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Pushing iOS

jaymachalani.com

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Re: Pushing iOS

#41

Post by nicholassmith »

petercooper wrote: post #30
saturdaysaint wrote: post #29

Nice mock-ups, but I disagree with most of the premises here. As far as I can tell, iOS doesn't have much problem with people leaving due to some quibble with the UI's supposed lack of sophistication. I'm sure there are some exceptions among HN readers, but among the very few people in my circles on Android, all cite screen size as their main reason. Japan, a country that's been at the cutting edge of the mobile mark…

all cite screen size as their main reason. Just one data point, but it was "keyboard" by far for me. The iOS keyboard is horrible and very difficult to customize so I took a risk and switched at my last update (and FWIW, I'm finding Android streets ahead in terms of functionality). Digging the larger screen size is something that came later for me but would definitely be another reason not to go back for me now.

People leaving for keyboard reasons are generally, and I hate the term, 'power users'. For 90% of the iOS customer base the keyboard works perfectly well, I'm not the biggest lover of it but I think it's reasonably solid for what it is and what it does.

Re: Pushing iOS

#42

Post by bluthru »

Doesn't the notification center and control center basically take care of this? Notification center could be a lot better, but requiring a two-finger pinch is a non-starter.

Also, what's with this made-up title?

>UX/UI & Branding Architect

You're a designer.

Re: Pushing iOS

#43

Post by [deleted] »

Touche wrote: post #37
[deleted] wrote: post #31

[deleted]

I don't know why you couldn't have written a criticism of the article without all of the ad-hominems. The guy obviously put a lot of effort into this and doesn't deserve to be written off as a "newbie design" with "a pirated copy of Fireworks". I find your argument style very ineffective.

[deleted]

Re: Pushing iOS

#44

Post by saturdaysaint »

petercooper wrote: post #30
saturdaysaint wrote: post #29

Nice mock-ups, but I disagree with most of the premises here. As far as I can tell, iOS doesn't have much problem with people leaving due to some quibble with the UI's supposed lack of sophistication. I'm sure there are some exceptions among HN readers, but among the very few people in my circles on Android, all cite screen size as their main reason. Japan, a country that's been at the cutting edge of the mobile mark…

all cite screen size as their main reason. Just one data point, but it was "keyboard" by far for me. The iOS keyboard is horrible and very difficult to customize so I took a risk and switched at my last update (and FWIW, I'm finding Android streets ahead in terms of functionality). Digging the larger screen size is something that came later for me but would definitely be another reason not to go back for me now.

Different strokes, I guess - I dread using my work Android phone's keyboard (or any of the 3rd party ones I've tried) whereas iOS's hit detection/autocorrection mostly feels like an extension of my brain/fingers.

Re: Pushing iOS

#45

Post by icebraining »

coldtea wrote: post #39
chris_overseas wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find them useful. Here's how: - Weather info. Before heading out for the day I can see instantly if I might need a jacket or umbrella later. - Tube status. I can see at a glance if there are any problems on any underground lines. If there are, I can click on the problem line to get more detailed information with a single touch. - Calendar. Shows me my schedule for the day. - Music. Control playback without having t…

> - Weather info. Before heading out for the day I can see instantly if I might need a jacket or umbrella later. Yes, otherwise it takes all 2 secs to do that.

So where you live, the weather never changes during the day?

I don't use weather widgets, but "looking outside" is hardly an effective way of seeing if you need an umbrella, especially now in the Spring.

Re: Pushing iOS

#46

Post by epochwolf »

chris_overseas wrote: post #8
Geee wrote: post #6

I have yet to see a situation where widgets are actually useful.

I find them useful. Here's how: - Weather info. Before heading out for the day I can see instantly if I might need a jacket or umbrella later. - Tube status. I can see at a glance if there are any problems on any underground lines. If there are, I can click on the problem line to get more detailed information with a single touch. - Calendar. Shows me my schedule for the day. - Music. Control playback without having t…

On iOS you can do 3 out of the 4 without even unlocking the phone.

For weather and calendar, swipe down from the top to show the notification center.

For music control, swipe up from the bottom to show control center.

Tube status... sorry, you'll need to open an app.

Re: Pushing iOS

#47

Post by incision »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #29

Nice mock-ups, but I disagree with most of the premises here. As far as I can tell, iOS doesn't have much problem with people leaving due to some quibble with the UI's supposed lack of sophistication. I'm sure there are some exceptions among HN readers, but among the very few people in my circles on Android, all cite screen size as their main reason. Japan, a country that's been at the cutting edge of the mobile mark…

>'I'm sure there are some exceptions among HN readers, but among the very few people in my circles on Android, all cite screen size as their main reason.'

I do some work with an org that offers a choice among iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry for thousands of company phones.

I find that 'normal' people are barely aware of any difference between iOS and Android. They care about screen size as you note and really practical things like battery life and reception. The only time OS becomes relevant is when someone wants to switch and worries about losing stuff in the transition.

Personally, what locks me into Android is the keyboard. Having used Swype for years now means that I can't even consider iOS until it has an equivalent.

Re: Pushing iOS

#48

Post by dragonwriter »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #44
petercooper wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

all cite screen size as their main reason. Just one data point, but it was "keyboard" by far for me. The iOS keyboard is horrible and very difficult to customize so I took a risk and switched at my last update (and FWIW, I'm finding Android streets ahead in terms of functionality). Digging the larger screen size is something that came later for me but would definitely be another reason not to go back for me now.

Different strokes, I guess - I dread using my work Android phone's keyboard (or any of the 3rd party ones I've tried) whereas iOS's hit detection/autocorrection mostly feels like an extension of my brain/fingers.

As someone who switched recently, I find both the Samsung Keyboard on the Note 3 and the Google keyboard are light years ahead of the iOS keyboard even before considering the ability to use handwriting recognition in place of typing.

Re: Pushing iOS

#49

Post by cageface »

petercooper wrote: post #30
saturdaysaint wrote: post #29

Nice mock-ups, but I disagree with most of the premises here. As far as I can tell, iOS doesn't have much problem with people leaving due to some quibble with the UI's supposed lack of sophistication. I'm sure there are some exceptions among HN readers, but among the very few people in my circles on Android, all cite screen size as their main reason. Japan, a country that's been at the cutting edge of the mobile mark…

all cite screen size as their main reason. Just one data point, but it was "keyboard" by far for me. The iOS keyboard is horrible and very difficult to customize so I took a risk and switched at my last update (and FWIW, I'm finding Android streets ahead in terms of functionality). Digging the larger screen size is something that came later for me but would definitely be another reason not to go back for me now.

I agree. I really appreciate the richer inter-app sharing on Android but the absolute deal-breaker for me is the keyboard. Android keyboards like TouchPal or Swiftkey are so much more efficient and user friendly than the 2007-vintage iOS keyboard I just get irritated every time I have to use an iPhone for more than five minutes. And that's just for English. For other languages with a lot of accented characters it's not even a contest. I've been living in Vietnam for a few years now and people often mistake me for a native when SMSing because I write properly accented Vietnamese, which is easy with Swiftkey, whereas most locals write a crippled shorthand because typing all the accents on an iPhone is such a chore.

I think Apple's not used to having competition as agile as Google. Maybe their slow-and-steady approach was enough for them to power past Microsoft but much more rapid evolution on the hardware and software front is going to be necessary if they want to beat the entire Android ecosystem. Let's see what they come up with next week.

Re: Pushing iOS

#50

Post by king_jester »

DCKing wrote: post #33
chris_overseas wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find them useful. Here's how: - Weather info. Before heading out for the day I can see instantly if I might need a jacket or umbrella later. - Tube status. I can see at a glance if there are any problems on any underground lines. If there are, I can click on the problem line to get more detailed information with a single touch. - Calendar. Shows me my schedule for the day. - Music. Control playback without having t…

How is that useful? To glance at that information you have to: 1. Unlock your phone 2. Press home to go to the homescreen 3. Swipe to the screen that contains the widget 4. Possibly scroll the widget itself Android itself has several better alternatives for such glanceable information that are quicker to access: - Google Now / other search plugin - Lock screen widgets / lock screen "now playing" info - Lock screen ap…

> Don't get me wrong, I love Android. I've used it for the last 5 years. It's just that I've never understood why people use widgets. They're too clunky to be useful even for the most basic of things.

I use widgets consistently on my phone. My to-do list, calendar, notes, and weather are all shown as widgets to the left and right screens of my primary homescreen. I don't necessarily have these apps running in app history all the time, so it is much easier to do 1 tap on the home button for the home screen followed by a left or right swipe to view the content I'm after.

They also are really useful if the app you have a widget for is slow to load or you have a slower device. Since you can view the partial information faster than loading the entire app, you can avoid the delay in getting information.

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