Apple Corp. thought process on iOS. A discussion about why??

[THE JUICEMAN]

Yeah, I tricked out my Leopard a lot and messed it up a few times. I eventually got it pretty stable and modded, but when I upgraded to Snow Leopard... (explosions)

And I'm also sick of the "If you don't like it, leave." comments. I'm not going to leave iOS because of a couple of complaints and go to Android, which has way more disadvantages.

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4) He could be a fanboy who sees Apple criticism and screams.

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I never really complain about the lack of advanced settings except that some of the stuff that normal people would rarely touch is tucked deep into Settings, but I always have to change them. Bluetooth is a pain to enable/disable. I think jailbreaking is just the way to go if you want advanced stuff, but I really wish people would quit using it for piracy.

And I don't really need an iPhone 5 or iOS 6 to keep me with iOS. My iPhone 4 > newest Nexus anyway.

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For many, the iPhone is a toy. The only game I really play on mine is Pokémon Emerald, and the rest of my frequently-used apps are utilities. Terminal FTW!

I agree with you about the iPhone being better in a few areas, hence why I returned the Nexus last week. But with the arrival of Jelly Bean the OS is on par with iOS as far as smoothness and stability. The feature set is personal preference but it just leaves things open. You can be simple if you want with your phone or complicated. It's your choice. I'm waiting to see iPhone 5 V.S. the new Nexus. It should be a good fall.

 

[MacDawg]

This isn't meant as an attack to you personally, but the problem I have with the dismissal of these features seems to be based on the Apple discussion board idea that "It isn't worth thinking about until after Apple makes it". Nobody is saying Apple should mimic Jelly Bean or Metro, I think what people out here are really after is for Apple to show us (and the competition) how to do things better rather than constantly staying the same.

Innovation doesn't come from being stagnant so why should it's users work so hard at being satisfied with what they have rather than dreaming up what could make it better? Competition is forcing Apple to listen a lot more than they used to so voicing opinions is better than making excuses.

No offense taken, I understand where you are coming from

I am not opposed to innovation that makes things better at all
And I am not one to sing Apple's praises about things that are added just because Apple added them

I think most iPhone users would be very pleased if things are better
But the things most often proposed: widgets, themes, customizations, etc. don't add value to me personally

Apple has made many improvements to the OS and will make even more with iOS 6
Will they all be shiny and have the wow factor
Probably not, but I am more interested in meat and potatoes than I am frills, bells and whistles

People typically say:
Apple needs to wow us or we will leave
Apple better have screen the size of XYZ or we will leave
Apple better _________

But for the most part, they have no idea what they want, they will just "know it when we are wow'ed"
And when Apple reveals their next generation of hardware/software they say "nope, not it"

Meh, the iPhone is a great product
It and iOS meet my current needs very well
I will welcome any improvements that are made
If there ever comes a time another product meets my needs better, I will switch
Today is not that day

 

[WordMasterRice]

I think that everybody is missing one rather large point. All of these things could be solved with one simple setting, not tons of new settings. Apple has even already thought of this setting and it's called Gatekeeper.

If Apple implemented gatekeeper on the iPhone everybody would be happy. It would essentially be a legit jailbreak out of the box. Disable gatekeeper, install mobile substrate and you can do whatever you want.

I really cannot fathom a person so incompetent that introducing a gatekeeper toggle would bring down the iOS colossus.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

I think that everybody is missing one rather large point. All of these things could be solved with one simple setting, not tons of new settings. Apple has even already thought of this setting and it's called Gatekeeper.

If Apple implemented gatekeeper on the iPhone everybody would be happy. It would essentially be a legit jailbreak out of the box. Disable gatekeeper, install mobile substrate and you can do whatever you want.

I really cannot fathom a person so incompetent that introducing a gatekeeper toggle would bring down the iOS colossus.

Interesting....I am not familiar with this but I will read up on it. **Opens a tab and navigates to Google search**

 

[burnside]

I'm in favor of having more options, but like others have said, this is Apple's product and they choose not to open up such features for their own good reasons. Once you give more options, then you open up more issues which means more support which means more money to provide support and the chain reaction goes on. Apple chooses to open up a certain feature set that they can control which in the end, is the most stable phone out there today. Their success proves it.

As for, "if you don't like it, be a developer and create your own OS." I too am sick of always hearing this. I don't like the way my wife cooks pancakes, but that doesn't mean I need to look for a new wife. If someone has opinions about a product, whether you think they are irrelevant or not, it's nice to know that they show interest in that product and only wish for it to improve upon their needs. Sometimes the best way to add to such discussions is to be silent instead of provoking negative sentiment to a positive discussion.

 

[TPadden]

I'm in favor of having more options, but like others have said, this is Apple's product and they choose not to open up such features for their own good reasons. Once you give more options, then you open up more issues which means more support which means more money to provide support .....

Bingo! My one trip to the Genius Bar and I couldn't believe the things customers went there for ..... a couple simple Google searches would have cleared out the store.

 

[newagemac]

Why is this the only answer? Why not actually improve iOS?

The failure in your logic is that simply adding more options does not necessarily improve iOS as you seem to suggest. In fact, the opposite is almost always the case.

I do user experience design for a living. We are always looking to remove as many options, clutter, and settings as possible. There are many reasons for this which I won't go into here but when it comes to user focused design, adding more options is more often than not a bad thing. Improving a design is good. If you have to add options, it means you couldn't figure out the best way to design it. This failure always adds complexity, reduces speed and efficiency, increases the likelihood of bugs, slows down future development (because all the additional options have to always be taken into consideration), and reduces the quality of support.

And these negative effects apply to all users. Yes, even the so called "power users". Probably hurts the power users more than anyone else in fact as studies in the field show.

It's also a slippery slope. If one user wants this option, another user wants a different option. It's a balancing act with making a definite design decision almost always better than giving more options.

As a side note, just giving options is the easy, often lazy way of designing things. If you don't care about the quality of whatever you are designing, you don't have to actually design anything at all... instead of making the hard decisions just give a bunch of options when you can't figure it out yourself.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't have any options at all. I'm just getting the feeling you think adding options are just a trivial thing to do with no harm done to the end user and trying to set the record straight from professional experience.

 

[AustinIllini]

I thought this thread would be about the Beatles.

 

[MozMan68]

So how many "power users" do you think are out there??

If you included every registered user on this forum, what percent would that be of total Apple iPhones in use today?

There's your answer...

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

So how many "power users" do you think are out there??

If you included every registered user on this forum, what percent would that be of total Apple iPhones in use today?

There's your answer...

Well, that makes a whole lot of sense. I completely understand, that is business.

I'll propose another question. Do you all think the millions of average Android users are confused or having trouble with all of the options and freedom that they have? And if they are, they have seemed to have gotten over it.

 

[OllyW]

I thought this thread would be about the Beatles.

It should be...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps

 

[MozMan68]

Well, that makes a whole lot of sense. I completely understand, that is business.

I'll propose another question. Do you all think the millions of average Android users are confused or having trouble with all of the options and freedom that they have? And if they are, they have seemed to have gotten over it.

You're assuming that all Android users even change their settings beyond what is supplied to them when they buy the phone.

How many people in this very iOS6 forum state claims of "new" features that have actually been around for more than a year? Even "power users" don't use (or even seem to know about) all the features available to them.

I think the point is that all of that configurability takes up resources, whether it is Apple's resources to maintain them from update to update or the devices resources in running them.

Plus...all Apple phones (for the most part) run the same OS. I don't think the same can be said for all Android phones currently being sold today.

 

[MacDawg]

Well, that makes a whole lot of sense. I completely understand, that is business.

I'll propose another question. Do you all think the millions of average Android users are confused or having trouble with all of the options and freedom that they have? And if they are, they have seemed to have gotten over it.

Actually, I know several Android users who have no idea what they are doing with their phones
But that can also be true of iPhone users as well

 

[petrucci666]

My question for discussion is why Apple will not allow users choice in their OS? I understand that they have taken the strategy of keep it so simple that anyone can use it and that is fine. But why not at least give power users (like a lot of us on this forum) at least the OPTION?

I am referring to UI enhancements and features like quick toggles for Bluetooth, wifi, data, etc. widgets for a quick glance at information, changing colors and fonts, hiding applications, a different lock screen, etc. I could go on all day but my point is if you want to dumb down the phone then fine. Put the customization options somewhere and the average users will have no idea that they are even there. Problem solved. You keep it simple out of the box for the masses and allow customization for people like myself at the same time. Does anyone have any discussion or thoughts on this? Yes, I know I can jailbreak or switch to Android. Things I have both done in the past.

There is no answer to this. Only Apple can answer this. We can only speculate.

Part of it is: "Keep the design so simple that anyone can use it" which was (and still is) responsible for iPhone's enormous success. And they have definitely succeeded because my grandma is using an iPad and God knows that woman barely knows how to operate a TV.

Apple isn't here to give you choice, they are here to maintain a great user experience, one that is unified for all. That is why iOS can only be found on 3 separate devices which are albeit the same device but in different forms. iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch.

Having less software means less bugs and less failure.

It is also a question of pride, if you will. They went with the closed environment, Android went with open. If Apple, the leader in this space, suddenly opens it up, then they'll say Apple is copying Android. Also, people will become confused and become more prone to not understanding the product. This equals less sales eventually.

Finally, more of a psychological thought, but people like to know where to go get something done. If WiFi can be turned off in settings, then that's where you need to go. People have become accustomed to it.

Apple has always been more concerned with the psychology of the customer rather than the functionality of the device. Adding these would create clutter and we all know Apple doesn't do clutter.


These might change, but they might not, it's entirely up to them. But I can assure you that 99% of the people aren't concerned with this and love the phone as it is.

You've heard it before, but go jailbreak it if you want that functionality. I've jailbroken it and I love it now. Added NCSettings for the fast switches, Zephyr for MT gestures etc.

 

[MacDawg]

The failure in your logic is that simply adding more options does not necessarily improve iOS as you seem to suggest. In fact, the opposite is almost always the case.

I do user experience design for a living. We are always looking to remove as many options, clutter, and settings as possible. There are many reasons for this which I won't go into here but when it comes to user focused design, adding more options is more often than not a bad thing. Improving a design is good. If you have to add options, it means you couldn't figure out the best way to design it. This failure always adds complexity, reduces speed and efficiency, increases the likelihood of bugs, slows down future development (because all the additional options have to always be taken into consideration), and reduces the quality of support.

And these negative effects apply to all users. Yes, even the so called "power users". Probably hurts the power users more than anyone else in fact as studies in the field show.

It's also a slippery slope. If one user wants this option, another user wants a different option. It's a balancing act with making a definite design decision almost always better than giving more options.

As a side note, just giving options is the easy, often lazy way of designing things. If you don't care about the quality of whatever you are designing, you don't have to actually design anything at all... instead of making the hard decisions just give a bunch of options when you can't figure it out yourself.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't have any options at all. I'm just getting the feeling you think adding options are just a trivial thing to do with no harm done to the end user and trying to set the record straight from professional experience.

I really like this answer, and it expresses much of what I believe as well
QFT

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

Actually, I know several Android users who have no idea what they are doing with their phones
But that can also be true of iPhone users as well

i am glad that you added that second line.

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There is no answer to this. Only Apple can answer this. We can only speculate.

Part of it is: "Keep the design so simple that anyone can use it" which was (and still is) responsible for iPhone's enormous success. And they have definitely succeeded because my grandma is using an iPad and God knows that woman barely knows how to operate a TV.

Apple isn't here to give you choice, they are here to maintain a great user experience, one that is unified for all. That is why iOS can only be found on 3 separate devices which are albeit the same device but in different forms. iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch.

Having less software means less bugs and less failure.

It is also a question of pride, if you will. They went with the closed environment, Android went with open. If Apple, the leader in this space, suddenly opens it up, then they'll say Apple is copying Android. Also, people will become confused and become more prone to not understanding the product. This equals less sales eventually.

Finally, more of a psychological thought, but people like to know where to go get something done. If WiFi can be turned off in settings, then that's where you need to go. People have become accustomed to it.

Apple has always been more concerned with the psychology of the customer rather than the functionality of the device. Adding these would create clutter and we all know Apple doesn't do clutter.


These might change, but they might not, it's entirely up to them. But I can assure you that 99% of the people aren't concerned with this and love the phone as it is.

You've heard it before, but go jailbreak it if you want that functionality. I've jailbroken it and I love it now. Added NCSettings for the fast switches, Zephyr for MT gestures etc.

Well said. I'll probably be jailbreaking iPhone 5. Jailbreaking on the 4 is not worth it as it slows down everything and makes it laggy and buggy.

 

[sparkyms]

One mans improvements is another's annoyance.

 

[WordMasterRice]

The failure in your logic is that simply adding more options does not necessarily improve iOS as you seem to suggest. In fact, the opposite is almost always the case.

I do user experience design for a living. We are always looking to remove as many options, clutter, and settings as possible. There are many reasons for this which I won't go into here but when it comes to user focused design, adding more options is more often than not a bad thing. Improving a design is good. If you have to add options, it means you couldn't figure out the best way to design it. This failure always adds complexity, reduces speed and efficiency, increases the likelihood of bugs, slows down future development (because all the additional options have to always be taken into consideration), and reduces the quality of support.

And these negative effects apply to all users. Yes, even the so called "power users". Probably hurts the power users more than anyone else in fact as studies in the field show.

It's also a slippery slope. If one user wants this option, another user wants a different option. It's a balancing act with making a definite design decision almost always better than giving more options.

As a side note, just giving options is the easy, often lazy way of designing things. If you don't care about the quality of whatever you are designing, you don't have to actually design anything at all... instead of making the hard decisions just give a bunch of options when you can't figure it out yourself.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't have any options at all. I'm just getting the feeling you think adding options are just a trivial thing to do with no harm done to the end user and trying to set the record straight from professional experience.

At what point in what you quoted did I say that more options was the answer?

By the by, I have a masters in software engineering and do design for a living as well, I'm well versed in it. I don't consider what iOS currently is to be the best OS that is possible, only the best option that we have.

 

[irDigital0l]

Right. We have discussions on rumors and our thoughts and opinions. That is what these forums are for. Of course we are probably not going to impact Apple decisions but it is just conversation.

So, is putting advanced features tucked away so they don't scare off the general population to much to ask for? I don't think so.

What do you all think about the rumors for iPhone 5 and the announced iOS 6? Is it enough to WOW you and keep you with iPhone?

Apple is going need to step it up a notch. I'm eyeing the Galaxy Nexus now as Android has improved greatly the last time I used it. The Google Play app store is pretty good now as I can get most of the apps that I have on iOS.

It might also depend on whether I'm getting a MBA or a PC ultrabook for college.

 

[Saladinos]

My question for discussion is why Apple will not allow users choice in their OS? I understand that they have taken the strategy of keep it so simple that anyone can use it and that is fine. But why not at least give power users (like a lot of us on this forum) at least the OPTION?

I am referring to UI enhancements and features like quick toggles for Bluetooth, wifi, data, etc. widgets for a quick glance at information, changing colors and fonts, hiding applications, a different lock screen, etc. I could go on all day but my point is if you want to dumb down the phone then fine. Put the customization options somewhere and the average users will have no idea that they are even there. Problem solved. You keep it simple out of the box for the masses and allow customization for people like myself at the same time. Does anyone have any discussion or thoughts on this? Yes, I know I can jailbreak or switch to Android. Things I have both done in the past.

What exactly is the problem? You want apple to provide a million little toggles for all sorts of shortcuts and things? No way.

People spout all this crap about Apple being against choice and being really restrictive or whatever, as though it's a goal of theirs. It's not.

Apple's goal is simple, to create the best products they can. Even when they don't ship the same numbers as others (as the Mac didn't), they don't change course or falter on their beliefs. They have principles that they will stick to, because their company has a very clearly defined character.

Nothing about that has to do with restricting what you do. They only every restrict anything (such as non-AppStore apps) when the balance is very much that the product would be better for doing so. In a lot of the cases for people's complaining, their is a pretty clear logic that leans on what we've learnt from the PC era and how we can solve those problems in a modern way.

- Malware: signed apps, cleared through a human vetting process. Ability to blacklist apps that compromise data security or privacy. Apps have to request access to your information (any PC application could upload your contacts without asking you). Apps are sandboxed and tightly contained (no sprawling mess of files to uninstall, documents to delete).

- Legacy code: refusal to distribute code using non-public APIs through the store. Apple can clearly manage their API dependencies going forward, and create a widely adopted platform without creating a hellish mess like Windows.

Et cetera. I can't be bothered to go on with more examples, but Apple is totally not anti-choice. They're pro-best-product. Whatever that costs.

 

[StormBlade]

Then become in charge of the iOS Dev team and have them implement it.

Nobody really wants to hear more complaining. Either put up with it or get something different that suits your needs.

I'm sorry but I wish the down vote button was here as the way you express your opinions are quite of-putting.

 

[Technarchy]

Well, that makes a whole lot of sense. I completely understand, that is business.

I'll propose another question. Do you all think the millions of average Android users are confused or having trouble with all of the options and freedom that they have? And if they are, they have seemed to have gotten over it.

No.

In fact every single metric that relates to actual smart phone usage shows that iOS users are more engaged with their devices, and using them far more often than android users in everything.

Speaking as a former android user, iOS is far more pleasurable to actually use, so I end up using it more. I spend far more time on my iPad doing actual stuff than I did on my Asus Transformer.

So whatever barriers android throws in front of the user experience, they are not being overcome.

 

[depths]

No.

In fact every single metric that relates to actual smart phone usage shows that iOS users are more engaged with their devices, and using them far more often than android users in everything.

Source please.

 

[anjinha]

Well, that makes a whole lot of sense. I completely understand, that is business.

I'll propose another question. Do you all think the millions of average Android users are confused or having trouble with all of the options and freedom that they have? And if they are, they have seemed to have gotten over it.

My cousin got an Android phone a few months ago. She keeps asking me for help when she can't figure out how to do something on it. She never needed my help with her iPad.

 

[nuckinfutz]

My cousin got an Android phone a few months ago. She keeps asking me for help when she can't figure out how to do something on it. She never needed my help with her iPad.

My experience as well. I've got friends that got sold the hype in the store and came home with a phone that they don't know how to operate.