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Have you ever actually used an iPhone before ? Because Apple doesn't have a skeumorphic bent on everything just a few apps e.g. Calendar, Podcasts. The rest of the OS itself both on iOS and OSX is fairly minimal and standard fare. No different to Android and its god awful widgets. And I don't dispute that Microsoft still has issues around certain UI uses cases but that is what happens when attempt something from scra…
> "Have you ever actually used an iPhone before ?" I have been an iPhone user since the iPhone 1, when I went through hell and back just to get one imported from the US. I've been writing iPhone apps since the day the SDK came out and now do it full-time, and have 4 apps currently in the store. I would like to think my opinion is not that of an uninformed outsider. I have either owned, or used, literally every iPhone…
The greatest thing that iPhone ever did was to make an incredibly complicated device that was wanted by everyone: young and old, educated or not. It makes sense that skeumorphic design was one of the critical things that helped in breeding a sense of familiarity and comfort for the non-technically-inclined users in navigating their way around the phone, whether it is by having simple motion transitions reminiscent of real-life page-flipping or sliding up motions, or the textured buttons or replicating design of real-world devices like compasses, mics, calculators, etc.