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Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

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Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#21

Post by cesarsalazar12 »

Other things that the App Store lacks (again):

- A wishlist or a very simple way to mark apps that you are willing to buy in the near future.

- Price tags on every product. Not just the one's you haven't purchased. As I already have the iWork suite installed, I can't read the prices of those articles.

- Good autocomplete. The app store universe is a finite one, not a chaotic infinite one such as the entire web. Therefore, the autocomplete should respond accordingly. Terms that are actually app names should have some visual cue.

- A prominent search box. To be fair, they have the search box in the conventional place. However, being discovery on the the priorities of the store, search should be more visible.

- And let's not talk about recommendations. If Amazon is a tiger in terms of targeted recomendations, Apple's App Store is not more than a snail.

Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#22

Post by marbletiles »

smackfu wrote: post #17
rbritton wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, most single-window apps on OS X already quit when the window is closed. This is typically the desired behavior, especially for those less computer-savvy.

OTOH, how can you tell if it is single-window or not? iTunes is not, closing it leaves it running. iPhoto is, closing it shuts it down. Both look pretty much the same.

iTunes is multi-window -- double-click any playlist to see. Even if it weren't, you don't want it to quit when you close its last window, you want the music to play on.

The distinction is arbitrary, though. There are plenty of single-window apps I'd like to stay running.

Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#23

Post by pr0zac »

runjake wrote: post #4

A off-topic question: This guys website looks like a nacho-colored version of Daring Fireball, complete with a star in the logo and for the favicon. Is there some star motif in the Mac world I'm not aware of?

Its like a modification of classic communist propaganda graphic design. Orange, yellow, and black, the star, strong font styling. Kind of weird way to design a blog.

Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#24

Post by zck »

scrrr wrote: post #11

That will not hinder its success, heh. Vanity blogpost. Look at HN, Reddit, ebay etc. to see how much design really matters. OSX is pretty but I'd argue it's not the neat icons that make it a success. Tsts.. Designers and their worldview.

There's a difference between spartan design and bad usability. This blogpost is about the usability of the design, not how attractive or fancy the design is.

Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#26

Post by sudont »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #19

If it makes you sad because Apple is no longer devoting thousands of pixels at the top of each window to a big "drag this window" control, you'd better brace yourself, because the next step for many consumer applications is to have windows that cannot be dragged at all. This design looks like an iPad screen to me. Did the implications of Apple's stated mission to "make the Mac more like the iPad" not sink in? The iPa…

I highly doubt that that Apple will remove dragable windows. Their iPad-ification of applications is the full-screen mode that can be toggled.

More likely: a bar-wide drag handler that takes precedence over widget clicking.

Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#27

Post by runjake »

pr0zac wrote: post #23
runjake wrote: post #4

A off-topic question: This guys website looks like a nacho-colored version of Daring Fireball, complete with a star in the logo and for the favicon. Is there some star motif in the Mac world I'm not aware of?

Its like a modification of classic communist propaganda graphic design. Orange, yellow, and black, the star, strong font styling. Kind of weird way to design a blog.

Yes, I think you're right. As a colorblind dude, the colors work well for me, but I wonder how they look to the color-ungimped.

Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#28

Post by thwarted »

cesarsalazar12 wrote: post #21

Other things that the App Store lacks (again): - A wishlist or a very simple way to mark apps that you are willing to buy in the near future. - Price tags on every product. Not just the one's you haven't purchased. As I already have the iWork suite installed, I can't read the prices of those articles. - Good autocomplete. The app store universe is a finite one, not a chaotic infinite one such as the entire web. There…

Good autocomplete. The app store universe is a finite one, not a chaotic infinite one such as the entire web. Therefore, the autocomplete should respond accordingly. Terms that are actually app names should have some visual cue.

Agreed. If Google can do autocomplete with Google Instant against the entire internet, then the ability to do it against the "more than a thousand apps" that are in the app store should be entirely within Apple's reach.

Re: Mac App Store UI is so hideous that it makes me want to kick a swan

#30

Post by roc »

smackfu wrote: post #17
rbritton wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, most single-window apps on OS X already quit when the window is closed. This is typically the desired behavior, especially for those less computer-savvy.

OTOH, how can you tell if it is single-window or not? iTunes is not, closing it leaves it running. iPhoto is, closing it shuts it down. Both look pretty much the same.

I get the feeling everything not aimed at professionals is going to begin moving toward the single-window and full-screen experiences. Likely in a slow march as opposed to all-at-once, but it seems inevitable to me.

Regular people never really took advantage of the MDI anyway. (Not that I blame them, overlapping windows made a mess of everything.)

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