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What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

developer.apple.com

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Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#101

Post by masswerk »

config_yml wrote: post #28

Loss of affordance, density and contrast. Why do designers hate these 3 things? It's pretty, yes.

You just shouldn't abuse your interface by using it. ;-)

(Interfaces are to be printed out and to be discussed while looking at them mounted onto presentation boards. This is their primary purpose nowadays. – API's have still a way to go in order to catch up. E.g., we're still using calls like "Performance.measure()", where it really should be low contrast "Pink.mint()", which is also much prettier in a printed list of calls.)

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#103

Post by userbinator »

derefr wrote: post #91
dlivingston wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is why Apple provides an accessibility panel in system settings.

Normally, yes; but sometimes the change required to help one group doesn't hinder anyone else, and also is very hard to automatically derive the "accessible" version of the UX in a way that doesn't cause more harm than help (by e.g. accidentally pushing critical buttons out of visibility into a slide menu; or breaking a menu onto two lines such that there's less viewport left than originally designed for at minimum h…

doesn't hinder anyone else

Complete BS --- it absolutely slows down those who don't need elephantine UI elements to use a computer.

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#104

Post by userbinator »

gsich wrote: post #88
derefr wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On a desktop, with a mouse, I have near-perfect precision. I don't need overly-padded icons and windows because I have the precision of a mouse. You do, but not everyone does. Consider the accessibility needs of people with motor-degenerative diseases like Parkinson's or Huntington's. Won't they be better-served by larger click-targets?

Just make it customizable. There is no one size fits all.

Unfortunately, Apple (and not just Apple, others are sadly doing it too) would rather change the users to fit its designs than the opposite.

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#105

Post by bobbylarrybobby »

masswerk wrote: post #93

Two observations regarding the former title bar: * Putting the title (folder name) before the controls introduces a fundamental instability, much like OS X did with the menu bar by placing the named app menu before any other menus. Also, the amount of available space for displaying a longer title/file name seems limited. * It seems, the proxy icon is gone. I can't see which element could bear the functionality in pla…

Apple made a pretty big to-do about adding drag and drop to iPadOS. I don’t see drag and drop going anywhere.

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#106

Post by SllX »

ceocoder wrote: post #68
mxcrossb wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that and the fact that tech website users basically complain about every UI change. Hacker News is full of people who think XFCE is the height of desktop experience. This is fundamentally different than apple’s core fan base who seem to like any change just for the sake of change.

> Hacker News is full of people who think XFCE is the height of desktop experience. This is fundamentally different than apple’s core fan base who seem to like any change just for the sake of change. that statement seems perhaps too harsh to both HN crowd and Apple's core fan base, I spend more time on HN than I care to admit and I can assure you that I do not like XFCE desktop experience at all , my desktop is runni…

Nah, I watch most of the WM-related threads because it's more interesting to me than I am willing to admit in public life. XFCE gets trotted out generally any time GNOME, KDE, MATE or Cinnamon does, but especially in the case of the former two. There's usually a cadre of MATE and Cinnamon reps as well, of which you might as well consider yourself at least an honorary member at this point.

StumpWM, i3 and dwm are also commonly brought up contenders as peak desktop Linux.

If it doesn't apply to you, it doesn't apply to you.

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#107

Post by saagarjha »

lwhi wrote: post #42
breakfastduck wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree, I don't think they're anywhere near locking down to the iOS level. Could you explain some of these incremental lock downs? I honestly can't think of any that are genuine restrictions, but that might just be because I don't encounter them with what I do.

Every new release of OS X has been an increasing disappointment for years now. Security issues, bugs, incompatibilities. It's almost as if they've been actively devesting in OS X. At least we now understand why. Mac's are no longer machines fit for professional development. It's a damn shame, but it's true in my mind.

They just switched Macs to an entirely new architecture. I think they probably put more effort into macOS than iOS this year.

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#108

Post by saagarjha »

RivieraKid wrote: post #89
dimmke wrote: post #18

I have to be honest and go completely against the crowd here - but I think the UI updates are very good. They make the two OSes look cohesive but in a tasteful way. The extra padding in all of the UI is the only thing that I chafe at a little bit, it feels unnecessary. I really don't think they're going to put out touch screen Macs. So I'm not sure what there is to get upset about. I don't see any big functional chan…

Yep, I agree. Hacker News is a very conservative place (in terms of technology and UI changes). I think in general Apple does a phenomenal job at UI design. That said, the user experience of Mac OS still has plenty of low hanging fruit: - Window management and app switching could be much better. The "app switching system" I liked the most was in Gnome 2 / MATE - I could just quickly move the cursor to the bottom task…

> When I download an app (.dmg) and click it, it shows up as a new disk.

How do you think it should show up?

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#109

Post by saagarjha »

rahkiin wrote: post #79
qu1mby wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re right - by leveraging everyone who has now learned to create apps for iPhone and suddenly empowering them to create for Mac, too, we’re going to see a flood of underwhelming iPhone apps on desktop. But that’s exactly the catalyst you need to motivate the more capable of that bunch to cut through the noise with powerful applications specifically tailored to desktop — and a very healthy App Store for des…

One must not forget that AppKit is pretty awful compared to UIKit. It is much easier to accomplish things with UIKit. SwiftUI helps though and will end up being the way of making cross platform apps

> AppKit is pretty awful compared to UIKit

Well…

Re: What’s New in macOS Big Sur: Human Interface Guidelines

#110

Post by SllX »

masswerk wrote: post #93

Two observations regarding the former title bar: * Putting the title (folder name) before the controls introduces a fundamental instability, much like OS X did with the menu bar by placing the named app menu before any other menus. Also, the amount of available space for displaying a longer title/file name seems limited. * It seems, the proxy icon is gone. I can't see which element could bear the functionality in pla…

The proxy icon is still there, it seems you have to hover or click to show it though.
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