What is a good single term for Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad?

December 16, 2012 9:58 AM

I am writing some documentation for an app that runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. I need a consistant way to refer to these devices and am looking for something better than "iPhone/iPod/iPad". For example: "Hold your iPhone/iPod/iPad's camera so that the QR code is centered in the brackets." I've come up with either "... iPhone/iPod/iPad (referred to as iPhone from here on)" or "IOS device" Anyone have a better idea?
posted by cosmac to Writing & Language (12 answers total)

Just "device" is fine I think.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 10:02 AM on December 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Facebook calls it "your Apple". "your iOS device" would work too. "IOS" is not capitalized properly.
posted by Yowser at 10:03 AM on December 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I agree I would just say "your device"
posted by radioamy at 10:04 AM on December 16, 2012

Best answer: "iOS device" for the first usage, "device" thereafter.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 10:05 AM on December 16, 2012 [16 favorites]

"iOS device" for the first usage, "device" thereafter.

This.
posted by alms at 10:32 AM on December 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

While I'd tend to go with beaucoupkevin here, it's worth noting that "iDevice" is a term of significant popular use.
posted by howfar at 10:32 AM on December 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

I agree I would just say "your device"

Please don't do this. So many apple designers and developers just assume everyone is using an apple product. Many people do not. It is obnoxious.

Keep in mind that your documentation WILL end up on the internet in one form or another and any assumptions about page reading will be violated by search engines and people who traverse documents using Find.

Being specific and redundant is fine and eliminates possibilities for confusion and disappointment. I'll take awkward but precise over smooth but vague any day.
posted by srboisvert at 10:36 AM on December 16, 2012

Please don't do this. So many apple designers and developers just assume everyone is using an apple product. Many people do not. It is obnoxious.

The documentation in question is for an iOS app. This assumption is not an assumption; it is fact.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:45 AM on December 16, 2012 [12 favorites]

I've always seen "iDevice" used as a catch-all for the iPod/iPhone/iPad.
posted by jraenar at 12:16 PM on December 16, 2012

I'm not familiar with the mechanics of the help system. Can you have multiple versions and have the correct one chosen upon device detection? Or a variable for the device name?
posted by Sophont at 12:17 PM on December 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Do you really need to say "device" more than a couple of times? Why not language such that "center your camera image on the QR code" and the need for referring to the "device" drops out?
posted by dhartung at 2:41 PM on December 16, 2012

Best answer: Apple tech here. "iDevice" is not a term used by Apple. I would avoid it as you may end up with documentation that becomes irrelevant fast or just plain sounds unprofessional. The official term is "iOS device". Nthing using that the first time and "device" thereafter.
posted by skypieces at 8:39 PM on December 16, 2012 [2 favorites]