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The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

uxdesign.cc

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Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#131

Post by wil421 »

gwbas1c wrote: post #87

In the mid 1990s, Aerosmith released their Cloud 9 CD with enhanced content for windows when placed in a CDROM drive. The application always turned the volume up, all the way to max, whenever it started. This immediately resulted in me emailing the developers complaining. Surprisingly, they replied! (Although I don't remember what the reply was.)

Oh man I haven’t thought about those CDs that had extra content for computers. I had the volume issue and hated with a passion the weird players it would install.

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#132

Post by HelixEndeavor »

eulgro wrote: post #110
stefan_ wrote: post #36

I think the worst UI is simply the Teams one, because it presents as an app volume control but then simply controls the global device volume . Fuck off, you are not the only app running. But that comes second to the microphone gain control, which Teams similarly exerts unilateral control over - only this time through an automated algorithm that for some microphone types just ends up muting them entirely. It's wild, y…

Try to zoom any document, it zooms the whole app. I'm surprised it doesn't zoom the whole operating system honestly, or change my screen resolution.

Try to zoom a document and it zooms an image file of your entire hard drive.

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#133

Post by mjcohen »

banana_giraffe wrote: post #72

My personal favorite is the Mac OS volume widget on the volume status icon drop down. It somehow changes for two finger drag on the touchpad, but ignores the scroll wheel. Well done Apple.

I had never tried that (Yosemite). The scroll wheel works just fine.

On my 2014 Mac Mini, the Apple remote works fine for pausing, adjusting volume, and going into sleep mode with a long pause press.

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#134

Post by runawaybottle »

perryizgr8 wrote: post #67
deaddodo wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be useful if you pointed out what you’re referring to. I assume it’s the little volume control on QuickTime player?

Yes, it was extremely difficult to adjust accurately.

The insanity of the false intuitiveness is hilarious. So let me get this straight, you need pixel perfect accuracy to reduce the volume to lowest, but not as much to increase it to the highest? How was this delineation determined?

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#135

Post by HelixEndeavor »

reificator wrote: post #106
varenc wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the motivation. A user might set an app's volume low and raise the system volume very high to compensate. But then audio from another program, likely Teams, might blow your ears out when it starts. In a vacuum, I like the idea, but given that the standard on Desktop is in-app volume control Teams' behavior sounds worse. In iOS I've never seen an in-app volume control (I assume its forbidden) and all volu…

> In iOS I never seen an in-app volume control (I assume its forbidden) and all volume adjustments affect the system volume. Typically games will have them so you can balance out music and interface sounds relative to in-game sounds. In my opinion a volume mixer is a requirement for a decent user experience. To reuse the game example: if I want to listen to a podcast while playing, I'd better be able to hear the podc…

I will say I find the inconsistency in whether a game will obey the physical Silent switch on iOS to be annoying at times. I'll know I have my volume turned up but oh, this game is being silent because Silent is on. At the very least that should be an option.

While I'm on the Silent gripe, mild tangent, but Facebook on Android refusing to follow the Notifications volume and instead following the Ringtone volume is one of the shittiest pieces of UX I have to deal with daily.

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#136

Post by leephillips »

jeffbee wrote: post #16

The worst one I've seen in actual practice was that of the Openmoko Neo Freerunner, which I saw at a mobile industry tradeshow years ago. The guy, and I must stress this the type of nerd who thought Openmoko was pretty good, had to open up a teensy little xterm and run alsamixer before making a call. So bad.

That’s awesome in its own way.

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#137

Post by devinplatt »

ajklsdhfniuwehf wrote: post #130

Those are still all better than mobile phones that have a dozen "volumes" and when you press the volume up when a video is just starting you might get lucky and lower the media volume, or you might have missed it for one microsecond and now you are stuck on ring or alarm or whatever volume while the video plays.

Which pairs great with autoplay videos in text based news articles you made the unfortunate choice to read on your phone in a quiet public place.

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#138

Post by HelixEndeavor »

FriedPickles wrote: post #27
temporallobe wrote: post #7

Car manufacturers are easily the winners here. If your car’s audio system doesn’t have a simple knob you can grab and twist, well, that just sucks.

Ford moved volume control to the touchscreen, but people wanted a knob. Solution? They stuck a knob to the touchscreen. Under the knob is an artificial "finger" that touches the screen. I haven't used it personally so all I can say is it's a hilarious solution. https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/02/im-obsessed-with-the-ford-...

It looks cool, and that's the only nice thing you can possibly say about it.

Re: The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

#140

Post by [deleted] »

gumby wrote: post #122
abram wrote: post #102

I find Apple's suggestion to use Siri to control the volume on the AirPods Pro [0] to be worse than some of the ideas on that page. The idea of having a spoken conversation in public in which I must request a volume change via a branded AI (and then repeat that request multiple times if necessary to reach my desired volume) just feels humiliating. [0] "To change the volume, say 'Hey, Siri,' then say something like 'T…

One of the teens in the house has discovered you can say “Hey Alexa shut the fuck up”. I’m afraid the joyless Siri just ignores you when you say that.

[deleted]
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