iPhones are hard to use • Hacker News Board

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#531

Post by _ea1k » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:16 PM UTC

MattSayar wrote: post #530

monkeynotes wrote: post #499

Most people know it's controversial to say "iPhones are hard to use" because most people feel that the iPhone, perhaps more than any other technological innovation in the past 20 years, made technology easy to access, use, and integrate with their lives. To say 'iPhones are hard to use' and then point out all the small edge cases of use as significant flaws is hyperbole in bad faith. The author is caught up in his ow…

But then nobody would read it

Yeah, the OP made a good point, but it is really true of most persuasive writing, IMO.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#532

Post by teetermld » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:18 PM UTC

'Claudia, you are banned from here.'

Jesus christ talk about intrusive annoyances akin to dissociative anesthesia. Stop trying to be quirky and random.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#533

Post by _ea1k » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:20 PM UTC

monkeynotes wrote: post #499

Most people know it's controversial to say "iPhones are hard to use" because most people feel that the iPhone, perhaps more than any other technological innovation in the past 20 years, made technology easy to access, use, and integrate with their lives. To say 'iPhones are hard to use' and then point out all the small edge cases of use as significant flaws is hyperbole in bad faith. The author is caught up in his ow…

Or maybe "making the setup process easy hides some really important (and even safety critical) functionality". Or "popups are still bad and apparently we still need to say it" (referring to the wifi one). Or maybe "some current edge cases should be center cases".

I don't think that his point is an overly broad indictment of the iphone so much as an analysis of where many of its more common flaws actually lie. I've seen so many criticisms of trivialities around colors in the calendar, but little analysis of what real people with basic knowledge don't know.

The fact that it is so iPhone centric leads me to believe that the author is a fan. I don't consider this bad faith at all.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#534

Post by wvenable » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:20 PM UTC

guy98238710 wrote: post #432

wvenable wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went from iPhone to Android and struggled but now I have serious trouble using iOS devices. I'm now convinced the greatest UI innovation this century is the Back button. If IBM PC keyboards had a big dedicated "back" key the world would have a been a much better place.

They have the "Esc" key.

That generally means cancel, not back.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#535

Post by thedaemon » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:23 PM UTC

In summary, people do not RTFM. If people RTFM, the phone would be easy to them.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#536

Post by _ea1k » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:27 PM UTC

jon889 wrote: post #454

mrzool wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This article just has iPhone in the title to get more views. This article has iPhone in the title because it talks specifically and exclusively about iPhones. Of course there's always a lot of improve with UI and UX on all devices, but this article focuses on iPhones.

Almost all of it can be applied to not only Android phones but also Mac, and Windows. The problem is that everyone needs a slightly different set of features to be at the front. There is no way any software maker can surface the features a user needs for everyone. At some point the user has to take responsibility and learn the tool they bought. If it was anything from a coffee machine, to a tractor, the user has to l…

I really think the focus on iPhone is just because the author is a heavy user of iOS. He knows too many details for it to be anything else, IMO.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#537

Post by Elzair » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:29 PM UTC

There is some horrible ableism in that post.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#538

Post by _ea1k » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:29 PM UTC

__david__ wrote: post #241

pcmoney wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree unless you are saying: 1. Only iPhones can adjust text size. 2. Only iPhones have mapping functionality 3. Only iPhones have a voice activated digital assistant. 4. Only iPhone have a health app. These are all common smart phone features. They only pertain to iphones because of the title and the author uses specific examples of otherwise generic problems in the context of iphone use. I would say only iPhon…

If I were the author and I was only familiar with iPhones then I would be extremely wary of making claims about other phone OSes that I didn't have as much experience with. Nothing in his article says that other phones don't have these problems—he's merely asserting that iPhones do .

Exactly. I mean, Android has most of these issues, but I believe that Google's latest initial setup strongly encourages the configuration of emergency contact information just as one example.

If he had tried to imply that it covered Android as well it would have focused on some problems that Android might not have and probably overlooked a dozen more that it does have.

I don't think the author thinks that either platform is perfect.

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#539

Post by auiya » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:32 PM UTC

The author is right, but for the wrong reasons. Conventional app design on mobile devices (not just iPhone, Android is particularly bad about this) puts all the interactive UI elements in difficult to reach corners of the phone/tablet. It's especially apparent when trying to use a device one-handed, which admittedly is becoming more difficult as OEMs engage in a pissing match of who can build the biggest phone[1]. I get the need for keeping content centered and scattering UI elements around the four corners, but could they perhaps focus on a single corner so you're not constantly fumbling around with the hardware in your hand(s) to reach the various areas you interact with most? Ergonomic best practices are wholly ignored in every device I've ever used.

[1] https://kneeland.me/2011/10/07/2010s-smartphone-screens-are-...

Re: iPhones are hard to use

#540

Post by GVIrish » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 2:41 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #377

fit2rule wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Language? I'd quite like to be able to change that frequently. I see no good reason to have mono-culture enforced by the OS. There are three languages spoken in my household, by various family members. Changing the language dynamically for them would be a benefit, not a hindrance. Text size? Same - I often have to show something to my elderly family members, but digging deep into the menu's to find the Text Size sett…

> Language? I'd quite like to be able to change that frequently. I see no good reason to have mono-culture enforced by the OS. That's an outlier request, if I ever saw one, and the accusation is absurd (they give localizations for the OS and tons of things like Siri for dozens or hundreds of languages, so to say they ..."enforce a mono-culture" because they don't allow one to see Spanish one day and French the next o…

> The vast majority of people just don't change the language frequently, and wouldn't do it even if it had a dedicated rotary switch on the side.

The vast majority of users in some countries may never change language, but there are other countries where multiple languages are officially spoken and where even members of the same household have different first languages.

For the phone form factor I would think that maybe language switching isn't as important since most people are not sharing their phones often, but for the iPad it might be more useful to be able to switch languages quickly.