Unable to set opacity on a layer

In Illustrator for the desktop you can create a layer and set the layer opacity to 50% and then draw on the layer and all objects draw will be drawn at 50% opacity.  On Illustrator for iPad you cannot set the opacity on a layer that has no objects in the layer.  You can only set the opacity on the layer when an object exists on the layer.  Additionally, even if you reduce the transparency in the layer, any objects drawn on the layer are drawn at 100% opacity.  Why doesn't the iPad version match the features in the desktop version when it comes to opacity?