Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Ink for iOS

minimaltools.com

11–20 of 48 posts

Re: Show HN: Ink for iOS

#11
post #2

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

ok, without your website I wouldn't have figured out how to clear the canvas and while trying I only found out how to save the picture. I actually went back to the website to figure it out. Another thing i couldn't find is an eraser. If you screw up a tiny detail you have to start over. But I like the concept of quick ideas scribbled on anything you can get your hands on.

Re: Show HN: Ink for iOS

#13
To be honest, I feel like in your minimalist efforts you have created an easy-to-draw-with app, but not necessarily one that's easy to use. The grabber should take you to something akin to an action sheet (no real minimalism inherent in that - design your own) and should have the save option inside there, instead of two different functions (one unintuitive without reading a description of the app, or you telling me on an internet forum).

Beyond that, I like the ease of drawing and the clean look of the app.

Re: Show HN: Ink for iOS

#14
post #2

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

ok, without your website I wouldn't have figured out how to clear the canvas and while trying I only found out how to save the picture. I actually went back to the website to figure it out. Another thing i couldn't find is an eraser. If you screw up a tiny detail you have to start over. But I like the concept of quick ideas scribbled on anything you can get your hands on.

Thanks for your thoughts. I always thought a little effort to learn the interface upfront is worth it to keep it simple for the long term.

Re: Show HN: Ink for iOS

#16
post #8

looks nice. why double tap instead of a single press?

In use the single tap was too easy to fire when you inked near it, and got in the way of the pull a little. Tip: Shake opens the action sheet too. You might find that nicer.

Shake is often used for undo, which may be a nice feature in keeping with the minimal feel -- you could even have an extra long shake prompt the user to see if they would like to clear all.

Re: Show HN: Ink for iOS

#18
I've been looking for an app like this, and it fits the bill. I'll admit that while I could sketch right away, it took me a second to learn how to clear the screen. I skimmed through the site, and didn't know to double tap the grabber, so I shook the phone, not expecting much. But I appreciate that that brought up the menu as well.

Good job!

Re: Show HN: Ink for iOS

#19
I know being minimalistic in your design is good but your app icon doesn't really benefit from being minimal. It needs to tell the user what the app does. I suggest having "Ink" in your icon using the same sketch style in your first screenshot.

Re: Show HN: Ink for iOS

#20
post #13

To be honest, I feel like in your minimalist efforts you have created an easy-to-draw-with app, but not necessarily one that's easy to use. The grabber should take you to something akin to an action sheet (no real minimalism inherent in that - design your own) and should have the save option inside there, instead of two different functions (one unintuitive without reading a description of the app, or you telling me o…

Yeah, I cringe at seeing a share sheet shown by a double-tap on a grabber. For one, I strongly expect share sheets on iOS to be shown only by the normal "share" icon; for another, I don't expect double-tapping on a grabber to do anything. Inherent in a grabber is its "grabbiness": it's something tactile that you drag, not something you tap on. (Yes, Chrome uses a clickable grabber-looking-thing for displaying a menu; that's unfortunate IMO.)

Additionally, having "Clear" as an option in a share sheet feels really wrong too.

If something acts differently than another thing, generally it should look different, too. This thing isn't a grabber (at least not as far as I'm aware of from having seen the linked page) and the thing that it shows isn't a share sheet.

I do definitely like the idea of a quick, minimal sketching app like this that ruthlessly eschews feature creep to do one job well. I think you're on the right track and am interested in getting this!

Post reply on HN