Mobile designers no longer see Apple on the forefront of iOS design

Great article. Further proof iOS needs a bit of a facelift.

Hardly proof! Just an opinion.

The stock apps haven't been significantly updated in ages. I think the newer apps like PassBook still have great design.

zbarvian said:

The stock apps haven't been significantly updated in ages.

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IMO, iOS stock apps should go modular, they should come pre-installed, but it should be possible to uninstall them and they should be updated independently of iOS.

Cod3rror said:

IMO, iOS stock apps should go modular, they should come pre-installed, but it should be possible to uninstall them and they should be updated independently of iOS.

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It's so obvious that this is the right thing to do that there has to be a logical reason Apple doesn't do that.

I'm paying the money I am for these devices to look at beautiful work, not boxes with nice typography.

From a comment by user Under of the article:

Having a unique user experience is sure to set your App apart from the hundreds of options available today ...

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I think he nailed it. Not one of GigaOm's better articles, even Op Ed.

QuarterSwede said:

It's so obvious that this is the right thing to do that there has to be a logical reason Apple doesn't do that.

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The built-in apps are usually advertised as features e.g. weather, stocks, voice memos etc.

If it were possible to remove them, then there would be a number of people who accidentally delete these apps. Unfortunately these users are unlikely to have discovered how to use the app store to re-download the apps they deleted - it's substantially easier to remove an app then to add one! Ultimately you end up with lots of support calls and a bunch of disgruntled customers.

One possible solution would be to expand the restrictions page in settings to include the built-in apps. Although I doubt Apple is keen on such a messy solution.

Adam

amarcus said:

The built-in apps are usually advertised as features e.g. weather, stocks, voice memos etc.

If it were possible to remove them, then there would be a number of people who accidentally delete these apps. Unfortunately these users are unlikely to have discovered how to use the app store to re-download the apps they deleted - it's substantially easier to remove an app then to add one! Ultimately you end up with lots of support calls and a bunch of disgruntled customers.

One possible solution would be to expand the restrictions page in settings to include the built-in apps. Although I doubt Apple is keen on such a messy solution.

Adam

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Possibly. I think they advertise App Store apps a lot more though.

Wait iOS design? You mean product design right. If you are talking about stock app which seems like you are, why should Apple redesign the stock apps. They are great at what apps do. Tiny little package of applications. It is up to the developers to design their own apps to compete in the market.

Although the number of apps is just getting ridiculous, there should be a process, a community process on whether or not an app should be allow onto the App Store, weed out those farting apps and other crap apps that do nothing. If anything needs to be redesigned from Apple's side that should be it.

for some time now, if i see an app that follows the same old tacky and boring interface of iOS - especially translucent and reflexion themes - i move on to the next - no matter how many star ratings and positive reviews it has.


i try to go only for clean and classy interfaces.

I love these experts. Same guys who said no one will use a phone without a keypad? No one will use the Internet on their phone? Go away and get a real job.

amarcus said:

The built-in apps are usually advertised as features e.g. weather, stocks, voice memos etc.

If it were possible to remove them, then there would be a number of people who accidentally delete these apps. Unfortunately these users are unlikely to have discovered how to use the app store to re-download the apps they deleted - it's substantially easier to remove an app then to add one! Ultimately you end up with lots of support calls and a bunch of disgruntled customers.

One possible solution would be to expand the restrictions page in settings to include the built-in apps. Although I doubt Apple is keen on such a messy solution.

Adam

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Also some of the built in apps are depended upon by other apps. Like Safari's Webkit engine is used in every other web browser window in iOS. And the mail client is used by other apps to send emails.


Perhaps they could tweak the app list that's currently under General Settings > Usage and add a "hide" feature?

APlotdevice said:

Also some of the built in apps are depended upon by other apps. Like Safari's Webkit engine is used in every other web browser window in iOS. And the mail client is used by other apps to send emails.


Perhaps they could tweak the app list that's currently under General Settings > Usage and add a "hide" feature?

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the fact that apple forces every other browser to use the same rendering engine as safari is lame, plus the fact 3rd parties can't even use the built-in nitro javascript engine.

APlotdevice said:

Perhaps they could tweak the app list that's currently under General Settings > Usage and add a "hide" feature?

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Soon after posting I realized that even this would probably cause considerable confusion. So I put some more thought in it and came up with a better potential solution: Perhaps instead of making apps disappear from the home screen completely, they could be moved to a special page (a name for which I have yet to think of)? This would differ from a normal home screen page in three four ways:

1. This page would always be at the farthest right, appearing behind even the blank page that comes up when moving apps.
2. It could scroll vertically, so there would be no limit to how many apps could be placed on this page.
3. It could be password protected by turning on restrictions.
4. Apps would be automatically sorted alphabetically, with the appropriate bar appearing to the right.

My thinking here is that a lot of iOS users already move the apps they don't use frequently (or at all when it comes to certain built-in apps) onto the last page, so this way you could do that and not have to worry about micromanaging as your app library grows.

QuarterSwede said:

It's so obvious that this is the right thing to do that there has to be a logical reason Apple doesn't do that.

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Because then then the Android fanboys would be screaming about how Apple copied Google again (eg. Gmail becoming a Play store app, etc)

But seriously, Apple should really allow users to set their own default apps for various things and delete some stock apps (eg. Calculator, Stocks, Weather) when there are so much better alternatives on the App Store.

I think all this comes down to is the fact that the user should be able to set a default app. Take a look at IE. Is it the best browser out there? No, in fact, it might be one of the worst, but that doesn't stop the majority of people from using it. Most people have nothing wrong with the built in apps. Safari, mail, iPod, etc. It comes down to people wanting the ability to use whatever app they want, but have it integrated with the OS still. That's what stops people like me from using a lot of third party applications. They are great, but I can never default to them, so they are almost pointless to me. Whoever said Apple should stop making applications is thick as bricks. iOS is an operating system just like OSX. Would anyone say Apple should stop including default applications on OSX? No.

Does that mean the default apps on OSX are the best? No! Does Apple need to pick up the slack though, yes.

Just my two cents.

I think the real problem is that Apple doesn't even have a design language. Every app Apple makes uses some inconsistent UI design that doesn't fit. No two apps from Apple have a consistent look and feel and they are always full of superfluous shadows, gloss, pin stripes, rounded corners, and that gawd awful blue gradient. Can anyone even define what Apple UI design is?

People who think iOS hasn't changed a lot since iOS 1.0 need to get their hands on an iPhone or even iPhone 3G running 2.0 and look at how much has changed. The basic fundamentals, such as layout, may be the same but the performance and feature set has come on ten fold.

iOS 1.0 to 3.0 were nowhere near as fluid and smooth as iOS 4, 5, and 6 on the iPhone 4 through 4S and 5. The usability is night and day and even the quality of the graphics themselves within iOS has improved dramatically.

To say iOS is boring because it's retained the grid layout is as ridiculous as saying Windows is boring because it still has desktop icons, the Start button, and the taskbar.

I find the apps quite suffice for basic functions.

Take notes. It has a simple interface and loads quickly, compared to evernote, which while more versatile, is also more cumbersome for when you want to just make a quick note.

That's the thing. 3rd party apps like omnical, while undeniably better, are also more complex to use.

I just get the feeling that many people would rather have flashing lights, banners, and 'things that make you go ooooh' over anything else. Functionality makes a device, not whether the icon has a rounded corner or not, or whether there is a pinstripe.

For some reason skeurmorphism seems to be word of the moment since Forstell left.

WeegieMac said:

People who think iOS hasn't changed a lot since iOS 1.0 need to get their hands on an iPhone or even iPhone 3G running 2.0 and look at how much has changed. The basic fundamentals, such as layout, may be the same but the performance and feature set has come on ten fold.

iOS 1.0 to 3.0 were nowhere near as fluid and smooth as iOS 4, 5, and 6 on the iPhone 4 through 4S and 5. The usability is night and day and even the quality of the graphics themselves within iOS has improved dramatically.

To say iOS is boring because it's retained the grid layout is as ridiculous as saying Windows is boring because it still has desktop icons, the Start button, and the taskbar.

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I feel like performance increases aren't a new feature, but something that is just expected of technology moving forward.