Apple introduces a universal design across platforms • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#411

Post by al_borland » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:12 PM UTC

leakycap wrote: post #198

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #93

I really dig apple's work. It's so refreshing to get a tech event in 2025 where design is a huge focus and not just duck taping another LLM to everything. Design is expensive and it's clear they've invested a massive amount of resources into liquid glass. It's not perfect, but I think they'll iron out some of the contrast bugs. Agreed with other commenters that crappy electron apps will look increasingly out of place…

Apple didn't talk about AI or Siri because they're currently flailing and so behind it's concerning. This was design-focused because skin-deep was all they accomplished.

They did still have a lot of AI features, just not AI chat.

Users can now use AI in Shortcuts, developers can use the various on-device models, I assume the call and text screening uses AI. Those are a few things off the top of my head. We need to some thinking the start and end for AI is a text field with a submit button.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#412

Post by vel0city » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:12 PM UTC

carlosjobim wrote: post #391

coastalpuma wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an existing and somewhat nitpicky issue, but it's also annoying how they specifically insist on rounded corners "because that matches all modern devices" in the announcement. Pretty much all third party external monitors don't, and even their latest top line laptops only have them at the top of the screen. So we're stuck with these dumb little triangles of background peeking out. It's kind of the "charging po…

You know something that almost never has rounded corners? Glass.

I have several objects on my desk made of glass with rounded corners. The glass lunch container I ate out of a little bit ago. A squircle glass bowl on my desk holding various nicknacks. The glass on the front of my phone. The glass I'm drinking out of right now has rounded corners. I used to have a kitchen table that had the top as one giant sheet of glass as a square with rounded corners. The windows in my car have some corners rounded. Tons of glass things have rounded corners.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#413

Post by MangoToupe » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:12 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #214

The whole thing is Windows Vista Aero Glass and iOS 7 all over again. Repeating all the SAME mistakes with 3D translucent design. Right now I really want skeuomorphism back. Much like iOS 7 they will have to spend another 2 - 3 years "tweaking" or basically walking back some of these design decisions. I believe the problem is when Tim Cook decided to merge "Design" under one umbrella. So the Design team now takes ove…

Given that this look appears to be imitating frosted glass, it's very much compatible with skeumorphism. Maybe not the one you want, but it's very much attempting to mimic a physical look.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#414

Post by thewebguyd » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:13 PM UTC

alberth wrote: post #257

Unpopular opinion: considering that last year’s WWDC was all about Apple’s vision for deep AI integration (still not yet released), and this year’s event mostly focused on a fresh coat of paint for iOS/macOS, it raises a fair question: "What has Apple actually been working on for the past two years if the AI still isn’t here and the main update is just new paint" ? Note: not being a hater and appreciate the complexit…

> Just genuinely wondering, since it feels like maybe 2 years of start/stops/changing priorities.

I think it's exactly this. Apple got caught with their pants down on AI, had to shift quickly and that's what got us last year's announcements that never came.

Well, it still isn't ready, so they needed something to give this year since they are so committed to an annual release cycle (which I think is a mistake IMHO), so we get a design change & some love for the iPad.

OTOH, I like where Apple is going with private, on device AI. So if they need some more time to make it useful and polished, totally fine with me. I'd prefer they don't ship a half baked, hallucinating piece of crap. I personally don't/won't use any of the AI "features" so for me personally, it's refreshing to have a tech conference keynote not be "AI AI AI AI." It's worse than when blockchain was all the rage.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#415

Post by MangoToupe » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:13 PM UTC

leakycap wrote: post #198

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #93

I really dig apple's work. It's so refreshing to get a tech event in 2025 where design is a huge focus and not just duck taping another LLM to everything. Design is expensive and it's clear they've invested a massive amount of resources into liquid glass. It's not perfect, but I think they'll iron out some of the contrast bugs. Agreed with other commenters that crappy electron apps will look increasingly out of place…

Apple didn't talk about AI or Siri because they're currently flailing and so behind it's concerning. This was design-focused because skin-deep was all they accomplished.

> because they're currently flailing and so behind

...behind what? Siri doesn't have a meaningful competitor on iOS. Nothing else even has access to my personal data.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#416

Post by thewebguyd » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:14 PM UTC

9d wrote: post #222

It's the candy look from the early 2000s, from Mac OS X 10.1, turned up to 11. Did Apple learn nothing from Windwos Vista and Compiz?

What's old is new again. There's a whole generation of users that never experienced those days. OS X 10.1 is 24 years old now. So for them, this is all brand new and innovative.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#417

Post by slt2021 » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:14 PM UTC

sanswork wrote: post #377

slt2021 wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

these performance hungry "improvements" are forcefully introduced to legitimately slow down older devices and force the device refresh across the user base. I have been using 8 year old iPhone just fine, but features like these over time will make the experience slower and slower and slower, until I am forced to refresh my iphone

In the late 90s/early 2000s desktop computing was moving at such a pace that an 8 year old PC was near unusable. Overtime progress slowed and its not unusual to have a decade old desktop now. The problem is thinking that mobile has slowed that much too. Mobile is still progressing quite rapidly so yeah an almost decade old device is going to feel slow. You have what an iPhone 6? 1GB of RAM vs 8GB for modern devices,…

I am totally fine if I stop getting software updates. In general I prefer not to update software either, because every new version brings only bloat

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#418

Post by Someone1234 » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:14 PM UTC

mrcwinn wrote: post #378

Someone1234 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When Apple introduced the whole skeuomorphic analogy, they did it because they needed to make a new way of interacting with touch-based apps feel tangible. Skeuomorphism was on the Apple Lisa in 1983, and they didn't invent it. Apple's first touch device wasn't until ten years later in 1993 in the Newton MessagePad. The MessagePad didn't really have "apps," that wasn't until like 2008 when it was added to the iPhon…

You're comparing multi-touch technology to the experience of the MessagePad? Also, do you know a bunch of people who were big Xerox Starheads? It doesn't count if you don't have mass adoption. Likewise, I'm not really following what you're trying to say in that sentence.

> You're comparing multi-touch technology to the experience of the MessagePad?

Nobody mentioned multi-touch at all. We're talking about Apple's first usage of skeuomorphic UI design, and or their first usage on a touch device in particular.

> Also, do you know a bunch of people who were big Xerox Starheads? It doesn't count if you don't have mass adoption.

I genuinely don't understand what you're responding to or trying to say. I'm not following the relevance nor what you mean by "count" (or not-count).

I feel like you're trying to have a conversation about something else, but I'm really not sure what or what it is you thought you read.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#419

Post by layer8 » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:15 PM UTC

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #190

dimal wrote: post #148

Oh no. It looks like every button and menu is now a translucent layer, so that any noise from the background shows through and muddles the text. This seems like an accessibility nightmare. Translucent layers generally make software unusable for me. In the video, I saw several instances that would be really really bad for me, where I’d be straining to understand the text. Looks really cool and futuristic though. Just…

I’d bet there’s a toggle that dramatically increases opacity or eliminates transparency entirely while keeping the shading and gloss. If it exists I’m sure it’ll be popular.

Probably, but they tend to also make for an ugly look, like the “Increase Contrast” setting in iOS. The other way around would be better: Have an accessible down-to-earth default, and a secondary “fancy visuals” mode for those who want that.

Re: Apple introduces a universal design across platforms

#420

Post by al_borland » Mon, Jun 09, 2025, 9:16 PM UTC

diggan wrote: post #223

_aavaa_ wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also a great way to speed up hardware upgrades. Each new os update can add more computationally expensive frills to make the older phones slow down.

This was also my first thought, "imagine how many who think their device is too old after installing this "everything transparent" OS update". I bet shareholders will love it though.

We had operating systems with transparent windows 20 years ago. I have a hard time believing this UI will stress any device released in the last 5 years.

One of the more common “problems” people have is that their devices are so much more powerful than they will ever use.