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Anybody else having trouble reading the new font?

Night Spring

Night Spring

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jul 17, 2008
15,335
8,564
I looked around, but didn't find any threads specifically on the new font.

So my vision isn't perfect, but not bad enough that I need to wear glasses all the time. On iOS up to 6, I used to be able to do stuff like open the weather app to tell the temperature, or go into the settings app to change a few settings, without reaching for my glasses. Now with the new fonts in iOS 7, I'm finding I have a very hard time reading the new font. There was one screen that was especially bad, where I couldn't even tell there was any writing on there -- it looked like blank space until I squinted really hard, then I finally saw that there was faint thin writings against a background that was almost the same color as the font. Sorry, I can't remember where this was, if I find it again I'll post back.

Anyway, when I saw the keynote yesterday, I was impressed by the new features that has been built in, and was sure I'll upgrade --- but now, if the fonts stay like this, I may have to stay with iOS 6. (I just updated my old iPhone 4S -- my iPhone 5 is still on 6) Anybody else having similar issues?
 
Awwww, sad story :( I don't have that problem but my visions are pretty good that's probably why... What about buying glasses especially for reading? Those 7$ ones you see at every chashier hehe would be bad if ya miss the great new os & every further update o_O
 
Agree. this new standard font is too thin to be usable on a small device. I can't believe they went with this.
 
SuperRob said:
In the accessibility options you have THREE different ways to improve the text. :)
Click to expand...

And I tried all of them, but I'm not seeing much improvement. I haven't come upon again on the screen that looked blank because the font was so thin, so maybe that got fixed -- but for instance, the weather info in the notification center is still too small, so I can't make it out without my glasses. In iOS 6, we got the temperature in huge font, with a picture icon showing current weather state (if it's sunny, there's a picture of the sun, if it's cloudy there's clouds, etc). Now you get "Cloudy currently. The high will be 26. Low will be 17," in tiny fonts. And wait a minute, where's the current temperature????? :mad:
 
agreed. the text under the icons are a bit straining to read. it'd be easier on the eyes if they were thicker like in iOS 6. don't necessarily need the shadows, just thicker.

i tried the accessibility options and it seems that those are for within an application (ex. mail - makes the text bigger or more contrast)
 
I'm having trouble finding how to increase font size when in Reader. in iOS6, there were icons to increase/decrease font size, but not seeing it in iOS7.

Any suggestions?
 
tymaster50 said:
you guys need glasses
Click to expand...

I said in my OP my eye sight isn't perfect. In case it wasn't clear, I do use reading glasses. However, in iOS 6 and earlier, I could do simple tasks like checking the time and temperature, seeing how many emails I have, or changing a few settings, without having to dig out my glasses. As Tim Cook said himself at All Things D, nobody likes wearing glasses unless they absolutely have to, and I don't like to wear my reading glasses unless I'm, well, actually READING.

bubba8704 said:
I'm having trouble finding how to increase font size when in Reader. in iOS6, there were icons to increase/decrease font size, but not seeing it in iOS7.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I just noticed this too. :(

I've always used Instapaper. Readability and other similar apps work, too.
 
Yes. I have this problem. Even with my reading glasses on I'm having more difficulties reading very thin fonts. However this problem is also application specific. Some application vendors have chosen fonts which poses great challenge to people with less than perfect vision. I did have laser cataract operation before. Although I have no issue seeing distant objects, reading small thin fonts with insufficient contrast to the background is not always possible. In addition to wearing reading glasses I also use a magnifying glass to overcome this problem.

----------

BTW, that's one of the reasons I'm still waiting for a 5 inch screen.
 
They need to emboss/outline the text for apps and folders on the home screen, that would help a lot. Not sure why they took this away, it makes light wallpapers (or even wallpapers with light sections) problematic.
 
fmalloy said:
Agree. this new standard font is too thin to be usable on a small device. I can't believe they went with this.
Click to expand...

I agree as well. It seems like Apple is doing everything they can lately to make things harder to read (and harder to quickly find what you're looking for on a page), both on iOS and in OS X. You need contrast to see things easily, i.e. bold white on black, bold black on white etc. Not light gray on lighter gray. It's especially important when you're in your car etc, and can need to find things fast.

Here's an example of the diminishing contrast from iOS 5 to iOS 7:

jjajzi.jpg


mf5uz7.jpg






The dialer from iOS 5 is much clearer and better, imo. And everything would be easier to read if text was black(er) instead of gray.
 
Last edited:
Kids...
The new font is too thin and too hard to read.

iPusch said:
Awwww, sad story :( I don't have that problem but my visions are pretty good that's probably why... What about buying glasses especially for reading? Those 7$ ones you see at every chashier hehe would be bad if ya miss the great new os & every further update o_O
Click to expand...


----------

You will at some point in your life. Even people with good vision can't read it easily. Hard to imagine why Apple went with this but it sure needs to change. I filed it as a bug with Dev support.

tymaster50 said:
you guys need glasses
Click to expand...
 
Night Spring said:
And I tried all of them, but I'm not seeing much improvement. I haven't come upon again on the screen that looked blank because the font was so thin, so maybe that got fixed -- but for instance, the weather info in the notification center is still too small, so I can't make it out without my glasses. In iOS 6, we got the temperature in huge font, with a picture icon showing current weather state (if it's sunny, there's a picture of the sun, if it's cloudy there's clouds, etc). Now you get "Cloudy currently. The high will be 26. Low will be 17," in tiny fonts. And wait a minute, where's the current temperature????? :mad:
Click to expand...
That's rather odd. Aside from the text size option that is separate, most of the text-related options in the accessibility settings actually have a noticeable effect. Just to make sure, which ones have you tried?

Just in case, especially since this is all new and it's a beta, did you try restarting the phone after you changed the settings (and then make sure that they were still enabled after you restarted? Sometimes it takes something like that to really get things to take effect.
 
Night Spring said:
I looked around, but didn't find any threads specifically on the new font.

So my vision isn't perfect, but not bad enough that I need to wear glasses all the time. On iOS up to 6, I used to be able to do stuff like open the weather app to tell the temperature, or go into the settings app to change a few settings, without reaching for my glasses. Now with the new fonts in iOS 7, I'm finding I have a very hard time reading the new font. There was one screen that was especially bad, where I couldn't even tell there was any writing on there -- it looked like blank space until I squinted really hard, then I finally saw that there was faint thin writings against a background that was almost the same color as the font. Sorry, I can't remember where this was, if I find it again I'll post back.

Anyway, when I saw the keynote yesterday, I was impressed by the new features that has been built in, and was sure I'll upgrade --- but now, if the fonts stay like this, I may have to stay with iOS 6. (I just updated my old iPhone 4S -- my iPhone 5 is still on 6) Anybody else having similar issues?
Click to expand...

There is an option in Accessibility settings which is "Enhance Text Legibility". It makes the text more bold and readable. Try that :)
 
I never had trouble reading the thin font in iOS 7, but I restored to iOS 6 a few hours ago and my eyes haven't been this relaxed for days. iOS 6 is so much calmer, easier to read, and interface elements so much better separated and segmented.

Going back to iOS 6 is like going inside and sitting down with a long, cool drink after a day spent skiing in blinding sunlight. Skiing in the sun sure is fun, but it's annoying that, much like iOS 7, you have to squint or wear sunglasses to be able to see comfortably.
 
Sirious said:
There is an option in Accessibility settings which is "Enhance Text Legibility". It makes the text more bold and readable. Try that :)
Click to expand...

I already said, back in post #7, that I tried that.

I'm sorry, but I'm getting very very tired of hearing "try the accessibility settings." That was the very first thing I did, even before I came and posted here.
 
I didn't comb every single response so I'm sorry if someone already said this but right ABOVE Accessibility there is "Text Size" in iOS 7.

Does that help?
 
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