My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement • Hacker News Board

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#341

Post by empyrrhicist » Fri, Aug 05, 2022, 10:51 PM UTC

Elidrake42 wrote: post #324

empyrrhicist wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if they put any effort whatsoever into teaching or UI discoverability these days. If there was a tutorial app I would have used it, but I have repeatedly had to use Google to find unrelated blog sites describing how to accomplish things in the iOS interface. Cynically, it feels like they think everyone should already "just know" how the various gestures work, which is obnoxious and user hostile.

Not only is there a tutorial app ("Tips") but you receive a notification pointing you towards it shortly after setting up a new iOS device. Also after major iOS updates. So... Yeah I suppose you're making their point for them, to an extent.

Does this apply to iPads? I had mine set up by my employer and don't think I've seen a prompt. I also don't recall seeing this on an iPhone SE I had, so maybe discover ability would be better than popups for a tips app.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#342

Post by empyrrhicist » Fri, Aug 05, 2022, 10:53 PM UTC

happyopossum wrote: post #252

empyrrhicist wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if they put any effort whatsoever into teaching or UI discoverability these days. If there was a tutorial app I would have used it, but I have repeatedly had to use Google to find unrelated blog sites describing how to accomplish things in the iOS interface. Cynically, it feels like they think everyone should already "just know" how the various gestures work, which is obnoxious and user hostile.

> If there was a tutorial app I would have used it There is/was - it's called Tips, and most people ignore or uninstall it.

Its an interesting refutation and confirmation of my point.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#343

Post by failTide » Fri, Aug 05, 2022, 11:35 PM UTC

homonculus1 wrote: post #332

failTide wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's got to be a tactful way to do this without interrupting users. If anyone's got some good examples I'd like to take a look.

It's just fundamentally a bad idea. Software should never, ever bother the user during use about how it's being used. That's what tutorials and documentation are for. No matter how clever and subtle you think you're being, you're still just redirecting the user's attention from the task at hand toward the UI itself. No matter how ignorable, dismissable, or optional it is, it's an abysmal UI failure and it shouldn't e…

I wouldn't mind having a shortcut or "I'm stuck" button that would try to figure out what my issue was based on my last 5 minutes of activity.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#344

Post by awad » Sat, Aug 06, 2022, 12:31 AM UTC

OJFord wrote: post #316

robertoandred wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you discover key combos in Linux?

You read the man page/documentation for the software you installed that they're for, or else you defined them yourself and don't need to discover them.

Apple also provides ample documentation

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#345

Post by everyone » Sat, Aug 06, 2022, 2:26 AM UTC

robertoandred wrote: post #285

everyone wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who only occasionally has to use macOS and iOS for work. The gestures and key combos required to do even the most basic things are insane.. and there is (almost) zero discoverability or affordances for them. On iOS gestures with multiple fingers, on macOS keyboard shortcuts with 3 or 4 keys. I also dont often use Linux, but I could try some new distro with a completely different windows manager I have neve…

How do you discover key combos in Linux?

Generally speaking, you dont actually need them in Linux, you can do everything with mouse.. however you can't actually use macOS without them.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#346

Post by saagarjha » Sat, Aug 06, 2022, 2:30 AM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #334

mrtksn wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if it's not feasible on iPad?

There's a capacitor layer behind the screen and there's a tiny actuator for vibration. I don't see how it wouldn't be.

Tiny actuator? The Taptic Engine is quite large.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#347

Post by Nition » Sat, Aug 06, 2022, 5:32 AM UTC

mixmastamyk wrote: post #313

Nition wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I just find it a bit strange that you can't just tap once for exact placement. I know from previous non-iOS phones that it's not that hard to get it in the right spot.

Works for me on the second tap.

If I tap twice it selects the whole word. Leaving more time between taps has the same result as one tap. iOS 15.1.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#348

Post by lifeisstillgood » Sat, Aug 06, 2022, 6:05 AM UTC

happyopossum wrote: post #265

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #68

The big takeaway for me was >>> My guess is that people had no idea it was there. Likely it had very low usage statistics and so Apple cut it in order to... Right there. I am often frustrated that I cannot edit a URL in the address bar - but not frustrated enough to use a different phone or explore. What would be useful is some kind of "how to use your phones hidden features" guide on the phone (no not on a website s…

> I am often frustrated that I cannot edit a URL in the address bar On an iPhone? You've always been able to do that...

Really? how?

To be clear, I mean if the irl is longer than the width of the visible address bar, I cannot move the cursor outside the visible box and bring the rest of the url into view. So for example I might want to edit a query param.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#349

Post by sangnoir » Sat, Aug 06, 2022, 6:52 AM UTC

When 3D touch was introduced, I made a comment on HN that stated Apple failed to learn the "Menu" button lesson from Android (it was around that time that Android was dropping support for the menu button).

I'm not a UX specialist, but even I could connect the dots on how 3D touch was just the iOS version of the long-deprecated Android menu button: useful, but with non-existent discoverability. Additionally, apps would support it inconsistently, so most users wouldn't know the functionality exists at all, and of those that do know about it, sometimes the feature does nothing at all.

Re: My favorite iPhone feature was removed, long live its subpar replacement

#350

Post by OJFord » Sat, Aug 06, 2022, 8:04 AM UTC

awad wrote: post #344

OJFord wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You read the man page/documentation for the software you installed that they're for, or else you defined them yourself and don't need to discover them.

Apple also provides ample documentation

Sure, but the complaint was discoverability, my point is that on Linux you start with something you don't need to discover: you either defined the shortcut yourself, or you installed something that defines it by default. There are no 'system shortcuts'.