Apple Improves Developers Forum Ahead of WWDC

[chewbaka]

Apple really needs to add an anti-reflective lens option to Memoji.

 

[ikunalz]

I wonder if the image hints at an Apple Glass announcement.

 

[cupcakes2000]

There are welcome changes indeed, e.g. direct sharing suggestions to specific users within specific apps is a great time saver.

Still, a lot of iOS is coating over legacy tosh. E.g. the left-most widget screen had started out well but progressively became useless (the UI in 14 is nonsense and old widgets are unusable). The lockscreen itself could incorporate some of that global info at a glance (e.g. weather and preferred stocks) other than notifications and music. The Settings app is a labyrinth –only direct search somewhat helps. The set springboard and dock design are pretty long in the tooth. The folders have not aged well, especially on iPadOS. And right now iPhone screens are big enough to accommodate better multitasking or some kind of split view. Last, new icons wouldn't hurt!

I find I rarely agree with you on these forums but these points are all completely valid.

iPadOS especially needs a bit of a UI rethink also.

Like- swipe down from the middle for notifications, to side for control center, down from the middle of the screen for spotlight.
Talk about a huge waste of space and time.

It should all be made in to one screen you slide down to access system stuff like this. Control centre aspect needs to be able to be customised with whatever you want, You should be able to access settings app from here (which you’re right - it’s a massive mess), it should slide down in a similar way, as an overlay. Notifications could be in miniaturised into a small scrollable section on the opposite side of the control centre, at the top should be search and finally it should incorporate mission control and spaces in the middle section.

 

[endecotp]

The forums cannot get any worse, so any change has to be a massive improvement.

Never say something "cannot get any worse", some people see that as a challenge.

Having seen at least three incarnations of the Apple Developer Forums over the last decade, I'd say that each has been worse than the previous version.

 

[Kilibee]

The key problem is that there is simply not enough engagement from Apple Developers. Nearly no relevant answers, so people go to Stack Overflow, where there is a lot more traffic.

If Apple really would like to improve the situation, they first need to invest in content. Employ a team of 30 Devs to answer questions, so that ist becomes the first point to contact.

 

[arlomedia]

The forums cannot get any worse, so any change has to be a massive improvement.

Although when I read "Building on last year's improvements," I got worried. We don't need any more of those improvements!

The key problem is that there is simply not enough engagement from Apple Developers. Nearly no relevant answers, so people go to Stack Overflow, where there is a lot more traffic.

If Apple really would like to improve the situation, they first need to invest in content. Employ a team of 30 Devs to answer questions, so that ist becomes the first point to contact.

I guess it's a chicken-or-egg situation. The search function is so bad I've never used it as a primary resource. Since then, the sorting and posting functions have gotten just as bad. Occasional censorship from Apple completes the sense of unwelcomeness.

Adding more responses from Apple employees would be great, though. When an employee does respond, it can turn into a frenzy of developers trying to get their questions answered. That's one thing Apple could offer that StackOverflow isn't already doing better. Another thing they could do is integrate the discussions with the documentation somehow.

 

[otternonsense]

I find I rarely agree with you on these forums but these points are all completely valid.

iPadOS especially needs a bit of a UI rethink also.

Like- swipe down from the middle for notifications, to side for control center, down from the middle of the screen for spotlight.
Talk about a huge waste of space and time.

It should all be made in to one screen you slide down to access system stuff like this. Control centre aspect needs to be able to be customised with whatever you want, You should be able to access settings app from here (which you’re right - it’s a massive mess), it should slide down in a similar way, as an overlay. Notifications could be in miniaturised into a small scrollable section on the opposite side of the control centre, at the top should be search and finally it should incorporate mission control and spaces in the middle section.

I'm glad the planets align every now and then

Having recently started using the 12.9" Pro, the wastefulness of screen estate management is staggering. On portrait orientation it's just comical. There's a ton of other details it doesn't get right, just to name a few: invoking cc/notifications/spotlight takes up the whole display in overlapping layers you need to close one by one; you can't use the pencil for basic functions like going home/invoking cc; getting apps to work on split screen takes some awkward gesture control. etc etc

Then, just to get it out of my chest: the screen mirroring button on the (iOS-like) Big Sur cc acts as a Display Preferences shortcut and not a quick toggle as you'd expect. I don't know who designed this thing, but they can go back to Microsoft, thank you very much.

 

[MisterSavage]

Having recently started using the 12.9" Pro, the wastefulness of screen estate management is staggering.

I can't get over the fact that on my iPhone I can put widgets anywhere I want on any page. But on my iPad with all of this screen real estate I can only put widgets in this tiny section of the left side of page 1. It's madness.