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iOS 7

mattgemmell.com

81–90 of 284 posts

Re: iOS 7

#81

iOS 7 foregoes borders, instead relying on colour to indicate interactivity Good thing there aren't people out there who are color-blind, then... Oh, wait.

That's me! I was browsing the new UI guidelines and couldn't understand what was and what wasn't a link/action in the screenshots that they used for examples! And I shouldn't need to turn on accessibility services for slight colorblindness... the design should accomodate for us. The navigation looks lik the same color as the "Home" and "Phone" labels. Are those actions?

I'm worried about this.

My experience of Windows mobile is Windows 8 on a tablet, and I had pretty much nothing but contempt for it. And failed to see anything stylish about it at all!

I want links/buttons/actions to stand out. That doesn't mean it has to look like a button. It could be text with a halo, a shadow, or an effect that comes into play as you begin to interact with the device so the controls jump out at you, or are overlayed or something. Don't just present raw text at me. Though having said that, I'm sure Apple will make it work, where others haven't.

iOS 6 looks pretty infantile by comparison, but the new screenshots and icons don't look that nice or that cohesive either.

(I was hoping that they might just drop the old school 'i' from iOS and just call it Apple mobile OS or something, it grates my ears and eyes, the name is like soo 1999.)

The thing that I notice from the stills is that the typeface appears quite weak. I had the same issue with Windows 8, my eyes just can't read it comfortably, I'm not sure why that is - and it looks more diluted now - and there is less contrast in general. Though perhaps it will look okay on a retina display.

Re: iOS 7

#82

> The thing is, we’ve grown up. We don’t require hand-holding to tell us what to click or tap. [...] iOS 7 foregoes borders, instead relying on colour to indicate interactivity Relying on color to indicate interactivity... like we've done on the web forever? That's been a best practice since I-don't-know-when. I disagree with the "we've grown up" idea. I'm not sure there's a Platonic ideal for UI/X, but clearly we're…

> Relying on color to indicate interactivity...That's been a best practice since I-don't-know-when. I guess screw color-blind people then.

I'm colorblind and as long as the contrast is good (i.e., it doesn't really on red/green differences) it's not a problem per se. But the thin font might present a challenge because it reduces effective saturation.

Re: iOS 7

#83
post #34

Man, iOS 7 feedback is incredibly frustrating for no reason that actually matters. I feel like I spent the past few years falling in love with flat design, on mobile and on the web -- and I read article after article from historically pro-Apple bloggers/authors explaining that no, flat design was fundamentally a bad move: the strongest metaphor is that of the phone as a tool -- that we needed skeumorphism, we need hi…

what happened to Apple's relentless pursuit of quality before introducing something to the public?

I has never existed.

The secret is to not focus on versions. In time the quirks will get sorted out and if your users don't know when or at what version it became better they will assume that it has always been working well.

First OS X? Terrible, barely usable even if there had been any applications for it. Current OS X? Decent. But since they have the same name it has always been decent because people can't even distinguish between them. At best they know the code name for the up and coming version or the previous one but definitely no more than that.

Remember Vista? Yeah, people still believe windows 7 was a big leap and Vista was just some candy on top on XP. But only because you can refer to it as Vista people remember it as a failure. If windows 7 would have been a service pack to Vista (which it, compared to the XP-Vista leap, kind of was) people wouldn't have so strong feelings about it.

Re: iOS 7

#84
Is it just me, or do I just fail to get the phone calls and texts and skypes from beautiful sun-kissed models with perfect spelling and fun filled lives?

No matter what the design looks like, a message from your boss looks like a message from your boss.

Its looks nice, can I get a better signal now.

Re: iOS 7

#85
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm volunteering at a center that teaches senior citizens various computer skills. One of the courses we teach is on how to use their iPhones. I'm dreading the moment that iOS7 is released: all of these people are going to have to start right back at the beginning in their understanding.

I think Apple would be happy to lose all the "silver surfers" and regain their cool with teens, tweens, and young adults. Teens don't want the same phone that their grandmother has and they don't want the same tablet they're forced to use at school.

I think it's a simple calculus: at the moment, the silver surfers don't have elsewhere to go. Worse case scenario, they'll buy a Nexus tablet that will sit on the shelf, and/or limp along with their old tech (possibly after convincing their nephew to "fix" their iPad by reverting the OS).

Meanwhile, young people are highly ripe for bailing out of iOS, now that Samsung has some cool factor, Android's software/gaming ecosystem is growing richer, and the golden manacles have been feeling tight on the tech-savviest generation. (Guess who's doing all the jailbreaking? It ain't the boomers.)

Old folks may be the bread and butter today, but I think Apple knows that iOS is at a crossroads when it comes to winning the future. (I may be futilely rooting for the open web, but I've still got my popcorn.)

Re: iOS 7

#86
post #34

Man, iOS 7 feedback is incredibly frustrating for no reason that actually matters. I feel like I spent the past few years falling in love with flat design, on mobile and on the web -- and I read article after article from historically pro-Apple bloggers/authors explaining that no, flat design was fundamentally a bad move: the strongest metaphor is that of the phone as a tool -- that we needed skeumorphism, we need hi…

iOS 7 is anything but flat. In fact, one of the core concepts is "depth". Layers and new navigation patterns emphasise this.

Re: iOS 7

#87
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm volunteering at a center that teaches senior citizens various computer skills. One of the courses we teach is on how to use their iPhones. I'm dreading the moment that iOS7 is released: all of these people are going to have to start right back at the beginning in their understanding.

I think Apple would be happy to lose all the "silver surfers" and regain their cool with teens, tweens, and young adults. Teens don't want the same phone that their grandmother has and they don't want the same tablet they're forced to use at school.

I have no data on this - but IMHO losing the "silver surfers" weakens the ecosystem they're trying to build. The only reason I use Photostream since its inception is that my girlfriend's mom can use the iPad 1. FaceTime is another good example - it makes iDevices great gifts for parents & grandparents.

Also, have you seen how many elderly Asian tourists are using the iPad as the only digicam they can comfortably use? (Not sure if this is also a trend in other countries.) That's obviously the opposite of "cool", but these are $500 in revenue per user. The new lock screen and camera of iOS 7 are less discoverable.

Re: iOS 7

#88

You will, however, probably find that it feels more fluid, responsive and modern. Sounds like someone who hasn't actually installed it yet. Perhaps it will feel more fluid and responsive when it ships, but that is not the case today.

But at least battery life is also dramatically worse.

Look in the dev forum there's a reason for it, not really a fix yet, but at least it's narrowed down. Also, it's a beta and these issues are to be expected at this time.

Re: iOS 7

#89
post #34

Man, iOS 7 feedback is incredibly frustrating for no reason that actually matters. I feel like I spent the past few years falling in love with flat design, on mobile and on the web -- and I read article after article from historically pro-Apple bloggers/authors explaining that no, flat design was fundamentally a bad move: the strongest metaphor is that of the phone as a tool -- that we needed skeumorphism, we need hi…

As somebody who's been using Windows Phone for the past year or two, I like it. I think it works as a best-of-both-worlds between iOS and WP7. Android is going to look incredibly antiquated in a year or two (especially since tilting homescreen and lockscreen widgets, while useful, made it ugly), and I'm a complete Android fanboy.
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