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Android 16 is here

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Re: Android 16 is here

#131

Post by jazzyjackson »

kstrauser wrote: post #101
nextos wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple did skeuomorphism really well, which is hard and requires a lot of design work. I cannot understand why they gradually abandoned that, as it was clearly a competitive moat in terms of usability. I've seen how computer illiterate or elderly people were able to navigate skeuomorphic designs with relative ease. Right now, they can't tell what is a button or a field and what isn't.

It was primarily because skeuomorphic UIs don't scale well with user experience levels. They're easier for novices but don't lend themselves well to expert use, unless you add a bunch of extra affordances that would seem really out of place in a UI meant to look like a real thing. And what does a skeuomorphic web browser or email app look ike? We don't have those in meatspace.

inbox/outbox is a holdover from bins setting on your desk. but yeah there's not much more to the interface of a blank sheet of paper.

I disagree that skeuomorphic can't be used by power users. Just throw a bunch of keyboard shortcuts in there.

Re: Android 16 is here

#132

Post by smusamashah »

Not available for Pixel/XL, Pixel 2/XL, Pixel 3/XL, Pixel 3a/XL, Pixel 4/XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, or Pixel 5a.

I have Pixel 4a and I wanted to get Android 16 to get the smaller notification tile buttons back.

Re: Android 16 is here

#133

Post by pazimzadeh »

nextos wrote: post #97
pier25 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't agree more. Quite a fall from grace by Apple.

Apple did skeuomorphism really well, which is hard and requires a lot of design work. I cannot understand why they gradually abandoned that, as it was clearly a competitive moat in terms of usability. I've seen how computer illiterate or elderly people were able to navigate skeuomorphic designs with relative ease. Right now, they can't tell what is a button or a field and what isn't.

It was less of flat vs. skeuomorphic than dead vs. alive elements (https://vimeo.com/64895205).

While the technology to create 'alive' skeuomorphic elements now exists, that wasn't the case a few years ago.

Older skeuomorphic designs were static/rasters which were clunky to either mix these static elements with animated elements (for example the iOS 7 menu title transitions) or to have transparency (how can you have transparent leather/velvet?).

Liquid Glass is actually an extension of the foundation laid by iOS 7.

Many parts of the iOS 7 transition guide might as well have been written for Liquid Glass:

- "Make sure that app content is discernible through translucent UI elements—such as bars and keyboards—and the transparent status bar"

- "Examine your app for hard-coded UI values—such as sizes and positions—and replace them with those you derive dynamically from system-provided values."

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Us...

Re: Android 16 is here

#135

Post by izacus »

hwc wrote: post #87

If Android is getting desktop windowing, how long until I can just plug my phone into a monitor and keyboard and have a usable computer?

You could do that for years with Samsung phones already.

Re: Android 16 is here

#136

Post by jay_kyburz »

tkzed49 wrote: post #127
jay_kyburz wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but the icons and labels could use more of that padding and be larger so old folks like me can see them.

There's literally a setting for this. There are separate sliders for "display size" and "font size", the latter of which just makes the font larger

haha yes, I tried to use my kids phone the other day and I had forgotten how much larger I had set the fonts on my own phone. It was impossible to read anything.

It's actually a credit to google that you can scale the fonts up so much and then forget you had done it. In the old days, the UI would be broken in various places.

Re: Android 16 is here

#137

Post by fsflover »

izacus wrote: post #135
hwc wrote: post #87

If Android is getting desktop windowing, how long until I can just plug my phone into a monitor and keyboard and have a usable computer?

You could do that for years with Samsung phones already.

No, you can't. There's no usable desktop software that you can run there. Artificial restrictions will stay, although might be slightly relaxed. In contrast with Librem 5 running GNU/Linux (my daily driver) this is already a reality.

Re: Android 16 is here

#138

Post by rawling »

diffeomorphism wrote: post #117
rawling wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - First-party defaults for all the platform pieces: Messaging, Payments, Photos, Music, Media, Navigation, etc. Every single one of these lets Apple and Google squeeze another industry and forces us into a pit of no-innovation. Don't/can't Android manufacturers provide alternative defaults here?

Wasn't that what all the 2015 antitrust stuff was about? Manufacturers were contractually forbidden from doing that.

Thanks, that helped me find this which does sound like it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antitrust_cases_against_Google...

Re: Android 16 is here

#139

Post by izacus »

diffeomorphism wrote: post #117
rawling wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - First-party defaults for all the platform pieces: Messaging, Payments, Photos, Music, Media, Navigation, etc. Every single one of these lets Apple and Google squeeze another industry and forces us into a pit of no-innovation. Don't/can't Android manufacturers provide alternative defaults here?

Wasn't that what all the 2015 antitrust stuff was about? Manufacturers were contractually forbidden from doing that.

Samsung literally provides their own alternative for all of these.

Re: Android 16 is here

#140

Post by cosmic_cheese »

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #50
paxys wrote: post #23

I like their Material Expressive design a lot more now after Apple's big reveal. While it's still a bit too colorful and whimsical for my liking, it does stay much closer to what I think should be the top UX design ideal - be clear, legible, and get out of the way . On the new iOS every screen feels like some UX designer is shouting "look how amazing I am at this!!" at me.

The layer separation on Material has been really not good for me. The floating action button is so hard to notice sometimes; I've reached out for IT help or support sometimes because I just didn't notice it. I haven't used it yet but the refraction effect on Liquid Glass feels like it could be amazingly good at creating a sense of layer separation. Static content it's maybe not going to be awesome at, but as soon as…

In my view the dramatic reduction of depth in Material 2 and beyond was a real mistake. That was the one redeeming thing it had over other flat UI design systems.
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