient isn't generally the purchaser. Therefore websites like Trustpilot which consider a purchase Receipt as the gold standard for proof when one of their business clients objects to a consumer's negative review, can lightly unpublish the unhappy person's review…which is exactly what occurred in my case. What evidence can a flower recipient truly provide to one of the big review scammers?
In my case the ‘proof' I provided to Trustpilot when requested included:
- Several photographs of the actual Flowers which could be verified with EXIF and META data because I left that information intact
- The paper documentation I received along with the flowers, which included a ‘typed' Mother's Day message from my sons, my address, the date of delivery (which was the wrong date…they were supposed to be delivered on Mother's Day but were actually delivered a day earlier.)
- The Fresh Jersey Better Business Bureau's report of Ava's poor customer relations (included in the resource section at the end.)
But none of my evidence was proof enough for Trustpilot. I've also included all of my email correspondence with Trustpilot in the Extra Resources at the end of this post.
So Ava's sells a product in which they mislead consumer's into believing will be provided locally that they have absolutely no motivation to actually provide…because the recipient has no means of recourse if they don't supply. I'm learning that most of the big review sites operate with business models like Trustpilot's, so their motivation is purely to please the businesses they have as clients or to present the most advantageous picture possible to potential fresh clients.
It's no wonder then that almost all of the florist reviews that you see online are positive bordering upon glowing.
I don't have a green thumb but my back yard flowers are far better than Ava's!
Extra Resources
A PDF showcasing pages and pages of negative reviews of Ava's Flowers on Trustpilot specifically surrounding the date for Mother's Day 2017
It wasn't effortless now that I understand Trustpilot's leanings towards always displaying deceptively positive reviews at the consumer's expense…but I ultimately figured out how to use their website to see the ‘true' reviews of a business. Which is how I was able to find all the negative ones contained in this PDF.
Comments
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Who Among Us Hates Apple's Newest News App?
Dear Apple, Please Do Away With the News App & Give Us a Weather App In its Place
Sincerely, Apple Users' of the world
You can more of ‘My Open Letter to Apple' towards the bottom of this post.
Apple's Fresh's App Promises More Than it Supplies
The Bad News About Apple's Newest Fresh's App
I just deleted Apple's newest Fresh's App. It's buggy and awful like it's predecessors. This for me beg's a fatter question…why can't Apple get it right with a News type of app? My followup question is of course…shouldn't they should just give up on the concept of a News app downright?
My most latest frustration emanates from my research today looking for things for our fresh kitchen. As I was searching for things using Safari, in at least three instances I've been compelled into using the News app instead of being able to read the article on Safari. The problem with this is twofold. Very first I have to read the article in iPhone mode which means portrait mode on my iPad and it's just an unattractive, awkward and an old method of doing things. 2nd and the thicker problem is that once I'm in the news app I can't do anything with the content from there. I can't share it with anyone, I can't save a photograph from within an article…in fact the only thing that I can do is to copy the entire textual content of the article and paste it into something else which is usually NOT what I want.
Apple has been attempting to find a way to serve us our news and our magazine subscription content almost from the iPad's inception in 2010. They've failed abysmally with every attempt. In fact, their failures are of such an epic proportion that when a fresh iteration of this emerges I don't even bother opening it. I've taken in latest years to always quickly moving it into a folder I keep which houses all the unused Apple apps that I can't delete.
The Good News About Apple's Fresh's App
Just so I don't sound like I'm totally hating here, there is one good aspect about the app…sometimes. When is does work it can be exceptionally nice looking…very Flipboardesque (which is most likely why Flipboard is more than bothered by it…see the screenshot below.)
My Google search results for ‘Apple's terrible Fresh's App'
The other good news is that as of ios Ten, Apple ultimately has given users' a way to delete ‘core' apps. Deleting an Apple app is just like deleting any other. Long press on it until it wiggles and then tap on the X.
No X Means PhotoBooth Can't Be Deleted
Incidentally, I just realized that not all of Apple's core apps can indeed be deleted. Photo Booth cannot be deleted. I'm not sure why this is, and I'd say it was a oversite if not for the fact that the app doesn't show up in the list of apps under General – Settings – Storage, which would be another method of deleting it. So for now the widely disliked Photo Booth app poses a unique and puzzling exception.
Who Among My Reader's Thinks Apple Should Cut Their Losses & Abandon the Idea of News App Entirely?
Personally I get my news using other methods…and I'm presently writing a post about that. So I've never had need of an Apple app for this purpose. Am I unique? I tend to think not, but maybe I'm wrong. Please let me know in the comments section at the bottom if I am.
My Theory Why Apple Will Never Abandon the Fresh's App
The only reason I can think of explaining why Apple resumes year after year to attempt and force the issue of a Fresh's app, is this. Because Apple is motivated by profit incentives, and their Fresh's app offers profit potential. I think that Apple must be earning a percentage for each of the subscriptions to magazines and news services that are suggested through the app. Am I wrong? Frankly I don't know if I'm right or not. I would be interested in getting to know the truth…but I suspect I am right.
What Should Apple Use to Substitute the Fated News App?
I'm so glad you asked me that question, because the response has been upsetting me moderately for a while now.
Apple actually has produced fairly a few useful apps that they've chosen to not make available on to the millions of iPad users around the world. Why they've taken this stance is anyone's guess! I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why Apple wouldn't want iPad users to have use of such handy implements as calculators or weather reports!
Does Anyone Truly Know Why Apple Thinks iPad Users Don't Need Useful Contraptions Like Calculators or Weather Reports?
If someone does know, I'd be grateful if you'd clue me in! Because right now, this blatant misconception indeed irks me! How arrogant must Apple executives be for them to think that they know us and our needs better than we know ourselves! That's the only kind of thinking for me that's plausible enough to lead Apple executives to their blanket assumption that their denial of the usage of their ‘stock‘ or ‘core‘ apps by iPad users isn't just OK, but something we need! This leads me to pose the question…
Who in bloody #@!! does Apple think they are that they can judge my needs better than I can?
The response to that question lies at the very heart of the major difference inbetween Android and Apple users worldwide. Apple has chosen to use what's oftentimes referred to as a ‘sand boxed‘ treatment for managing their users.
Apple's ‘Sand Boxing' Practices are Meant To Protect Users…Sadly, In This Example Apple Actually Harms Their Users Instead
You've most likely heard the phrase ‘sand boxing' before. It's been bandied about for years, but you may not have entirely understood what it means.
Think of it like this:
Imagine a sand box like the square wooden ones most of my peers from the Baby Boom generation grew up with. Within the protective wood-frame structure that corrals all the sand keeping it from spilling out onto the nicely manicured lawn surrounding it, where we kids used to sit and play… sometimes for hours on end.
Now, in my illustration let's substitute those kids with millions of Apple's iPhone and iPad users. Let's substitute the wooden framework with an invisible barrier, similar to a firewall, that keeps users inwards safe and all the bad stuff out. Once you've done that, you should be able to visualize what is meant by Apple's limitary sand boxing practices which grossly thresholds user privileges.
So you can see now how Apple's sand box effect is intended to protect users…and in many instances it does. In fact it's worked so well that user's of Apple devices generally don't need to worry too much about viruses or malware. Apple's sand boxing has protected us…but it restricts us too…sometimes unnecessarily. Many would argue always unnecessarily.
I suspect Apple's stance would be that anyone is welcome to find free versions of apps similar to the ones that they restrict use of by only permitting iPhone usage. While that is true it's exactly part of the harm I was referring to above. It can take hours upon hours of my valuable time attempting to find acceptable replacements that both work and don't overtax my iPad's battery with incessantly running ads bordering on malware in the background.
So their reaction seems to connote a form of tunnel vision on their part in which they are only half recognizing the utter situation they've placed users in.
While yes, there are many, many apps available in the app which replicate Apple's stock ones, finding a good one is onerous at best, and downright frustrating at worst. Even if I do find acceptable replacements for apps which should have been included in the very first place. Every year or two I'll need to revisit the task of finding a fresh calculator or weather app, among others again. Why? Because each September when a fresh ios is released, every app developer must update their app in order to have run well under the fresh ios.
Some app developers do undertake that task. But many more don't after the very first few years. I suspect that many app builders have had a rude awakening the very first time that this occurred and they took on the updating task begrudgingly. But then after a few years time passed they determined that the tangible gains received from their efforts just weren't worth the added cost in time and labor…so for all practical purposes they abandon their apps. But not downright. They leave their apps in the App Store available to any sucker who might be dumb enough to buy them without reading user reviews' very first. So they may proceed to earn marginal profits for several more years. But the apps themselves indeed don't work well anymore.
That's why I'm coerced every duo of years into taking on the onerous task of reexamining the entire App Store for certain basic instruments that I need like a calculator. That task wouldn't be so onerous if Apple would dedicate their resources towards fixing the App Store, because everyone who's ever searched for an app knows that the App Store is cracked and has been almost from day one. Naturally Apple executives know this too. In fact that's the reason why a few years back when Tim Cook announced that Phil Schiller would be taking the App Store under his wing, Apple users around the world rejoiced!
Sadly, our high expectations were dashed when Phil too either abandoned the project of failed in his efforts to remedy the situation. Many, many angry and frustrated customers have loudly and publicly proclaimed their utter disgust at the entire situation. Lest you doubt my assessment of this what goes after is evidence. The screenshot below is a note in my Apple Note's app where I've listed links to some of the top websites that write about a multiplicity of Apple's and product news…in this case they've all written ‘Open Letters‘ to Apple imploring them to fix the App Store.
I don't indeed want to think in this negative manner because I truly, indeed love my Apple devices, which you'd see if you read my very long but fully heartfelt and utterly enthusiast review of the fresh iPad Five. In it I blatantly proclaim my belief that this fresh iPad is the best one Apple has ever made. I literally gush about all of it's amazing features, and almost state outright that everyone in the world should own one of these…almost.
Getting back to my ‘here's the thing' statement…frankly I feel I've been boxed into a corner here. There are no other plausible explanations available to me to explain Apple executive's deeds that I can think of. It comes down to arrogance or tunnel vision regarding your customer's needs.
The apps already exist, so Apple doesn't need to expend any of their own resources to provide them to us.
Furthermore, they would be helping users more than it might seem on the surface. Not only would they be providing some real value to their customer base in terms of providing them with better life and productivity devices. But they'd significantly be improving everyone's productivity by removing a set of onerous tasks that keep resurfacing annually when a fresh ios is released which we are eventually compelled to update to.
So I've determined to include my own ‘Open Letter' to Apple:
My Open Letter to Apple Requesting Stock Apps Be Made Available to iPad Users
Dear Apple, can you please permit me to use the iPhone apps shown below on my iPad too? Personally I know I would benefit greatly by having any or all of these iPhone apps on my iPad.
While your thinking about my request, why not also think about getting rid of the News app entirely?
Below is a list of some the app's you could substitute the News App with: