Apple needs to stop being so reliant on the menu bar for non-pro apps

[MysticCow]

The menu bar is specifically built around Apple's own Human Interface Guidelines. Or at least they used to be.

Problems typically come up when stupid people code an app and don't understand that they're not being "cute," "amazing," "refreshed," "innovative," or whatever other garbage word you'd like to throw at them. They are being intentionally stupid by not following the same guidelines that everyone else is supposed to follow.

Things like the HIG are there for a reason. That reason is to make the experience as uniform as possible for all users, so there's no confusion.

PS--Apple is plenty guilty of not following their own HIG also...

PPS--Office 2001/x/2004's Formatting Palette is EXACTLY what OP is talking about methinks. 2004 is still the best version of Office ever made.

 

[code-m]

Technically yes as they share just about everything except the GUI layer. It's sad when people give too much weight to superficial differences.

And yet interaction is how people “interact” with whatever machines to get a particular task/s completed it’s the difference between one OS over another or one program over another.

 

[himynameisryan]

We would need to add it to iOS since most people use iOS. People tend to either use iPadOS OR macOS.

I was making a sarcastic remark
the iPad and the Mac do not have to be the same, and combining them is just dumb. The Mac is based around the pointer, whereas the iPad is based around a touch-first approach

 

[antiprotest]

The post was originally "Apple needs to ditch the menu bar". It's been edited and walked back several times since then.

It's very unfair. OP said he kept changing the thread title because he was unclear, but it's more like he was outright wrong and didn't think of all the reasons for the menu bar. Eventually the title will become "Apple needs to double down on the menu bar" and then all the commenters will look like fools. Rather than keep moving the goalposts until he can sound reasonable, OP should just admit he was wrong and bow out.

 

[tagsaid]

Apple's Website Redesigned With New Drop-Down Menu Bars and More

Apple today redesigned its website on both desktop and mobile devices. The changes make it easier to find individual product pages and other helpful...

www.macrumors.com

Looks like Apple is going more toward that style than moving away from it :-D

 

[boss.king]

I changed it because I was very unclear on what I was requesting.

It's still unclear because rather than engage in the discussion you choose to keep editing the original post so that the whole thread becomes muddied.

 

[drumcat]

Part is down to people having a frankly ridiculous number of menu bar icons and apps.

Ah, so, tell us what the allowed number of MenuBar icons is. I'd love for you to explain to me what my use case is.

 

[boss.king]

Ah, so, tell us what the allowed number of MenuBar icons is. I'd love for you to explain to me what my use case is.

What are you talking about? I never said there’s an “allowed amount”. You can have as many menu bar icons as you want, but you also have to contend with the limits of what can be displayed within a constrained area. If you have 60 icons, maybe don’t expect to see them all at once.

 

[drumcat]

What are you talking about? I never said there’s an “allowed amount”. You can have as many menu bar icons as you want, but you also have to contend with the limits of what can be displayed within a constrained area. If you have 60 icons, maybe don’t expect to see them all at once.

How about 10? That's what you get now with an Air. Plus clock + notifications. Is that a lot? It's not 60, but I normally have 16-20. I imagine that's not unusual, but I have to use a utility to manage them. How is that appropriate?

 

[boss.king]

How about 10? That's what you get now with an Air. Plus clock + notifications. Is that a lot? It's not 60, but I normally have 16-20. I imagine that's not unusual, but I have to use a utility to manage them. How is that appropriate?

I don't know. I just counted and I have 8 that live there permanently, up to 12 with things like focus modes, airplay, whatever the magical mouse sharing thing is called, so sometimes I can't see them all in heavier apps. I think it's fine, I'd rather have the menubar usable than see icons I rarely interact with. If I was struggling to see 5 or so at a time, maybe I'd be more upset. I'm not the judge here, but I know people who have upwards of 30 menu bar icons and I think that's a bit ridiculous.

 

[Kal Madda]

The Mac OS has lots of functionality that is missing from iPad OS, including but not limited to keyboard shortcuts as @usagora and others have mentioned, because it's designed for keyboard-and-mouse input and not a touchscreen.

We don't need to remove functionality just because some people are familiar with iPad OS, or migrating from Windows.

iPadOS actually does support keyboard shortcuts. Maybe not the same variety, etc. yet, but they definitely exist, I use them quite often, and they’re generally identical to the macOS ones for the same function.