iPhones are hard to use • Hacker News Board

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#181

Post by graeme » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:03 AM UTC

kbenson wrote: post #144

Steko wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple won't fare as well if they were to be evaluated by an audience unfamiliar with their brand and devices all together. Haven't they spent the last decade expanding into new markets successfully though? And from what I gather their new customer retention and satisfaction is among the best in the industry. People like to explain away Apple's success as merely the product of "fanboys" they've had for decades, as t…

> People like to explain away Apple's success as merely the product of "fanboys" they've had for decades, as though the same 10 million guys who bought the first iphone are somehow responsible for the 50+ million phones apple sells each quarter. Given the world's fashion industry is worth trillions , it will take a more persuasive argument than that to convince me it's not heavily influenced by people's perception of…

Do you mean fashion, or luxury? Fashion and apparel is 1.2 trillion. But that includes clothing, which is a necessary item.

The luxury goods industry, by contrast, is only worth 250 billion.

https://www.statista.com/topics/1110/global-luxury-goods-ind...

I feel your analogy is not very well founded.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#182

Post by sutterbomb » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:03 AM UTC

lozenge wrote: post #118

sutterbomb wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give some specific examples? I’m so thoroughly baked into iOS that I don’t notice these potential issues.

Opening the app switcher is essentially a gesture. As is opening quick settings. Opening notifications makes a little more sense as notifications appear at the top of the screen. Rearranging the home screen is also a gesture.

Thanks, fair examples. How is home screen arrangement handled in android?

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#183

Post by batiudrami » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:03 AM UTC

screye wrote: post #32

I have been an android-windows user for the longest time, and using Apple devices is among the most difficult things I've had to do. I have used windows phone, linux, chrome OS, Blackberry's palm-like UI over the years, but I have gotten the hang of each over a small period of time. Apple devices however, are simply counter intuitive for me. Apple seems to design UI for 2 types of people. 1. Old Apple users 2. The pe…

When iPhones first came out they were a dream to use - but I think that was largely because they didn't do very much. Picking up an iPhone 3GS (the first one I saw in real life) the interface was fast, intuitive and accessible.

However, as more features were added, Apple's desire to keep things appearing to be simple and clean, and their refusal to increase screen size, meant features get hidden away, behind swipes, long presses and double presses from different parts of the screen. I find iPhones really hard to use nowadays - even though they now have a lot of features which stopped me from buying them initially.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#184

Post by wlesieutre » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:06 AM UTC

askafriend wrote: post #153

nilkn wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it’s worth, I use 3D Touch pretty much every day. The number one usage for me is moving the cursor around while editing text. I actually did it while writing this post; I decided I wanted to add a comma after “worth” at the beginning and did so easily with this feature.

This exact function is duplicated by long pressing on the space bar. This has been there since iOS 11, I believe. So you don't actually need 3D Touch to have the benefit of the awesome cursor UX.

Drag space bar is new in 12, but two finger drag on iPad has been around a bit longer.

It’s a bonus for SE users without force touch. Seems obvious to include this, but I assume the reason they went back and bothered with it is the new XR taking force touch back out.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#185

Post by graeme » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:06 AM UTC

stevehawk wrote: post #125

screye wrote: post #32

I have been an android-windows user for the longest time, and using Apple devices is among the most difficult things I've had to do. I have used windows phone, linux, chrome OS, Blackberry's palm-like UI over the years, but I have gotten the hang of each over a small period of time. Apple devices however, are simply counter intuitive for me. Apple seems to design UI for 2 types of people. 1. Old Apple users 2. The pe…

I had nearly every iPhone until the LG G5 came out and I switched to Android. Whenever I use my wife's phone I honestly feel like an idiot because I can't figure out 3d touch and a bunch of the other features since I missed their 'introduction' of sorts and don't know that they exist or how they are supposed to be used.

You shouldn't be downvoted for this. I was missing new apple features for years, until I started browsing the apple subreddit. There are a lot of hidden features.

Seems there is a good manual online, but it's poorly advertised. The new features are often mainly announced once when you first open a system app after an ios update.

I've seem my parents repeatedly close them in a rush to get to the app. There's no "show me these tips later" option either, so they never learn the new features.

There are many advantages to the simplicity, but it's not wrong to say that new stuff is poorly discoverable. For pros and casual users alike.

That said, basic useability is great. Both of my parents figured out how to use iphones for their day to day with basically no tech support requests. Same with a mac. I was impressed, they always asked for help on Windows.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#186

Post by aetherson » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:07 AM UTC

pcmoney wrote: post #21

Ok, I need to say it. This article just has iPhone in the title to get more views. This is a problem with not just all smartphones but all rapidly evolving technology products. Do you think you could hand an android phone to one of those example cases and have them do any better with it? Also half of the time I am in an apple store I am helped by someone who needs to use the accessibility features to check me out/in.…

Android certainly handles joining wifi better.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#187

Post by larrik » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:08 AM UTC

> If somebody told you your Home button was going to wear out, hence you turned on AssistiveTouch, you were lied to.

Actually, this happened on my wife's iPhone 5. Granted, they don't actually exist anymore (or at least aren't buttons), but it very much did happen.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#188

Post by wahnfrieden » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:10 AM UTC

stiGGG wrote: post #95

nilkn wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what it’s worth, I use 3D Touch pretty much every day. The number one usage for me is moving the cursor around while editing text. I actually did it while writing this post; I decided I wanted to add a comma after “worth” at the beginning and did so easily with this feature.

Since iOS12 you can do this by holding the spacebar on devices without 3D touch

iPhone X with 3D Touch enables: the space bar longpress worked for me. This is actually more convenient as the 3D Touch hurts my finger and sometimes activates the alternate letter options.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#189

Post by aetherson » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:10 AM UTC

philliphaydon wrote: post #178

My mum is 68 now. I first got her a windows phone. I taught her how to make calls. That was it. Then a month later I got a string of text message. Hello Son Is This Working ? She worked out how to send texts. I upgraded her to an old iphone. I sent it to her in the mail. She worked out everything including how to take photos. I told her about LINE and she found the App Store and downloaded it. Her phone died so I bou…

Once you get used to one O/S, the other becomes harder, because instead of just not knowing any of the conventions, you've actively trained the wrong ones.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#190

Post by saagarjha » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 1:12 AM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #111

ProfessorLayton wrote: post #15

There's a lot to unpack here, and a lot to disagree with, as I believe there's plenty of evidence Apple cares a lot about accessibility. Also harping on specific terminology like password vs passcode is not really productive in terms of improving the underlying UX, as the word gets translated into tons of languages which may or may not have the same level of nuance. While I don't necessarily agree with the premise, e…

It's gotten worse. Screens keep getting bigger, but more and more functionality keeps getting hidden behind undiscoverable swipes and taps. I've been an iPhone user since the 3G, I used to program computers for a living, and I don't have a reliable mental model of what the available gestures even are these days. I'm reduced to randomly tapping and pressing and swiping like some sort of idiot.

> but more and more functionality keeps getting hidden behind undiscoverable swipes and taps

I think the issue is that Apple keeps adding functionality to iOS, but seldom removes functionality. So all these "non-essential" features end up relegated to harder to discover actions.